THREE foremen from Earley Power Station were being hailed as heroes in 1972, when they rescued a small child from the main Paddington railway line, after she had fallen from an overhead gantry.

Operations foreman, Fred Saunders, Bert Durrant and Jack Hawkins were part of a working party at the Power Station when the alarm was raised, after seven-year-old Patricia Aldridge fell 30 feet onto the rail track.

The youngster had decided to follow her elder “train spotter” brothers, who had crawled along the gas pipe, Bert Durrant told the Chronicle:” That drop would have killed most people and if a train had come along she would not have had a chance.”

Shoppers in Chatham Street precinct, Reading were puzzled by the appearance of strangely-shaped rocks being placed in the ground in 1972.

As a gift from the Rotary Club of Reading, the circular structure was opened by the Mayor of Reading to commemorate the Club’s Golden Jubilee, and to form the centrepiece for a floral garden.

A very special football was to be raffled at the St. Paul’s Primary School fete, in Tilehurst, 46 years ago.

Signed by the England football squad and manager Alf Ramsey, one lucky ticket winner would receive it from Reading footballer, Dennis Butler.

Reading Hospital’s Fete raised a record £2,700 on behalf of the patients and staff at The Royal Berkshire Hospital in the grounds of Brock Barracks.

Actor Robert Hardy, who famously played TV vet Siegfried Farnon in “All Creatures Great and Small”, spent a busy afternoon signing autographs for visitors.

Reading’s Police had a detective in charge of its very own C.I.D. Bicycle Department in 1972, and his unofficial title within the station was “Bill the Bike”.

For the previous 18 months, Detective Constable Bill Landers had been busy tracing local bike snatchers and handing out advice on how to foil them.

He told the Reading Chronicle:” I work on tip-offs from the public, keeping a full record of machines that have gone missing, much of my work is built on memory and intuition.”

Reading Greyhound Stadium was saying farewell to its Security Officer, Jesse Harris after 25 years of service.

Mr. Harris, from Caversham, had previously been a member of the Berkshire Constabulary, where he became the first of many mobile officers, in charge of 50 police vehicles.

After leaving the force in 1947 he started his second career ‘going to the dogs’ and, in recognition of his many years of service, Mr. Harris was presented with a colour television and other gifts from colleagues and patrons at the track.