Second Picture: Southsea Common postcard 1963.
The Rest of Your Life
I don’t know about you, but the only thing that I felt really let down about at Manor Court was in the field of Careers Advise. As far as I can remember I actually had none at all. In the back of my mind is the fact that Norman Folland was the Schools Careers Advisor for the boys and Joyce Pipe was the Advisor for the girls. Personally, I cannot ever remember having a careers interview with Norman Folland and those few lads that did, I seem to remember that he invariably recommended that most of them took the RAF Entry Exam. If it comes to that I don’t even remember having assemblies when prospective employers came along and spoke to us about their firms and the prospects within them. Maybe it is an uncharted blank in my memory and it actually did happen, but I do not remember it ever happening. Looking at the girls in the school, maybe it was that Joyce Pipe made a bigger impact on you girls if so come on and let me know!
Preparation for the world work was something that was almost ignored, although there was encouragement for some of us to go to college. To encourage us boys to think about work there were the odd outings to various employers during our 4th year but very little else.
I remember a group of us lads being bussed down to Stanhope Road to look at the printing process of the Portsmouth Evening News. We were taken to see the giant rolls of paper and the enormous printing presses. These were the days of the Comptometer operators who used the "touch typing" system, in the same way that typewriters and computer keyboards are used. After having typed the article it was set up using the hot lead method of casting type and the paper was set to rolling. I remember that it was a noisy, dirty and very unattractive workplace and I think I am right in saying that none of us were impressed and none of us went into the printing business. What really stuck in my mind was that as the company was printing so many news papers that day and on six days they did not even give us one to share on the bus going home.
Another visit was to a hand made furniture factory, again somewhere in Portsmouth. I have an even vaguer memory of this probably because my woodworking skills were terrible. I cannot remember the name of the company or where the factory was, I just remember the sweet smell of newly worked wood.
One group of lads went off to inspect the Dockyard Apprentice School at Flathouse Quay but I was not among their number.
I also remember a school visit to Hilsea Gas Works but I cannot remember if it was a science visit to see how Town Gas was made or a careers visit to see if we fancied working there, all I know is that it stank of sulphur, was filthy dirty and very unpleasant and we did not get to ride on the steam trains that worked there and that we had to clean the coke off of the soles of our shoes before we got back on the bus.
I understand that some of you girls had the delight of being taken to view the wonders of the Twilfit factory. Actually my late step mother in law was, for a time, a senior seamstress in the Twilfit factory and specialised in making corsets (something that our schoolgirls didn’t need I am sure, no samples there either!), later she transferred to that other well known corset maker in Portsmouth, Vollers. Of course today corset making has a completely different profile, they are no longer flesh pink foundation garments (only within the narrow surgical field) they are now very much fashion statements thanks to the pop stars like Madonna etc.
Work to us was important, especially if you were not going on to College but the help in attaining a job seemed very limited.
However the whole world of work was vastly different then. If you had a job and had an argument or disagreement with the boss and resigned or left on the Friday, you knew that with a look in the Portsmouth Evening News that night or a quick trip to the Labour Exchange on Monday morning you would be back in work again within a day or two. How things have changed!
Stay in touch,
Yours,
Peter
DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk
You Write:
Barry asks;
Whatever happened to 'bang' the fourth rice crispy brother?
News and Views:
Ottilie Patterson 1932-2011.She was once one of the UK's best-known blues singers but when she was laid to rest in Co Down, it was in complete obscurity. Ottile was buried in her native Comber after dying on June 20th in Ayr. She shot to stardom in the 1950s as a vocalist with the Chris Barber Jazz Band, marrying him in 1959. As early as 1963 she began to suffer throat problems and stopped appearing regularly with Chris Barber and retired in 1973. She became dogged by ill health and suffered the breakdown of her marriage. She had been living almost as a recluse in the Rozelle Holm Farm Care Home in Ayr for the past 30 years. Her death has gone unreported in the media as it seems to have been her own wish that there would be no fuss and she was given a private burial in the family grave. Chris Barber, now 81, is currently on a UK tour with The Big Chris Barber Band.
On this day 8th July 1960-1965.
On 08/07/1960 the number one single was Good Timin' - Jimmy Jones and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 08/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Mario Dubois born.
On 08/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was 94 die in Bombay air crash.
On 08/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 08/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 08/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
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