Remember When: Adam Ant lookalike competition at Newlands

This week's Remember When features an Adam Ant lookalike competition and snowfall which caused traffic misery in Maidenhead.

James Preston

jamesp@baylismedia.co.uk

05:00PM, Saturday 11 December 2021

1971: Kevin Bowditch was preparing to fulfil a lifelong ambition by competing on the track with a racing car he built himself.

The 22-year-old Fifield resident was putting the finishing touches on the machine which had occupied much of his time for the previous seven months.

The car was a modified version of the previous season’s Brabham Formula 3 and was capable of speeds up to 130mph.

Kevin was hoping to enter the car in a Formula 3 event in 1972.


1976: A pair of cake-baking novices buckled down and made dozens for a Christmas party for elderly people.

Lorne Eveleigh and Frank Alder, both 14, thought the party at Pinkneys Green Youth and Community Centre was just the excuse to bake cakes for the first time.


1981: Maidenhead was thrown into chaos as the first snow of winter fell – taking a lot of people by surprise.

Road and rail travellers were the hardest hit, with mile-long jams on the main routes and lengthy delays on the Paddington line.


1981: Pupils at Newlands School took part in an Adam Ant lookalike competition.

The competition was part of the school’s first-ever rag weeks, organised by enterprising second-year girls in aid of animal hospitals. Other fundraising activities included a spaghetti race, a Blankety Blank show, a camel race and a shoe shining service.


1991: Pupils at Ellington Primary School marked both National Tree and their own science weeks by planting 20 fruit trees and a number of native species in the grounds.

It was the start of a 10-year plan to make the grounds more aesthetically pleasing and of more use in the curriculum, as well as encouraging more wildlife.


1996: Winners of a prize draw in aid of the ‘Tiser Cracker Appeal were presented with their prizes at the Magnet Leisure Centre.

Organised by TransSporter, the borough’s sports development team, the draw raised more than £40 for the appeal and left 12 sporting enthusiasts with big smiles.

Prizes included a football signed by Glenn Hoddle, badminton rackets and a rugby balls.


1996: Top England rugby stars gave Bisham Primary School youngsters a lesson as they launched a new programme.

Jason Leonard, Jon Sleightholme and Ben Clarke were launching BT TOP Sport – designed to introduce seven to 11-year-olds to rugby union.

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