Back in the day: We delve into our archives to see what was going on 10 years ago, 25 years ago and 50 years ago this week
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10 years ago – July 3, 2014
New lease of life
A Newbury schoolgirl living with cerebral palsy has a new lease of life after receiving an electric wheelchair funded through sheer community spirit.
More than £10,000 was raised to cover the cost of the custom-built chair for eight-year-old Iona Hind following an appeal published by the Newbury Weekly News in April.
To make the achievement even more astounding, the substantial sum was raised in just three weeks, and included one anonymous donation which provided almost half the total cost.
Children’s disability charity Spring Charity Fundraisers also provided a large amount of funding.
Together, the generosity of the West Berkshire community meant that Iona was able to have her chair built and delivered within two months of the launch of the fundraising.
Her mother Vicky Blackett had issued the plea, wanting to give Iona more independence ahead of her going to secondary school in a few years’ time.
Iona said: “It gives me more confidence. I was surprised when I found out it was coming this quickly. Thank you to everyone for helping me – it’s so cool.”
25 years ago – July 1, 1999
Roman treasure
More than 400 Roman coins buried for nearly 2,000 years were deemed to be treasure by West Berkshire coroner, Mr Charles Hoile.
The British Museum has subsequently been criticised, however, after the coins were dipped in acid rather than being cleaned by hand after they were found.
An inquest held at Newbury Museum heard that two metal detector enthusiasts had found the hoard in a field at Curridge on November 11 last year.
Mr Harry Haddrell and Mr Bernard Aldridge, both of Bartlemy Road, Newbury, who had been treasure hunting with the permission of the landowner, found 421 coins as well as the remains of a pottery jar and pot.
Assistant curator of Roman coins at the British Museum, Mr Richard Abdy, said the 421 bronze Roman coins found with the pot dated from the reign of Emperors Galba and Septimius Severus from a 68AD to 211AD.
He explained that the coins and the pot were likely to have been found together because one of the more secure places to keep savings would have been in a pot in the ground.
50 years ago – June 27, 1974
Sheep need a trim
Grazing in the graveyard is a new venture for some sheep from Wash Water.
They belong to Mr Norman Batt and are known as his ‘holy sheep’.
The animals have been called in to help keep the grass tidy in the Newtown Road cemetery at Newbury.
Sheep have been used for the same purpose at Speen Church for some time, but the idea has only recently been applied in Newtown Road.
The first consignment arrived some months ago and was allowed to roam more or less freely among the graves.
A second batch were placed in the cemetery by Mr Batt on Sunday.
Helping to keep the sheep looking trim is Andrew Smith with his shears. Andrew is following in his father’s footsteps as a sheep shearer.
