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Thursday 31 December 2015

Web Page  No 2226

8th January 2016

Top Picture: Sunday Tea in the 1950’s
 Second Picture: TV watching 1950’s

 Third Picture: Sunday Night at the London Palladium




Never on a Sunday

Not the famous 1960’s film but life at home when we were children. Does this ring a bell with any of you? ‘Mum can I go and call for xxxxx to play?’ ‘No dear you don’t go and call for people on a Sunday’, that would have been the conversation in many homes around the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, but life was very different then.

The Lords Day Observance Society and the Keep Sunday Special Campaign had great followings and hence a lot of power over the population, so let’s take a look at Sundays in the mid 1950’s. The only places you went out to on those Sundays was either church or Aunty and Uncle yyyy for tea, you never visited otherwise. A family walk along the seafront, a visit to a museum, or gallery a walk along the top of the hill (always in your Sunday Best of course) was normally the most excitement that you could expect to get that day.

The cinemas were all closed in the afternoon, evening performances only and often the local theatres were closed all day. There was no professional sport only amateur sport such as football, rugby, cricket or motor cycle scrambling or suchlike.

Even the local corner shop succumbed to the rules and was only open for a couple of hours normally over the midday period and the larger department stores did not open at all. Even the local pubs only opened during the special ‘Sunday Hours’. The only tradesmen that I remember that regularly worked on a Sunday were the ice cream men on their regular rounds. Sunday morning Car Boot Sales were something for the future
Sundays were the days for quiet days at home, especially in the winter or when it was raining. Our time would be spent with jigsaw puzzles, playing board games, listening to ‘Two Way Family Favourites’, the Billy Cotton Band Show, the comedy hour followed by ‘Movie Go Round’ and then ‘Pick of the Pops’ on the Light Programme. This all filled in the time until ‘Songs of Praise’ on TV followed by ‘Dr Finlay’s Casebook’ then ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’ with ‘Beat the Clock’.

Sundays could be tedious especially if all you wanted to do was go out and play.

Sunday modes of dress was also very different. Men would not even consider going out without a suit or jacket, a tie and a hat, even to sit on the beach. Even the little boys wore suit coats and on 80+ degree days, in places with no air-conditioning, the men just sat there sweating. The women also wore their best dresses and shoes, hats and bags too, as did the little girls. At this time children, on a Sunday, were normally dressed as little adults, the teenager had not arrived yet!

There was always the other side of the coin, the much anticipated Sunday Roast Dinner. This was always the highlight of the week, roast beef or lamb (chicken was always too expensive then) roast potatoes and Yorkshire or suet pudding and fresh vegetables all followed by apple pie and custard, it still makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Then in the afternoon there was Sunday tea with sandwiches, cakes, tinned fruit and Ideal Milk and bread and butter, possibly in the winter crumpets toasted on the open fire. Then later in the evening, if you were lucky, left over cold meat sandwiches for supper.

Sunday could also be a real feast for some folks.

Then came the 60’s and most things changed and a way of life that had been the norm for years was lost. Looking back I think we had the best of both worlds

  Keep in touch

Peter




You Write:

 Mary Writes:-


 I confess that I climbed trees, ran all over Farlington Marshes, paddled in the sea, loved scaling the chalkpits and I`m here to tell the tale. It didn`t do me any harm. It was all great fun, 

Maureen Writes:-

I have very fond memories of my Sundays'. Yes, we had to wear our Sunday clothing and for me that included best coat, hat and gloves and of course special shoes. Yes, we went to Sunday school at the Resurrection Church and then visited Grandma in Brecon Avenue, except on the first Sunday of the month when we would go to the Methodist Church for Church parade with the Brownies, Guides and Scouts.  Yes, we always had a roast dinner about 2.30pm except on the weekend that my mother gave my brother and I a Pound note to go to the butchers to buy the meat for Sunday (she thought we would get a joint of beef...... oh no!) we bought a £1 worth of lambs kidneys ......40 at 6p each. She gave Laurie of Marchments a piece of her mind for selling us all those kidneys but we had them every day that week in various guises.
 
Some Sundays in summer, we would have crab sandwiches for tea, in the winter we would toast bread by the fireside with lashings of butter but best of all was when Dad was home (not often as he was in the Royal Navy and in those days they served 18 month and 3 year commissions) but when he was home we would walk up Drayton Lane and over the hill through Stakes woods. We would learn all about the countryside from Father, a Dorset country lad and we would  stop and chat to the gypsy that occupied the corner of one of the fields.  Then onto the Fox and Hounds in Stakes Road, they had gardens for the fine weather and a family room for the colder evenings, then we would catch the last bus  at about 10pm to the top of the hill and walk back down Drayton Lane. Lovely memories.
 
NO, we were not allowed to call on our friends, we were not allowed to play in the street, we certainly were not allowed to scream and shout and make a public nuisance of ourselves and Yes I brought my children up with the same beliefs. Sundays were family days, quiet days, time to go to Church in your best clothes and we always took the children out for a walk on the Cornish Beaches and buy an ice cream on the way back to the car. Only difference was that Sunday lunch was usually a picnic so it became Sunday Dinner in our household.





News and Views:

On this day 8th January 1960-1965

On 08/01/1960 the number one single was Starry Eyed - Michael Holliday and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed but the box office smash was North by Northwest. 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 week was New French franc introduced.

On 08/01/1961 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Russ Conway Show (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 week was Decimal coinage introduced in Pakistan.

On 08/01/1962 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. 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.

On 08/01/1963 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. 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 08/01/1964 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

 On 08/01/1965 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. 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.



Friday 25 December 2015

Web Page  No 2224

30th December 2015


  Top Picture: 1950’s pen knife

 Second Picture: Hayling Sand Dunes


Third Picture: Commercial catapult

Happy New Year everyone and congratulations in making it to 2016!

There was a Parliamentary Report published at the back end of last year that modern children were not being allowed to play with traditional things because they were too  dangerous. Heavens if it wasn’t dangerous when we were kids we did not play with it!

The report stated that the following were now too dangerous for children to play with:-

Sharp knives; I do not know about you girls but when I was a kid every boy had a sharp penknife in his pocket for whittling, carving and general use. Many of us had sheath knives or Swiss Army knives, in fact for many of us a clasp knife or sheath knife were an essential part of our Scout uniform.  I will stress here never a flick knife!

Bathing in the sea;  This was another thing that was criticised because it is dangerous. None of us bothered about water pollution, strange objects floating in the sea, jelly fish, Portugese Men of War or cuttle fish as we spent hours in the sea next to the sand dunes at Hayling Island, even those sand dunes have been flattened as they were declared dangerous!  I spent many happy hours in those dunes!

Climbing trees;  Everyone I knew, both boys and girls, climbed trees, in fact in my own garden we had several great climbing trees which we would climb all over or build tree houses in and I never remember anyone falling and really hurting themselves.
Carrying matches;  Most of us at some time have built a camp fire either on the marshes or on the hill. Sometimes these fires grew a little larger than we anticipated but after a minor panic the flames were soon under control and we could get down to cooking our sausages or baked potatoes perfectly safely and we caused no harm to anyone. After all without matches in late October and early November we would not be able to light the 1d bangers we bought from the toy shop so we could blow holes in the mud of the local streams.

Playing in dangerous area;  Most of my friends all played on the marshes and we always stood a chance of discovering some form of discarded Army ordinance somewhere in the bushes or in the mud, don’t forget the days I am talking about were only 10 or 11 years after the end of the war. We often came home with some form of trophy, shrapnel, bullet cases and odd things that we had no idea what they were. We also went bait digging in the soft mud and sea fishing off the Eastern Road Bridge, spending our time either hanging over the parapet or sitting on it. After all half the fun was walking along the top of the parapet from one side to the other with the pavement one side and Portscreek the other (that must be another dangerous thing that modern children cannot do, walk along high ledges).  

The list could be endless, playing in the chalk pits, digging tunnels and dens in the garden, building go carts and sledges and even scrounging some oil drums and building homemade rafts. What amazes me is that these folks who produce these reports do not seem to realise that for us it was all part of growing up and for a lot of the items, tree houses and rafts for example, the ‘Things to do for Children’ books gave you helpful hints and instructions on how to build the items.

Before I finish I have realised that I have missed off three things which are most certainly frowned on today. I know that I, along with a lot of other children, cut and made my own catapult (some richer folks actually bought commercially made metal ones),  or went to the local corner shop and bought a pea shooter and a bag of dried peas, then there was always the spud gun, and some of us even had an air rifle or pistol!
But the big thing is that we were let out on our own and what is even more important is that we wanted to go out, I know we did not have electronic games and suchlike but I am sure the way we grew up we had a more rounded and meaningful youth.     
Keep in touch

Peter



You Write:


News and Views:

On this day 30th December 1960-1965

On 30/12/1960 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Arthur Haynes Show (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge.

On 30/12/1961 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Everton. 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 £not very interesting and 12.89 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick.

On 30/12/1963 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 30/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The 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 30/12/1965 the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was Rubber Soul - The Beatles. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


Wednesday 16 December 2015

Web Page  No 2222

23rd December 2015
  Top Picture: Victorian Theatre Royal Pantomime programme 





Second Picture: Portsmouth Panto Stars 2014



Third Picture: Les Dawson as the Panto Dame



Forth Picture: Real old fashioned Christmas Lights. Pam remembers having ones like these when she was a young girl.



It’s Christmas so its Quiz Time
So you think you know Pantomime!
(the answers are in the You Write Section)

1. What is the name of the father of Cinderella and the Ugly Sisters ?
2. In which pantomime do Robin Hood and Maid Marion appear?
3. What is the name of Aladdin's brother ?
4. What phrase does the Giant in "Jack and the Beanstalk" use when he can smell Jack ?
5. In pantomime who is Princess Marcella ?
6. What is the name of Prince Charming's assistant ?
7. In which panto does Buttons appear?
8. What is Aladdin's mother called ?
9. Who had appeared in panto for 38 consecutive years until 2007 when he won "I'm a Celebrity....." ?
10. What told Dick Whittington to "turn again" ?
11. In Jack & the Beanstalk what does Jack get in exchange for his cow?
12. In Disney's Aladdin the villain was known as JAFFAR but by what name is he known in panto ?
13. What is the most popular panto ?
14. Which panto was created in 1902 especially for the comedian Dan Leno?
15. From what set of stories does Aladdin originate?
16. From what does the Fairy Godmother create Cinderella's carriage footmen ?
17. What is Jack's mother normally known as in the Panto Jack & the Beanstalk ?
18. What name is given to the leading man in a panto, usually played by a woman ?
19. In which panto would you find the character King Rat ?
20. By tradition from which side of the stage do the "goodies" in a panto normally appear?
21. Who ate the Gingerbread House?
22. Which pantomime character marries Alice Fitzwarren?
 News and Views

Now a few Pantomime Jokes to groan at:-

Comic: Sorry I’m late. I’ve been to the optician’s. He’s just told me I’m colour blind.
Buttons: Colour blind?
Comic: Yes, it came as a real bolt out of the orange. 

Dame: I’m so tired. I can’t go any further. I’m absolutely knickered.
Buttons: Do you mean knackered?
Dame: No, knickered. My breath’s coming in short pants.

Dame: My husband fell into a huge vat of granulated coffee and was never seen again. It was a terrible way to go but at least it was instant.

Dame: I’ve been married 16 times.
Comic: 16?
Dame: Yes, four richer, four poorer, four better, four worse.
Comic: You want to be careful of the baddie. He’s a magician. He can turn you into a prawn cocktail. And that’s just for starters.



Q: Why does Dick Whittington have a beard?
A: Because nine out of ten owners know that their cats prefer whiskers.

Q: Why was Cinderella so bad at football?
A: She had a pumpkin for a coach.

You Write:-

The quiz answers
  
1. Baron Hard-up.
2. Babes in the Wood.
3. Wishee Washee.
4. Fe Fi Fo Fum I Smell the Blood of an Englishman.
 5. Sleeping Beauty.
 6. Dandini.
7. Cinderella.
8. Widow Twankey.
9. Christopher Biggins.
10. The Bells of London.
11. Magic Beans.
12. Abanazar.
13. Cinderella.
14. Mother Goose.
15. The Arabian Nights.
16. Mice.
17. Dame Trott.
18. Principal Boy.
19. Dick Whittington.
20. Stage Right.
21. Hansel and Gretel
22 Dick Whittington


Keep in touch and Pam and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, see you next year!

Peter





On this day 23rd December 1960-1965

On 29/12/1960 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Arthur Haynes Show (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 29/12/1961 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Everton. 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 £Worst snowstorms in UK for 20 years and 12.89 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

On 29/12/1963 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The 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.The big news story of the day was East End shooting linked to Krays.

On 23/12/1965 the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was Rubber Soul - The Beatles. 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.






Wednesday 9 December 2015

Web Page  No 2220

16th December 2015

Top Picture: Brian Rix

Second Picture: Elspet Grey





Third Picture: This is Your Life


Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron RixCBEDL

For many people from the early 1950’s onwards Bank Holiday television would not be complete until they had seen the Whitehall farce starring Brian Rix, Larry Noble, Basil Lord and Leo Franklin. But it all revolved around Brian Rix.

He was born in Cottinghamthe youngest of four children. His father, Herbert Rix and Herbert's two brothers, ran the shipping and oil company in Hull, founded by his grandfather.  Brian was a talented cricketer but only wanted to play for Yorkshire in his childhood, but when he was being educated at Bootham School, York his ambitions changed. He did play for Hull CC when he was 16 and after the war for the MCC but during his school days his sister Sheila became an actress and Brian developed the same ambition. In fact all four Rix children had become interested in the theatre, their mother, Fanny, ran an amateur dramatic society and was the lead soprano in the local operatic society. All her children performed in the plays and two of them, Brian and Sheila, became professional actors. Sheila Mercier, as she was known, went on to play Annie Sugden for 25 years in Emmerdale Farm having worked regularly with her brother in the Whitehall farces in the 1950s and 1960s.

Brian became a professional actor when he was 18, on deferred service from the RAF with Donald Wolfit's Shakespeare Company. His deferment was extended and he gained his first weekly repertory experience with the White Rose Players at the Harrogate opera house. From there he went into the RAF, eventually ending up as a Bevin Boy working down the coal mines near Doncaster. After the war, he returned to the stage, forming his own theatre company in 1947 as an actor-manager and while at Bridlington, in 1949, he found the play that was to bring him fame and fortune – Reluctant Heroes. In the same year, he became engaged to Elspet Gray, an actress in his company and six months later they married. They were together, domestically and professionally, for 64 years, until her death in February 2013, appearing alongside each other in many of the TV farces.


In 1950 the newly-weds toured together with Reluctant Heroes until Brian managed to persuade the Whitehall Theatre management that this army farce was the ideal play for the West End. It was a happy choice, for Rix's productions ran there for the next 16 years, before he moved to the Garrick Theatre.

During the next 18 years, he presented more than 90 one-night-only television farces on the BBC, these were hugely popular, with viewing figures regularly topping 15 million. In the early 1960s he was the highest paid actor  to appear on BBC TV. Alongside the regulars from his theatre company. Unfortunately only 6 of his 90 farces are in the BBC archive. The earliest were never recorded and many of the latest were wiped. This may be why Brian Rix is rarely mentioned in programmes looking at the early days of television. He also appeared in 11 films and though he felt these were less suited to his talents they also met with some box-office success.

Reluctant Heroes, the first Whitehall farce and during its four-year run he also sent out national tours of the play, generally with John Slater playing the dread Sergeant Bell. To give some sense of its popularity, at one time he had the play running at the Whitehall, three tours on the road and the film (which was no. 1 at the UK box office in 1952) on release. Brian Rix himself played the gormless north-country recruit, Horace Gregory, in both film and throughout the four-year run at the Whitehall. This is where his reputation for losing his trousers began. He subsequently lost them at least 12,000 times in the 26 years in the farces.

In 1967, he moved to the Garrick Theatre after the Whitehall Theatre lease expired.

In the meantime Brian Rix Elspet became involved in the world of learning disability. In December 1951 the first of their four children was born. She was a daughter, Shelley, and had Down syndrome. There was no welfare support for such children and certainly no education. The only state offering was a place in a run-down so-called hospital where "patients" were left to their own devices for hours on end. The Rixes were determined to try and do something to better matters and became involved with various charities fighting to do the same. Among these roles, in the early 60s he became the first Chairman of the Special Functions Fundraising committee at the National Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults. Both his personal experience and his leading position as a fundraiser in the field finally lead to him applying for the job at Mencap and then when he retired in 1987 to him becoming chairman in 1988. In 1998, he became president, an office he holds to this day.

Since entering the House of Lords as a crossbencher in 1992, he has campaigned ceaselessly on any legislation affecting people with a learning disability and every year has introduced numerous amendments to legislation, mainly that associated with health, social welfare and education.

Brian became a radio ham at the age of 13 and became a life vice-president of the Radio Society of Great Britain in 1979. His call sign is G2DQU. He has been the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in October 1961 and again in April 1977. He was also a castaway on Desert Island Discs on two occasions. The first was with Roy Plomley on 16th May 1960, his second was with Kirsty Young on 1 March 2009.

He was created a (CBE) in 1977 and knighted in June 1986 for his services to charity. On his 68th birthday, 27th January 1992, he was created life peer, becoming Baron Rix, of Whitehall. He was Vice Lord Lieutenant of Greater London from 1987–1997 and was the first Chancellor of the University of East London from 1997–2012. He is now the Chancellor Emeritus. He has been awarded eight honorary degrees.

Keep in touch

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com


You Write:

Peter Writes:

I left Court Lane in 1958 at the end of I believe was the first 5th year.  Incidentally,  Norman Folland was my form teacher. Before that, virtually everybody left Court Lane at the end of the 4th year (aged 16).   To my knowledge, that was normal in Secondary Modern Schools up to then.  It was only the Grammar Schools that went on to a 5th year.  Also, as far as I can remember, my class was the first class at Court Lane to do GCE "O" levels.  

The people that I remember  in my class in the 5th year were:

Barry Christie, Malcolm Munday, Bob Seal, Roger Cooke, Malcolm Lee, David Christopher,  Richard Farnfield, Arthur Dobson, Philip Harding, Harry Bligh, Peter Birch, Barclay Williams I think?
Dianne Bartlett, Pearl Wilson, Lesley Brown, Kay Lucas, Sandra Gard, Dawn Aylmer,  Carol Hughes, Beverly Hatch, Pauline Williams, and probably one or two others. I am sorry if I have missed anyone but we were a fairly small class.  It would be great to here from any of the above and I apologise if I have spelt anyones name incorrectly.





News and Views:

On this day 16th December 1960-1965
On 16/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).
On 16/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 16/12/1963 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The 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 16/12/1965 the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.