Web Page 995

Top Picture: MacDonald Hobley








Second Picture: The home of radio comedy Broadcasting House.

Does the Team Think?

It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when Any Questions? was about anything but the latest political fashions. When it began in 1948, Freddie Grisewood would ask local celebrities serious questions with a topical bent, but nothing that might be debated in Parliament within the next fortnight. At least that was the way it started.

This format was deemed just ripe for parody, and in 1957 the moustashioed comedian Jimmy Edwards convinced the BBC Light Programme to run a short series, featuring a panel who would not too serious questions answer questions put to them by members of the public. The BBC took up the idea and the series ran each year for almost twenty years. Jimmy Edwards was joined on the resident panel byBig Hearted Arthur Askey and Ted Ray, all of whom were very quick witted and they were joined by a different guest panelist each week. The Chairman MacDonald Hobley invited members of the audience to ask moderately serious questions, about which the panel had no prior knowledge. The comedians would respond with improvised jokes, one-liners, and anything to keep up the flow of laughs, but always ensuring that their responses were factual. Another guest would join the show about halfway through proceedings, and ask a question of their own. At the end, the chair would award points on a capricious basis, and declare an almost arbitrary winner. The programme remained popular until it was finally taken off air in 1976.

A television version was made in summer 1961 with the same panel, but it met with very limited success. Thames Television revived the format in 1982, in which members of the public were asked to baffle The Team with unusual facts about life and the universe. The emphasis was still on wit, humour, and moving expeditiously from one joke to the next. The celebrity guest slot remained - in the first show, Dr. Magnus Pike was the guest and asked the team if they knew that water in Britain goes down a plughole clockwise but in Australia anti-clockwise. Thames Television had high hopes for the programme, putting it out in the 7pm slot on Thursdays opposite Tomorrow's World, but those ITV regions that did buy the show aired it around teatime, or in the mid-afternoon death slot.
The Team

Jimmy Edwards DFC (23 March 1920 – 7 July 1988) was best known as Pa Glum in Take it From Here and as the headmaster 'Professor' James Edwards in Whack O.
He was born James Keith O'Neill Edwards in Barnes the son of a professor of mathmatics. He was educated at St Paul’s Cathedral School and Cambridge. He served in the RAF during the War earning the DFC. He was shot down at Arnham in 1944, resulting in facial injuries which he disguised the huge huge handlebar moustache that later became his trademark.
He was a feature of London theatre in the immediate post-war years, debuting at the Windmill in 1946 and on BBC radio the same year. He worked with Tony Hancock and then in Take it from Here. Graduating to television, he appeared in Whack O. He frequently worked with Eric Sykes and they also toured UK theatres with their theatrical farce Big Bad Mouse. Among his interests were brass bands and he was himself an accomplished player of both the tuba and the euphonium.. He was a keen amateur polo player and played at the Ham Polo Club. In the 1964 General Election stood as a candidate in Paddington North without success. He was a devotee of fox hunting. served as Rector of Aberdeen University for three years during the 1950’s. He was married to Valerie Seymour for eleven years. During the 1970s, however, he was publicly outed by others as a lifelong homosexual, much to his annoyance. His home was in Fletching, East Sussex and he died in London in 1988 at the age of 68 from pneumonia.

Arthur Bowden Askey was born in Liverpool on 6th June 1900. After being educated at the Liverpool Institute and singing in the Liverpool Cathedral choir he entered the Liverpool Education Offices as a clerk. At the age of 16 he gave this up and began as an entertainer around the local clubs. During the First World War he joined the forces he soon began performing at army shows. Following this, he spent 14 years working the concert party circuit before landing a part, in 1938, on BBC radio in Band Wagon. Arthur quickly became famous for his catchphrase "Ay-Thang-Yew".
Band Waggon was quickly adapted for the stage and as a feature film (1939). After the Second World War Arthur remained as popular as ever although his first TV series in 1952, Before Your Very Eyes! was only moderately well received until the introduction of the completely dumb voluptuous blonde, Sabrina (Norma Sykes), whose fondness for tight fitting dresses turned her into British TV's first sex-symbol. There were other TV series but in the main he would be content as the special guest star or topping the bill at the Palladium. The diminutive comedian (he was 5 foot 3 inches) continued to work into his eighties and in 1980 he made one of his last appearances at The Royal Variety Show. Following this he suffered from circulatory problems in his legs, which ultimately led him to having both amputated. Arthur Askey died on 16th November 1982.

Ted RayTed Ray was born Charles Olden on 21st November 1905, the son of a Wigan comedian. He stage name was inspired by a famous golfer of the 1920s, whose name he had selected from a sporting diary. He worked as a ship's steward, an office clerk and a dance band violinist before he made his debut at the Palace Theatre, Preston, Lancashire in 1927. Three years later, he was appearing in London Music Hall. The height of Ted Ray's fame was through his work in radio comedy, where his own series, Ray's A Laugh which began in 1949, rapidly became a firm household favourite, running eventually for twelve years. This popularity lead to four appearances - three of them consecutive - in the prestigious Royal Variety Performance. Ted Ray also made appearances in feature films, his earliest being Elstree Calling (1930), followed by Radio Parade of 1935 (1935). He featured in a run of films in the 1950s, including the starring role in Carry On Teacher (1959), an early entry in Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas' long running and hugely successful film series.

After receiving serious injuries in a 1975 car crash, Ted Ray cut down his public appearances to a minimum, meaning he was unable to appear in the tenth anniversary edition of It's A Knockout, where he would have joined original co-hosts McDonald Hobley and Charlie Chester. He died in hospital following a heart attack on Tuesday 8th November 1977 aged 71. He left a wife, Dorothy, and their two sons, Andrew Ray, the actor, and BBC producer and Face the Music panellist, Robin Ray.
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Chris writes:-

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.

News and Views:

Lee Pockriss, composer of such hits as "Catch A Falling Star," "Johnny Angel," and "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini," died Monday November 14th at his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut at the age of 87.

On this day 2nd December 1960-1965:-

On 02/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley 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 Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/12/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley. 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 £not very interesting and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On 02/12/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/12/1963 the number one single was She Loves 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 02/12/1964 the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes 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 02/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers 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.

Web Page 992

Top Picture: Hand made chocolates from the 1960’s


Second Picture: They still sell these! The spud gun.

The Tuck Shop

When you were in Junior School did you have a local Tuck Shop? I know that we did. Ours was on the corner of Solent Road and Highlands Road in Drayton and opposite Solent Road School. It was run by a couple, Mr & Mrs Shaw and it was situated in the back room and conservatory of their home. It was actually a typical corner shop which sold almost everything rather like Arkwrights in ‘Open All Hours’ and it sold everything from toilet cleaner to potatoes! But it had a small counter off to one side for all those pocket money type of items. The shop was run by Old Man Shaw and his wife, well at least we called him Old Man Shaw he was probably in his mid 50’s when we were 7 or 8 so he seemed very old to us.

A trip into this Aladdin’s Cave before or after school was a necessity for most of us. Here we would buy our Jamboree Bags, Penny Chews, Fruit Salad Sweets and various other unhealthy but enjoyable sweets. One of the products that were popular were the chewing gum packets that contained collector cards in them, I remember collecting scenes from ‘Quo Vadis’ and portraits of film stars and there was quite a thriving black market going on in swapping and exchanging these cards so you could collect the whole set.

Mr Shaw seemed to run the shop on a seasonable basis making various things at the back of the counter as the year progressed. In summer he would make penny ice lollies in various flavours which we had to finish off either before we got home or went into school. Also in the summer he made his own fizzy drinks and I can remember a large red metal contraption behind the counter which added the fizz to the fizzy drinks. As the year progressed other things appeared on the counter the main one that I remember, and never liked, were home made toffee apples.

When the marble season was declared open, (who ever decided that?) Shaw’s always had a big selection of either individual or packet marbles and, of course, large glass Alleys. When the marble season was over then came Yoyo’s and stamp collecting. Yoyo’s came in various sorts and colours. The heavy wooden ones being the best and stamps came in little packets and of course you then needed the album to put them in and the hinges to stick them down. Come November it was the firework season and of course we were far too young to be sold fireworks but the law did state that we could be sold coloured matches and I remember that these came in two colours red or green and gave off a terrible smell when they burnt.

Some time during the year the Swanee Whistle would become popular and it seemed that practically every child had one of these instruments and would play them, if that is the right word, on their way home from school, all bought from Shaw’s. Christmas saw an influx of tiny presents on the counter all of which a child’s pocket money could afford, maybe as a gift for a favourite aunt or a teacher!

But there was more than food for the youngster whose 6d piece was burning a hole in his pocket. Toys were also a side line and I remember buying a spud gun, (you can see from the illustration above that they are still around,) and one potato as ammunition. I also bought Lone Star cap guns, cap bombs and of course the caps to go with them.

One other item that used to sell well were goggles. These were modelled on the RAF pattern and we all fondly believed that they were the actual ones worn by fighter pilots in the Battle of Britain, it never crossed our minds that they were far too small to fit an adult head, but we were happy we were wearing fighter pilots goggles. On one side of the counter the keen lad could always find cheap balsa wood gliders, these planes came in paper packets and consisted of a fuselage, wings and a tail which were slotted in plus a weight for the nose and many an air battle was waged with these packet planes but, of course, we had to wear the right googles to fly these fighters!!!!

Well these are just some of the things that I remember from my local tuck shop, I am sure you will be able to remember other things from your own. If so send me an Email and we can share your memories with everyone.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Tom Writes:-

I'd like to talk a bit more about Court Lane School of which I enjoyed more than Manor Court. Although, I quickly add that I have happy memories of both. There was a very special teacher at Court Lane by the name of Mr Butler who not only the children liked a lot, but also the Parents liked very much too. To him controlling a class was second nature and he did it all with such kindness and encouragement. I can imagine my fellow pupils wherever they are now, still remember him with the same fondness as I do. It was in his class that I met Susan Jones and got smitten. See what just one old photograph has stirred in me. Crazy isn't it.

Malcolm Writes:-

Hi Pete, enjoying being reminded of the good years we had. Listen to Gold all day when in the car and the music does not really seem like 30 - 50 years old. We've had mini-skirts and hot pants make a come back, but what about cheese-cloth shirts?? I really loved wearing them, really felt the cat's whiskers strutting down Cosham High Street, complete with flared trousers and platform heels!! The previous update mentioned the Savoy, Southsea and I can clearly remember going there to see The Nashville Teens, when Tobacco Road was in the charts. The place was packed out, had real trouble getting to the bar (this was before ID was needed!!).

Mary Writes:

Hello, I read last weeks blog with great interest as always. Behind Widley church is a small military cemetary. Most people do not realise this. Last week it was mentioned that Frankie Vaughan appeared in Portsmouth to support a youth club. I`m not surprised as he had a life long interest in Boys Clubs. He grew up in a deprived area under very difficult circumstances. His grandfather deserted his young wife and large family of very small children to live in America. For a long time the family thought the grandfather was dead. Frankie soon knew the value of a club to keep young lads out of trouble hence his interest. On a personal note about the only thing that my mother and mother in law agreed on was a mutual love of Frankie Vaughan. Both adored him. My mother had an artificial limb but that didn`t prevent her from singing "Give me the moonlight, give me the girl etc" followed by a high kick".

Linda Writes:

One advert I remember was for Mr Clean it went - Mr Clean gets rid of dirt and grim and grease in just a minute - Mr Clean will clean your whole house and everything that's in it. Sad aren't I - I have just never forgotten that one.

News and Views:

Sad to see the death of Basil D’oliveira, a real gentleman of cricket. I used to know him when I and his family when I lived in Worcester in the mid 1960’s.

On this day 26th November 1960-1965.

On

26/11/1960

the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley 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 Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

26/11/1961

the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25.The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On

26/11/1962

the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

26/11/1963

the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

26/11/1964

the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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

26/11/1965

the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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. The big news of the day Mrs Mary Whitehouse had just formed the National Viewers Association

Web Page 990

Top Picture: A railway poster advertising Portsmouth








Second Picture: Bargains at Weston Harts!






What was happening in 1963



By 1963 the teenage revolution was really underway. Portsmouth’s leading young man’s fashion store “The Shirt King” in Charlotte Street and I expect you remember here was a branch in Cosham High Street, (I used it regularly) advertised its first-ever January Sale with cutaway shirts at 12/6d, Chelsea boots at 49/6d, Casual Jackets at 50/- (£2.50) and denim shirts were only 25/-. However to the people of our parents generation the wearing of denim was seen as a sign of something rather undesirable and this was reinforced by an article in the Evening News called “Delinquency and Discipline. The teenage girls’ fashion at the time were variously described as smart or odd as they featured polo neck sweaters, shortish skirts and knee-length boots.
In 1963 it was possible to rent a black and white television with the two channels, BBC and ITV for 8/8d per week from Radio Rentals or Rentaset or for the teenager a three-speed record player could be bought for 8 guineas (£8/ 8/-). It really did not matter if you could not afford new records to play on it long-playing albums (LPs) cost 32/- and 45rpm singles at 6/8d, a visit to “Haskell & Green” or “The House of Wax” in Lake Road cured that because both these shops were emporiums where you could buy (or sell) second-hand records. Transistor radios were all the rage in 1963 and they were relatively expensive at first, pocket sets (Japanese ones at least) were down to £3-£6 but they were soon down to 50-bob in the local Co-op. As a comparison, if you were lucky enough to have access to a car you would have been able to fill the tank of a Mini for £1.00!

There were new teenage magazine appearing almost every week and the year started off in mid-February with a new magazine for girls, “Diana” – costing 6d per week and offering a free “golden chain bracelet”. I wonder how many of those are still around in jewellery boxes on dressing tables? Other well known magazine which started that year were ‘Jackie’ and ‘Roxy’.

Fashions and hairstyles were changing too and in Portsmouth, Jackson the Tailor in Commercial Road were selling what they called “Young Man’s Choice” suits, ‘off-the-peg’ for just nine guineas while Helene, again in Commercial Road had a “stunning cape suit” for the young women at £15.4.6d. Other stores were not to be outdone and C&A were promoting “Paris-inspired dresses” for 98/-; the boys were not ignored they could buy Big Beat jackets at Junior C&A for £4/9/11d, the Co-op advertised needlecord Beatle jackets at £6/19/6d.

In August of that year ITV launched a new weekly pop show ‘Ready Steady Go’ this, as I expect you remember, was a highly popular programme with the slogan “the weekend starts here” but for some mind blowing reason Southern Television decided to broadcast it on Sunday afternoons, maybe their weekends were different to other peoples! Very odd!

But nothing was as odd as what occurred in St Albans Church in Copnor when a teenage rock & roll performance caused a controversy with the presentation of a modern nativity featuring an unexpected pregnancy, a coffee bar, motorbikes and “beat music”. The Evening News ran a feature called “Rocking in the Nave” about this “controversial religious drama”, which caused a lot of interest especially when it revealed that the girl star had been banned from appearing by her father. The controversy continued with a letter complaining that churches are not right for “rock, skiffle and plays”. However the play was performed to “packed” church with no sign of protests or dissention for the rest of the performances.

The teenage world had hit Portsmouth this was shown with the opening of the Paulsgrove Youth & Community Centre which cost £55,000. But nothing changed as the girls complained that the boys are too shy and rarely got up and danced.

But all was not free and easy because on Saturday 24 August 1963, a newspaper headline revealed “Girl (14) took drugs, drank beer in bar at Southsea”. The drugs included Benzedrine and reefers and it was one of the earliest reported prosecutions of this kind in the city. Over the years to come there would be many more. But that is another story.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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



From the Web Site 9 years ago:-

Did You Know?

From the Keat pool of useless trivia comes these local gems. Some are well before our time but nevertheless interesting.

Farlington Station was built in 1891 to serve the Farlington Racecourse which was opened on 27th June that year. The course, complete with grandstand was south of where the railway triangle is today and the station straddled the two lines. In July 1894 a horrendous derailment happened when the train guard died and eight of the passengers badly injured. The racecourse was taken over by the Army in 1915 and used as an ammunition dump and for a time it was used as a depot for the Army Veterinary School. Racing was never resumed after the war. The station closed in the mid 1930’s but in 1948 sidings were laid to serve the new Co-op Bakery at the bottom of Station Road. However this was not the only racecourse served by a station in the area. Between 1933 and 1939 a halt was opened to serve Paulsgrove racecourse, the site of this today can be verified by the existence of Racecourse Lane which is off the main road.

Drayton: According to old maps of 1869 the New Inn in Drayton was originally called the George Inn but no other documentary evidence can verify this suspicion. Originally Lower Drayton Lane took a sharp turn to the East near the top and came out opposite Upper Drayton Lane, one assumes this was for the ease of the horses pulling the wagons up the slope. Between the wars the short extension of road, which is used today, was cut straight up to the Havant Road. The original road was unadopted for many years and remained so despite have a terrace of houses, Wellington Terrace, situated on it. The road remained like this until the redevelopment and the building of the new shops called the Broadway.

Court Lane: This road was generally accepted, although totally unofficially, as the eastern boundary of Cosham. At the top of Court Lane on the north west corner where it meets the Havant Road stood, until its demolition for new housing, stood one of the last thatched houses in Cosham.

Cosham: Wayte street commemorates the memory of Honor Wayte one of the members of the family who once owned Wymering Manor in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1608 she endowed alms house to accommodate four honest and sober women of the parish. The original houses were destroyed by fire in 1800 but were replaced by new cottages, however nothing of these remain today.

During the Boer War, 1899-1902, many thousands of soldiers embarked onto trains at Cosham station. These embarkations were usually preceded by a parade down the High Street often led by a band. During the second world war large concrete tank traps were put in place next to the railway line on the south side opposite the signal box, between the High Street and Northern Road and these lasted in place well into the 1960’s. I remember sitting on them as a child and watching the trains go by! But the history of Cosham goes back many hundreds of years and when in the 1930’s excavations were made on the corner of High Street and Magdala Road to set in petrol holding tanks for the garage substantial remains of a Roman Road were discovered.

Highbury: Until the building of the motorway and the development of that area there were still remains of a working dock and quay alongside Portscreek. This was built to bring in the materials for the construction of the houses, buildings and roads on the estate.

Portsdown Park: This was an ill-fated development on the slopes of Portsdown Hill opposite the QA hospital. The development included three tower blocks as well as low rise housing, a public house and shops. Work began in 1971 and the first tenants moved in 1975. The building suffered water ingression and vandalism and was rife, it was costing the Council a fortune to maintain and so it was decided to cut their losses and pull out so in 1987 the order to remove all the tenants was given and the Park was demolished.

Widley: The old village of Widley lay well to the west of the modern development and the community was served by the church of St Mary Magalene. There had been a church on the site from 1291 but this one was replaced by a new building in 1849. However with the movement of the population the church became disused and was demolished in 1953. All that remains is the outline of the church, the cemetery wall and a few grave stones among which was buried the infant brother of Charles Dickens, Alfred Dickens. The church remains can be found on the left hand side of the road descending Pigeon House Lane.

Cowplain: In 1934 a growing number of people liked where they lived but they did not like the name of the place. Suddenly Cowplain had lost its rural charm and so began a long forgotten campaign to change the name of the area. A Dr Beddows suggested to the Residents Association that the time was right to change the name to the more refined name Latchmere, which was the name of a small area within Cowplain itself. The argument soon waged and continued for many months but the campaigners got no backing from the Council the move to change the name slowly disappeared until now very few people are even aware that the campaign ever happened.

Now over to Paulsgrove: One cannot imagine Paulsgrove being the south of Englands answer to the dollar rich oil fields of Dallas, but it nearly did happened. To this day there must be a family living somewhere in Paulsgrove who are situated on top of a 6,500ft hole. Hopes were high in 1936 when the D’Arcy Exploration Company set up a 135ft drilling rig on what was farm land. The soil samples indicated that there was a strong possibility of oil in the region and drilling continued until mid 1937, but oil was not found in commercial quantities. Another attempt was made after the war with a 3,000ft shaft being sunk near to the original but again no strike. Lets just hope that these two holes are well capped because it certainly is a long way to the bottom. I am sure only a very small percentage of the people who live on the estate now even know about these ambitious plans.



You Write:

Peter writes:

I was very impressed that Wally Dunstan knew Sir Adrian Boult and Sir John Barbirolli. This must have been a choir directed by John Stephens when Sir Adrian visited Court Lane School in 1956. What an event. John Stephens never mentioned it to us. I remember, although my memory is very misty about this, when there was a schools choir festival, or competition, that included our school choir. It was held at, I think, the Guildhall? About 1958 ish? Also another memory of a marvellous concert given by Sir Charles Groves and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, especially for schoolchildren. Was this at the Guildhall as well ? I can't remember when, or what they performed.....but I was hooked.

Editor replies:

Yes it was at the Guildhall and they played the Surprise Symphony and the Young Peoples Guide to the Orchestra.



News and Views:

Keith Richards was awarded a Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Biography in a ceremony in Manhattan. Keith, who was introduced by former President Bill Clinton, won the award for his autobiography, "Life."

On this Day 19th November 1960-1965

On 19/11/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Take Your Pick (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 19/11/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) 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 19/11/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield 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 19/11/1963 the number one single was You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 19/11/1964 the number one single was Baby Love - Supremes 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 19/11/1965 the number one single was Get Off Of My Cloud - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Liverpool. 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. The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

Top Picture: Sir Adrian Boult



Web Page 988
Second Picture: The Savoy Dance Hall

Entertainment in Portsmouth in the 1950’s

The other day I was researching the music and entertainment scene in Portsmouth and I soon discovered that the City was alive with stars and entertainers throughout the year. The one thing that I did not expect to see was a mention of Court Lane School.
In the entertainment listings, to my amazement, I read that on March 19th 1956 Sir Adrian Boult conducted the choir of 150 at Court Lane Modern School in rehearsal for a national Festival of School Music. Now this is something that I had never heard of so I set off in search of the truth. My first and only port of call was to June Blitz as she was the only teacher I know that was working in the school at the time and whose contact address I had. She most certainly did remember the occasion and she thought the reason that such a prominent and well respected conductor should grace the school was because he was a friend of the Head Master Wally Dunstan, (she thinks that he also knew Sir John Barbiroli). I did not start at the school until September 1957 but I thought news of the great mans visit to the school would have still been buzzing around.

Famous conductors apart let’s look at the line ups at some of the live entertainment venues in 1956.

The Savoy Ballroom hosted many bands and was most certainly the hottest venue in town for Dance Bands, so it is best to list them month by month.

January: Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra , Sid Phillips and his Band
February: Ted Heath and his Music, Lou Preager and his Orchestra, Ronnie Scott and his Newly Augmented Orchestra
March Eric Winstone and his Full Broadcasting Band, Stan Kenton and his Orchestra play two sit down concerts. 16th Ray Ellington and his Quartet Tubby Hayes and his Orchestra
April 20th Ken Mackintosh and his Radio Band, Eric Winstone and his Orchestra
May Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra, Alex Welsh and his Dixielanders, Mick Mulligan and his Magnolia Jazz Band with George Melly,
June 1st Ted Heath and his Music, Ken Mackintosh and his Orchestra, Freddy Randall and his Orchestra
July 20th Tubby Hayes and his Orchestra, Ted Heath and his Music admission 5/-d.
August Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra
September Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra
October 5th Ray Ellington and his Quartet, featuring Marion Ryan, Ted Heath and his Music
November 9th Joe Loss and his Orchestra, Ray Ellington and his Quartet featuring Marion Ryan
December 14th Ted Heath and his Music, Ken Mackintosh and his Orchestra
At the Theatre Royal the customers could see Jon Pertwee and the Kentones appear in January and Monswer Eddie Gray and Arthur English appeared in February. In March Ronnie Hilton and May Anne Shelton, The Five Skyliners and Arthur Worsley appeared. In June Elsie and Doris Waters starred with Peter Cavanagh and Saveen with Daisy May and in the following month they could see David Nixon plus Reg Varney and they were both back for a second week later that month. In September Fred Emney and Betty Driver appeared and at the end of the month the ‘Cheeky Chappie’ himself Max Miller graced the stage whilst the end of the season in October saw a week with Vic Oliver.

South Parade Pier had a variety of acts: In March Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra play on South Parade Pier Victor senior was in hospital so his son Victor junior conducted the orchestra. In May Danny Kaye made an appearance and in June Cyril Fletcher appears for two weeks followed by Eric Delany and his Band Show, the Tommy Trinder and in July Jack Parnell and his Orchestra

The Kings Theatre was a little more high brow with Rawicz and Landauer in March, Fenella Fielding in April and the Sadlers Wells perform a variety of ballets in June. Come August George Formby stared in 'Too young to marry' and this was followed by The Ballet Rambert and Cardew (the Cad) Robinson in October.

Just a look at a couple of other events both in October, this time in unusual venues.

October 16th saw Wilfred Pickles bring 'Have a go' to the Trafalgar Club in Edinburgh Road and it's broadcast on the BBC Light programme.
And how they managed this I really do not know for on October 25th Frankie Vaughn appeared for a Youth Club dance arranged by Hillside and Goodwyns clubs.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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


You Write:

Tom Writes:
Hi Pete

The photo called Court Lane Children, I do remember many of them because I also went to Court Lane. In fact Ian Sellars lived almost opposite me in Lonsdale Avenue, very near the school. But to my surprise there's also Susan Jones in the photo. Well, what can I say the truth I suppose, is always the best. For a long time at Junior School she had a spell on me, it was of course only puppy love but I still even up to today wonder what happened to her. She used to live in a road which was on the route to the back of the Odeon cinema car park. This route we took on our way to the Saturday Morning Pictures. Wow, how that picture of her and some of the others has bought a flood of memories back to me. So much so that I had to write and tell you.

Steve Writes:

On our visit to Portsmouth last May I was surprised that Drayton had changed very little and a few shops from our day still remained. The Co-op of course and a Fish & Chippy still there where Fishy Francis was and of course no milk machine outside. Across the road was still a Womens hairdresser's. Yes, the old New Inn was under refurbishment, I think it's going to be a restaurant?

And back on the Co-op side the Opticians, with the name of Malcolm Smith, remember me asking you later if anyone knew if this was indeed the Malcolm Smith of Manor Court and in my class?

Of course no Nappers the hardware shop, Lights and my favourite shop R.A. Fraser's where I spent some of my early wages on records. In fact just dug out one of my Pink Floyd albums to check the shop name from the sticker, yep I still have this and a few others. I believe you worked there around this time, so you might have sold it to me!

Further afield, as we were staying in a B&B on Portsdown Hill road I got the urge to look at Dead Man's wood, a favourite haunt of ours as kids. As you know it's in the middle of a golf course now, but that didn't deter me. Inside the wood it is a lot more open now with all the shrubbery I remember now cleared and two war memorial stones are still there!

And lastly we managed to find time between various meet ups with old pals for a trip to Hayling and the Kench, where my Father had a houseboat back in the late 50s, that is gone now but still a half dozen remain. And of course we had a great big meal in the Ferry Boat Inn (recommended) after, that Inn has certainly grown since our days!

Peter Writes:

Thanks so much for the Staff list. What a diverse lot they were............as indeed were their teaching methods!. No uniform box ticking for them. You learned as much from their personalities as from their subjects. They were clearly in charge of their own teaching, and it made them individualists. I 'm sure we had more variety in those far off days than many do today.

There were some unforgettable staff at Manor Court at that time. Bert Ray, with his suppressed humour ....."I'll take umbrage on you boy".David Gee's gentle wisdom. Norman Folland's patience....by God he needed it! Mick Jones's extrovert enthusiasm. Ray Dopson who never talked down to us. John Stevens who liberated the most feeble voices and gave me a lifelong love of music. There were many more of course. When you are young you take it all for granted. It is only later that you realize how much some of these folk enriched our lives. And there was always Miss Burden, our resident Pre Raphaelite beauty...... It was'nt all good...........careers advice!!!.... But, like you Peter, I still own a coffee table and teapot stand, so we could have done furniture making....,rather badly!!

News and Views:

It's been reported that "Monkess Business: The Musical" will open in Manchester, next March. Manchester is, of course, the birthplace of Monkee Davy Jones. The story line is described by producers as a "madcap Austin Powers-style plot."

On this day 12th December 1960-1965.

On

12/10/1960

the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68.

On

12/10/1961

the number one single was Michael - The Highwaymen and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) 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

12/10/1962

the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. 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

12/10/1963

the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

12/10/1964

the number one single was Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 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

12/10/1965

the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was Help - 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.

Web Page 986

Top Picture: The Milky Bar Kid



Second Picture: Charles Atlas

ADVERTISING SLOGANS


It seems to me that the advertising slogan must have grown up with us. In our formative years there seemed to be a slogan for almost everything in our lives, so lets look at a few.

The first section, Medicines, was much loved by my mother being an ex Assistant Matron in a children’s hospital, if there was a pimple, it had to be squeezed, a rash had to be investigated and an upset stomach had to be nursed. So these products were closed to her heart. Talking of tummy upsets Alka Seltzer “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is!” This is the first slogan that came to mind, the for a headache “Nothing acts faster than Anadin”, we never had Andrews Liver Salts Andrews for “Inner Cleanliness”. But we did have Andrex toilet tissue “Soft, strong and very long”, which meant that we could get rid of that ghastly roll of Izal!!!!
Now who can forget these sweet slogans? "The Milkybars are on me!" – this was an advert first shown in 1961 to promote Nestlé Milkybars featuring "The Milkybar Kid", a blonde, spectacle-wearing young boy, Terry Brooks, usually dressed as a cowboy. He is now 58 and married to his second wife, Sue, he has four children and five grandchildren. He works as a gardener and odd-job man at a country club in Murcia, Spain. He says: It's my lifelong claim to fame that I was the very first Milkybar Kid - people laugh when I tell them I was paid £10 for my first advert. I got into it because my elder sister persuaded me to start at the Peggy O'Farrell Stage School near my home in the East End of London, and I auditioned for the role. No one knew how popular it would be - it made me famous instantly. I was a panel-beater's son, so as you can imagine, it changed my life. I did it for five years, on and off. After the second year, they upped my pay to £100 a year, which was good money for that time [the equivalent of a £3,000 salary today]. I got time off school, and as many chocolate bars as I could stomach, too.

One of the other most popular adverts was "Opal Fruits — Made to make your mouth water, fresh with the tang of citrus, four refreshing fruit flavours". For a time in the last ten years or so they had their name changed to Starburst, like Marathon changing its name to Snickers, it does not have the impact!

You all must remember “Have a break…Have a Kit Kat.” This has been running since 1957, and Kit Kat’s slogan has been seen all over the World.

Now for food! Birds Eye Peas have been as “Sweet as the moment when the pod went 'pop'” since 1954. The Bisto Kids have been saying “Ahh Bisto!” since 1919 and in 1930 the company decided to name the Bisto twins? In Birmingham a competition was held to put a name to the characters, a boy and a girl sniffing the beautiful aroma of Bisto's gravy. The competition was won by Mr and Mrs Simmonds,who named them after themselves...they called them Bill and Maree.They were awarded a beautiful china doll as a prize.

Go to work on an egg, ‘Happiness is egg shaped’, ‘You can rely on the lion’ are just three slogans used by the British Egg Marketing Board "Go to work on an egg" was an advertising slogan used during the 1950s as part of more than £12 million it spent on advertising, including a series of television adverts starring the Tony Hancock actress Patricia Hayes in 1965. The proposition was that having an egg for breakfast was the best way to start the working day.

If I said “They’re G-r-r-r-eat!” I am sure you would all instantly the Kellogg’s Frosties advert with Tony the Tiger. Back in the 1950s, Tony growled his way into American consciousness with this memorable slogan for Frosted Flakes. Tony’s catchphrase has become one of the longest running and most recognized slogans in TV advertising history. Tony the Tiger’s character has evolved over the years: he stands upright rather than on all fours, has travelled to more than 42 countries, in the adverts Tony has a mother, a wife and a son and daughter.

Heinz makes 1.5 million cans of baked beans every day in the UK, and we all recognise “Beanz meanz Heinz”. "It has been voted one of the best advertising slogans ever created and it is as relevant today as when it was first shown." A Heinz spokesman has said "Some people might say it's being lazy not updating the slogan, but when something works, why change it?"

And of course Bournvita said you could “Sleep sweeter, with Bournvita”, whilst Horlicks claimed that it was “the Food Drink of the Night”.
Just to round off one of the best known drink adverts came from the Gaymer Cider Company who claimed that “I'd love a Babycham” for the ladies and for the gents Charles Atlas always claimed that “You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine”. Actually it does not ring so well when you know that his real name was Angelo Siciliano, incidently he was born in October 30, 1892, in Acri, Italy and died on December 23, 1972, in Long Beach, New York.

I am know that I have missed off many adverts, maybe you can remind me of some more?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Peter Writes:-

Hi Peter

You recently asked if anyone had any old school memorabilia such as
programmes, reports and photographs etc;. Your blog mainly covers the time
from the inception of Manor Court in 1959/60. I left Court Lane in the
July that it moved to Manor Court in September. You recently introduced a
new reader, Malcolm Merritt who I have since contacted for the first time
since we left school all those years ago. He was in my class and our class
teacher when we left, was Norman Folland. It would be nice if you could
extend your blog back a little bit, say to 1956 and see if a few of that era
came out of the woodwork. I'm sure a lot of your readers although just a
little bit younger than us would know or recognise the names of some of the
people. Could I ask that if anyone does know of any of these, they ask them
to perhaps identify themselves through your pages. I could give you a list
of quite a lot of people who were at the final years of Court Lane Secondary
School. I enclose some photos that I have of people from that final year:
The first photo refers to a cycle ride that 5 of us made from Cosham to
Beaulieu, in it, is shown David Christopher and Malcolm Lee. The second
photo shows me Peter Barlow and the last two show the last Sports Day of
Court Lane at East Lodge playing fields. It may be that some computer
wizard can enhance the pictures which were taken with my Brownie 127 camera and identify some of the people in them.

I Write:-

I will work on the pics and put them on asap


News and Views:

The Bandleader Edmundo Ross died on 21st October in Alicante aged 100 two months short of his 101 birthday. He entertained much of the British public during the war and well into the 1960’s. Edmundo Ross was a singer, bandleader and percussionist, who was famous for popularising the rumba. He was born in Trindad-Tobago and then lived in Venezuela, the UK and on his retirement moved to the Costa Blanca in Spain with his wife Susan. He spent his last years in the Residencia de Benimeli, now confined to a wheelchair. He gave his last performance in 1994, and was awarded the OBE in 2000.

Also as you will have read in the papers Sir Jimmy Savile died in his sleep at his home in Leeds two days before his 85th birthday.

On this day 4th December 1960-1965.

On

04/11/1960

the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

04/11/1961

the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Twenty One Today - Cliff Richard. 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. The big news story of the day was Severe flooding in SE England

On

04/11/1962

the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (BBC) 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

04/11/1963

the number one single was You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance (ATV) 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. The big news story of the day was Beatles perform at Royal Variety Show.

On

04/11/1964

the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw 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

04/11/1965

the number one single was Get Off Of My Cloud - Rolling Stones 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.