Residents in Whitley Wood awoke to find their garden walls had been demolished by vandals in 1988, with damages estimated at hundreds of pounds.

Nobody witnessed the vandalism, which occurred in the small hours of the night, and pensioner Bill Naismith of Winton Road, told the Chronicle:” It was a senseless piece of vandalism.”

Mr Naismith and his wife, Grace, believed that the repairs to their wall would cost around £200 and were still to hear whether their insurance would cover the damage.

He explained:” Most of the people who live down here are elderly and can’t afford repairs, four other walls were wrecked during the night.”

A group of Caversham fund-raisers pulled of an amazing feat of strength 31 years ago, when they dragged a Reading Transport bus the length of Broad Street in under 10 minutes.

The short burst of effort from members of Caversham Rotoract earned £1,500 for the Orlando Fund which provided trips for seriously ill children to Florida’s Disney World.

Organiser Patrick McNaughton told the Chronicle:” It was what you call a pushover, the driver had to put his brakes on at one stage to slow us down!”

A rich historical pageant of Tudor England came to Woodley in 1988 when the town’s players staged the iconic production “A Man for All Seasons”.

A cast of 11- many of them doubling or trebling up- were lucky to have borrowed some BBC wardrobe department’s costumes and authentic furniture from local collectors.

“Seasons” chronicled the story of Sir Thomas More, who was one of Henry VIII’s closest courtiers during the monarch’s early years.

An intensely moral and upright man, Sir Thomas stood against the split with the Pope, a stand which would cost him his life, later in his reign Henry VIII (cue pantomime booing) ordered the demolition of Reading Abbey.

A Tilehurst student, Nicola MacIntosh, was setting her sights on gaining the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award in 1988 and was busy packing for a trip to the Lake District where she would be walking and camping for five weeks.

Nicola had been no stranger to adventurous expeditions as in the previous year she had sailed as pert of the crew on the Winston Churchill training vessel.

She told the Chronicle:” This will give me the chance to meet other people and broaden my horizons, whilst making me aware of my own strengths and weaknesses.”

Reading’s top young sports stars were given cash awards from the Reading Sports Aid Fund to help them with travel and equipment costs.

Mayor Doris Lawrence presented ten cheques to athletes in the Civic Centre, all benefiting from awards that had seen previous stars such as Simone Jacobs and Suzy Perrett getting a helping hand on their way to stardom.

Reading Borough Councillor Martin Salter looked a bit embarrassed as he helped open a new play area in Albert Road, Caversham in 1988, Mr Salter was the first to try the new slide as chairman of the council’s Leisure Committee.