IN 1971 the Bracknell Development Corporation was proud to blow its own trumpet by releasing a bird’s eye view of Hanworth being constructed.

The dramatic photo now has a different meaning as 46 years have passed and it paints a more historical vista so that anyone now living in the area can-either spot their house-or see where it was to be built.

Any jokes about the Wokingham Mayor’s chain of office were wearing a bit thin at the council’s finance meeting as the budget for repairs of the wafer-thin medallion were discussed.

The very real danger that the 200-year-old gold chain would snap had prompted emergency repairs that jumped from the estimated £313 to nearly £400.

Speaking at the meeting Alderman Alfred Skedgel explained: “We don’t want to see a first class piece of jewellery fall into disrepair.”

Bracknell’s sorting centre was on the look-out for first-class postmen and women and potential recruits could earn over £1,000 a year and get 3 weeks paid holiday-an advert in the News handily attached a coupon to help apply.

Brakenhale school’s annual pram rally took place within its grounds over a quarter of a mile course but many of the contestants did not complete the punishing route.

Each pram had to push a team member over 25 miles and the winning team ‘The Pink Panthers’ were the only squad to complete the sponsored event.

Many a team took a tumble and organiser Brian Jefferson told the News:”It’s surprising how flimsy some of these prams are!”

A dramatic filming sequence in Bracknell High Street saw a van being smashed into a shop window for the hit BBC police drama ‘Softly Softly’ and the exciting sequence was watched (at a distance) by amazed onlookers.

The “smash and grab raid” hit a specially prepared display window which had taken several days to prepare-the episode called “Resolution” aired on January 12th 1972.

A five-ton block of granite was placed in Bracknell town centre 46 years ago-paid for by banks with branches nearby-to become a centrepiece fountain.

The mammoth cube would feature water gushing from a 3-inch diameter jet which would then cascade down its sides.

The Royal Navy dropped in for visit at nearby Garth Hill School as part of a nationwide tour and a Wessex ‘commando carrier’ helicopter simulated a jungle drop by lowering a rating from the chopper onto the school cricket square.

Later the senior school pupils were shown a film illustrating a life on the ocean wave with the ‘senior service’.

Chief Petty Officer Bob Kelly told the News: ”This is not a recruiting drive, it is just to show why we have a Navy and to justify our existence.”

Pictures and words: Chris Forsey