NOSTALGIA: Australian VIPs gather for Flinders bicentenary in 1974 and cast of 200-plus for school’s Bugsy Malone show in 1994 (GALLERY)

Bostons Haven High was set to stage Bugsy Malone, its first-large scale musical production, 25 years ago. Produced by Adrian Reed, it featured 50 pupils, 80 more from Park and Staniland primary schools, and 84 dancers from the Allen School of Dance.

Australian VIPs descended on Donington to help mark 200 years since the village’s most famous son, Captain Matthew Flinders, was born.

The Acting High Commissioner for Australia David McNicol and the Agent General for Victoria Sir Murray Porter, plus a representative from each Australian state, joined the villagers in their celebrations.

Captain Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia and is credited with popularising the country’s name.

Among the other guests was his great-great-granddaughter Lisette Flinders Petrie, who had travelled from her home in Brighton for the event.

The celebrations included the unveiling of a commemorative stone at the parish church. This had been sent to village by the Matthew Flinders Bicentenary Citizen Council, of Melbourne, from land on the city’s Port Phillip Bay. At the same time, another stone in memory of Flinders was being unveiled in the Sydney Opera House by the premier of New South Wales, Sir Robert Askin.

The village’s celebrations were organised by Ruby Hunt, who appeared on both Yorkshire and Australian TV during the media coverage of it.

This week in 1994 ...

* A bomb scare meant homes near Boston railway station were evacuated for several hours on a Tuesday night.

A bomb disposal squad from Nottingham was called in to carry out a controlled explosion of the device, which turned out to be harmless.

Police had received a call about a bomb at the railway station shortly after 11pm.

They found the suspect device attached to the main entrance doors.

Nearby residents were taken to the police station for the duration of the operation, eventually returning home about 2.30am.

It came just three weeks after Boston town centre was closed off because of a bomb scare in Mackay’s store.

* Councillors had set aside £5,000 to fight an appeal by Aldi Stores Ltd over the borough council’s decision to refuse planning permission for an out-of-town store.

The money would be used to appoint consultants to defend the council’s case at the appeal hearing.

Director of development Paul Edwards said if the council won the appeal it could ask for costs to be awarded against Aldi, adding: “We are now seeing interest in the town increasing and I think we must defend our decision.”