THE swinging sixties was in full flow in 1966 and Reading’s very own pop star, Marianne Faithfull, was guest of honour at a gala charity night at the Odeon cinema.

Marianne, a former pupil at St.Joseph’s Convent had sang her way to fame with the hit song “As Tears Go By”, spent part of her childhood growing up in nearby Milman Road, where famously Mick Jagger would arrive to collect her in his Aston Martin.

Appearing on stage in a sparkling mini-dress she sang her best-known songs and held the audience spellbound.

Two very different stories about cars appeared in the Reading Chronicle 54 years ago, the first involving the infamous ford at Land’s End public house, near Twyford.

Peter Harding was taking a short-cut across the River Loddon and (like so many other drivers) and believed the water levels were low enough for his vehicle to make it to the other bank, but half way across the wheels lifted off and he floated downstream for 300 yards.

Luckily, with the water already up to his windows, Mr Harding managed to open his door and swim to safety, later he told the Chronicle: “I walked to the pub and the landlady gave me a cup of tea.”

Great Western Motors must have had mixed feelings when they put on a ‘bit of a show’ to announce the lucky winner of their competition to win a brand-new Vauxhall Viva car.

The ‘delighted’ winner, Mr.Gillard of Linden Road, was given the keys by Reading Mayor Cllr Allum and a garage salesman then announced to the Chronicle reporter: “I could not believe I had won-unfortunately I can’t keep it, as we don’t have a garage and I cannot drive.”

An unusual parking problem reared its head in Abbey Square, Reading, in October 1966, when 120 visitors descended on a baby show and caused a ‘traffic jam’ with their prams and pushchairs.

The pavements outside the nearby council offices were so tightly jammed with the prams that staff could not leave, a call to the organiser from inside the adjacent office quickly galvanised the organisers to release the ‘log-jam’.

With firework night fast approaching, the thoughts of a traumatised nation were with the victims and survivors of the recent Aberfan disaster in South Wales.

A colliery spoil tip collapsed onto the village killing 116 children and 28 adults, one of the worst peacetime disasters in UK history.

A common tradition across the country was to make a ‘Guy’ (Fawkes) and wheel it through the local area and call out to passers-by for: “A penny for the Guy?”

Five local Reading schoolgirls pushed a buggy with their ‘Guy’ around town and touched so many hearts that they raised an amazing £28 and 10 shillings (roughly £350 today) in pennies.

An appeal was made as the British Legion organised its annual Poppy day collections in Reading as they were coming up short with collectors to cover the Katesgrove, Abbey and Battle areas of the town.

To highlight the already outstanding work done the Chronicle celebrated the ‘vivacity’ of 91-year-old Emily Langton who had collected for the fund for the last 40 years.