Bracknell College were turning away new students in 1992 after Berkshire County Council withdrew a large part of their funding, leaving the college £270,000 in debt.

This bleak future would mean that candidates looking for full and part-time courses in the autumn could find it difficult to enrol, despite the college receiving funding of £4 million.

Deputy principal Gordon Bull told the News:” What hurts most of all is that we have been successful in attracting more students, but we will battle on despite this setback.”

Sandhurst Military Academy’s assault course had been chosen as the venue for a fundraising day of fun 27 years ago, all in aid of the Spastics Society.

But the organisers were appealing for more teams to take part in the challenge to raise money for people with cerebral palsy and help celebrate the charity’s 40th anniversary.

When sharp-eyed youngster Neil Riley spotted a mistake on the menu of Bracknell’s Horse and Groom Harvester, he put pen to paper and wrote a letter to the boss of the company- Rocco Forte.

The five-year-old wrote:” Dear Mr Forte, I went to tea at the Harvester in Bracknell. I like your menu, but could you please tell me how the bull that is chasing the man in the field gets out- because there is no gate!”

The top brass at the company swung into action and fired off an invitation to Neil and his family to have a free VIP slap up meal and promised to add him to their mailing list to proof-read any future menus.

Ascot’s May Queen contest only had two entries at the Royal Foresters Hotel in 1992, but despite this the organisers managed to raise £88 for the Geriatric Ward at Heatherwood Hospital.

The event, which was attended by Bracknell Town Mayor, Isabel Mattick, was dogged by poor weather and after a shortened judging session the winner was announced as Jessica Flowerdew.

Two veteran Ascot cyclists were due to pedal over 1,000 miles to Italy at the end of the month, in aid of the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, CAFOD.

Both Jamie McCaul and Alan Secombe were members of the congregation at Sunningdale’s Sacred Heart Church- which had already donated £,000 to their Sudanese refugee appeal.

Jamie told the News:” We’ll probably have blisters where we have never had them before, but it will be worth it if we get good support.”

Squadron Leader Fred Harbottle and Flight Lieutenant Tim Marley, from the Bracknell staff college, were planning to take part in the Three Counties Cycle Ride and the Bracknell Half Marathon in 1992.

Both events were due to happen on the same day and Fred told the News:” It will take us four-and-a-half hours, we’ll have to set a pace that we can both cope with!”