Web Page 932

First Picture: Now who remembers those odd three wheelers like this one? But who manufactured them?


Second Picture: Another picture of the Southsea Miniature Railway





Bring back any memories? I like these they make you think!!!

Some younger person asked me the other day, 'What was your favourite 'fast food' when you were growing up?' I said, 'We didn't have fast food when I was growing up,' and I informed him. 'All the food was slow.' 'C'mon, seriously’. He said ‘ Where did you eat?' I answered 'It was a place called 'home,'' I explained. 'Mum cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate, I was allowed to sit there until I did like it.' By this time, the lad was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer some serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I'd figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore jeans, set foot on a golf course, travelled out of the country or had a credit card. My parents never drove me to school. I had a bicycle and had to use it. And my mother never did learn to drive.

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10. It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at 10 pm, after playing the national anthem and epilogue; it came back on the air at about 6 a.m. And there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people...

I never had a telephone in my room because we never had a phone!

Pizzas were not delivered to our home... but milk and paraffin was. All newspapers were delivered by boys and girls, seven days a week. Most of them getting up at 6AM every morning.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

Film stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the films. There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or almost anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing


MEMORIES from a friend:

My Dad was cleaning out my grandmother's house and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a group of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something similar. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to 'sprinkle' clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many of these do you remember?
Headlight dip-switches on the floor of the car.
Ignition switches on the dashboard.
Hand operated chokes
Trouser leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
Soldering irons you heated on a gas burner.
Using hand signals for cars without turn indicators.

Older Than Dirt Quiz:

Count all the ones that you remember, not the ones you were told about.

Ratings at the bottom.


1. Sweet cigarettes
2. Coffee shops with juke boxes
3. Home milk delivery in glass bottles
4. Party lines on the telephone
5. Newsreels before the movie
6. TV test patterns that came on at night after the last show and were there until TV shows started again in the morning.. (There were only 2 channels [if you were fortunate])
7. Peashooters
8. 33 rpm records
9. 45 RPM records
10.78 RPM records
11. Hi-fi's
12. Metal ice trays with levers
13. Blue flashbulb
14. Cork popguns
15. Wash tub wringers
16. Spud guns
17. Making your own bow and arrows
18. Going out to play and going home at 'meal time'

If you remembered 0-3 = you're still young
If you remembered 3-6 = You are getting older
If you remembered 7-11 = Don't tell your age If you remembered 12-15 = You're positively ancient!
I must be 'positively ancient' but those memories are some of the best parts of my life.

Don't forget to pass this along!!

Especially to all your really OLD friends... I just did!!!!!!!!!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

School Report.

Web Page from 9 years ago.

The School TripIt is strange but I have very little recollection of school trips or visits when normally you would think that any event that took us out of school during term time would be indelibly impressed on the brain. Those I do recall are only very sketchy memories. A trip to London, one to Wookey Hole and one to the Isle of Wight, I know some of our year went to Paris, but I do not remember being offered that and I seem to remember that some people in lower years went on the ‘SS Uganda’ sailing round the Med. But not me.

The reason for the visit to London I believe was to visit the Royal Tournament and the day that was picked was one of the days when the Portsmouth Field Gun Crew raced, so I supposed we cheered ourselves hoarse, but I don’t remember if they won or not. What else comes to mind from that day ? We stopped at the café at Hindhead on the way up and back and we had lunch outside the then almost brand new Royal Festival Hall and now comes the only clear memory of the day. Here I took a snap of Reg Davies and Bill Greer as they talked outside the hall. This photo is the eighth picture posted in the Manor Court pictures section of the Friends Reunited Web Site. There are also some pupils in the shot but who they are ………..? I have no idea, but I believe that both Steve Carter and Melvyn Bridger were amongst the happy band on this trip.

The Wookey Hole visit is the one that caused me acute embarrassment, nothing of the visit remains in my memory except being sick in the coach coming home. I was looked after by one of the female teachers, I do not remember whom, and eventually was sick into an old school towel. When we got back to school I was given the towel in a bag to take home and have washed. I was so embarrassed that I could not bring myself to tell my mother what had happened so when I got home I sneaked up the garden and hid the towel under the hedge. I never took it out so I suppose someone years later had a nasty surprise. I went to school for the next few days dreading being asked for the newly laundered towel, luckily this request never came much to my relief.

The visit to the Isle of Wight is equally as vague but I do remember that June Blitz was one of the accompanying teachers, why do I remember that? No idea. I we visited Carisbrook Castle and watched the donkey on the treadmill then on to Blackgang Chine but the only clear memory I have of the trip is climbing the steps up to the light at St Catherines Point whilst talking to Peter Westcott, Melvyn Bridger and June Blitz.

There were also visits to the Portsmouth Schools music festival in a church somewhere in Copnor Road and School Prize giving in the Northern Grammar School hall before we moved into Manor Court itself. A visit to the Kings Theatre to see Macbeth and as Melvyn Bridger reminded me the bus trips to East Lodge on sports days where we all had to try and change in the bus on the way, very tricky.

Obviously School trips were wasted on me no lasting impressions were made and memories stored. What do you remember? Can you fill in the gaps in my memory banks?


You Write:


Griff Writes re renaming the school:-Best guess is that the Secondary Modern title was dropped when the school became a Comprehensive School so Portsmouth Education Council probably decided to change the name at the same time.

If anyone knows what link "Springfield" has to the siting of the school or the area then I would like to know myself because it doesn't relate to anything I know about the area whereas Manor Court does.

What they have achieved by name changing is to basically air-brush out the previous 20 years of the school when it was called Manor Court thus destroying any school heritage......It's like we never existed!

They have school reunions held at the present School but only if you attended as Springfield student/pupil.

News and Views:A collection of hundreds of letters and postcards written by John Lennon will be published in October in the appropriately-titled "The Lennon Letters,". The book, apparently the first in a series, has been authorized Yoko Ono.



On this day 24th April 1960-1965.
On 24/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) 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 3000 killed in Persian earthquake.

On 24/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) 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 24/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - 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.

On 24/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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 Mandy Rice-Davis arrested.

On 24/04/1964 the number one single was A World Without Love - Peter & Gordon and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Liberal Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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. The big news story of the day was Hunt on for Nazi fugitive.


On 24/04/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - The Beatles and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. 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.

Web Page 930

First Picture: The good old Secret Seven






Second Picture: Now girls who remembers wearing clothes like these?

New member today; welcome to Joy Coots.



Lashings of Lemonade.

I expect that you like myself and Pam were all brought up on the stories of Enid Blyton. I know when i was very young I could not wait for the the next Noddy Book to come out and we could go off to the bookshop in Cosham to buy it. I think that during mmy infant and junior school days I must have collected the whole set. At that period of time no one worried that the names Big Ears and Golly were not PC correct we just enjoyed the books.

After Noddy we then progressed onto the Famous Five and then the Secret Seven to us they were just jolly good tales and adventures with ‘lashings of ginger beer and biscuits’.To us there was no threat in the books, this was generated later as the PC world took hold.

However until the television play starring Helena Bonham Carter in 2009, I did not realise what an unusual character she was. She was born on 11 August 1897 in East Dulwich the eldest child of Thomas Carey Blyton, a salesman of cutlery, and his wife, Theresa Mary Harrison. She had two younger brothers, Hanly and Carey who were born after the family had moved to Beckenham, at schoolshe excelled at her leaving as head girl. She enjoyed physical activities along with some academic work, but not maths. She was also a talented pianist, but gave up her musical studies when she trained as a teacher. She taught for five years writing in her spare time. Her first book, Child Whispers, a collection of poems, was published in 1922. In2August 1924 Blyton married Major Hugh Pollock the editor of the book department in the publishing firm which published two of her books that year. The couple moved to Beaconsfield to a house named Green Hedges by Enid Blyton's readers following a competition in Sunny Stories. They had two children Gillian who died in 2007 and Imogen.

By 1939 her marriage was in difficulties. In 1941 she met Kenneth Darrell Waters a London surgeon. After each had divorced, they married 20 October 1943, and she subsequently changed the surname of her two daughters to Darrell Waters. Major Pollock remarried and had little contact with his daughters thereafter. Blyton's second marriage was very happy and, as far as her public image was concerned, she moved smoothly into her role as a devoted doctor's wife, living with him and her two daughters at Green Hedges.

Her husband died in 1967. During the following months, she became increasingly ill. Afflicted by Alzheimers she was moved into a nursing home three months before her death on 28 November 1968, aged 71.

The truuth then came out as her daughter Imogen was quoted as saying "The truth is Enid Blyton was arrogant, insecure, pretentious, very skilled at putting difficult or unpleasant things out of her mind, and without a trace of maternal instinct. As a child, I viewed her as a rather strict authority. As an adult I pitied her."
During her lifetime Enid Blyton wrote hundreds of books for young and older children: novels, story collections and some non-fiction. She also filled a large number of magazine pages, particularly the long-running Sunny Stories which were immensely popular among younger children. An estimate puts her total book publication at around 800 titles, not including decades of magazine writing It is said that at one point in her career she regularly produced 10,000 words a day. Such prolific output led many to believe that some of her work was ghost-written Yet, no ghost writers have ever come forward. She used a pseudonym Mary Pollock for a few titles. She also wrote numerous books on nature and Biblical themes.

Her books often mirrored our childhood fantasy’s when we were free to play and explore without adult interference. Adult characters are usually either authority figures (such as policemen, teachers, or parents) or adversaries to be conquered by the children. Her books are generally split into three types. One involves ordinary children in extraordinary situations, having adventures, solving crimes, or otherwise finding themselves in unusual circumstances, eg the Famous Five and Secret Seven, and the Adventure series. The second and more conventional type is the boarding school story, the plots of these have more emphasis on the day-to-day life at school, the world of the midnight feast and the practical jokes eg the Malory Towers stories, the St Clare's series, and the Naughtiest Girl books.
The third type is the fantastical. Children are typically transported into a magical world in which they meet fairies, goblins and elves or other fantasy creatures. lternatively, in many of her short stories, toys are shown to come alive when humans are not around.

Her status as a bestselling author is in spite of disapproval of her works which has led to altered reprints of the books and withdrawals or “bans” from libraries. In the 1990s, Chorion, the owners of Blyton's works, edited her books to remove passages that were deemed racist or sexist.

It was frequently reported (in the 1950s and also from the 1980s onwards) that various children's libraries removed some of her works from the shelves. The history of such "Blyton bans" is confused. There is however no evidence that her books' popularity ever suffered. She was defended by populist journalists, and others. Her response is said to be that she was not interested in the views of critics aged over 12.

In November 2009 it was revealed that the BBC had a longstanding ban on dramatising her books on the radio from the 1930s to the 1950s. Letters and memos from the BBC Archive show that producers and executives at that time described her as a "tenacious second-rater" who wrote "stilted and longwinded" books which were not suitable to be broadcast. She tried to get her work on the radio in 1940, but was again turned down, on the grounds that the stories were not good enough. Eventually, in 1954, her works appeared on air for the first time.

Her books are very much of their time, our time particularly the titles published in the 1950s. Some have suggested the depictions of boys and girls in her books was sexist. For example, a 2005 Guardian article suggested that the Famous Five depicts a power struggle between Julian, Dick and George (Georgina), with the female characters either acting like boys or being heavily put-upon. To me they were just jolly good reads!!!!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:
Steve Writes:

Ref: Where in Portsmouth is the picture on the side bar. It looks like Albert Road facing east just beyond the Kings Theatre Southsea.


Masefield was Green as that was my House.

Also a big thanks for reminding me of my past, I left Manor Court over 41 years ago so is its good to remember.

Do you remember David Baker Science Teacher and Mr Tregus English teacher he was my first form teacher at Manor court in the 60s, I can vividly remember old Hodgy the Maths teacher he was a bit keen with the cane.

I sometimes go past the old school when I pay my odd visit back to Portsmouth it has not changed to much just the name, who's idea was it to change to Springfield ???

John adds:

I believe the road may be ALBERT Road in Southsea, If you stand to the left side of the entrance to the Kings Theatre and face east the road does bend at this point. The shops and area does strike a cord with me, but I may be wrong.

I worked at an old family Butchers called MARCHMENTS when I was a lad who were on Albert Road opposite the old Southsea Police Station now long gone, and I also worked as a Traffic Warden at the old nick.

I also believe that MARCHMENTS had a shop in the Drayton area


News and Views:

Keith Fordyce The easy-going host of Ready Steady Go!, which started in 1963 died Devon 15 March 2011. Keith Fordyce Marriott – he was to drop his surname as a professional broadcaster – was born in Lincoln on in 1928. In the forces, he worked as an announcer and producer for the Forces Broadcasting Service, where his commanding officer was Cliff Michelmore.He gained a wide experience in presenting record programmes, which he put to good use in civilian life. After the forces, he studied for a law degree and was president of the University Law Society during 1951-52. On getting his degree, he worked as a football commentator for BBC TV, his first broadcast being on 22 November 1952. He presented Housewives' Choice, for a week in August 1955, and fought a municipal election for the Conservatives and won a seat on Wimbledon Council, but he was to move to Radio Luxembourg as a staff announcer. He presented their weekly Top Twenty programme and stayed with the station for three years. He wrote for New Musical Express and two records by unknowns that he correctly tipped for No 1 were "Diana" by Paul Anka in 1957 and "When" by the Kalin Twins the following year. In 1960, he compared Wham! which featured Billy Fury, Little Tony and Dickie Pride. That was short-lived but he became the original host for Thank Your Lucky Stars and the Sunday morning radio show, Easy Beat. In April 1963 he interviewed the Beatles on the BBC's Pop Inn.

In August 1963 he hosted the first edition of Ready Steady Go! with Cathy McGowan and Michael Aldred. Through the 1960s and '70s, he hosted variety shows and quizzes on television and radio including Come Dancing and Miss World. In 1979, he was the first presenter of Radio 2's Sounds Of The Sixties and on the same day, he presented the quiz show, Beat The Record. During the 1980s, he followed another passion by running the Torbay Aircraft Museum in Paignton. He broadcast locally on Radio Solent and Radio Devon. He wanted to broadcast until he died but he developed Alzheimer's and was forced to retire. He leaves four children.

On this day 17th April 1960-1965.

On 17/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (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 17/04/1961

the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (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. The big news story of the day was Bay of Pigs landings in Cuba.

On 17/04/1962

the number one single was Wonderful Land - 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.

On 17/04/1963

the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the 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 17/04/1964

the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) 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. The big news story of the day was Shea Stadium opens in New York.

On 17/04/1965

the number one single was The Minute You're Gone - Cliff Richard and the number one album was Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. 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.

Web Page 928

First Picture: Double or Drop with Eamonn Andrews and Jillian Comber






Second Picture: Peter Glaze and Leslie Crowther

Crackerjack 1955 - 1984 (UK)

Probably the best remembered children’s TV programme was Crackerjack, I know that as a kid I never missed it! The programmme was filmed in front of an audience of mainly children at the BBC Television Theatre (now the Shepherds Bush Empire). The format included games for teams of children, a music spot, a comedy double act and a finale in which the cast performed a short comic play, adapting popular songs and incorporating them into the action.

One of the highlights of the show was called Don and Pete, being Don Maclean and Peter Glaze in a silent comedy style section lasting about five minutes. Shows had them fishing, as sweepers, barbers, at a riding school, on a building site, on a farm, at a circus, window cleaners, bellboys, removals, etc.

One of the most memorable games was the quiz called "Double or Drop", where each contestant was given a prize to hold for each question answered correctly, but given a cabbage if they answered incorrectly. They were out of the game if they dropped any of the items they were holding or received a third cabbage.

It was an unwritten rule that whenever a presenter said the word 'Crackerjack', the audience would shout "Crack-er-jack!" loudly. This custom has passed into popular culture. A standard consolation prize to children who appeared on the show was the Crackerjack Pencil (later upgraded to a Crackerjack pen). These were kept in a special locked cabinet and only handed out to people who had won them and when an official asked for one once, he was refused. One exception was made in 1961 when the Queen visited the set and was given pencils for Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
The show was introduced with the phrase "It's Friday, it's five o’clock . . . It's Crackerjack.

In 1977 a talent contest element was added, this was "Crackerjack Young Entertainer of The Year" and featured children who had successfully passed audition stages. In 1982, in a bid to try and boost flagging ratings, Crackerjack introduced gunge into its games and launched a new game called 'Take a Chance' in which the celebrity guests could score extra points for the contestant they had teamed up with. Failure to answer questions correctly led to Stu Francis and/or the celebrity guest being covered in gunge.

Crackerjack was cancelled in 1984 at the same time as many other long running series.

Now who do you remember?

The Main Hosts were:- Eamonn Andrews, Leslie Crowther, Michael Aspel, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart and Stu Francis

Others who appeared regularly, firstly the blokes:- Jack Douglas, Joe Baker, Ronnie Corbett, Peter Glaze (he always seemed to be there!), Don Maclean and Bernie Clifton,

The ladies were:- Jillian Comber, Pip Hinton, Christine Holmes, Jacqueline Clarke, Jan Hunt, Leigh Mile.

And also in later years:- The Krankies, The Great Soprendo (Geoffrey Durham) and Basil Brush.

The first show was transmitted on 12th September 1955 and soon each week thousands of kids would pile into the Theatre for the filming.

The programmes creator was Johnny Downes, who also produced a number of other shows, including Call My Bluff, David Nixon's shows, Child's Play and The Basil Brush Show.
Some odd facts about the programme that you may not know or may have forgoten:- Contrary to popular belief, Crackerjack wasn't always screened on a Friday, but was shunted around the schedules. It wasn't until the 1970s that a regular Friday slot was established.

During its heyday the Crackerjack pencil was as coveted as the Blue Peter badge is today. Were kids were easily pleased in those days?

In 1958 comedy and song was provided by Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson, the husband and wife duo who famously came second in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest with their song Sing Little Birdie.

A number of big names made early appearances on Crackerjack to promote their pop career, including Adam Faith, Tom Jones, The Bee Gees, The Who and Status Quo.
Over the years a number of Crackerjack annuals were produced. The 1969 annual, for example contained a Don Maclean and Peter Glaze comic strip, a look at the history of clowns, 'Crackerjack games for boys and tomboys', plus classic jokes.
Peter Glaze was actually an accomplished actor, and can be seen (although, you'd be hard pushed to recognise him) in an early Doctor Who.

Double or Drop was devised by Eamonn Andrews. When he left the show he took the format with him, and so the show's most popular fixture disappeared. In the 70s a deal was made and the game returned.

You may have be wondering how many episodes were made and transmitted the answer is 400!!!
Ah! Those memories!!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Anida sends this clip take a look!!!

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/wfsa/film8.htm


Gloria Writes:-

I was looking at the photo's again today and the skating rink was where I spent many an hour learning to skate and then to roller dance. Dad and I were only talking about it last week. When we last visited Southsea I took my husband Tony to see it. Not a lot has changed except you can use a skateboard there now. When I first moved to Broadstairs we used to visit the skating rink in Dreamland most weeks, I could out dance most of my friends. Then I got married and had the kids and was not able to skate anymore. I love to have a go now but the old arthritis would play havoc for weeks after.


News and Views:

Ringo Starr briefly shared the stage with a 17 year-old brain cancer patient at the Hard Rock Café in Los Angeles on March 31 and later awarded the drum set to the boy, who told his father he dreamed he met Ringo. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the dream came true.

On this day 10th April 1960-1965.

On 10/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) 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 10/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmatians. 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 10/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) 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 director Michael Curtiz and ex Beatle Stu Sutcliffe die.

On 10/04/1963 the number one single was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the 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. The big news story of the day was Atomic US submarine sinks killing 129.


On 10/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) 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. The big news story of the day was Beatles have 13 records in US chart.

On 10/04/1965 the number one single was Concrete & Clay - Unit 4 Plus 2 and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. 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.

Web Page 926

First Picture: Patti Boyd and George Harrison





Second Picture: A rare sight these days, an AA box, this one was in Scotland!

Pattie Boyd

Patti Boyd was born Patricia Anne Boyd on 17th March 1944 in Taunton. She became well known as a English model and photographer and wife of the stars and was the former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. She was the eldest child of the family being followed by Helen Mary (later known as Jenny who later married Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac), and Paula who was born in 1951. The Boyd family moved to Nairobi from 1948 to 1953, after her father's medical discharge from the RAF following a severe injury as a pilot, her parents were divorced in 1952 and her mother brought her childrn back to England with her. After leaving school Patti moved to London in 1962, first working at Elizabeth Arden’s as a shampoo girl and it was here that a client who worked for a fashion magazine asked her if she had thought of modelling as a career.

She started modelling in 1962, but was rejected by many photographers owing to her unconventional looks she had rather prominent front teeth and one photographer unkindly said she looked more like a rabbit. However she got modelling work in London, New York and Paris for Mary Quant and others designers and was photographed many times by David Bailey and Terance Donovan.

She was nineteen going in twenty in 1964 when she met George Harrison during the filming of A Hard Days Night in which she was cast as a schoolgirl fan. Out of loyalty to her boyfriend she initially declined George’s requests for a date; however several days later, when Patti was recalled for another day's work on the film, George asked her out again and she accepted. So started a relationship with the Beatle, in fact she was present, along with George, John and Cynthia Lennon, during their first encounter with LSD in early 1965. A dentist, John Riley, the son of a London police officer, laced their coffee with it. The four of them were furious and left extremely scared. In an agitated state, Patti Boyd threatened to break a store window until George Harrison managed to drag her away.

Whilst driving through London in December 1965 George proposed but said he would have to talk to Brian Epstein first just to make sure no Beatles' tours had been planned before they could set the day. They married on 21 January 1966 at the old Registry Office in Epsom with Paul as Best Man and Brian Epstein in attendance. John and Ringo had gone abroad on holiday with their wives so distracting journalists from finding out about the wedding.

While John Lennon was in Spain filming in September 1966, George and Patti flew to Bombay as guests of the sitar player Ravi Shankar. Through her interest in Eastern mysticism Patti inspired the Beatles to meet the Maharishi Mehesh Yogi in London in August 1967, she also accompanied them on their visit to the Maharishi in India in 1968.

It was rumoured that both John Lennon and Mick Jagger were also attracted to Patti with Mick Jagger admitting in the 1980s that he had failed to seduce her after trying for years. She then had a brief affair with future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood in 1973, her marriage at the time was failing fast and they split in June 1974 and she flew to Los Angeles to stay with her sister Jenny.

In the late 1960’s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison became close friends, and began writing and recording music together. Eric Clapton fell in love with Patti and it was when she rebuffed his advances in late 1970, that he became a serious Heroin addiction. They married eventually in 1979 after Eric had treatment. The outward image of the perfect couple masked struggles within their marriage. Although she drank and admits to past drug use, unlike Eric Clapton she never became an alcoholic or a drug addict in fact she says that she left him at one point due to his refusal to seek treatment for his alcoholism, and she began seeing a photographer, Will Christie. In 1984, Eric began a relationship with Yvonne Kelly; they had a daughter, Ruth, born in January 1985. Clapton and Boyd divorced in 1989.

An exhibition of photographs that she took during her days with George Harrison and Eric Clapton took place at the San Francisco Art Exchange in February 2005 and it also ran again in San Francisco in February 2006 and then for six weeks between June and July 2006, in London.

As of 2008, she lived in a 17th-century cottage in deepest West Susex.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Had this sent to me: The pedestrian crossing outside north London's Abbey Road recording studio-- made famous by the cover photo on the Beatles' album, "Abbey Road"-- has been designated a site of national importance. That means it can be altered only with the approval of local authorities.



News and Views:

Carl Bunch, drummer with Buddy Holly on his ill-fated Winter Dance party tour who developed frostbite on the unheated tour bus and was hospitalized, died on March 26th after a lengthy illness. He was 71.

On this day 3rd April 1960-1965.

On 03/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (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 03/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) 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 03/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - 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 First military satellite TV broadcast.

On 03/04/1963 the number one single was Foot Tapper - The Shadows and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) 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 03/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - 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. The big news story of the day was British troops in Cyprus fist fights.

On 03/04/1965 the number one single was The Last Time - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. 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.