WEB PAGE NO 804

FIRST PICTURE: The service D to Farlington but where was it photographed ?










SECOND PICTURE: The original Southern Television logo.



A FEW MORE ODD MEMORIES

To start with that bus picture brought back some memories, I most certainly remember Portsmouth Corporation buses running to Farlington and turning at Forty Acres or Rectory Avenue, I cannot remember the number of the service but I am almost sure that it was not this particular service. I remember the 147 and 148 Dockyard Main gate to Leigh Park services passing through Drayton and Farlington but not the ‘D’ and of course I remember the Southdown 31 on the Brighton run, six hours from Portsmouth to Brighton – you really had to be dedicated to undertake that particular trip. What I found really interesting in the bus picture was the Rentaset advert on the bus side. This must date the picture to the mid 1950’s as this was the heyday of TV rentals. The other big name in this field was Radio Rentals. It seems strange now to be able to rent a radio, a washing machine or a TV set but I suppose for many people it was the added insurance of if one of these new fangled things broke down they were repaired for free. This was very noticeable when colour television was introduced and was very expensive to buy and to repair. We only ever rented a television set and this arrived in 1956, a magnificent piece of furniture with a 16” screen made by Sobell, but I have spoken of this before.

I also remember pay TV although I do not remember anyone I knew having it. This involved a television set with a pay meter on the side which acted rather like an electricity meter, ie the more you watched the more you paid. Other rental companies were Rediffusion and Granada and I am sure there were many other companies, Currys for example, who had a rental section for a while.

Whilst I was writing washing machines a couple of paragraph back I suddenly remembered that most households in the 1950’s boasted not one but two washing lines; one low one for clothes and pillowcases and one high one for sheets, blankets, towels and counterpanes. I think most of us in our own homes had washing lines attached to the back of our houses and a scaffold pole cemented into the ground at the garden end of the line. Both these lines were worked on the rope and pulley system but can you remember the consternation when the rope on the top line broke and wet sheets draped themselves all over the lawn and nearby bushes!!!! The other very valuable use that the high line came in for was as a flagpole especially during a game of pirates when your home made skull and cross bones could be hauled aloft to worn off all attackers. (the same went for the stars and stripes with the American 7th Cavalry, when the game was Cowboys and Indians!) Naturally these games were banned on washing days! Then, of course, on hot summers days we could drag an old sheet or tarpaulin over the line and peg it out as a tent for exploring the jungle or to be an Indian encampment.

And all this came to an end with the advent of the simple rotary or whirligig clothesline, which did away with washing lines completely; it just left a hole in the lawn. Shame!

Garden games were different after that we had to make dens and dig hole to make hidouts but that is yet another story.


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

You Write:
Sue writes:-

Telling my friend, your story from Mrs Sinden, Joyce who seems to have known everyone famous -the Wedgewoods and all the pottery families etc - tells me she trained Donald`s sister to teach. She was a good actress too but other people were not fair to her and she gave up. Joyce now 87 has some wonderful tales to tell, including being one of the first to hear that WWII had ended. Part of the choir who recorded for the BBC during the war, they had just finished recording when the news came over an open microphone. They were locked in the room until 2am!

News and Views:
Ray Ennis, who has sung lead vocals for The Swinging Blue Jeans since they formed in the 1950’s has announced his retirement. The band, who were the first ever to play at The Cavern when it opened as a jazz club, and who gave The Beatles their first chance to appear there will make their final tour of the country early this year as part of the Solid Silver Sixties line-up, ending with what will be a concert in Liverpool on May 30th.

On this day 24th January 1960-1965
On 24/01/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley 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 First Rome Synod.

On 24/01/1961 the number one single was Poetry in Motion - Johnny Tillotson and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. 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 £not very interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 24/01/1962 the number one single was The Young Ones - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. 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 Film Jules et Jim premieres in Paris.

On 24/01/1963 the number one single was Dance On - The Shadows and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. 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 24/01/1964 the number one single was Glad All Over - Dave Clark Five and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Steptoe & Son (BBC) 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 24/01/1965 the number one single was Yeh Yeh - Georgie Fame 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. The big news story of the day was Winston Churchill dies.