Web Page 1162

Web Page 1162
6^th July 2013

Top Picture: Cap Bomb

Middle Picture: 1960’s make up case

Bottom picture features the Liddell Sisters aka The Honeys as featured last week.

Walter, Walter

When I was in the sixth year at Manor Court in 1962-63 we not only did not have an official classroom but we also had no official study area; in fact I can remember making room and sitting in an area where the hall chairs were stored trying to study in peace and quiet. I have a memory of a sixth Form Room and Prefects Room situated off the stage in the hall but by the time we became sixth years these rooms were made over as something else!

On the second floor of the original block of the school was the prep area between the two science labs. However below that on the first floor was an enclosed linking corridor, which ran from one side of the building to the other, it was ‘T’, shaped just the sort or area we needed? After some protracted negotiations with the Headmaster (dear old Reg!)  it was agreed that as there were only five or six of us in the sixth year we could have this area as our Common Room and Study area. The school generously provided lockers for our books etc and a few hard school chairs to sit on. Being sixth years and only studying maybe two or three subjects we ended up in this room for a lot of time during the week!

Both Melvyn Bridger and myself have the same memory that from somewhere a second hand grey three-piece suite, settee and two armchairs, was obtained along with a coffee table. Neither of us can remember where these items came from but I have a vague suspicion that Norman Folland had something to do with obtaining the furniture. So now we had a sixth form Common Room and all other years were banned from the area, (we could not do this with the teachers) but as all of us were Prefects and above we had a hold over the other years and they knew not to come into ‘Our’ area! This was a serious study area, well for most of the time!

As I said we spent a lot of time during our free periods in this room and there is one occurrence that both Melv and I remember extremely well.   

The school was brand new when we moved in the previous year and there was still some final building works being carried on around the school. Outside the window of this Common Room there was a certain amount of brick laying being undertaken. We never, ever saw the bricklayer and we believed that there was only the one who was undertaking this particular job. For several mornings running we heard this brickie start work, mix his mortar and set to building a wall. He was a cheerful soul and was always singing, but it was always the same Music Hall song every morning and afternoon, “Walter, Walter, Lead me to the altar, your more than the whole world to Me.” And that was where he would stop, but he sang it over and over again and again and come the Wednesday afternoon we had just about as much as we could take of this song! So after lunch we settled in the Common Room, opened the window and waited and sure enough we soon heard, “Walter, Walter,” now was our chance so straight away we chimed in with “Lead me to the altar, your more than the whole world to Me.” This had the desired effect we never heard that ‘Brickie’ sing again!

I often wonder what happened to that room, and the furniture, after we left, was it retained as a sixth form Common Room or was it turned into a store or something else, I would love to know. So if you in the sixth form in 1964 onwards can I ask if you remember this Common Room or were we the only year that used it?

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.com

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Roger (Jackson) LaVern, keyboard plyer with the Tornadoes died on 15th June from prostrate cancer at home in London, he was 75.It was his work on the Clavioline that gave the group its distinctive sound in'Telstar', a numvber which reached No 1 her and in the USA in 1962, Roger also joined with the rest of the group in 1975 to re-record the number,

On this day 6^th July 1960-1965

On 06/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) 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. The big news story of the day was Bing Crosby presented with a platinum disc by Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for estimated sales of 200 million records.

On 06/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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.

On 06/07/1962 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.

06/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles 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. The big news story of the day was Martin Luther King denounces JFK's civil rights policies.

On 06/07/1964 the number one single was House of the Rising Sun - Animals and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Room at the Top (ITV) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division One champions.

 On 06/07/1965 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.