1970 THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT... There were pay rises, and pay rows, plus mercy missions and more, making headlines Take a trip down memory lane.

Byline: ANDREW MELVIN

A TODDLER had to be rescued after falling into a 12ft chasm that was just 10in wide.

Sharon Evans, aged two and from Tonypandy, wandered off while her parents were picking berries on the mountainside above Clydach Vale.

Her parents heard her cry out and discovered she was lodged firmly at the bottom of the crevice.

Fellow berry-pickers tried to pull her free while her dad summoned the fire service.

A crewfrom Tonypandy hauled her to safety uninjured thanks to a nylon noose around her shoulders.

Delegates representing Britain's 300,000 miners backed a call at their conference for minimum wages ranging from pounds 20 for surface workers to pounds 30 for coalface workers. The wages would mean increases of between pounds 3 and pounds 6.

Miss Wales 1970, Sandra Gator from Llanharan, was in Miami, Florida, competing for the title of Miss Universe.

Experts warned that Wales could be facing a water supply crisis if rainfall did not increase.

There were fears that a sunny spell similar to one the previous month could accelerate the diminishing of water levels in reservoirs.

In the wake of rioting in Belfast, a Republican MP claimed that British soldiers had been looting homes, stealing from local people and breaking religious pictures and crucifixes.

The Queen, Princes Philip and Charles and Princess Anne braved freezing temperatures during a visit to Frobisher Bay in Canada's Northwest Territory.

University College, Cardiff, was throwing open its doors to the public in a bid to end the image of students as people who "strip off on the college lawn or throw pies at women attending Greek dinners", said Principal Prof CWL Bevan.

He said the open day would show people the reality of student life, and explain the plans for the new Sherman Theatre, which would be on show.

The Echo revealed that a 250ft high office block - as tall as Cardiff's 24-storey Pearl Assurance skys caper in Grey friars Road - could be built in the city centre as part of extensions to the head post office.

The block would form part of a complex to extend the automatic telephone exchange at Westgate Street.

More than 4,000 shop workers in South Wales were to receive a new wage increase, and the women would have equal pay for the first time. The rates of pay for people in grocery stores had been agreed following negotiation with union bosses. Men aged 21 and over were in line for weekly increases of pounds 3 6s, putting their pay up to pounds 13 a week.

The General Accident Group, one of Britain's largest insurers, announced it was increasing the cost of policies by 25 per cent.

The move would add more than pounds 4 10s to the cost of insuring a medium-sized family saloon in Cardiff city centre. The owner of a Viva 1500 in Glamorgan would be paying up to pounds 6 more a year.

Two express trains were involved in serious collisions with cows at the same spot in Bridgend within 12 hours.

One train killed five animals when it ploughed into a herd on the line, and another killed one cow. A spokesman said both trains had been travelling at 30mph and if they had been going at full speed the consequences could have been much more serious.

The owners of the cows, worth pounds 500, later demanded compensation from rail bosses.

The new pounds 20 note was available at all banks in South Wales, but there was no special demand for it, said a spokesman.

An accountant at one of Wales' largest stores said few shoppers bothered to change a pounds 10 note so it would be surprising to find many of the new notes being changed in shops.

DRAMA IN THE CITY SKIES

AN American bomber that caused terror when it "buzzed" over Cardiff has proved hard for one witness to forget.

Forty years on, Wally Davies has vivid memories of the B47 that flew too low over the city centre in 1968.

As reported in a recent Time Traveller, the pilot's antics forced people to take cover, and police had numerous complaints from bystanders frightened by the engine noise.

Mr Davies said: "I was working for James Howells as a cabinetmaker's apprentice and had to go to Park Place opposite the New Theatre to ease a door where a new carpet had ben laid.

"There was an almighty noise in the sky and I ran to the door just in time to see this giant bomber flying over the New Theatre.

"It was so low that it seemed to be a few feet from the top of the building. I remember that a report said that the pilot was due to go back to America and this was his farewell to Wales. Later I believe he faced disciplinary action over his prank."

YOUR PART IN HISTORY

WERE you involved in any of the events described here, or do you remember anything about them?

We'd love to hear your memories of this week in 1970. Please drop us a line by writing to Andrew Melvin, South Wales Echo, Thomson House, Havelock Street, CF10 1XR, or e-mail [e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

CRISIS TALKS: Last-ditch meetings were taking place this week 38 years ago in a bid to avert a national docks strike. However, workers and employers failed to reach agreement over pay, and Cardiff dockers like these, pictured picking up strike pay, walked out shortly afterwards