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Thursday 29 December 2022

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
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Thursday 22 December 2022

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
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Wednesday 14 December 2022

Second Picture: With Margaret Rutherford
Third Picture: Up to His Neck
Forth Picture: Original Navy Lark
Ronald Shiner Ronald Alfred Shiner (8 June 1903 – 29 June 1966) was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall. When he was seventeen, Shiner joined the Royal North-West Mounted Police, after which he became a signalman and a wireless operator, then a farmer. He also worked as a greengrocer, milkman and book makers clerk. He served for three years in the British Army. Army concerts gave him a taste for the stage. He made his stage debut in 1928 in Dr Syn and the following year became a stage director at the Stage Society. During the early 1930s he appeared in a number of West End plays at the Whitehall Theatre by Walter C. Hackett including Good Losers, Take a Chance, Afterwards and Road House. His first film was Wild Boy (1934) with Sonnie Hale and Flanagan & Allen. He had support roles in My Old Dutch (1934), Doctor's Orders (1934) and It's a Bet (1935). He could also be seen in Gentlemans Agreement (1935), Royal Cavalcade (1935), Squibs (1935), Once a Thief (1935), While Parents Sleep (1935),Line Engaged (1935), Invitation to the Waltz (1936), King of Hearts (1936), Limelight (1936) with Anna Neagle and Arthur Tracy, Excuse My Glove (1936) and Dreaming Lips (1937). He was in another with Anna Neagle, London Melody (1937), then was in Doctor Syn (1937), The Black Tulip (1937), Beauty and the Barge (1937), and Silver Blaze (1937). He was uncredited in A Yank at Oxford (1938) and Sidewalks of London (1938), and had bigger parts in They Drive by Night (1938), The Gang's All Here (1939), The Mind of Mr. Reeder (1939), Trouble Brewing (1939) with George Formby, The Nursemaid Who Disappeared (1939), I Killed the Count (1939), Flying Fifty-Five (1939), Discoveries (1939), The Lion Has Wings (1939), Come On George! (1939) with Formby, Bulldog Sees It Through (1940) with Jack Buchanan, The Missing People (1940) with Will Fyffe, The Middle Watch (1940) with Buchanan, Let George Do It! (1940) with Formby,[3] The Case of the Frightened Lady (1940), Spare a Copper (1940) with Formby, Salvage with a Smile (1941), The Seventh Survivor (1941), Old Bill and Son (1941), South American George (1941) with Formby. On stage he was in Behind the Schemes (1940) and notably Something in the Air (1943–44). He had a popular radio segment Home Town. His film parts remained small in They Flew Alone (1942), Those Kids from Town (1942), The Big Blockade (1942), The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1941) with Will Hay, Unpublished Story (1942), Sabotage at Sea (1942), The Young Mr. Pitt (1942), King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) with Arthur Askey, The Balloon Goes Up (1943) and The Gentle Sex (1943). He was fourth billed in George Formby's Get Cracking (1943). He had smaller roles in Miss London Ltd. (1943) with Askey, Thursday's Child (1943), My Learned Friend (1943) with Hay, The Butler's Dilemma (1943), and The Night Invader (1943). He was in Askey's Bees in Paradise (1944) and had small roles in I Live in Grosvenor Square (1945) with Anna Neagle, and Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). His career received a massive boost when he appeared in a stage hit Worm's Eye View which ran from 1945 to 1947 performing in it over 1,700 times, On screen, George Formby gave him another good part in George in Civvy Street (1946) and had a decent role in The Man Within (1947). He was in a children's film Dusty Bates (1947) and had a good part in Forbidden (1949). He had another huge stage success when he headlined the wartime play Seagulls Over Sorrento (1950–54) which he played for almost 2,000 performances. He became a film star almost overnight when cast as a drill sergeant in the comedy Reluctant Heroes (1951) which he had played on stage. Directed by Jack Raymond, this was one of the most popular films in British cinemas in 1952. Also popular was Worm's Eye View (1952), the film version of the stage comedy, with Diana Dors. These two films saw him voted Britain's most popular local male star in cinemas in 1952. He remained a star for Top of the Form (1953), his first film for the Rank Organisation. He was in Innocents in Paris (1953) with Alastair Sim and supported, He was voted the third biggest British star of 1953, after Jack Hawkins and Alec Guinness. At the height of his career he insured his nose for £10,000 because he said "it's me beak which made 'em larf."[ He took the lead Up to His Neck (1954), Aunt Clara (1954) with Margaret Rutherford, See How They Run (1955), Keep It Clean (1956), Dry Rot (1956) and My Wife's Family (1956). His role as Badger in Seagulls Over Sorrento was taken by Sid James, although he reprised it for the BBC in 1956 and 1961. He played in My Three Angels on stage in 1955. He had a cameo in Carry On Admiral (1957) and was the lead in Not Wanted on Voyage (1957), Girls at Sea (1958) and The Navy Lark (1958). He had a support part in the popular Operation Bullshine (1959) and supported in The Night We Got the Bird (1961). He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1958 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre. He starred in the London production of Aladdin as Widow Twankey with Bob Monkhouse at the Coliseum in 1960. On the BBC he was in productions of Seagulls Over Sorrento (1961) and Worm's Eye View (1962). He also made a TV series Send for Shiner. In retirement he owned a pub at Blackboys in Sussex. British Pathe News filmed a newsreel of him in his pub, being visited by Jimmy Edwards, in 1954. Shiner suffered ill health during his last few years. In 1963 he moved from London to Eastbourne for his health. He died in hospital there in June 1966 leaving an estate of £30,955. Stay in Touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com You Write: I like to study the pictures Peter puts up on the website for the details. Yes, I know it's a bit Nerdy but it's harmless. Looking at the latest picture I would say it was taken during the period 1949 to 1953. Peter can correct me on that if he does know the actual date. To the details. Southwick Hill road of course is sharp left turn in the picture and up to QA hospital and beyond. Looking up the picture and the road is the A3 London Rd to Purbrook and Waterlooville, Cowplain and beyond. People often call the A3 London Rd. Portsdown Hill Rd. but it's not. That road runs along the top of Portsdown Hill East to West. Note the prefab homes built on the lower slopes of the hill in the picture. These were quickly erected during and post WW2 to accommodate those families bombed out in Portsmouth air raids. They remained in place up until the 1960's and were demolished to make way for the ill fated Portsdown Park homes which were also demolished not long after being built due to uncontrollable penetrating damp problems and very poor construction. Just across from the Southwick Rd entrance you can see a black car parked up. It looks like a 1947'ish Ford or Morris 10 Can't quite see the details. Next to that is a rarity with it's back to the picture. A mobile camper on the back of the van/car. If that was around today it would fetch a small fortune in good condition. Anybody else spot the trolley bus to Horndean in the picture? These were kept overnight in a large bus shed in Cowplain which had previously served for the Horndean light railway engine shed. How the old HLR is really needed today to relieve traffic congestion. It does look like the Kid's are off to school and my guess it would be Portsdown Park school. The original school wooden huts are no longer there of course. Note PC Plod on traffic school crossing duty just out of picture. Regards to Everyone Melvyn ( Griff ) Griffiths. >
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Thursday 8 December 2022

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
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Thursday 1 December 2022

Web Page 3022 30th November 2022 Molly Weir First Picture: Publicity Photo
Third Picture: 1955 photo
Forth Picture: Flash Advert.
Molly Weir was a well known Scottish actress who was born Mary Weir in 1910 in Glasgow but was known as Molly. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series Rentaghost. She was also the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. She began working in amateur dramatics and her early professional career progressd as she became a well-known radio actress, featuring in many comedy shows. She was one of the original cast members of The McFlannels. Her original part, in 1939, as 'Mrs McLeather', was quietly dropped and, later, to her delight, she became the wee Glesca keelie, 'Ivy McTweed', who made an enjoyable contrast to the wee douce 'Teenie' of Down at the Mains, which she played at the same time. She wrote that the series "became a great joy to me" and made her a real 'name' in Glasgow, and in Scotland. The most famous radio series she appeared in was ITMA. In relation to that show, the Labour MP for Coatbridge, Jean Mann, complained about her character during a House of Commons debate in February 1947: “ greatest insult of all to Scotland is the introduction of a Scots girl to ITMA who is supposed to be falling head over heels for a little 'twerp' called 'The Governor'. No true Scotswoman would ever have looked at him twice. “ Her greatest theatrical success came in the play The Happiest Days of Your Life. She made her film debut in 1949, and had a regular role as the housekeeper, Aggie McDonald, in the radio and television sitcom Life With The Lyons. During the 1970s and early 1980s she became famous as a writer, with several volumes of best-selling memoirs, notably, Shoes Were For Sunday. She also appeared in a series of television advertisements for Flash the household cleaning agent. In 1969, she appeared in the 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie starring Dame Maggie Smith. She and Helena Gloag played the Kerr sisters, the sewing mistresses of Marcia Blaine School for Girls. In 1970 they reprised their collaboration in the 1970 film Scrooge, playing old sisters in debt to Mr Scrooge, played by Albert Finney. In the 1970s she was one of the presenters of Teatime Tales, a television series broadcast by STV in which she recalled her childhood. In the 1980s, she lampooned this homely image in the comedy series Victoria Wood As Seen On TV and appeared in a pop video for The Bluebells 1983 hit Young at Heart. She is also the subject of the 1988 song Molly's Lips by The Vaselines, and later covered by Nirvana. After her death, Molly Weir's ashes were scattered on the banks of Loch Lomond, a favourite holiday location; and almost all her estate (of nearly £1.9 million), was bequeathed to charities. She had married Sandy Hamilton in 1939. I met her once at the revived Radio Radio show in Earls Court, London. This was a one off event held in the mid 1970s. After watching an interview with Robert Morley I wandered off to the Childrens Area where I listened to Molly Weir telling a story . When she left the area she walked over to me, took me by the arms and said walk with me to the Green Room, during that short walk I learnt all about her life with her husband Scotty. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com
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