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 – November 27, 2014
Calendar boys
Twelve men proudly parading in the buff is probably not what you would expect to see on an early morning walk through Greenham Common.
However, that was the scene on a crisp autumn morning recently as the men, all members of Newbury Runners Club, got their kit off for a special calendar which is being sold to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis UK.
The pictures of the men baring all, which were kept under wraps from fellow club members until recently, were taken by local photographer Stuart March following a parkrun on the common.
More than 50 of the calendars, which cost £10 each, have been sold in the first week alone.
The photoshoot was part of a fundraising campaign by two Newbury Runners Club members, Sue Bennett and Debbie Futcher.
Sue said: “The guys were all up for it and were very proud of the photos when they saw the end result last week.
“We are used to running alongside them but have never seen them in that state of undress before.
“It was all done very tastefully and is certainly not a tacky calendar. It’s been selling really well.”
25 years ago – November 25, 1999
Touch of culture
A new arts venue has opened at Greenham Common, only a few months after the closure of the Newbury Arts Workshop.
New Greenham Arts has been launched by the Greenham Common Trust to attract a touch of culture to the former airbase.
Refurbishment work is still taking place, but when it is completed the venue will boast its own resident artists, a café, cyber café, exhibition hall and small theatre.
Bookings are already being received from local arts classes, which are taking advantage of the space offered by the former US Airforce recreation centre.
“So far it’s very good,” said Mary Hepburn, the chairman of Newbury Art Group, who takes part in a portrait class at the new centre.
“Not having got the Arts Workshop, we were lucky enough to transfer up here. We are hoping to use it a lot.”
50 years ago – November 28, 1974
Icy reception
The drone from the Thatcham Co-Op refrigerator has met with an icy reception from nearby residents.
Mrs Helen Leaver has been suffering from severe depression since the fridge was installed two months ago and her husband Frank has sent a petition with 13 signatures to the planning authority, demanding action to stop the noise.
Mr Leaver called on eight neighbouring households last week to canvass for his campaign.
He found other people who were suffering from the constant drone of the fridge motors.
The machinery lies inside a wooden building of one thickness, separate from the main shop premises.
The petition, which was posted last week, reads: “We are appalled by the terrible noise continuing day and night made by the motors for the new Co- Operative Society’s fridge.
“We urgently desire the speedy erection of a soundproof brick building to contain the motors, or that they be housed inside the present brick building.”
Mr Leaver is worried that if nothing is done, the noise will get worse in the summer, when presumably more power will be needed to cool the fridge.
The branch chief officer for the Reading area of Co- Operative Retail Services Ltd, Mr William Kenyon, told the NWN that the society was thinking of replacing the existing wooden building with a denser structure, but feared that this might invoke a planning regulation.
