Web Page 2030

1^st March 2014

Top Picture:  Advert for the fun fair area

Middle Picture: Eastney beach on a hot day

Bottom Picture: Southsea beach in the snow

Holiday Souvenirs

Whilst we are still in the middle of winter lets just take a look at the summer holidays we had as kids just to cheer ourselves up and to remember those days when it was always sunny and the temperature was always just right!

If we went away we stayed in various places was it in a boarding house, guesthouse or maybe a caravan or very, very occasionally a hotel?

Wherever it was we always came home with various different souvenirs for all the family and always just a few for ourselves. A ‘Present from xyz’ ashtray for Uncle George, seaside rock or maybe Edinburgh rock for the cousins, a printed scarf for Auntie May and naturally if the holiday was on the Isle of Wight a coloured sand ornament from Alum Bay for everyone and that was a gift that everyone made yourselves!

If the family had a car it was almost an obligation to fill the side windows with little plastic pennants with the names of various town or resorts on them. Most towns and cities and some villages sold them and if the family managed to collect enough it was then possible to arrange them in a complete circle.

Badges of various sizes and shapes were on sale everywhere, whether they were sew on ones or those with an adhesive already on the back so you could stick them straight onto your anorak or more than likely your duffle bag.

Goss ware was another seaside favourite but whoever actually wanted a miniature white chamber pot with a Lyme Regis crest on it is beyond me; but I do know that there were, and still are, avid collectors of this ware.

There were always the selection of saucy seaside postcards  but my folks were not the sort to send this type of card so we never stopped at these stalls or displays.

But the typical seaside resort was right on our door steps, Southsea with its large variety of amusements.

Here the beachside stall seamed to sell items that could only be bought at the seaside. Lilo’s, flippers, goggles, rubber flip flops and sand shoes, beach balls and raffia mats to lie on. Water wings, swimming rings, bathing caps, wind breaks, travelling rugs  and snorkels were all the basic stock in trade to the seashore dealer. (Little did I know at that time, that for six weeks in the summer of 1965, I would be working, part time, during the evenings, in a seaside stall on the landward end of Shanklin Pier selling items such as these and spending a lot of time round he back of the stall with an ink rubber busy erasing the word ‘seconds’ off the bottom of shoes and sandals etc!

The was also a different type of food available at the seaside (and sometimes in travelling fairs), Toffee Apples, Candy Floss, Hot Dogs, hot doughnuts and weak tea served in china cups, placed on a tray so that it could be taken onto the beach as a ‘beach tray’. To let our mothers have these trays the stall holder would charge a deposit which mother would get back when she returned the complete tray later in the day.

Piles of deck chairs, with its attendant selling tickets for the use of the chair by the hour, half day, or complete day were stacked all over the beach. Mind you, later in life these piles of chairs could be used, if properly and carefully re-arranged as a cave for use as a cosy nest for courting being well away from prying eyes. Mind you the stones on Southsea Beach were still just as hard and lumpy in the cave so a thick coat to lie on was certainly and advantage, no a necessity!

Ice cream stalls (Walls, Eldorado or Lyons Maid), bikini’s and sun hats. Plus beach photographers (1962 was the only time that I ever used a beach photographer. Jenny and I had our pictures taken by the Rock Gardens, I must have been feeling flushed at the time! I still have my copy and I believe she still has hers!)  

Full day and half day coach tours, or mystery tours were on offer at the kiosks on the Eastney side of South Parade Pier as were boat trips into Portsmouth Harbour and speed boat trips towards Eastney, adventures in the Model Village could be had or a paddle around Canoe Lake were all there for the holiday makers, not forgetting Lumps Fort and the miniature golf course.

If travelling the other way passed the illuminated Rock gardens, there was always the miniature railway that was sited where the Sealife Centre is now. Or if you were feeling particularly brave a trip to the Roller Skating Rink opposite the floral clock and an essential trip.

Ah! So many memories and so long ago.

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Christine Writes:-

I remember dancing almost every weekend at either The Savoy, The        Rendezvous or The Birdcage. We saw amazing groups live and up close    including "Rod the Mod Stewart and the Brian Auger Trinity with Julie   Driscoll (spelling maybe incorrect!) Lulu, John Walker of the Walker        Brothers, Unit 4 plus 2, The Animals, Spencer Davis and of course           Manfred Mann many times and others I have forgotten........ .......however........I have never forgotten the Manor Court Youth Club on a Friday night (you have published the photos to prove it) where I particularly recall       "The Sons of Man" being very good and another group called The Black Cats.....where are they now? Did they ever make the big time?

Those were the days, when you just rocked up, paid at the door and           danced the night away........none of this online scramble for highly priced tickets for Wembley Arena or the O2!.........where you have to sit down!

News and Views:

On this Day 1^st March 2014

On 01/03/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was Some Like It Hot. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the eason's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was BBC asks for second TV channel.

On 01/03/1961 the number one single was Sailor - Petula Clark. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) 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 Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 01/03/1962 the number one single was Rock-a-Hula Baby/Can't Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley 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.

01/03/1963 the number one single was The Wayward Wind - Frank Ifield 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.

On 01/03/1964 the number one single was Anyone Who Had a Heart -Cilla Black 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.

On 0/03/1965 the number one single was I'll Never Find Another You - Seekers and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions