Web Page  No 2154

3^rd May 2015

Top Picture: The press idea of a 1950’s Housewife. (my Mum never looked like this!)

Middle Picture: A Parnell single tub washer

Bottom Picture: An ideal home in the 1950’s

Did Mum have it easy?

For a woman the 1950’s could be described (thanks to Charles Dickens) as the best of times and the worst of times. The life of the average married woman was very different from that of today’s woman. This was the age of respectability and conformity and the stay at home mum. Very few women worked after getting married, some employers would insisted that when she married she had to leave so she stayed at home to raise the children and keep house. Even my mother, who held the post of Assistant Matron in a Children's Hospital had to leave when she married my father! At this time the man was considered the head of the household in all things; mortgages, legal documents, bank accounts and finances. Only the family allowance was paid directly to the women and then only after the second child. Should a woman find herself in a loveless or violent marriage, she was trapped because she had no money of her own to fund a divorce and she had no career.

It was common for women to go to college and onto university, especially working class women but most left school and went straight into work until they married. Secondary schools - even grammar schools - prepared girls for this life: lessons were given in cookery, household management, darning, sewing and even how to iron a shirt properly. Girls were trained to look after their husband, their children and the house.

The house itself was very different from that of today. There was no central heating; the downstairs rooms were heated by coal fires and then later, after the Clean Air Acts by coke or gas fires. Upstairs the heating was often provided by smelly paraffin stoves and electric fires. During the winter it was common for ice to form on the inside of the windows so the night-time routine was hot water bottles in the beds, then undressing downstairs in the warm.  Thick dressing gowns and slippers were essentials no fashion housecoats here. Every home had a coal hole or bunker from where the coal was taken by coal scuttle into the house as required.

In the kitchen, fridges, both electric and gas, were becoming more common although freezers were still unheard of. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that local shops – there being no supermarkets – started stocking basic frozen foods such as frozen peas and fish fingers. These were purchased and cooked straight away as most people could not store them. Many people, us included, had only the pantry with a cold stone or slate shelf, where butter, milk, cheese etc. was stored.

Food shopping was done on a daily basis as storing fresh food was difficult. The housewife would visit the local baker, the butcher, the fishmonger, the greengrocer and the grocer individually, carrying all her shopping home in a basket or in a pull-along trolley. She would pride herself on keeping within the weekly allowance that she would receive from her husband.

Monday was washing day in most households. No just popping the clothes into the machine and then the tumble drier for the 1950’s woman.  If you were lucky enough to have a washing machine, it would have a mangle on top. This machine had to be filled from the tap and after the clothes had been washed they were lifted out of the hot water with large wooden tongs, fed through the mangle and then dropped into a spin dryer. The whole kitchen would fill with steam as first the whites were washed and then the coloured clothes as the water cooled. There were no tumble driers so in the winter or when it rained, clothes were hung on clothes horses or airers around the fire or in the kitchen where it was warm. On other days clothes were pegged out to dry on clothes lines with wooden pegs and a careful eye kept on the sky in case there was a change in the weather. For those without a washing machine, it was the boiler on top of the stove that came into its own.

Most households had a vacuum cleaner, carpet sweeper and a cooker. Entertainment was provided by the wireless or gramophone television was yet to come in most households and when they did come on the scene most were rented, not owned.  All televisions showed only BBC programmes in black and white.

Clothes were often homemade, either sewn or knitted. Knitted items when outgrown were re-cycled by being unpicked and re-knitted into something else, many of us have memories of having wool wound round our hands and then taken off in a ball. When collars on shirts became frayed, they were unpicked, turned inside out and sewed back on. All buttons and zips from old clothes were saved for the button box. Socks and stockings were darned. Even sheets, when they became worn, were turned sides to middle.

Dinner would be on the table ready and waiting for the man of the house on his return from work. Housework and the care of children was considered woman’s work so the man would expect the house to be clean and tidy, meal ready, children fed and washed and his clothes all ready for the next day at work.

During the day there could be a succession of callers to the 1950’s house. These would include the rag and bone man who would buy your old clothes for a few pennies. There was the ‘pop man’ from whom you would buy Corona lemonade, dandelion and burdock, and cherryade and each week you would return your empty bottles when you bought your next weeks’ drinks.

Alcoholic drinks could be bought from the off-licence, often part of the local pub; again you would return the bottles in exchange for a few pence. The milk man came daily and delivered your milk to your doorstep. The local shops would also deliver your groceries, bread and meat, the delivery boys using bicycles to make their rounds, or bigger orders were delivered by the grocer himself in his little van. The dustbin men carried the old metal dustbins on their backs from the  back door to the cart and then returning them back, nothing was left at the kerbside for collection in those days.

For the 1950’s housewife there was no need to go the gym; her day-to-day jobs kept her physically active. She walked to the shops and took the children to school on foot; the housework was labour-intensive without today’s gadgets and there were no convenience foods or fast food outlets all food had to be cooked at home. Sweets and crisps (the only flavour available was ready salted) were treats rather than everyday foods.

The 1950’s housewife had been prepared both at school and at home for her role in life; she took pride in looking after her home and family to the best of her ability. However on the other side of the coin, she didn’t have a career outside the home and she had no income of her own, which left her dependent on her husband.

Best of times or worst of times? 

Bit of both it appears to me, in fact I can never remember my mother having a full time employment when I was growing up. Just one other thing I remember is that when I was at Junior school mother would send me off with a paper bag containing four biscuits for play time!!!

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Peter Writes:

Your article on cigarettes was very interesting.  When I was in my mid teens in the late 50s, I remember starting to smoke.  With         regard to the number of cigarettes in a packet, I remember that we  used to buy certain brands in packets of 2, ie; Wills Woodbines,     Players Weights and Domino, as     well as packets of 5. There was a sweet shop in Highbury Buildings, Carters, and they would open a packet of 10 weights and sell them singly.  Other brands that I      remember were Turf, Craven A, Kensitas, Wills Passing Clouds,   Black Sobrane and Consulate Menthol.  I am sure readers can thinkof several others. 

News and Views:

I expect that you have all seen that Keith harris (of Orville fame) has died but did you note that Bobbu Rydell was 73 this week?

On this day 3^rd May 1960-1965

On 03/05/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/05/1961 the number one single was Blue Moon - The Marcels and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was US minimum wage rises to $1.15.

On 03/05/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/05/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/05/1964 the number one single was A World Without Love - Peter & Gordon and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First office fax machine.

On 03/05/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - 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 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 2152

26^th April 2015                                 

Top Picture: National Benzole Sign

 Middle Picture: State Express 555

 Lower Picture: Coalite Poster

Bottom Picture: Lissett Nylons

Things from the 1950’s that are not around Today.

Recently I was given a Programme from the Festival of Britain, held on the South Bank of the Thames is 1951. Whereas the articles are interesting, I found the advertisements of great nostalgic value. So with the programme on my desk I will take a look at some of the products we no longer see today.

To start with cigarettes: now who remembers State Express 555 (what did the 555 stand for I never did find out? This was a brand that was made by Ardath. Then there was Players Medium and Senior Service plus Craven A, but what did these four brands all have in common? They all sold a range of their cigarettes in round tins of 25’s. Whilst talking about numbers when as lads we decided to try smoking we could buy Weights, Woodbines, Players and Senior Service in little packs of five cigarettes, if you can find a shop keeper to sell them to you. To light there cigarettes the adults needed a Ronson petrol lighter, I suppose you can still buy them somewhere but with the introduction of butane lighters and the disposable lighter the traditional Ronson lighter has disappeared from the counters. Actually the other lighter that became well known in the 1960’s was the Zippo lighter, both were American Products and both were owned by the Zippo Lighter Company. Now there is something that has almost become extinct and that is the Tobacconist shop, these shops such as Finlay’s and Dunhill which specialised in different types of tobacco, cigarettes, pipes and other smoking accessories and for some reason also walking sticks.

Back to the advertisements.

Do you remember the Adonis with the winged hat that was the trade mark of National Benzole petrol?

Now looking at the home environment; in your open fire or all night burner the smart thing to burn was Coalite. This was a brand of low-temperature coke which was used as a smokeless fuel. The title refers to the residue left behind when coal is carbonised at 640 degrees Celsius. It was invented by Thomas Parker in 1904. In 1936 the Smoke Abatement Society awarded its inventor a posthumous gold medal. Coalite was darker and more friable weighed less than coal, making it an ideal fuel for open domestic fire grates. Drawbacks were its tendencies to produce an excessive amount of ash causing our parents with the problem of ash disposal; but it was quick to burn and give off a lot of sulphurous fumes.

Moving on we all used Cussons Imperial Leather soap, Mum had Prestige cooking utensils and knives in the kitchen, while Dad had his His Masters Voice radio, record player and records and at bedtime we drank Ovaltine and Horlicks, Bovril and Nesquik.

Cars such as Riley, Lanchester, Wolsely, Humber and Triumph have all disappeared as have the British motorcycles Francis Barnet, Aerial, Sun, Norton, Matchless and AJS.     

To keep us amused and "out of our parents' hair" many of us were given a variety of board games and maybe a complete games compendium which usually consisted of snakes and ladders, Ludo , tiddlywinks, draughts, Old Maid, Donkey and a pack of cards. Another one of the standard items that every child seemed to have in their toy box was a paint box with little brushes and tiny "blobs" of different-coloured paints each the size of a postage stamp, in separate compartments. Do you remember the brushes in a jam jar of foul-looking liquid that was often knocked over onto the floor ??

 Does anyone remembers a game called "Escalado" (fixed to the dining table you turned a handle to make a sheet of cheap linen "wobble" in order to try and get tin horses to race down the sheet of "linen"?? Another activity which damaged the dining table was "ping-pong,” those metal screw brackets that fastened the net on either side of the table certainly left some very nasty marks and scratches on the surface of the best dining room table.

Another favourite was a Magic Set: a whole box of magic tricks that were so tricky that none of them worked. I remember very clearly a plastic carnation that was pinned to my jumper, and a tube which ran down inside my shirt sleeve to a little "squeezy" bag of water in my pocket.

More standard toys for boys were Dinky Toys, tin soldiers (the new plastic ones were never so good, but at least their heads didn't break off), marbles, conkers and "jacks." The Girls always seemed to be skipping or drawing lines on the footpath and playing hopscotch (I never really got the hang of that game).

But children grow up and as I reached age 13/14, my toys and stamp collection were giving way, by the end of the 1950s anew hobby MUSIC. But that is another story

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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News and Views:

On this day 26^th April 1960-1965

On 26/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

26/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

The On 26/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 26/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 26/04/1964 the number one single was A World Without Love - Peter & Gordon and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 26/04/1965 the number one single was Ticket to Ride - The Beatles and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page  No 2150

19^th April 2015                                 

Top Picture: Rationing poster

Middle Picture: A Golden Treasury of Bilk LP

Bottom Picture: Washing Boiler

Baby Boomers

We are of that post war era that is affectionately called the Baby Boomers, I myself was not born during the war, but in February 1946 however growing up in those times I still have strong memories of of the events and daily life. How about you?

This was the time of the Ration Book (I have still got mine) and Identity Cards (and I’ve still got that as well!). It must seem very strange to the young mums of today to realise that their mum’s were only be able to shop in the shops they were registered not just anywhere as it is today. I can still remember accompanying my mother to the shops on her daily trip to do the shopping. She had her ration book registered Frank Vine the Butcher and Parry the grocer on the south side of the Havant Road in Farlington and Bannisters the corner shop in Lealand Road. Later on when rationed eased a little she ventured to GA Cooper the pork butcher and Pinks in Drayton and Sidney Slape the fishmonger. I remember Slapes fish shop for three reasons, one buying a pint of cooked shrimps for Sunday tea, two, this is where my mother bought the Whale Meat! I always thought it very strange that she would go to a fishmonger to buy meat. I don’t think we had it very often but I definitely remember her buying and cooking it. The third thing was going in to buy some Rock salmon which she would cook when she got home to feed the cat with. How that fish stunk the house out when it was on the stove. However whatever you ate the most important thing was the ration book this was guarded at home like the crown jewels.

Having a grandmother who lived in central London until 1952 and with my father away with the War Department in Ceylon, every holiday we took the coach from Cosham to London Victoria Coach station, stopping at Hindhead on the way. It is from these visits that I have some vivid memories of bomb sites and all the piles of rubble that went with them along with them, the building sites and hordes of workman all trying very hard to rebuild the capital. That is not to say that I do not remember the bomb sites in Portsmouth and Southsea especially those around Buckland and Commercial Road, I most certainly do.

At home we were fed what was called filling food such as bacon pudding, braized liver and casseroles often followed by jam roly poly or semolina pudding, this meal had to keep us going from lunch to tea time with its bread and butter, Shipham’s Paste and tinned fruit topped with Ideal Milk. Breakfast at the start of the day was always cereals or porridge and very often prunes and/or a  boiled or poached egg but in our house a full fried breakfast was only ever served at weekends.

It appears to me that at that time the average person did not expect as much as the folks do today. Like many of you I remember that things at home were normally very basic. Fitted Carpets and central heating were luxuries as were washing machines (mother always boiled the ‘whites’ in a galvanized bucket she put on the ring on the gas stove and she would never wash woollens in anything other than Dreft!) and dish washers were out of the question as were cars for a long time. To get about we all travelled by train, bus and coach and oh how I hated that terrible roadside café at Hindhead. Does anyone else remember it I wonder? 

When things got a little easier my mother started to buy things from a couple of mail order catalogues which a friend of hers ran. For some reason these catalogues became known as ‘club books’. The whole family would look through the books and I remember that the first LP I ever bought came from the Kay’s of Worcester catalogue and was ‘A Golden Treasury of Bilk’ by the late Acker Bilk, it cost me 21/- and I had to pay 1/- a week to pay it off. This must have been in 1961. So long ago!

There we go again memories mainly from the 1950’s this time

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Jonathon Writes:

A most interesting episode on your Blog. The comments from Griff are particularly revealing. I know my wife Carol was extremely disappointed that she "failed" the 11 plus. She didn't fail anything. She actually ended up going to an excellent school. If as Griff says there were not enough grammar school places and they were being super selective it explains a lot. Also those new Solent Road photographs are very indicative of the skewed demographic of boys and girls. In the one class photo it is 75 % girls. So opening the Southern Grammar School for Boys didn't help them very much did it?? My first car was a Ford Anglia 100, the one before the sloped back window 105. It was a three gear side valved engine with a deadly windscreen wiper system. It was run off the engine vacuum and the faster you went in the rain the slower the wipers went.......who thought that one up. It was such a bad system it failed when I took my first driving test.....unluckily in the rain. Visibility through the screen became so bad that my driving tester pulled on the handbrake and failed me on the spot. 

News and Views:

Ronnie Carroll, a former UK Eurovision contestant who was due to stand in the 2015 general election, has died at the age of 80.

Born in Belfast in 1934, his biggest hit was Roses are Red.

He represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 and 1963 with Ring-A-Ding Girl and Say Wonderful Things, finishing fourth both times.

Mr Carroll was due to stand as an independent in the election in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.

He had previously stood unsuccessfully in elections under the banner of parties such as Make Politicians History.

In the Haltemprice and Howden by-election in 2008, he failed in his mission to get no votes, gaining an almost respectable 29.

Born Ronald Cleghorn, he was married at one stage to That Was The Week That Was star Millicent Martin.

Ronnie Carroll died last Monday following a short illness.

On this day 19^th April 1960-1965

On 19/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Brasilia becomes Brazil's new capital.

On 19/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 19/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

 On 19/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 19/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Liberal Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was BBC2 goes on air but is soon blacked out.

On 19/04/1965 the number one single was The Minute You're Gone - Cliff Richard and the number one album was Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 2148

13^th April 2015                                 

Top Picture: Standard 10

Middle Picture: Dormobile Van

Bottom Picture: Triumph Herald with the bonnet open

Car Tales

What was your first car? Can you remember? Mine was a dark blue Standard 10 registration number 9295 BP. Not exactly the peak of comfort or high on the list for street credit but it got to and from my first job. This car was very basic with no fitted radio or windscreen washers, but the fitting of one solved the second problem. I fitted a Wipac pump action windscreen washer and then screwed the pump onto the centre of the dashboard, now this solved the radio problem because I could hang a small transistor by its handle onto the plunger of that pump and then place a portable radio aerial onto the passenger window, it worked most of the time. I owned the car for about two years and it seemed that I spent most of my spare cash on accessories; fog light, spot light, reversing light and wing mirrors, in fact everything that we take for granted on the modern car. My second car was a grey Triumph Herald 186 COU with a 948cc engine, a little better for my street cred this one!

Do you remember the cars like the Zodiac or Zephyr or Cresta which were fitted with a bench front seat which sat three people? Because of the bench seat these vehicles were fitted with a column gear change.  The seats were made either of leather (this was from the top of the range selection) or for the standard car a form of plastic. They both looked fine but one of the big problems was that they were very, very slippery. In those days seat belts were yet to be fitted to most cars so it was almost essential that you carried two front seat passengers whenever you went out, that way the three of you could wedge yourselves in, because if you didn’t every time you took the car around a tight left hand corner you found yourself sliding further and further away from the pedals and steering wheel. 

I never owned one of these cars myself but I do remember driving a Dormobile delivery van when I worked part time in Drayton’s record shop, R.A.Fraser, this was after school at weekends and during the school and college holidays. After I had passed my driving test I was allowed to make deliveries and collection in the company van. This van was the bain of my life! One day I was returning to the shop after making a delivery in Paulsgrove and as I approached the clock roundabout in Cosham I saw an opportunity to pull out into the traffic and onto the roundabout. I pulled away in second gear and swiftly changed up into third gear when I heard an ominous crunch and clatter and the gear lever froze. I limped the van onto Spur Road and looked back and there on the road in the middle of the roundabout was a selection of springs and linkages from the vans gear change mechanism. Whilst I sat there with my foot firmly on the clutch, I dared not turn the engine off, a passing policeman saw my dilemma and kindly stopped the traffic, walked into the road and retrieved the wayward parts. On returning to the van he presented me with the pieces and said that he thought my boss should get the van serviced and repaired as far as I knew it had recently had passed its MOT test but I could have been wrong. Having thanked the constable I then limped the van all the way from Cosham to Drayton stuck in third gear, I can tell you that this certainly caused some hefty traffic jam and Mr Fraser was not best pleased either!

One other car story. For just over a year I worked in Worcester and having just got engaged I would travel back to Portsmouth to see my fiancée, yes it was Pam and yes we are still married. At this time I was driving my second Triumph Herald, do you remember the bonnet on these, rather like the ones on the frog eye Sprites, lifted forward so you could gain complete access to the engine compartment. One fine summers evening about 11.00pm I was travelling along and was happily coming down the steep hill just outside Cheltenham with my headlights full on and somehow both bonnet clips came undone and the bonnet lifted. All of a sudden I was plunged into complete darkness; I could not see a thing, here I was lucky on two counts. One I had the driver’s window open and could lean out just far enough to see a bit of the road ahead and bring the car to a halt. The second bit of luck was that I was the only thing on the road! This really scared me and so the very next day I went to the local Triumph dealer and had lockable bonnet catches fitted and from that day on I never, ever drove the car at night without checking that the bonnet catches were locked. Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

You Write:

Griff Writes:

Well, that finally settles it I am still as thick as ever. lol    All I can remember about the 11+ exam was that I was scared stiff of it and that a promise of a shiney new bike would not be coming my way and it didn't !

              Mr King's 4th year class at Solent Rd. was not the nicest place to be I would suggest for an 11 year old. Anyone remember undertaking practice paper's?   I certainly don't.  Did we do any class revision?  I know my Dad ran through a few arithmetic problems a week before the 11+ with me.

              It really didn't make a lot of difference really because I found out some information on this 11+ exam from a retired headmaster when I was in my 20's. There was no pass mark for Portsmouth Schools.  The places available were so limited for grammar schools that all they had was a top end limited cut-off point for selection of the really brightest A*  pupils plus a recommendation from their form/head teacher

 Placing's had got so bad Portsmouth Education had the newly built Southern Grammar school opened as quickly as possibly ahead of building schedule and I think I am right in saying it actually opened in the year we all took our 11+.

So after ALL these years does anyone actually care about their status after the 11+?   I certainly don't. We went to a good school that was Manor Court.

News and Views:

On this day 13^th April 1960-1965

On 13/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Wagon Train (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Georges Pompidou becomes French Prime Minister.

On 13/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 13/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Telstar broadcasts live TV pictures to UK from Japan

On 13/04/1965 the number one single was The Minute You're Gone - Cliff Richard and the number one album was Rolling Stones Number 2 - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.