Web Page 3030 5th January 2023 First Picture: Peter Scott

Second Picture: Crackerjack

Third Picture: Max Jaffa

Forth Picture: Chipperfields Circus

BBC CHRISTMAS TV 1959 Christmas Eve Thursday 24th December 1959 BBCTV 1.00pm Beunydd (In Welsh : Daily news, and a talk on Welsh religious matters) 1.15pm Closedown 2.30pm Watch with Mother : Rag, Tag, and Bobtail 2.45pm Man from 1997 a comic fantasy 3.30pm Faraway Look Kangaroos and Koalas Peter Scott looks back, with his wife, on his first Faraway Look tour which took him to Australia,New Zealand, New Guinea, and Fiji 4.30pm The Apple Tree with the Golden Apples Hungarian film. The story told by Johnny Morris 4.55pm Children's Newsreel 5.10pm Eamonn Andrews in Christmas Crackerjack featuring Lenny the Lion with Terry Hall, Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson and Ronnie Corbett . Raymond Rollett 6.05pm News, The Weather 6.25pm Christmas Fare A look ahead at Christmas programmes with Michael Aspel 6.30pm Carols from Canterbury Sung in the Crypt and the Choir of the cathedral 7.05pm Film : The Trail to Christmas (1957) starring James Stewart 7.30pm Julie Andrews and John Fraser in "The Gentle Flame" 8.15pm Amahl and the Night Visitors 9.00pm News Summary 9.05pm Film : Sister Kenny (1946) starring Rosalind Russell 10.55pm Mass of the Nativity from the Roman Catholic Bergkirche, Eisenstadt, Austria 12.00 Closedown Christmas Day Friday 25th December 1959 8.30am Christmas Greeting A programme of carols by The George Mitchell Glee Club and Dennis Wilson Quartet 9.00am The Queen (sound only) 9.03am Dartington Christmas Festival introduced by Huw Wheldon 9.30am Gwyl Y Geni (Festival of the Nativity) 10.00am Closedown 11.00am Morning Service from St George's Parish Church, Stockport 11.45am Peace on Earth Christmas programme from the International Pestalozzi Children's Villages in Switzerland and in Sussex children from all over Europe gather round the Christmas tree as one family. 12.15pm Meet Mr Kringle film comedy 1.00pm News Summary 1.15pm Music with Max Max Jaffa's with The Trio, Alicia Markova and the Linden Singers 1.35pm Days Before Christmas National Film Board of Canada 2.00pm Boots and Saddles : Dispatch Rider 2.25pm While Angels Watch A documentary film about Queen Alexandra's Nursing Service 3.00pm Chipperfield's Circus 4.00pm Billy Cotton's Christmas Party 4.45pm A Kiss for Cinderella starring Jeannie Carson 6.15pm News Summary 6.20pm Christmas Night with the Stars featuring Jimmy Logan Show ,Charlie Drake, Whack-O! 7.35pm Harry Belafonte in Songs of Many Land 8.20pm Film : High Noon (1952) starring Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, 9.45pm News Summary 9.50pm Bleak House Charles Dickens adapted for television 10.20pm Make Way for Music Alyn Ainsworth and the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra 10.50pm Epilogue for Christmas Day The Rev. Frederic Greeves Principal of Didsbury College, Bristol followed by Weather Closedown Stay in Touch HAPPY NEW YEAR Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page No 3028 22nd December 2022 Christmas in the 1950’s First Picture: Christmas Tree Lights

Second Picture: Tree decorations

Third Picture: Glass tree decorations

Forth Picture: St. Nick Christmas Lights

In the 1950’s and 60’s the approaching Christmas season saw my folks buying all kinds of different foodstuffs and fancy goods to place on the sideboard for the festive period. Various items that were never seen in our home at other time of the year. Firstly, there would be a net bag selection of various types of nuts. Walnuts, Hazel nuts (why we bought these as we had a whole row of hazel nut trees in our back garden), plus Brazil nuts, this naturally started a search through the various cupboards and drawers around the house for the nut crackers which had not been seen since the previous Christmas. Another item only purchased at this time was Turkish Delight (not the Fry’s version but the real thing dusted with icing sugar). The only person that liked it was my grandmother, who lived with us. The hexagonal box would be placed with its wooden fork on the side board and there it sat for several weeks until my grandmother finally finished it off sometime in mid-January. Another item bought around this time were tangerines, I liked them and would frequently attack the bowl of them set out on the sideboard. Talking about fruit, this was the only time in the year that we ever saw Crystalised Fruit in our house. Oblong boxes of dates would also appear. They were horrible, sticky things that came with their own long handled eaters. Again, I cannot remember anyone liking these particular fruits but it was the done thing to have them available. As was a tray of Sharpes toffee complete with its little hammer to break up the block with. We now come to alcohol. This was something the was rarely kept in our house. Some bottles of stout were bought in for my grandmother and a bottle of Advocaat so my father could make snowballs for my mother. Babycham and Pony were bought in for guests and so was sherry and Port so that Port and Lemon could be offered and of course lemonade for me. My dad would go out and buy some luxury smoking aid , Du Maurier in its bright red flat box and mini cigars such as Manakin. These items would be put on the sideboard so they could be offered to visitors. Then there were the homemade decorations! You Write Obituary Robert Barlow Robert ( Bob ) Barlow passed away on Saturday 17th December aged 78 after suffering a general decline in his health over the last few weeks. The son of John & Mary Barlow who owned the well know Chemist and gift shop in Cosham High Street , Bakers of Cosham we lived over the shop throughout our school life. Bob went to Court Lane infants school and then primary school and then secondary school which became Manor Court. Bob became head boy while he was there and finished school in 1961. He then joined National Provincial Bank which became NatWest. He stayed there and took early retirement in his mid 50s. He also travelled a lot on his holidays. I will post funeral arrangements when known. Regards Peter Barlow Stay in Touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3024 8th December 2022 First Picture: Publicity Photo

Second Picture: Christmas Alphabet

Third Picture: Dickie and family

Forth Picture: Memorial plaque

Dickie Valentine Richard Bryce (né Maxwell; 4 November 1929 – 6 May 1971 was known professionally as Dickie Valentine, and enjoyed great popularity in Britain during the 1950s. In addition to several other Top Ten hit singles, He had two chart-toppers on the UK Singles Chart with "Finger of Suspicion", featuring The Stargazers (1954) and the seasonal "Christmas Alphabet" (1955). He was born Richard Maxwell in November 1929 (his birth father was Dickie Maxwell) in Marylebone. He was known as Richard Bryce after his mother married Bryce. Dickie Valentine's first acting job was at age only three when he appeared in the British comedy film Jack's the Boy starring Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge He developed a flexible vocal style and skills as an impersonator of famous singers. Actor-singer Bill O'Connor overheard him singing as a call boy at Her Majesty's Theatre in London and paid for his voice lessons. He sang in clubs and learned stagecraft to help gain confidence and experience. While he was in his late teens, he was singing at the Panama Club one night when music publisher Sid Green saw him and brought him to the attention of bandleader Ted Heath. On 14 February 1949, Dickie Valentine, an unknown, was signed by Ted Heath to join his band, Ted Heath and his Music, to sing alongside Lita Roza and Dennis Lotis. He was voted the Top UK Male Vocalist in 1952 while singing with the Ted Heath Orchestra, the most successful of all British big bands, and again after going solo in 1954. In November 1954, he was invited to sing at the Royal Command Performance, and in February 1955 he was top billed at the London Palladium. He also cracked jokes and impersonated entertainers, including Johnnie Ray, Frankie Laine, Mario Lanza and Billy Daniels. He recorded two number one hits, "Christmas Alphabet" and "The Finger of Suspicion (Points at You)". His first chart-topper came only two months after his marriage to Elizabeth Flynn at Caxton Hall, which caused scenes of hysteria and was widely expected to sound the death knell to his career. In fact, 1955 was by far his best chart year, with both the two number ones and three other's placed in the Top Ten. While his second number one saw him playing 'King Canute' to Bill Haley's incoming tide of rock and roll, "Christmas Alphabet" marked the first time in the UK that a song created for the Christmas market would hit number one. In April 1955, he again topped the bill at the London Palladium for two weeks, a month after winning the male vocalist category in the NME poll. He went on to win this title consecutively from 1953 to 1957. In 1961, he had a television series Calling Dickie Valentine. In 1966 he partnered with Peter Sellers on the ATV sketch show The Dickie Valentine Show. Although his fame began to wane during the 1960s, he remained a popular live performer until his death. He was travelling back to his friends home where he was staying, after having played a concert at the Double Diamond Club in Caerphilly, he was killed outright in a car crash on a single lane bridge at Glangrwyney, near Crickhowell, on 6 May 1971, at the age of 41, together with pianist Sidney Boatman and drummer Dave Pearson, both aged 42. The coroner's inquest revealed the car in which the three were travelling to have been driven in excess of 90 mph at the time of impact, and that Dickie Valentine, who was driving his wife Wendy's Hillman Avenger, with which he was unfamiliar (he was awaiting delivery of his new customised car), had lost control of the vehicle while attempting to take a (clearly marked) dangerous bend. Even though he had travelled on that stretch of road many times and was familiar with its hazards, it was thought that his attention might have been distracted by conversation with his friends, in addition to fatigue (the crash having happened at 4:20am). There was also heavy fog in the area. The coroner returned a verdict of 'death by misadventure'. Valentine is interred at Slough Crematorium. A commemorative plaque was unveiled on the new bridge on August 7, 2021 by his son Richard Valentine and other family members and friends of the three musicians. Dickie Valentine married Elizabeth Flynn, a Scottish professional ice skater, in 1954. They had two children together, Richard (later a television director) and Kim, but divorced in 1967. He married the actress Wendy Wayne in 1968. Prior to the car accident, Wayne and Valentine were scheduled to undertake a twenty-week summer season at the Water Splash in Jersey Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3022 30th November 2022 Molly Weir First Picture: Publicity Photo