Remember When: Swan Uppers set sail and Berks welcomed its first firewoman

1968: It took more than a high, fast-running river to keep the Swan Uppers from their traditional ceremony (main picture).

They arrived at Boulters Lock on schedule, having had the benefit of an occasional tow in the lower reaches.

The party, under the Queen’s Swan Keeper, John Turk, completed the stretch from Staines without mishap.

1973: A record £1,150 was raised towards a new mini-bus by Maidenhead Grammar School at its fete. 

A band of parents gathered to aid the cause, with a notable contribution from Ted Rogers and his hand-made strength machine.

There was musical entertainment from the Waltham St Lawrence Silver Band, as well as a gymnastics show provided by Larchfield Junior School.

1973: After 40 years of teaching, shared between Braywick and Boyn Hill Infants School, May Freeman retired.

Miss Freeman, who enjoyed the daily challenge, said: “It’s never boring working with children.”

1978: Twenty-three students from Cookham Rise Primary school paraded their handmade garments in a special fashion show.

Floral tiered skirts were chosen by the girls and, for the first time, ankle-length skirts were displayed among popular shorter styles.

The designs were sported in the evening at the school leavers’ party.

1978: Bourne End saw its largest ever string of carnival floats.

Led by the Pipe Band of the Royal Air Force, the procession made its way from Blind Lane to Wooburn Park.

Locals presented floats varying from a light-hearted Mad Hatter’s tea party, to a more dramatic scene from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, put on by the Forum Players.

The carnival also featured an array of stalls, car shows, and competitions such as the tug-of-war, won by Wooburn’s Working Men’s Club, and the Miss Bourne End Pageant, with the title being awarded to Tina Hopkins.

1983: Eighteen-year-old Debbie Chew, the first woman in Berkshire to be accepted for training as a firefighter, started as a retained firefighter in Cookham.

Ms Chew had received advice from senior officers that she might find the job ‘too tough’, but proved them wrong by successfully completing rigorous qualifying tests, including carrying ‘a body of 10-12 stones’ over her shoulder while running around the yard wearing breathing equipment.

“I always had it in me that I wanted to become a firewoman,” she said.

1983: Period fashions were put on display in a fete organised by WAMDSAD (now SportsAble) and the 4th Maidenhead Scouts.

Flapper girls, gladiators, can-can girls and ‘frothy white lace’ drew a crowd and, with the aid of side-shows and stalls, the event raised £400.

The money was raised with the aim of buying new sports equipment to enable some WAMDSAD members to compete in the next Paralympics.