Web Page No 798




HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE





FIRST PICTURE: A NEW YEAR DAY CARD FOR ALL OF YOU








SECOND PICTURE: HOME SWEET HOME OVER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS






HOME ON SUNDAY

Hey! Do you remember Sundays and holidays at home when we were first at Manor Court. We were 11 years old or so that would make it 1957 or thereabouts; but Sundays then were a very different animal than they are today.
To start with as Sundays were special and were mainly reserved for the visits of, or visits to, some of the far flung members of the family I was never allowed to go out and play with my friends because ‘It is Sunday and it was for the family’ and when you are an only child with no brothers or sisters to contend with, that can make for a very boring day!! Especially if I was playing in the garden I was not to make too much noise ‘because it was Sunday’. Maybe in the afternoon we might go out for a walk if the weather was fine but even that was no relief as to go out, ‘because it was Sunday’, it meant being dressed in your Sunday best, not comfortable clothes, what a bore.

You could not even escape by running an errand to the shops as they were not open, no grocery store, no d-i-y store, no supermarket and definitely no off licence. The only shop that was open was the newsagent for the Sunday papers and their deliveries and by 11 or 12 o’clock they had usually closed ‘because it was Sunday’.

There was no professional sport on a Sunday but amateur sport was allowed so club football, rugby and cricket matches took place as did motor cycle scrambling and moto cross. There really was a queer mix of things that were allowed by the Lords Day Observance Society who had a lot of influence as to what could or could not happen on a Sunday.

The radio programmes weren’t bad and I know I have discussed them in depth on earlier pages But then there was Television. In the early days of us owning a TV, set a 14” Sobell, there was very little to watch apart from the Sunday Service in the morning, then there was a period when the station was off the air, ‘because it is Sunday’. It then re-opened with programmes specially aimed at children, programmes, which, as far as I can remember, children did not like, or want, programmes such as ‘All Your Own’ with Huw Weldon. I know that I never had the slightest interest in what other children could do or what they could play, to me and to many others it made for just a boring programme. Then came one of the highlights of the day, the Sunday afternoon serial, ‘Hornblower’, Children of the New Forest, ‘Kidnapped’, ‘the Black Narcissus’, Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island or some other exciting story usually dramatised for television by a man whose name always fascinated me by its strangeness, Dennis Constandures.

The of course there was ‘Songs of Praise’, ‘because it was Sunday’ the tv company’s had to fill the God Spot! Then we would all settle down with a cup of tea, a cold meat sandwich (meat left over from the Sunday Roast) and a slice of Victoria Sandwich ready for ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’, a real family favourite.

Once this had finished it was time to get your clothes and books ready for school so as not to have a rush in the morning, a bath ‘because it was Sunday’, then off to bed as I had to get up for school in the morning.

As far as I can remember this was the regular routine in our house every Sunday for years and years, maybe being interspersed sometimes with church on most Sunday mornings. And even when we went to stay with my Grandmother in London or my Godmother in Essex the routine hardly changed except for one very big thing, neither of them had a television set!

Well as I am sitting here writing this of an evening when all the rest of the family have gone on to bed I had better stop writing as time is marching on and out of guilt I will have to stop writing ‘because it will soon be Sunday’.

Stay in touch and Take Care

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.com

YOU WRITE:

Even more about Highbury
I was speaking to an elderly lady the other day who remembers moving into Highbury Grove when it was new and before the roads were made up. She tells me that opposite the Highbury Shops, where the bowling green is now there was a large builders sign advertising the houses. This sign consisted of a whole row of cut out houses and there were soon found by the local birds who very quickly moved in and made nests in them.


NEWS AND VIEWS:
A brand new "Ivor the Engine" story, the first in over 30 years, was unveiled on 7th December after a unique collaboration between Ivor's co-creator, Peter Firmin and Dan Postgate, son of the late Oliver Postgate who wrote the original Ivor stories. With brand new illustrations by Peter Firmin and words by Dan Postgate, "Bluebell's Christmas Mission" is set in a snow-bound Wales on Christmas Day, and will benefit the work of UK veterinary charity SPANA (Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad). SPANA provides free veterinary care to working animals like donkeys, mules and horses in some of the poorest countries of the world, and it's fitting that the new story sees a central role for Bluebell the donkey, who figured prominently in the original Ivor stories. The new story, entitled "Bluebell's Christmas Mission" is available as a download from the SPANA website at www.spana.org at a cost of £3. Hard copies can be ordered online for £3.50, or by sending a cheque to SPANA at 14 John Street, London. WC1N 2EB. All profits made will help SPANA's veterinary and education work overseas.
SPANA has had the story fully translated into the Welsh language, and this is available as a separate download from the same website or as a hard-copy by post
ON THIS DAY 3RD JANUARY 1960-1965
On 03/01/1960 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 and 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 day was Boeing 707s to be tested by UK pilots.

On 03/01/1961 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 day was Millionth Morris Minor produced.

On 03/01/1962 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. The big news story of the day was Pope ex-communicates Fidel Castro.

On 03/01/1963 the number one single was The Next Time/Bachelor Boy - Cliff Richard & the Shadows 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 03/01/1964 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 03/01/1965 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.