BRACKNELL’S first multi-storey car park was set to open in 1969 and the good news was that, until the New Year, parking would be free of charge.

The entrance and exit would be in Church Road, opposite the Easthampstead Rural District Council offices and had spaces to accommodate 757 cars.

Lifts and staircases would connect pedestrians to and from the four floors and a pedestrian bridge would connect shoppers to the new shops in Charles Square, which was also due to open soon after.

Local boxing hero Frank Harvey won a unanimous points victory at a Bracknell Boxing Club tournament 51 years ago, and received the “Jack Miller” cup, for being voted the best boxer at the event.

Frank, as self-employed paper merchant, had recently taken up boxing again and he modestly told the News: “Rather than any ability on my part, it might be due to the strength of the opposition that I’ve had a good run.”

The spotlight fell on well-known local artist Arthur Jones in a special feature in the Bracknell News entitled “Good Plot”, featuring the house and gardens of house-proud residents.

Arthur, a keen handyman, had sculptured the exposed beams in his living room into the shape of a gazelle, his fireplace made from asbestos (?) and a tropical island themed bathroom.

But, pride of place in his garden had to be his scale replica ‘moon’, three-foot in diameter which was pictorially correct, as Arthur had copied all the significant features of the lunar surface.

A giant 15,000-gallon milk storage tank arrived by crane at Cliffords Dairy, to replace the meagre 1,500-gallon tanks, previously used to store fresh milk before it reached the doorsteps of Bracknell.

Traditionally, fresh milk arrived in old-fashioned churns and filling the old vessels would take too long, so the new state-of-the-art containers would speed up delivery to households at a time when the Bracknell area was expanding.

The Bracknell and Ascot Cage Bird Society held its annual show in 1969 and a 10-year-old schoolgirl called Miss S. Wren (no first named published) won ‘best bird in show’.

Miss Wren also won the Juvenile Cup and a prize for the best canary, whilst her father Mr. J. Wren scooped two cups of his own.

A group of walkers and their four-legged friends were pictured in the News before they set off on the ‘Dog and Friend Walk’ in Binfield.

Starting from the village crossroads the Afghan Hounds and Collies took their owners for little stroll before ending up in the local pub to ‘dry off’.