THE youngest of the Swindon children pictured on this page would be in their nineties today.

The images were among many taken on Wednesday, July 29, 1931 and published whenever space was available during the following days and weeks.

On July 30, we wrote: “There is no sight so pleasant as that of a happy, excited child, and Weymouth yesterday had one of the best sights in England, for on its beach were more than 1,100 Swindon youngsters, all of them thoroughly enjoying themselves.

“They were on the Evening Advertiser annual kiddies’ outing.

“All Weymouth seemed to ring with their voices, and crowds of holidaymakers stood watching them from the promenade.”

The outing was often the first opportunity children from poor families had to enjoy anything like a holiday, or even to see the sea.

Some of the children who assembled at Swindon Station early in the morning were about to take their first train journey, even though they lived in a railway town.

We said: “It was amusing to watch the children studying the train, the scenery, and all their new surroundings.

“When they had finished tumbling over each other with excitement and shouting greetings to the men on the line outside the GWR Works, who gave them a send-off, they turned their attention to the carriage itself, and all the little unfamiliar things of the journey.

“On arrival at Weymouth the children tumbled out of the train as soon as the carriages were opened for them, and could hardly contain themselves in their anxiety to get to the beach.

“They formed into an orderly procession, however, marching along like a regular little army, and felt very grand when a policeman held up the traffic for them to get across the road to the promenade.

“Once on the beach they quickly set to work to enjoy themselves. Many of the boys made a dash for the donkeys, but the majority made straight for that strange and wonderful thing, the sea.”

The adult volunteer helpers included Reuben George, the bootmaker, councillor and lifelong champion of the underdog whose name lives on in the hall that bears it. He thanked the Adver for its efforts.

We added: “Mr George said he was hoping to see the day when there would be no poor kiddies’ outing because there would be no poor children.

“He wanted it to be, in the future, an outing for every child, and to be run by the educational authorities or by the people of Swindon.”