BAKING heat sent people in droves to Swindon’s biggest public body of water this week in 1935.

In the midst of cooling off, some visitors watched the diving championships held there.

Pioneering glider pilot Joan Meakin, who in 1934 had become the first woman to fly the Channel without the benefit of an engine, announced she was to appear in the sky over Blunsdon as part of a flying circus.

The week also saw the Adver take some of Swindon’s most disadvantaged children on a trip to Weymouth which was paid for with readers’ donations.