Web Page 1002

Top Picture: The Radio Times for Christmas 1963





Bottom Picture: The TV Times for Christmas 1963

Happy New Year Everyone



New Beginnings

Well yet another New Year with all its hopes and fears but if you remember nothing was quite like the trepidation of the new school year.

We first encountered the New School Year at Infant School. The first fear was of actually starting infant school we did not know what was coming and when we found out that we had to leave our mother that, for some was disaster. I started infant school in the church hall of the Drayton Methodist Church in Station Road. Our teacher there was a kindly lady Mrs Patten but I am afraid to say that I remember very little about it. I remember going to school with Keith Conlon, in fact we pedalled there on our tricycles and our poor mothers had to bring them home again. I remember my first girlfriend Pauline House and going to her birthday party in Station Road and I also remember Edward, known as Bungy, Wells. Bungy came from an intelligent family and in later life went on to become a solicitor. One afternoon we were sat down and given sand trays to draw pictures in. We all set to it will a will, all except Bungy who could not be bothered. The teacher came and looked over our shoulders and commented on what we had drawn. When she reached Bungy she saw the untouched tray and told him he had to draw something; so slowly he drew a vertical straight line and sat back. Mrs Patten looked and then asked Bungy what he had drawn, “A walking stick” was his reply! Well he had drawn something!

Our next major fear was going up to Junior School and the start of another New School Year. I went to Solent Road School where one of my teachers, Miss Waters who later went on to become headmistress of Court Lane Junior School, terrified me and gave me all kinds of problems. Remember the headmaster was Mr Hawkins and atone school bazaar I sold his trilby hat by mistake. Other teachers stick in the mind Mrs McGee and her dog, Boson, why she was allowed to have a dog in the school beats me! Mr King was strict but a favourite, I believe his wife ran a hotel/guest house in Southsea, Les Rose, the less said here the better I think, Mr Wing (known as Old Pop Wing), Miss Greenleaf and Mr White are some of the other teachers I remember.

The main school playground backed onto my back garden and it was always annoying that I had to walk right around the roads four times a day and not jump over the fence (it was far too high). Other highlights and lowlights of these school years were the annual visit of the School Nurse when we all had to queue up in the cloakroom room in our underwear with our mothers to discover if we were healthy and did not have nits. The highlight was the Coronation. Our teacher used food colouring to colour our milk red, well pink actually, white and blue. We had a school party with golden cardboard crowns supplied by Cow & Gate and were all given gifts. I still have the crown coin and the book Elizabeth Our Queen we were given but the model state carriage and horses have long gone

It was at Junior School that I first encountered a uniformed organisation as I joined the Wolf Cubs at Scoutlands in Farlington. We met on a Monday night and the pack was run by one of the boys mother, Mrs Chambers.

Having settled in at Junior School after taking the 11+ we knew we were off to ‘Big School’ and another New School Year with all its uncertainties. The first indication of this impending event was the letter informing my parents to which school I had been assigned and the second indication was being taking to Beaumonts in Cosham High Street to buy the new School Uniform. Shirts, tie, grey trousers, blazer, cap, two school badges (cap size and blazer size), sports kit and all the rest ready for Court Lane Secondary School. We had not inkling that within three and a half years it would all change as Manor Court Secondary Modern School came into existence. But that was all in the future. All that worried us at this time was a New School Year, in a New School with lots of people we did not know. But that is another story which I shall continue at a later date.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Peter asks:

Does anyone else remember a troupe of actresses coming to the school to perform Macbeth? They arrive in two old Rolls Royce Hearses with a trailer on the back. Anyone remember who they were?


News and Views:

Frankie Valli's estranged wife (he filed for divorce in 2004) has gone to court asking that Frankie pay her legal fees during their legal wrangling. While Frankie can afford it-- he reportedly makes over a half-million dollars a month, much of it from the Broadway musical, "Jersey Boys"-- he already is paying his wife $30,000 a month.


On this day 31st December 1960-1965.


On 3

1/12/1960

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

On

31/12/1961

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

On

31/12/1962

the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was 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.The big news story of the day was Tax reduced to 25% on TVs and radios.

On

31/12/1963

the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

31/12/1964

the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Donald Campbell sets water speed record.

On

31/12/1965

the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was Rubber Soul - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 1000

Happy Christmas Everyone

Well here we are at another Christmas and I cannot believe it! I always count the text of my blog as one page and the pictures as another so as you can see by the number on this page this is the 500th edition of the Manor Court Update. Phew! Where does it all come from?

Melv Bridger and I met up with Peter Westcott last week the first time we had met for 48 years. As you can imagine there was lots of do you remembers and who did whats?

As usual at Christmas this weeks page is a fun quiz, with the answers further down the page. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and here we go for the next 500 pages!

Top Picture: The Victory at Christmas




Second Picture: A 1950’s Christmas Tree.




You Write:

Steve asks:-

I seem to remember my Mother having something to do with Councillor Kerr. I know I had to go to their house or bungalow once for some reason, they lived somewhere near St Andrews church I think, laid back on the same side, with quite a long drive?

I also remember meeting another rather tall councillor, whether it was at Kerr's I am not sure but someone told me this chap was about 7ft tall. Any ideas who that could have been?

News and Views section is after the Quiz Answers

Right it is Christmas so here we go with the Annual Quiz

PLACES

1. Stan Laurel was born in which Cumbrian Town?
2. Which city is the home of Coleman’s Mustard?
3. In which Yorkshire coastal town will you find a whalebone arch?
4. Where will you find the Great Orme?
5. Where were the Enigma code breakers based?
6. Where was The Prisoner filmed?
7. Which seaside town was advertised as ‘So Bracing’?
8. Where will you find Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem?
9. And what is it?
10. How many Palmeston Forts were built in the Solent?


TRANSPORT

1. When did the last commercial trolleybuses run in Great Britain?
2. A crossing attendant's 'lollipop' stop sign has a black strip in the middle. Why was this originally put there?
3. Which country has the lowest motorway speed limit in Europe?
4. Which is the only 'road' (as opposed to 'street', 'lane', 'avenue' etc.) in the W1 postcode of central London?
5. What year did London’s last Tram run

WHEN

1. In which year was Richard Branson born?
2. When was the death penalty abolished in England?
3. During which wartime year did Food rationing begin?
4. What was the date of the last Coronation?
5. In what year did the Gunpowder Plot happen?

LONDON

1. Which London Cemetery is the last resting place of Karl Marx, George Eliot, Henry Moore and Max Wall amongst others?
2. What is Big Ben?
3. Name the film studio that made the original version of The Ladykillers.
4. What was designed by Harry Beck in 1931?
5. What was the name of the 22 storey Canning Town tower block which partially collapsed in 1965?
6. Where in London were the first escalators installed in 1898?
7. Who lives at SW1A 1AA?
8. Who lived at No1 London?
9. Where would you find the Elfin Oak?
10. On the London Underground which line is coloured yellow?
ODDS and ENDS
1. Who took over from Magnus Magnassun as host of (UK) TV's Mastermind?
2. Who was William Claude Dukenfield better known as?
3. Which 1969 film had the Oscar-winning song Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head?
4. What are the first character names of the three Railway Children, the film from the novel by Edith Nesbit?
5. Who wrote the Opera La Boheme?
6. Who was Humphrey the 10 Downing Street cat who died in 2006 named after?
7. Which famous music festival was first staged in 1970?
8. Who were the first artists to appear in TV's Top Of The Pops?
9. Whose band was the Tijuana Brass?
10. Who was the first Doctor Who? CHRISTMAS
1.Who was the first British monarch to broadcast a Christmas message to the nation? 2. Child star Jimmy Boyd sang which hugely popular 1950's Christmas song ? 3. The Christmas period of 1813-14 saw the last what in London? 4. Which American government agency tracks Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve? 5. What colour of Christmas did Elvis Presley sing about? 6. What was "Roasting on an Open Fire" Sung by Nat "King" Cole? 7. What was the name of the family featured in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation?
8. What did Frosty the Snowman have for a nose?
9. In the film Toy Story, the final scene takes place on Christmas Day. What were the names of the two rivals in the film? 10. What well known Christmas Song did Johnny Marks compose ?
Pam and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

The Answers:

WHEN
1. 1950
2. 1965
3. 1940
4. 2nd June 1953
5. 1605

LONDON
1. Highgate
2. A Bell
3. Ealing
4. LT Tube map
5. Ronan Point
6. Harrods
7. The Queen
8. Duke of Wellington
9. Kensington Gardens
10. Circle

PLACES
1. Ulverston
2. Norwich
3. Whitby
4. Llandudno
5. Bletchley Park
6. Portmeirion
7. Skegness
8. Nottinhgham
9. Oldest Inn in England
10. Spitbank Fort, St Helens Fort, Horse Sand Fort, No Mans Land Fort (4) with the land forts a total of 27
TRANSPORT
1. Bradford 1972
2. The attendants were originally issued with chalk and if a car failed to stop they would write the registration number down on the black stripe.
3. Norway 62mph
4. Tottenham Court Road
5. 1952

ODDS and ENDS
1. John Humphreys
2. WC Fields
3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
4. Peter, Phyllis and Roberta
5. Puccini (1896)
6. Sir Humphrey Appleby, in TV's Yes Minister
7. Glastonbury
8. The Rolling Stones (playing I Wanna Be Your Man in 1964)
9. Herb Alpert
10. William Hartnell.
1. George V 1932
2. I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus
3. Christmas Fair on a frozen River Thames known as a Frost Fair)
4. NORAD
5. Blue
6. Chestnuts
7. The Griswalds
8. A Button
9. Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear
10. Ruldolf the Red Nosed Reindeer


News and Views.

Troggs lead singer Reg Presley was hospitalized in Winchester on Wednesday (December 14) with what is suspected to be a stroke. He is also suffering from pneumonia and fluid around the heart. The 70 year-old suffered a major stroke about a year ago. Reg's wife says he first began to feel bad while performing in Germany on December 3 and has gotten progressively worse. "Doctors think he has had another stroke. He's not very well and I have no idea how long he'll be in hospital," she said.

On this day 24th December 1960-1965

On 24/12/1960 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 Knight Errant (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 24/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 24/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 24/12/1963 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 24/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 24/12/1965 the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 998

Top Picture: The Fratton Road Coop in the late 1950’s



Second Picture: The paddle steamer Ryde approaches Portsmouth Harbour station on one of her last runs.


I am very grateful to Geraldine for sending me this, actually she sent it to me several weeks ago but I held on to it for now to give you all something to think over during the festive season!

HOW WASTEFUL WAS OUR OLDER GENERATION?

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

The woman apologized to him and explained: "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded: "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment." He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store.The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day. In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 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; they didn't have the green thing back in her day. Back then, they 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, not a screen the size of the Scotland. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. They used a push lawn mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; they didn't have the green thing back then. They drank from a glass tumbler when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.

They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the tram or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their mothers and fathers into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerised 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 the old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

Makes you think doesn’t it?


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Geraldine Writes:

At first I thought this was funny....Then I realised the awful truth of it. Be sure to read all the way to the end!


Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid..

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
It's time to apply
The inheritance tax.

Accounts Receivable Tax
Airline surcharge tax
Airline Fuel Tax
Airport Maintenance Tax
Building Permit Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Death Tax
Driving Permit Tax
Environmental Tax (Fee)
Excise Taxes
Income Tax
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Petrol Tax (too much per litre)
Gross Receipts Tax
Health Tax
Inheritance Tax
Interest Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Mortgage Tax
Personal Income Tax
Property Tax
Poverty Tax
Prescription Drug Tax
Real Estate Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Retail Sales Tax
Service Charge Tax
School Tax
Telephone Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Water Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

And Now they want a bloody Carbon Tax!

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world.. We had absolutely no national debt, had a large middle class, and Mum stayed home to raise the kids. What in the "Hell" happened? Can you spell "lying parasitic politicians wasting our money" ?

And then, there are the bank charges!

I hope this goes around the UK at least 1000 times!!!

YOU can help it get there!!!!

News and Views:

The British Music Experience, Britain's museum of Popular Music at The O2, London has been honoured with a Special Commendation Award at the prestigious European Museum of the Year Awards 2011! The European Museum of the Year Awards are the most prestigious museum awards in Europe - standing for innovation, public quality and professional excellence in museums, they bring together both professional reputation and public benefit under one umbrella. The British Music Experience was honoured with a Special Commendation for "excellence and creativity in its communications strategy with the general public".


On this day 17th December 1960-1965

On

17/12/1960

the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On

17/12/1961

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

On

17/12/1962

the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

17/12/1963

the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

17/12/1964

the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

17/12/1965

the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 996

Top Picture: Patricia Driscoll and Richard Green in ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’.




Second Picture: Edinburgh Road Railway Level Crossing into the Dockyard

Picture side bar:

Thanks to Roger Dawkins who sent in the three new pictures from the mid 1950’s

Firstly:

It was great to meet up with Tom West recently, he was in the UK for a couple of weeks before he went back to his teaching job it Thailand.

Secondly:

Welcome to a new school mate Roger Dawkins if anyone would like to get in touch with Roger please let me know.

Thirdly:

For those of you who remember cycling down Farlington Avenue from the top to the Havant Road copy and past this link and you will see that it still thrills the young lads today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUAx_NFu14U


Patricia Driscoll

Patricia Driscoll is possibly an actress you might very well have completely forgotten all about but as soon as I mention the television programmes ‘Picture Book’ or “The Adventures of Robin Hood” I am sure your memory will rush back to those early days of children’s television in the mid to late 1950’s where for a long time she was almost a permanent fixture.

Patricia Driscoll was born to Irish parents on the 17th December 1927 in the town of Cork in Southern Ireland and over her years as an actress she became well known as much for her charming soft Irish accent as her acting ability. After she had decided on a career in the acting profession when she was in her teens, Patricia's parents thoughtfully sent her off to London to train at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Following her time at RADA, Patricia travelled around the United Kingdom performing with various repertory companies. It was whilst she was with the Manchester Repertory Company that Patricia met another actor Duncan Lamont, whom she later married. Duncan Lamont was a British actor who was born in Lisbon in Portugal and was brought up in Scotland. Strangely he also appeared in several episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood. Together Patricia and he had two children but unfortunately he died in 1978 of a heart attack at the age of sixty.

As an actress Patricia appeared in many plays and films but it is for her work in the early days of Children’s television that she is best remembered. Her first success in television came with her appearance in 1953, as the presenter of a BBC show especially for children, this was called Whirligi,g and then from 1955 to 1957 she introduced the story programme called “Picture Book”', which was a BBC Television (there was no other channel at the time) series. The programme was broadcast on Mondays as part of the well remembered ‘Watch with Mother’ cycle of programmes. Do you remember the others? They were “Andy Pandy”, “The Wooden Tops”, “Rag, Tag and Bobtail” and, of course, “The Flowerpot Men”? One of the sections of “Picture Book” encouraged children to make things and Patricia became well known for her catch phrase: "Do you think you could do this? - I am sure you could if you tried."

She was tending flowers in the window boxes at her London mews flat, when she received a telephone call from Nettlefold Studios at Walton-on-Thames, where the ITC (Incorporated Television Company) series, The Adventures of Robin Hood was being filmed. That call with its job offer led to Patricia Driscoll appearing in both series three and four as Maid Marian alongside Richard Greene who played Robin Hood. Actually Patricia was the second Maid Marian in the Robin Hood series (the first being played by Bernadette O'Farrell. Another Irish Actress!

So she left ''Picture Book'' in 1957 and her place was taken by Vera McKechnie in a further series that lasted between 1962-63.

Over the years since the mid 1950’s she has appeared in many plays and feature films the last being “Bye-Bye-Bin Laden” as late as 2009. Today she lives quietly in retirement at the age of 84.

We all must have been the first generation who grew up to accept the television and Children’s TV on a day to day basis, I know TV started broadcasting before the war but it was very localised and not aimed at children. We must have been the first!

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

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

You Write:

Peter Writes:

So good to be reminded of Shaw's shop. We lived in Highlands Rd. so I was regularly sent, by Mother, to buy six pounds of potatoes, a few ounces of bacon or a tin of beans or spaghetti (we never knew real spaghetti in those days). Corner shops were part of our lives then. Mr. Shaw kept a large wooden barrel of malt vinegar in the conservatory part of the shop. I adored the acerbic smell, and was often " told off" for "testing" the drips from the tap! Although he sometimes got a bit frazzled when the sweet counter was besieged by the mob, he was a very kindly man. I often ran errands for him on Saturday mornings, and was always rewarded with a bag of assorted sweets with a half crown coin at the bottom. Good old times!

Colin Writes:

I remember the Eagles Nest on top of Portsdown. Also on Cosham high street there was a cafe that provided a great steak and kidney pie and chips of 15pence. It was near the fruit and veg shop which was opposite the Rocket.

News and Views:

The BBC's Tim Gudgin, from Emsworth, - the voice of Saturday tea-time football results on TV hung up his microphone after more than 60 years on 19th November, the week before his 82nd birthday.

On this day 9th December 1960-1965:-

On

9/12/1960

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

On

9/12/1961

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

On

9/12/1962

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

9/12/1963

the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

9/12/1964

the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

9/12/1965

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.