That was the News that was:

25 YEARS AGO

A WYCOMBE couple believed they had discovered a rock from outer space when digging in their garden. David and Pauline Cox, of Eaton Avenue, were clearing a pit in their garden when David’s pickaxe hit something solid.

“My pickaxe nearly bounced off the chalk it was so hard,” said David, 30.

“I reached down and pulled out this nodule. I concluded it must have been rather hot at some time and though ‘Oh it must be a meteorite’.”

The couple made the discovery while clearing the edges of the 6ft pit, which had been dug for storage space. David said: “I’m satisfied it’s a meteorite – with it being so deep in the chalk it can’t be anything man-made, it’s been five or six feet down in the chalk for a long time.”

An expert from the county museum in Aylesbury felt it was unlikely to be a meteorite as only one had ever been unearthed in Buckinghamshire before. “I think it is very unlikely that it’s a meteorite, I would have thought it was a nodule pyrite,” he said. The couple planned to take the rock to a geologist to get a final opinion.

15 YEARS AGO

A PREHISTORIC settlement unearthed by archaeologists in Princes Risborough delayed the construction of the town’s swimming pool.

Thames Valley Archaeology Services carried out a week long dig on the site before the building work began. Pieces of pottery and human bones believed to be nearly 3,500 years old were discovered at the site in Wades Park, Stratton Road.

Evidence of a ditch was also found, leading county archaeologist Michael Farley to believe that the one acre area was once a prehistoric settlement. The Bronze Age artefacts, believed to date back to between 1400 and 800 BC, almost went undiscovered. The archaeological team were just 20 minutes away from downing tools when the finds were made.

The council delayed the building of the pool while further explorations were carried out.

Jim Porter, head of Client Leisure Services, said: “Obviously, it is very exciting. It’s totally unexpected. We expected we might find some medieval remains, but this is really exciting.”

10 YEARS AGO

A CHURCH in Beaconsfield was bathed in pink light to raise publicity for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The rector of St Mary and All Saints’ Church, in Windsor End, was asked to contribute to the awareness month, held every October, by the Friends of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

Adrienne Britton, press officer for the charity, said: “We approached the rector, John Wynburne, at St Mary’s Church and asked if he would like to agree to light his church pink and make a special contribution this month.”

The Rev Wynburne was more than happy to help out.

He said: “There are around ten people in the congregation who have been living with breast cancer, but I also have a personal interest because my sister died of breast cancer.”

He felt that lighting the church pink, the colour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, was a good way to interest the public in the charity.

“We are pleased to help in this way and to raise awareness to find a cure for this form of cancer,” he said.

The Friends of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund raised around £29,000 for the charity in 1998.