Farnham Royal probably was not the place to be in 1986 if you suffered from “Coulrophobia”, the fear of clowns, as 130 circus-themed charity pub crawlers roamed through the area.
Staff at Heathrow’s Air Canada had organised the “Circus Scramble Ramble” to raise money for Leukaemia Research.
Over 130 fancy dress competitors turned out as cats, clowns and ballerinas- with three people even ‘wearing’ a circus big top- completing the five-mile pub crawl underneath the tent.
Paddy Abbitt from Air Canada told the Observer:” It was great fun, people came out of their houses to give us money, we even had staff from Canada and Germany coming over to take part.”
Burnham Park hosted its annual donkey derby 32 years ago, and the 1st Lent Rise Scout Group were celebrating, after raising over £1,500 towards a new minibus.
Two thousand people flocked to see the donkey races, and of course the highlight of every visitor’s day was the appearance of
jockey Anthony Cooper, 8, riding on his mount called ‘Slough Observer.’
Motorcycle racing ace Colin Wright, and his side car partner, Terry Vaughan were rapidly forging a reputation as one of the UK’s top riders.
But they were having to rely more and more on an out-dated bike, so the pair appealed in the pages of the Observer for sponsors, to help them move up to compete in British Championship races.
Two young Judo fighters from Cippenham Judo Club were winning medals in 1986 at the Middlesex Invitation Championships held in Hillingdon.
Zoe Eaton, 12. A novice fighter, won the bronze medal in only her second tournament and Carly Barry, 10, managed to go one better when she clinched a silver in the under-36kg group.
Datchet Morris Men celebrated their 25th anniversary in style as they were joined by dozens of fellow dancers from all over the country.
The whole ensemble entertained locals on Datchet Green with a colourful display of dancing, and many of the visitors camped at Churchmead School.
Summer came to Slough as in June 1986 as the Round Table hosted its annual ‘Hospitals’ fete and carnival.
There were more than 35 separate floats in the parade, ranging from decorated cars to fancy dressed hospital beds.The event attracted thousands of spectators, with a display by motor cycle stunt riders and a show by the Thames Valley Police Dog Display Team.
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