The sun blazed down for one of the most successful Britwell carnival processions in the summer of 1983 with thousands of Slough residents turning out to join in the fun.

There were 21 floats in the carnival as it wended its way around the estate to the field in Long Furlong Drive-in the previous year only 6 floats took part.

The procession was led by the Chesham Combined Boy’s and Girl’s Brigade band followed by the 1st Britwell Cubs and Scouts and Britwell Air Training Corps.

With the young airmen was their float,a lorry carrying a mock-up of a crashed aircraft and at the fete site the ATC set the plane ablaze and staged a rescue of the ‘pilot’.

Speaking to the Slough Observer John Mumford the carnival committee chairman said:”It’s been one of our best days and it’s great that so many people have turned out.”

A day of bizarre fun took place at the West Wycombe Motor Museum when the National Championship of lawnmower racing took place and it certainly assured the owner of the Cockshoot Farm had his grass cut for free.

It was a busy summer for ‘petrol-heads’ as Morris and Bentley owners were due to have events on site as well as an MG owners show.

East Berkshire Schools were in full sports day mode and 34 years ago the Observer attended Wexham Middle School’s annual sports afternoon.

Pupils from ‘Yellow House’ were pictured cheering on their team complete with teddy bear mascots.

It was also carnival time in Crowthorne and the Bracknell News headline announced that it was a ‘Blockbuster’ event.

Over 10,000 spectators saw the procession which had at its head a float with the Carnival Queen Katherine Jefferson plus her attendants Samantha Louth and Susannah Phipps.

Just behind came the Band of the Royal Marines from Chatham,Kent and the procession organisers had taken on the military theme by using a fleet of Land-Rovers from the East Berks Volunteer Force to ‘herd’ the floats into position and keep the timing down to a fraction of a second. Organiser Paul Burton told the News:”They were absolutely invaluable-they made a difficult job distinctly easier.”

In nearby Finchampstead a unique moment in the village’s history took place when two local residents reached their 100th birthdays.

In a special News feature the life and times of the two centenarians and a history of the village was published.

Lady Liddell MBE and Catherine Bramwell-Booth CBE had both been recognised in the Queen’s honours during their lifetimes for their charity and Salvation Army work.

Paying tribute to both ladies the News summed up their good deeds:”One could be forgiven for thinking that they would put their feet up-plead age or infirmity and call a halt to their work.But there must be an undetectable gene or some part of their make-up that won’t let them give up,Lady Liddell can be seen all through the summer hosting charity events on the lawns of her gardens and Miss Bramwell-Booth is still striving to save souls,more via her writing than personal appearances.”

July 1983 saw the Bracknell News publish a series of ‘Now where were we?’ aerial photos and readers were invited to guess where it was taken-the only clue for the snap being that the ring road is visible in the bottom left-hand corner.

Finally-just to make Bygone readers green with envy- a new scheme was launched in Owlsmoor,Sandhurst to help first time buyers-where the average house price was an unbelievable £29,000!

Ends

Words and archive photos:Chris Forsey