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 – June 4, 2015
Earthquake terror
A student has relived the moment he was caught up in the Nepalese earthquake disaster.
Nineteen-year-old Freddie Kanisius Pocock described an eerie atmosphere in the moments before the massive quake struck, with birds and animals falling strangely silent.
Then the ground began to shake and Mr Pocock said: “It only started to feel real when a building collapsed behind me.”
The earthquake struck on April 25, killing more than 8,800 people and injuring more than 23,000.
Mr Kanisius Pocock, who lives in Ramsbury, was in the country volunteering during his gap year for the Newbury-based charity, FutureSense Foundation.
He had been working in a school just east of Kathmandu, but at the time of the disaster he had headed into the capital with friends to visit temples.
Mr Kanisius Pocock said: “It was hard to stand, let alone run – it was like being on a giant swing. Buildings were collapsing and there was dust and people running everywhere.
“I managed to text home to say I was safe and then the phone signal went down for days.”
In the chaos, Mr Kanisius Pocock found his friends and they headed to the safety of a park.
He camped out under the stars, feeling the aftershocks, until he was able to catch a flight home days later.
25 years ago – June 1, 2000
Trapped in bunker
A mobile phone came to the rescue of four teenagers on Sunday night after they became trapped in an unused military bunker at Greenham Common.
The alarm was raised at midnight when the worried youths called 999, telling the operator that they were trapped and scared they would run out of air.
The unnamed teenagers, who were from Newbury and Lambourn, had become stranded in the secure storage unit earlier that evening after entering through a fire door that slammed shut behind them, sealing off their exit.
After nearly two hours of searching the unit grounds, firefighters and police heard banging coming from the bunker and opened the door by freeing its locking mechanism.
50 years ago – June 5, 1975
Newbury hit form
Newbury showed their true form for the first time this season, scoring a magnificent victory over Bagshot by five wickets in the Thee Counties League having been set 186 to win in two hours.
Batting first, Bagshot faced hostile bowling from Mervyn Couzens and Alan Larkcomwith Larkcom striking the first blow having R Snelling caught.
Then at 62 R Ireland was bowled by Couzens and bowling change brought another wicket when Dave Loader brilliantly stumped S Jones off Dennis Cryer.
Persistent battling by Bagshot enabled the score to grow steadily and after three hours they declared at 185-9.
In reply, runs came at a rapid rate with Pete Holloway being dismissed with the score at 67.
Trevor Boyd continued to support John Wyatt (78) whose shots were flowing to all sides of the ground but at 120 both were out.
Newbury were now well ahead of the clock and both Geoff Dubberley (29) and Alan Herdman (24no) continued the high scoring rate with a flourish of fours and sixes.
The winning run came from Cryer with Newbury having five of the 20 overs in the last hour still in hand.
