Web Page No 2732

 

15^th November 2020

 

1^st Picture: Qualcast Mower

2^nd Picture: Fire Engine Bell

3rd Picture: Steam Train whistle

4^th Picture:  Air Raid Siren

 

 

The Sound of Silence

 

Well not exactly silence as in the 1965 song written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon and Garfunkel, more the missing sounds from the 1960’s.

This came to mind in the garden today when all I could hear were the whirring noises from several different electric lawn mowers as people in my road cut and trimmed their lawns. Where, I wondered had the clattering sounds of the hand pushed Qualcast cylinder mower that held sway before Black and Decker invented the electric mower. Gone to Other gardening sound that has been usurped are the electric hedge trimmer replacing the gentle slicing sound of a well sharpened pair of shears and the strimmer stridently doing the job of the edge trimmers of years ago.

This got me wondering about other sounds that we all took for granted as we grew up. We must all remember the rapid ringing of the electrically powered warning bells mounted on the front of police cars and ambulances. However, fire engines were very different, these bells were larger, were rung by hand by a fireman and had that distinctive clang as the fire tender rushed by.

There were bells everywhere we went as kids, bells ringing on cash registers, bells for attention on counters, the school bell at the start of the day, the play time and going home bell, this was probably the most popular of all. Also, nowadays where we no longer have open platformed buses with conductors we no longer hear the bell rung by that conductor as a message to the bus driver to start or stop. I also remember a rag and bone man coming around with his horse and cart ringing his hand bell to attract attention.

Luckily one audible warning sound has not completely disappeared and that is the whistle, these can still be heard on railway stations used by platform staff as the trains get ready to be dispatched. Although a sound from the past does sometime come to our ears on very rare occasions, when there is a visitor in the area that we hear the mournful sound of a steam train whistle!  

With modern car and van reliability we very rarely hear the laboured throwing over of a car when the battery is flat and the resultant rattling noise as the starting handle was inserted through the grill to hand start the engine.

Bicycle bells and battery hooters were heard every day, but there was one noise that was only heard at 09.30 on the first Monday of the month. This was the Air Raid Siren as the Civil Defence tested them on a regular basis. Our local siren was sited on a pole behind The New Inn and near what was Futchers School in Drayton but I never actually remember being around it when it was set off but I can vividly remember hearing it all over Drayton and Farlington. This rehearsal continued until the late in 1968 when the Civil Defence Corps was disbanded and the practice discontinued.

However, there is still one siren which is still in use in Portsmouth. The one in the Naval Base.

The wavering tone of the siren sounded last February from Portsmouth Naval Base at 9.30am and lasted for about a minute. The test was part of the nuclear accident response plan for the naval base and is in accordance with Portsmouth and Gosport councils’ nuclear safety plan. Every year the siren is sounded three times, once in February, June and October. The tests take place on Wednesday mornings at 09.30am where the sound – a wavering/two tone siren and last for one minute.

Peter

 

gsseditor@gmail.com

 

Griff Writes about Bonfire Night:-

 Flint House big bonfire night was always a must place to be for me with my 2/6d worth of Mighty Atom 1d Bangers ( 30 of them ).

 

News and Views:

 

On this day 15th September 1960-1965

 

On 15/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was MoT test introduced.

 

On 15/09/1961 the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. 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 15/09/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

 

On 15/09/1964 the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

 

On 15/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was 35 British tourists die in Pyrennees plane crash.

 

On 15/09/1965 the number one single was (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.