THIS week in 1971 a Swindon man chatted with a king and a little-known composer called Andrew Lloyd-Webber was married.

Naturally, the Adver was there to gather those tales and many more.

The local who found himself in conversation with royalty was Alan Beazley, a 28-year-old radio ham who lived in Tealsbrook, Covingham.

One evening he made contact with another user whose call sign was JY 1.

We said: “And seconds later he was talking to another keen radio amateur – King Hussein of Jordan.

“‘The wife was just getting in the bath when the call came through,’ said Alan. She rushed in to listen to her husband’s 15-minute conversation with the king.

“Alan found the talking easy. Standard practice for hams is to swap information about equipment and about the weather, and then to wish each other ‘73s’ (ham jargon for best wishes) before signing off.

“But then to confirm the call they have to swap cards. And this is where the problem of what to say comes in.”

Alan explained: “I shall thank him for the contact, but then I haven’t a clue what to say.”

Up in Ashton Keynes, guests at a wedding in the small parish church were given a sneak preview of a couple of numbers from a forthcoming musical – a little something called Jesus Christ Superstar.

The groom was 23-year-old Andrew Lloyd-Webber and one of the ushers was co-composer Tim Rice. The previous year had seen the pair enjoy some success with another newfangled rock opera called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

The bride was 18-year-old Sarah Hugill from Ashton Keynes, daughter of Tate and Lyle sugar firm director Anthony Hugill.

The best man was the groom’s brother, Julian, who was apparently quite the cellist.

Following the ceremony and reception, the couple set off for a honeymoon in Vienna. Their marriage would last a dozen years.

News of the ceremony was removed from later editions to make way for a story about a traction engine rally.

Still in the world of entertainment, a party of former Swindon bus crews went to see a film starring some people who were many times more famous than the future composer of Cats and The Phantom of the Opera.

Mr RE Coombes, manager of the ABC cinema, which is now the Savoy pub, welcomed the group of retired Swindon Corporation and Bristol Omnibus Company staff.

The new film they were about to see turned out to be the greatest box office smash of the year. The main cast were so famous that they couldn’t walk down the street without causing traffic jams, and more than 20 million British people knew their names and faces.

1971 saw the release of classics such as The French Connection, Love Story and Dirty Harry, but the film at the ABC blew them all out of the water in terms of revenues.

It was the first of three celluloid adaptations of phenomenally popular TV sitcom On The Buses, then at the height of its success, which featured an ensemble cast headed by variety star Reg Varney and was set in and around a bus station.

Our reviewer wrote: “There is a good balance of domestic comedy and laughter on the buses themselves.

“Although it is very much a family show, there is a slight bawdy thread running through.

“Things start happening when women drivers are brought in as Town and District Bus Company are short staffed.

“But to Stan and Jack’s horror the women are ugly and they lose their overtime bonus...”

Stan and Jack would probably have approved of another story that week. Over in California, it wasn’t unknown for filling stations to be staffed by glamorous women in order to attract more custom, but as far as we know it hadn’t been tried in Swindon.

Not until that July 44 years ago, anyway.

Beneath a front-page picture of a bikini-clad attendant we wrote: “It’s enough to make even the most well-tuned engine miss a beat – Virginia King, bikini-clad petrol pump girl at a garage in Queen’s Drive.

“And it’s girls like Virginia who can help put back some of the joys into motoring.

“Virginia, who is also a semi-professional singer, says that sales have soared since her new approach. Some drivers come in for one gallon and leave with eight gallons. Others buy half a gallon at a time.”

If Virginia or somebody who knows her happens to read this, we’d be delighted to hear from them.