Web Page  No 2120

4^th January 2015

Happy New Year

Top Picture: John Stead

 Middle Picture: Cathy Gale

 Lower Middle Picture: Emma Peel

Bottom Picture: Tara King

 The Avengers

The Avengers was probably the best know British television spy series and was avidly watched by many of us. It was created in the 1961 and initially focused on Dr. David Keel played by Ian Hendry with his assistant John Steed played by Patrick Macnee. Ian Hendry left after the first series so John Steed became the main character, it was felt that he needed a  partner and had a succession of female assistants the most famous were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and later Tara King (Linda Thorson). The Avengers ran from 1961 until 1969, screening as one-hour episodes for its entire run but in the later episodes it drifted into science fiction syories.

The pilot episode,  which was titled "Hot Snow," and was shown on 7^th January 1961 and the last episode, "Bizarre," aired on 21^st  May 1969 and by then it was being shown in more than 90 countries. ITV produced a sequel series The New Avengers (1976–1977) with Patrick Macnee returning as John Steed, and two new partners. In 2007 The Avengers was ranked No. 20 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever.

The Avengers was marked by different eras as co-stars came and went. The only constant was Patrick Macnee.

The Avengers began with medical doctor, Dr David Keel (Ian Hendry), investigating the murder of his fiancée and office receptionist Peggy by a drug ring. A stranger named John Steed, who was investigating the ring, appeared and together they set out to avenge her death in the first two episodes. Afterwards, John Steed asked David Keel to partner him as needed to solve crimes.

Actually Steed did not appear in two of the earlier episodes but as the series progressed, Steed's importance increased.

The series was shot on 405-line videotape with little provision for editing and virtually no location footage. As was standard practice at the time, videotapes of early episodes of The Avengers were reused. Of the first series, two complete episodes still exist, as 16 mm film telerecordings. One of the episodes remaining does not feature Steed.

Production of the first series was cut short by a strike. By the time production could begin on the second series, Ian Hendry had left and Patrick Macnee was promoted to star and Steed became the focus of the series,.

The first episode in the second series introduced the partner who would change the show into the format for which it is most remembered. Honor Blackman played Dr Cathy Gale, a self-assured, quick-witted anthropologist who was skilled in judo and had a passion for leather clothes. Widowed during the Mau Mau years in Kenya who saw her aid to Steed's cases as a service to her nation. She was said to have been born 5^th  October 1930 at midnight and raised in Africa making her early-to-mid 30’s in contrast to female characters in similar series who tended to be younger.

Cathy Gale was unlike any female character seen before on TV and became a household name. The series established a level of sexual tension but the writers were not allowed to go beyond flirting and innuendo.

A film version of the series was in its initial planning stages by late 1963 after series three was completed. An early story proposal paired Steed and Gale with a male and female duo of American agents, to make the movie appeal to the American market. Before the project could get underway Honor Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in Goldfinger, requiring her to leave the series.

During the Gale era, Steed was transformed into the stereotypical English gentleman complete with Savile Row suit, bowler hat. With his impeccable manners, old world sophistication, and vintage automobiles, Steed came to represent the traditional Englishman of an earlier era.

By contrast his partners were youthful, forward-looking, and always dressed in the latest fashions. Cathy Gale's innovative leather outfits suited her athletic fight scenes and Honor Blackman became a star with her black leather outfits and "kinky boots"..

In 1965 the show was sold to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and The Avengers became one of the first British series to be aired on prime time U.S. television. The ABC network paid $2 million for the first 26 episodes. This U.S. deal meant that the producers could afford to start shooting the series on 35mm film. The use of film was essential as British 405-line video was incompatible with the U.S. format.

A new female partner Mrs Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) arrived in October 1965.. Emma Peel, whose husband went missing while flying over the Amazon, retained the self-assuredness of Cathy Gale, combined with superior fighting skills, intelligence, and a contemporary fashion sense.

After more than 60 actresses had been auditioned, the first choice to play the role was Elizabeth Shepherd. However, her on-screen personality was deemed uninteresting. Another 20 actresses were auditioned before the relatively unknown Diana Rigg had a screen test with Patrick Macnee and the two immediately worked well together.

In contrast to the Cathy Gale episodes, there was a lighter, comic touch in two main characters interactions with each other, also the sexual tension between John Steed and Cathy Gale was not present with Emma Peel. In both cases, the exact relationship between the partners was left ambiguous,.

In her fourth episode, "Death at Bargain Prices," Mrs Peel takes an undercover job at a department store. Her uniform for promoting space-age toys is an elaborate leather catsuit plus silver boots, sash and welder's gloves. The suit minus the silver accessories became her signature outfit which she wore primarily for fight scenes in early episodes and in the titles.

According to Patrick Macnee in his book The Avengers and Me, Diana Rigg disliked wearing leather and insisted on a new line of fabric athletic wear for the fifth series.  So eight tight-fitting jumpsuits in a variety of bright colours were created using the crimplene.

Another memorable feature of the show from this point onwards was its automobiles. John Steed's cars were vintage 1926–1928 Bentley while Emma Peel drove a sporty Lotus Elan convertible

The Avengers began filming in colour for the fifth series in 1966. It was three years before Britain's ITV network began full colour broadcasting.

Diana Rigg was initially unhappy with the way she was treated by the show's producers. During her first series she learned she was being paid less than the camera man. She demanded a raise, to put her more on a par with her co-star, or she would leave the show. The producers gave in, thanks to the show's great popularity in the US. At the end of the fifth series in 1967, she left to pursue other projects. This included following Honor Blackman to play a leading role in a James Bond film, in this case On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee have remained lifelong friends.

When Diana Rigg left October 1967, the executives decided that the series formula, despite resulting in popular success, could not be pursued further. But they had a difficult situation to find a replacement for Diana Rigg and shoot the first seven episodes of the new series, which were supposed to be shipped to America together with the last eight Emma Peel colour episodes.

The producer signed his then-girlfriend, 20-year-old newcomer Linda Thorson, as the new female co-star and chose the name "Tara King" for her character. She played the role with more innocence in mind and at heart; and unlike the previous partnerships the writers allowed subtle hints of romance to blossom.

No farewell scenes for Emma Peel had been shot when Diana Rigg left the series. It was explained that Emma's husband, Peter Peel, was found alive and rescued, and she left the British secret service to be with him. Emma visits Steed to say goodbye, and while leaving she passes Tara on the stairway giving the advice that "He likes his tea stirred anti-clockwise."

For this new series the government official who gave Steed his orders was depicted on screen as Mother, a man in a wheelchair. Mother's headquarters would shift from place to place, including one episode where his complete office was on the top level of a double-decker bus.

Vehicle wise, Steed continued to drive vintage green Bentleys in the first seven episodes in production. His regular transport for the remainder of the series were two yellow Rolls-Royce cars. Mother also occasionally appeared in silver Rolls-Royces. Tara King drove an AC 428 and a Lotus Europa.

The episodes with Linda Thorson proved to be highly rated in Europe and the UK, in the United States however, the ABC network chose to air it opposite the number one show at the time, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. It could not compete and the show was cancelled in the US. Without this vital commercial backing, production could not continue in Britain either, and the series ended in May 1969. The final scene of the final episode has John Steed and Tara King, champagne glasses in hand, accidentally launching themselves into orbit aboard a rocket.

Currently only 19 complete episodes survive, all from reel-to-reel off-air recordings made in 1972.

Here I must add that I used to work with Diana Riggs sister, Julie, and once had the privilege of entertaining the two sisters to afternoon tea in my office. Yes Diana, who was opening the hospital fete, was wearing THAT leather outfit and the boots!

Take care

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

News and Views:

On this day 4^th January 1960-1965

On 04/01/1960 the number one single was Starry Eyed - Michael Holliday and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was North by Northwest. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was that previous day was the last day for being called up for National Service.

On 04/01/1961 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Russ Conway Show (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 04/01/1962 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 04/01/1963 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 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 04/01/1964 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 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 04/01/1965 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 The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

                  

Web Page  No 2118

27th  December 2014

Top Picture: The Film hit of 1965

Middle Picture: Well the new Ford Anglia must have been popular with someone!

Bottom Picture: Proof set of UK coins

1965

As we approach the turn of the year, just what was happening in England fifty years ago. (Doesn’t that sound terrible)

1 January - New style road signs were introduced.

7 January - Ronnie and Reggie Kray are arrested on suspicion of running a protection racket in London.[

14 January – The Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.

30 January – Thousands attend Winston Churchill's state funeral. During the three days of lying-in-state, 321,000 people file past the coffin.

6 February – Sir Stanley Matthews plays his final First Division game, at the record age of 50 years and 5 days.

18 February – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

10 March – Goldie, a London Zoo golden eagle, is recaptured after 13 days of freedom.

1 April -The Greater London Council replaces the London County Council.

6 April – Government publicly announces cancellation of the BAC TSR-2 nuclear bomber aircraft project.

26 April – Manchester United win the Football League First Division title.

1 May – Liverpool win the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Leeds United 2-1 at Wembley.

7 May – The Rhodesian Front under Prime Minister Ian Smith win a landslide election victory in Rhodesia.

17 May – An underground explosion at Cambrian Colliery in Clydach Vale kills 31.

19 May – West Ham United become the second British club to win a European trophy, defeating West German 1860 Munich 2-0 at Wembley Stadium.

18 June – The government announces plans for the introduction of a blood alcohol limit for drivers in its clampdown on drink-driving.

8 July – Great Train Robber Ronald Biggs escapes from Wandsworth Prison.

12 July – The Secretary of State for Education and Science, requested local authorities to convert their schools to the Comprehensive system.]

22 July – Sir Alec Douglas-Home suddenly resigns as a head of the British Conservative Party.

24 July – Freddie Mills, former British boxing champion, is found shot in his car in Soho.

27 July – Edward Heath becomes leader of the British Conservative Party following its first leadership election by secret ballot.

29 July – The Beatles film Help! debuts in London.

August – Elizabeth Lane appointed as the first female High Court judge, assigned to the Family Division.

1 August – Cigarette advertising is banned on British television.

24 September – The British governor of Aden cancels the Aden constitution and takes direct control of the protectorate, due to the bad security situation.

30 September – First episode of ATV 'Supermarionation' series Thunderbirds.

7 October – Ian Brady, a 27-year-old stock clerk from Hyde in Cheshire, is charged with the murder of 17-year-old apprentice electrician Edward Evans.

8 October – The Post Office Tower opens in London.

16 October – Police find a girl's body on Saddleworth Moor near Oldham in Lancashire. The body is identified as 10 year old Lesley Ann Downey, who disappeared on Boxing Day from a fairground Manchester. Ian Brady, arrested the previous week for the murder of Edward Evans, is suspected of murdering Lesley, as is his 23-year-old girlfriend Myra Hindley, who on 11 October was also charged with the murder of Edward Evans. Police suspect that other missing people from the Manchester area, including 12-year-old John Kilbride could be also be buried on the moor; some reports state that as many as 11 murder victims may have been buried in the area.

20 October - It is reported that suspected mass murderer Ian Brady tortured his victims and tape-recorded the attacks on them. Detectives in Brady's native Scotland are also reportedly investigating the disappearance of 12-year-old Moira Anderson in Lanarkshire eight years earlier as a possible link to Brady.

21 October – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley are charged with the murder of Lesley Ann Downey and remanded in custody.

22 October – African countries demand that the United Kingdom use force to prevent Rhodesia from declaring unilateral independence.

24 October- Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Arthur Bottomley travel to Rhodesia for negotiations. Police find the decomposed body of a boy on Saddleworth Moor. The body is identified as that of John Kilbride, a 12-year-old boy who disappeared from Ashton-Under-Lyne in November 1963.

29 October – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley appear in court, charged with the murders of Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride.

October – Corgi Toys introduce the all-time best selling model car, James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 from the film Goldfinger.

1 November – Three cooling towers at the uncompleted Ferrybridge C electricity generating station in West Yorkshire collapse in high winds.

5 November – Martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The UN General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary.

8 November - The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act suspends capital punishment for murder in England, Scotland and Wales, for five years in the first instance, replacing it with a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. The Race Relations Act outlaws public racial discrimination.

11 November – In Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), the white minority regime of Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence.

29 November – Mary Whitehouse founds the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association.

December. EMI release Jacqueline du Pré's recording of Elgar's Cello Concerto with John Barbirolli and the London Symphony Orchestra. National Coal Board closes the last deep coal mine in the Forest of Dean (Northern United at Cinderford).

3 December – The first British aid flight arrives in Lusaka; Zambia had asked for British help against Rhodesia.

12 December – The Beatles' last live U.K. tour concludes with two performances at the Capitol, Cardiff.

15 December – Tanzania and Guinea sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom.

17 December – The British government begins an oil embargo against Rhodesia; the United States joins the effort.

22 December

A 70 mph speed limit is imposed on British roads.

24 December – A meteorite shower falls on Barwell, Leicestershire.

27 December – The British oil platform Sea Gem collapses in the North Sea, killing 13 of the 32 men on it.

30 December – President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia announces that Zambia and the United Kingdom have agreed to a deadline before which the Rhodesian white government should be ousted.

Well that was 50 years ago. How many events did you remember?

Take care

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Anida Writes:-

I was really interested in the picture of the High Street end of the    Droke, I guess the new houses are on the site of the dairy, has the school gone too?

The Droke is a very ancient path and appears on some of the oldest maps of the area, I can't quite see if it is still open but I assume it    hasn't been closed off?

Also of interest are the blocked up windows on the left.  These are  the windows of what was the doctor's waiting room.  I guess there  are many people with memories of this building, the entrance was  on the High Street, just one shop up from the Droke.  Down a long narrow corridor to the Reception hatch which was smartly              answered by the redoubtable Mrs Fox. Having been ticked off her   list you were given a number on a coloured wooden board which    you held until it was your moment.  Each doctor was represented   by a different colour and having found a seat, I remember the hard bentwood chairs and Rexene covered bench, in the very cramped  waiting room everyone eyed up the next number in the sequence to your own, there were rarely any words spoken.  When your turn     arrived you hung your r number on the hook by the door and went   to the consulting room.

When I was small my doctor was Dr Doyle, he was fond of a little dram or two and my mother remembers him swaying up and down the stairs on a home visit!  He was replaced by Dr Read who          became our true 'family doctor' for many years.  Most people will   remember Drs Read, Sladen and Duff, the latter being a bit of a pin-up boy and was certainly my mother in law's hero, lots of hand     holding and long prescriptions!

Although it was all a bit archaic and some of the equipment was     straight out of the Victorian era somehow it worked.   The move to the new Health Centre seemed very impersonal and conveyor belt   like in comparison to the journey down the long corridor and I am 

sure the close confines of the waiting room ensured you came out with more than you went in with but it had character and a homely feel.

Thanks for the picture.

Griff Writes:-

I wonder how many of you reading this still have their pet from the 1960's?  Not possible you say after 56 years?  Well, it is if you have a tortoise as I have had since I was 12 years old.    Purchased for the princely sum of 2/6d from the pet shop in Drayton in the Summer of 1958.   I can't remember the name of the pet shop now but no doubt Peter will fill in the blank  < ( the shop was just called Pet Supplies, Peter).  Tiggy the Tortoise is alive and well and currently in his Winter hibernation home. When I left home at 16 my Mum looked after Tiggy until her passing in 2009.   Tiggy then came back to me for a short while but it was decided he was actually a living family heirloom so he has been passed to my Son & Family where he now resides with a huge garden that is fenced off all round and he cannot escape from.  He is a bit of character and in the Summer he can be seen charging around the flower beds and lawns. Contrary to popular belief a tortoise is pretty quick at covering ground. Do tortoises recognise  people?   Well, I say they do because he never puts his head back into his shell when I pick him up to look at him but if a stranger does this he will not come out for a long time, if ever. This is a photo of Tiggy taken in the Summer of 2014.  Isn't he a hansome Chap.

News and Views:

On this day 27th December 1960-1965

On 27/12/1960 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 27/12/1961 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 week was Geologist explains Continental Drift.

On 27/12/1962 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 month was Tax reduced to 25% on TVs and radios.

On 27/12/1963 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 27/12/1964 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 week was Donald Campbell sets water speed record.

On 27/12/1965 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.

It's Christmas Eve, have a wonderful time.

Peter

More to come in 2015

Web Page 2119a

A Very Happy Christmas to everyone and thanks for your support throughout the year. Looking forward to 2015 and lets hope that you have used the post boxes already or it will be far too late.

Yours

Pam & Peter

Hope to see some of you in the New Year, we must do another lunchtime meeting.

Below is a shortened version of my Christmas post for December 2008, have I really been writing for so long!!!!

 Christmas Traditions Around the World

On Christmas Eve in Belgium, it is legal for children to throw bananas at police cars but
on Christmas Day it is legal for police officers to throw bananas at children!

In 1643, the British Parliament abolished the celebration of Christmas and Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas carols between 1649 and 1660. Cromwell thought that Christmas should be a very solemn day so the only permitted celebration was a sermon and a prayer service.

Santa is not the only supernatural gift-giver at Christmas time. In Spain and South America, the three kings are the bringers of presents. In Italy, it's La Befana, a kindly old witch, who, if you were bad during the year would give you coal instead of sweets. In Russia, look out for Babouschka or Grandfather Frost. In Germany, Christkind an angelic messenger dispenses the gifts. She's a fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles. In Scandinavia, there are a variety of Christmas gnomes.

Mistletoe is found on willow and apple trees and the practice of hanging it in the house goes back to the ancient Druids. It is supposed to possess mystical powers, that bring good luck to the household and ward off evil spirits. For Scandinavians, the goddess of love (Frigga) is strongly associated with mistletoe. This link to romance may be where our tradition of kissing under mistletoe comes from.

The Christmas tree is a German tradition, started as early as 700 AD. In the 1800s, the tradition of a Christmas tree was widespread in Germany, then moved to England when prince Albert brought the first Christmas tree to Windsor Castle for the royal family in 1834.

Roast turkey is a newcomer to the British Christmas table and made its way to Europe from  America about 1650. Before then, swan, goose or peacock was considered traditional Christmas fare.

On December 24th, many Ukranian families sit down and embark on a large meal which consists of eating twelve separate courses, each one of which is dedicated to Christ's apostles.

In Japan it is reported that parents and children have been known to queue for hours outside the local Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise to buy a bucket of chicken for their Christmas dinner. This is due to the apparent facial similarity between Colonel Sanders and St.Nicholas.

In Germany, childen leave their newly cleaned shoes on the doorstep on December 6th. If they have been good, St.Nikolaus fills them with chocolate, nuts and fruit but if they have been bad….!!!!

Mexico celebrates Christmas with all the razzmatazz of a carnival. Midnight is met with fireworks, bell ringing, whistle-blowing. Families return home after mass to a huge dinner of traditional Mexican food including rice, chillis stuffed with cheese and a fiery corn wrap. 

Web Page  No 2116

20th  December 2014

Top Picture: Billy Fury Pantomime Poster

 Middle Picture: Frankie Howard at the London Palladium

 Bottom Picture: The Queen’s first Christmas TV speech.

It’s Christmas so it is time for the Annual Christmas Quiz which is below with the answers being in the You Write section.

The 1960’s Quiz

1.    In July 1969 Mike Collins waited alone while his two companions did what?

2.    1960 was the last year in which you could spend a what?   

3.    In the early 1960’s John Drake was a TV secret agent in which programme?  

4.    Between the late 1950’s and late 1960’s who did the actor Dan Blocker play?

5.    In 1962 who was the first American spy to be exchanged in the Cold War?    

6.    In 1967 Warren Beatty and Faye Dunnaway starred in which famous film?  

7.    Which cigarette advert claimed that you were never alone if you had one? And

8.    What was the name of the piece of music featured in this advert and especially written for it?

9.    Between 1961 and 1962 who had a smash hit with the record Stranger on the Shore?

10.        But this was not the original titled as penned by the composer,. What was that original title

11.        In 1965 the Prime Minister opened Britain’s tallest building. Which building was it?

12.        A well know cartoon character of the 1960 lived with his friends in Jellystone Park. Who was he?

13.        What innovation was first introduced onto aluminium cans in the late 1960’s

14.        Published in 1963 the report called ‘The Reshaping of Britain’s Railways’ became known as what?

15.        On 9^th October 1961 there was a massive volcanic eruption on an island in the South Atlantic, which island?

16.        Where, in Wales, was there a tragic mining accident causing many deaths in 1966?

17.        First sung by Frank Sinatra in 1969 which song was in the British charts for 122 weeks?

18.        In 1964 Barbara Hulanicki opened what?

19.        Launched in 1962 the very first communications satellite was called what?

20.        Starting in 1965 Dud and Pete appeared in which BBC entertainment programme?

21.        Published in 1963 the controversial book by Dr John Robinson, the Bishop of Woolwich was called what?

22.        In 1967 which record breaker was killed on Coniston Water in the Lake District?

23.        Launched into space on 12^th April 1961 what was the name of the first man in space?

24.        In March 1987 “the greatest peacetime threat to Britain” was the wrecking of which ship?

25.        During the 1960’s who was the famous cartoonist who specialised in ponies?

26.        In 1969 a new type of pedestrian crossing was introduced, what was it called?

27.        One of the most audacious robberies in British history took place in August 1963, what was it?  

28.        What was the name of the first pirate radio station which started broadcasting in March 1964?

29.        In April 1968 which black American Civil Rights leader was assassinated

30.        On 9^th April 1969 which maiden flight did Brian Trubshaw pilot

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You (I) Write the answers to the Quiz:

1.    Walked on the Moon

2.    Farthing

3.    Danger Man

4.    Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza

5.    Francis Gary Powers

6.    Bonnie and Clyde

7.    Strand

8.    The Lonely Man

9.    Acker Bilk

10. Jenny

11. Post Office Tower

12. Yogi Bear

13. Ring Pulls

14. The Beeching Report

15. Tristan da Chuna

16. Aberfan

17. My Way

18. Biba

19. Telstar

20. Not only but Also

21. Honest to God

22. Donald Campbell

23. Yuri Gagarin

24. Torrey Canyon

25. Norman Thelwell

26. Pelican

27. The Great Train Robbery

28. Radio Caroline

29. Martin Luther King

30. Concorde 002 Take care

News and Views:

Something different this week, we all hear about the Christmas Number one hits but who remembers those discs that did not quite make to the Top of the Pops only reaching number two. So here is a list of Christmas number two singles 1952-1969

1952  Jo Stafford                                         "You Belong to Me"  

1953  David Whitfield                                        "Answer Me"     

1954  David Whitfield                                        "Santo Natale"   

1955  Bill Haley & His Comets             "Rock Around the Clock"   

1956  Guy Mitchell                                            "Singing the Blues"    

1957 Johnny Otis orch. & Marie Adams "Ma He's Making Eyes at  Me"
1958  Lord Rockingham's XI                            "Hoots Mon"     

1959  Adam Faith                                        "What Do You Want?"       

1960  Elvis Presley                                             "It's Now or Never"    

1961  Frankie Vaughan                                      "Tower of Strength"   

1962  Cliff Richard                             The Next Time"/"Bachelor Boy"         

1963  The Beatles                                               "She Loves You"    

1964  Petula Clark                                              "Downtown"     

1965  Cliff Richard                                    "Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)"

1966  Donovan                                                   "Sunshine Superman"

1967  The Beatles                                           "Magical Mystery Tour"

1968  The Foundations                             "Build Me Up Buttercup"      

      1969  Kenny Rogers                  "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town                                         

Web Page  No 2114

13th  December 2014

Top Picture: 

Pat and Stirling Moss

Middle Picture: 

Pat in racing helmet

Bottom Picture: 

The racing Morris Minor

Two Pats

In the 1960’s Pat Moss became a well-known personality who put down a marker for women in sport.

First let us look at Pat Moss-Carlson. She was the leading British woman rally who has died of cancer at the age of 73 in 2008. She was the younger sister of Sir Stirling Moss, and shared her brother's competitiveness and determination to win as she carved herself a reputation as the world's leading woman rally driver throughout the 1950s and 60s.

Motor sport ran through the Moss genes on both sides of the family. Their father, Alfred, competed in the 1924 Indianapolis 500 race while studying dentistry in the US, and her mother, Aileen, achieved an impressive record of success in trials events driving both Singer and Marendaz sports cars.

Patricia Ann Moss was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, into a family in comfortable circumstances, her parents moving into a spacious house on the River Thames at Bray, near Maidenhead shortly after the birth of their second child. Alfred, by then was a prosperous dentist, had the resources to indulge his children's passion for horses, and both Pat and Stirling became motivated and accomplished competitors from their showjumping days in the early 1940s.

They both loved ponies and jumping and gymkhanas they both stated  that collecting cups and rosettes was a bonus.

However, when it came to motor sport there was no paternal support but it was her brother who taught her to drive when she was just 11 years old. It was Stirling's business manager, Ken Gregory, who fanned the flames of Pat's enthusiasm when he took her on a treasure hunt. She was immediately bitten by the motoring bug and set out on a career that probably did more for the emancipation of women in this male-dominated pastime than any other.

Initially Pat competed in her Morris Minor convertible in national rallies throughout the UK, although at first these events would take second place to her showjumping commitments - her passion for horses would continue for the rest of her life. Like her brother, she was financially astute and in 1954 used the proceeds of her equestrian activities to purchase a Triumph TR2 sports car, which enabled her to rally with a greater chance of success.

In 1955 she was invited to drive an MG TF in the RAC rally that took in much of Great Britain, rather than the truncated event it has become in recent years. On this occasion she had to settle for third in the Ladies' class, but her achievements were noted by the British Motoring Corporation's competition manager, Marcus Chambers, who arranged for her to contest her first overseas event, the 1955 Tulip Rally, in an MG Magnette.

Over the next couple of years she drove a variety of cars, including an Austin A90 on the 1956 Monte Carlo rally, an MGA on that year's RAC rally and a Minor 1000 on the gruelling Liège-Sofia-Liège epic, a legendary car-breaking event, which taxed the physical and mental endurance of all its competitors, Pat rose to the challenge in dramatic style. In 1958 she drove an Austin Healey 100/6 to fourth place on the Liège event; it was the first time that a woman had finished in the top 10 on this endurance rally and the points she gained by doing so clinched her the Ladies' European championship. In that year she met the famous Swedish rally driver Erik Carlsson, whom she married five years later.

In 1960 she drove the "Big Healeys" again, coming eighth on both the Geneva and Tulip rallies, second on the Coupe des Alpes, followed almost at once by an outright win on the Liège. This was an amazing result, as the Healey was not an easy car to drive.

In 1963 she accepted a lucrative offer to join Ford to compete at the wheel of the recently launched Cortina saloon, but soon left to join her husband in the Saab team the following year. Throughout the remainder of the decade she was a consistent front runner. When Erik retired to become head of Saab's public relations, Pat briefly switched to Lancia, but after the birth of her daughter in 1969, she made fewer appearances, and by the mid-1970s she was driving for Toyota in the Monte Carlo. It was when she was with that team that she finally decided, in 1974, to retire.

In the 1980s Pat's interest in horses was rekindled thanks to her daughter's talent for showjumping. Though she kept horses, she still found room at the back of her garage for a Morris Minor in its original green livery. Shortly before her death, she collected a speeding ticket while towing a horse-box.

She died in October 14 2008 after suffering with cancer.

Take care

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Griff writes to tell me that Cherry Wainer, the organist I featured a couple of weeks ago died on 14th November in Australia. She had not performed since her drummer husband had died in 2006.

News and Views:

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