BRACKNELL Cine Society was halfway through making a film about the history of the local area in 1963, using a 16mm camera with fully synchronised taped sound.

Director, Alan Norvill, told the News: “We are tracing our history back to Roman times, then through its development into a small market town to the thriving new town it is today.”

Along with their director, the group consisted of club secretary Jack Gentle, Ron Smith, the club chairman and 11-year-old Richard Norvill, the clapper boy.

The group hoped to finish the film by the end of the year, ready for its public premiere early in 1964.

Bracknell Development Corporation invited local VIP’s and journalists to look inside “Point Royal” in 1963, a new 200ft-high, 17-storey building, in Easthampstead.

A mixture of double, single and bed-sitter flats would be home to 102 tenants, but none of the rooms could be occupied by families with children.

Architect, Keith Barnes, told the News: “The (tower) block was designed to form a strong focal point for the Easthampstead district.

“We decided to give it a concrete exterior to make a break from the bricks-and-mortar look of the surrounding houses.”

A flat with a dining room and lounge was available for a rent of £6 a week and a ‘show flat with a view’ was furnished by Holmes of Reading.

The prospective Liberal candidate for Wokingham, Margaret Wingfield, joined eight other party members on a fact-finding visit to East and West Berlin 57 years ago.

During their five-day tour, which included visiting the Soviet sector of the city, the official party toured a factory and refugee camp.

On their return before a ‘de-briefing’ at the Foreign Office in Whitehall, the party posed outside the door of No 10 Downing Street.

The District Commissioner for Scouts, George Newton, visited the Easthampstead Group to host a special presentation evening in Westwick Hall.

Richard Stanton received his Scout card- the highest award available for a Scout- and a warrant was awarded to the group’s Cub mistress, Sheila Knowle.

The Bracknell News was on hand to photograph the troop leader, Brian Hodgson, receive his proficiency badges and a cycling certificate.

When Ferranti invited the Rt. Hon. Julian Amery MP, Minister of Aviation, to open their new premises in Western Road, Bracknell they had to arrange for his helicopter to land in a field nearby.

He was welcomed by Sebastian de Ferranti, chairman of the company, just after he landed opposite the new works.