Web Page No 2644

17th December 2019

1st Picture. Making Christmas decorations

 2nd Picture. Blue Peter Advent Crown

 

3rd Picture. Visiting Santa

4th Picture. Christmas Crackers

Christmas Sixty years ago

Christmas in the 1959 was in many respects similar to Christmas celebrations now: family gatherings, laughter and fun. But whereas today the celebrations are often centred around the presents and multimedia, in the 1959 Christmas was much more homespun.

The days of post war rationing and austerity were still recent memories so, especially in the early years of the decade, Christmas still had a feeling of frugality when compared to those of today.

Take the decorations, for example. Today, we are used to homes decorated both indoors and out with lights, animated figures and all manner of festive adornments. In the 1959, things were much simpler. Brightly coloured paper chains were made by the family and looped across the walls of the living room. These chains would be finished off with honeycomb-like paper or foil decorations shaped like bells and stars. There would also be holly sprigs pushed behind the pictures on the wall. The tree would be covered in tinsel and glass baubles and often topped with a Christmas fairy. Quite often there would also be a nativity scene, either bought or homemade. Indeed, most years the children’s TV programme Blue Peter gave instructions on how to make your own. Blue Peter, always inventive and often defying health and safety, even taught small children how to make an advent crown from wire coat hangers, with a lit candle at each corner!

Food preparations began with the making of the Christmas cake and Christmas puddings. This was usually three or four weeks before the day itself: a sixpence might be stirred into the pudding for luck.

Christmas began for many families on Christmas Eve. Most shops and businesses worked until at least lunchtime on Christmas Eve: this was also the day when the festive food and drink was bought. There were few home freezers so all the produce for Christmas lunch had to be bought as close as possible to the day itself. Orders were taken by the butcher, greengrocer and baker as supermarkets were only just beginning to open in the high street. The whole family, except those working, would be needed to collect the food, as there was a great deal to be carried home.

All over the country, pots and bottles of loose change, collected over the year, would be emptied in order to pay for the Christmas drinks. Alcohol was purchased from the off licence – often a section of the local pub. All shops would be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, so if something was forgotten, it was too late – which could be a catastrophe, if batteries for the longed-for Christmas toy had been forgotten!

On Christmas Eve at bedtime, parents would ceremoniously lay out a plate with a mince pie and a glass of sherry (Harvey’s Bristol Cream, of course) for Father Christmas, by the Christmas tree. Sometimes a carrot would also be left for Rudolph.

Stockings or pillow cases were left by the beds upstairs, ready to be filled with gifts – if the child had been good, of course!

Every year the stocking would contain a satsuma or mandarin and a coin. Often there were also chocolate coins, a chocolate selection box, puzzle books, small toys, crayons and an annual, often Beano or Dandy: the main present would have been wrapped and placed under the tree downstairs.

Main presents were opened after breakfast: for children these might be a watch (perhaps a Tic-a-Tic-a-Timex), Scalextric or a Sindy doll. Other favourite gifts included Etch-a-Sketch, Meccano, 3D View Master and the Amazing Magic Robot that answered questions. Relatives might also bring homemade gifts, such as hand knitted jumpers and scarves.

The main event at Christmas lunch was not always turkey: the meat of choice might be chicken, capon or goose. Chicken in the early 1960s was an expensive meat, as this was before factory farming. The Christmas table was not decorated with special Christmas-themed items as it might be today: this was the occasion for the ‘best’ tablecloth, china, glass and silver, brought out just for special occasions and packed away safely through the rest of the year. Christmas crackers would be laid out by the place settings at the table: it was obligatory to wear the paper hats throughout the meal!

The turkey came with all the trimmings: chipolatas or pigs in blankets, bread sauce and stuffing. The stuffing was sometimes sausage meat and sometimes chestnut, a little more luxurious than the usual sage and onion. Roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, parsnips and of course, sprouts accompanied the meat.

The Christmas pudding then made a very special, theatrical entrance, wreathed in flame from the brandy that had been poured over it and lit.

After the washing up, the family would gather around the one TV in the house or if there was no TV, around the wireless. All would stop at 3pm for the Queen’s Christmas broadcast.

There were just two TV channels BBC and ITV. For some inexplicable reason, quite often the main two TV companies would both schedule a circus on Christmas afternoon: Billy Smart’s Circus on the BBC and another on ITV!

The evening meal on Christmas Day was always the same every year: cold cuts of meat, usually ham and leftover turkey from lunch, pork pie, bread rolls, tomatoes, pickles and crisps, trifle, mince pies and chocolate log. Pride of place on the table would be the Christmas cake, covered in white icing and decorated with a Father Christmas figure, some reindeer perhaps, a robin or two and maybe a sprig of plastic holly. These wonderful if mismatched cake decorations were added to over the years, so quite often the robin might end up towering over both Father Christmas and the reindeer!

Boxing Day was the day for visiting family. Car ownership was becoming more common, making family get-togethers easier. Lunch might be roast beef or lamb, or leftover roast turkey.

And then the Christmas festivities were over for another year!

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Maureen Writes:-

Whilst living at the bottom of South Road we had access to three dens.  The first was built on the marsh land on the corner of Grove Road and the Eastern Road – now blocks of flats. It was built into the clay soil to a depth of 3 to 4 foot and totally lined with corrugated iron sheets. Corrugated iron roof with sods of earth laid on top.  This could only be used in the summer months as it was always flooded in the winter.

The second was at Flint house but someone had to keep an eye out for the Police as we were not supposed to be there.

The third was at the bottom of Norman Boxer’s garden, I only went there once as it was for the older boys only.

My favourite was not a den as it was being deconstructed every few weeks, but it was at the Box Company in the road which led to Twilfits Undergarment factory directly opposite the end of South Road.  All the off cuts from the manufacture of the boxes were compressed into cubes of about 2 foot cubed and stacked along the long wall beside the factory so we would go and re-arrange the cubes to make a home with gaps for windows and doorways. Many happy hours spent there especially at the weekends when the factory was closed.  It all came to a close when I was playing there along with a boy called John Cutting from Station Road, I was pretending to swim, laying over one of the cubes when it rolled and my face hit the cinder path beneath me.  I screamed all the way home, Mother was in the village shopping so I went next door to Mr Melbourne and he took me in his car (I think a Triumph Mayflower) to the hospital where they removed the cinders from my face with tweezers.

Bless him he also bought me an Ice-cream for not screaming the hospital down.

Good old memories are always close to the surface, you just need to scratch the skin a little.

Steve Writes: 

Hi Peter, your article on dens and tree houses got my memory banks working.

We had a ready-made tree house in a tree in Denville Close off Old Farm way, just through the foot path from St Andrews Road, it would have overlooked the East Lodge Recreation ground and Playing field there. Once we had clambered up the thick trunk, there was a circular load of brush above which hid you away and on top of that a natural flat top, so no need for planks of wood.

Our den was off Crookhorn Lane in a fairly large wooded area and some way behind Dead Mans wood. We found a ready scooped out semi-circle in some sand in a dense part of the wood, so with a few branches found lying about we soon had a roof and a frontage with an open door way. We also had a sort of hearth outside the door for a fire, ideal for cooking those potatoes we had found beside the Portsdown road. It was a lovely peaceful wood and rarely heard anyone around. I occasionally see today a making of a den in the woods near to where I live, so it does still go on. Trouble is now it usually comes with many empty cans and bottles of Lager. Something that was never done in our day, we just enjoyed our time, friendships and fresh air naturally, a great time in our younger school day lives.

News and Views:

ON THIS DAY 17^th DECEMBER 1960-1965:

On 17/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.68 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge (Granada).

On 17/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan 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.

On 17/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was West Side Story Soundtrack. 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 17/12/1963 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 17/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - 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.

On 17/12/1965 the number one single was Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. 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.

Web Page No 2642

10th December 2019

1st Picture. Basic Tree Platform

 2nd Picture. Underground Den

 3rd Picture. Inside Den, ours was not as posh as this!!!!

4th Picture. Conker tournament

The Den

Did you have a Den when you were a child? I was lucky we had a long garden and the very top that backed onto Solent Road School playground (this has since been sold to the school and is a grassed nature area). Here I had room not only for a den but also for underground hiding places and a tree house or platform. I have two other friends who at that time were also lucky in their play areas, one had an orchard to play in and another a whole market garden. But the area at the top of our garden was left fallow when my father was away and was a glorious wilderness for us to play in and to have adventures.

Where to start? The tree platform I suppose. The tree was a large beech tree which grew up against the school playground wall. Hiding this part of the garden from the house was a whole line of hazel nut trees making this area very quiet and private. With some searching around in one of my fathers sheds we managed to find enough timber that we could nail together to form a sort of platform about 12 feet up in the tree and from here we could sit and look right into the school playground. Why we should want to do this I cannot remember especially at weekends and holiday times, why did we want to be reminded of school, today this is a puzzlement? The platform was a great vantage point to play pirates and solders from and to direct battles. My friends and I spent many happy hours on this platform in this tree and in the land of make believe.

If we were not in the tree we were busy digging a subterranean clubhouse beneath the gooseberry and current bushes a few yards away from the tree. To do this we borrowed my father’s spade and fork and dug a big oblong hole. This is when the corrugated iron from the old dismantled air raid sheltee, which was left in the garden, came in useful. Having dug out the hole, the sheeting was then put across it with a couple of supports going across the middle and the whole thing was then covered in earth. We, in our own minds, thought that it was fantastically camouflaged and no one knew it was there, but I am sure my parents knew all along. Having got the club house or den completed all it needed was an old carpet to go in the bottom of it, (this got very soggy when it rained), some alcoves dug out of the walls to place short candles in for lighting and we were ready for anything. I do remember that to try to improve the place and keep it warm especially in the autumn and winter we constructed a very basic hearth and lit a fire. The result was a group of boys dashing out of the den as it filled with smoke. We now learnt the hard way, and very quickly, the theory of flue and chimney management and with the help of odds and ends from the old air raid shelter and my fathers shed we did eventually construct a workable chimney and so make the whole thing quite acceptable, fairly water tight and warm. But we could never solve the problem of rain water running down through the doorway and onto the floor of the den making the carpet soggy. But after all we were not the first with that type of problem because practically everyone who had an Anderson Shelter in their back garden during the war years experienced the very same problem!!! 

We were lucky that we had the space and the materials to construct such structures. I wonder if the kids of today do the same thing but I must admit I have seen little evidence of it.

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News and Views:

ON THIS DAY 13^TH DECEMBER 1960-1965:

On 13/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Tottenham Hotspur. The top rated TV show was The Army Game and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68.The big news story of the day was Bootsie & Snudge.

On 13/12/1961 the number one single was Tower of Strength - Frankie Vaughan and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 day was the American Folk Artist Grandma Moses dies at the age of 91.

On 13/12/1962 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was again Coronation Street 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 13/12/1963 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 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.

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On 13/12/1964 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show Coronation Street 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 13/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was you’ve guessed it, Coronation Street 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. The big news of the day was that the first ever edition of Jackanory was broadcast on BBC.

Web Page No 2640
3^rd December 2019

1st Picture. Roy Castle, Jimmy James and Eli Woods with the box sketch

 2nd Picture. Roy Castle

3rd Picture. Wedding Photograph with Harry Secombe

4th Picture. Roy and Fiona

Roy Castle

Roy Castle OBE  was born on 31st August 1932 and died on 2nd September 1994. We all knew him as the presenter and participant in Record Breakers but was also a dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments.

He was born in Scholes, near Holmfirth, (Last of the Summer Wine Country) and was the son of a railwayman. He became a tap dancer at an early age and after leaving Holme Valley Grammar School he started his career as an entertainer in an amateur concert party. As a young performer in the 1950s, he lived in Cleveleys near  Blackpool and appeared at the local Queen's Theatre, turning professional in 1953 as a stooge for Jimmy Clitheroe and Jimmy James. Little knowing that five years later he would be appearing at the Royal Variety Show.]

In 1965, he starred with Peter Cushing in the film Dr. Who and the Daleks, the first of two cinema spin-offs from the BBC television series. He played the role of  Dr. Who's first male assistant, Ian Chesterton, and was cast to perform the role more comedically than it had been played by William Russell in the original series. He also appeared in Dr. Terror's House of Horrors as a jazz musician suffering a curse after copying voodoo tunes. He appeared in Carry On Up the Khyberin 1968 and in the TV musical Pickwick  in 1969. In the 90s he appeared again in Pickwick, touring the country, starring alongside Sir Harry Secombe. In 1973, Roy Castle teamed up with comedian Ronnie Barker in an original one-off called "Another Fine Mess" Ronnie Barker was one of Roy Castle's best friends, and paid tribute to their work together shortly after Roy’s death.

Between 1967 and 1968 he co-starred with Jimmy Edwards in the London West End run of the comedy farce show Big Bad Mouse when Eric Sykes had to withdraw because of illness. He also once stood in for Bruce Forsyth hosting The Generation Game in 1975 while Bruce was ill. He made many appearances on BBC TV's The Good Old Days, making use of his multi instrumental skills.

It was in 1972, that he first presented  and he remained host for over 20 years. He recorded the theme song for the show himself. While presenting the show he broke nine world records himself, including

·         Fastest tap-dance 1,440 taps per minute – 24 taps per second, set on 14 January 1973, a record that has never been bettered.

·         Longest wing walk – 3 hours, 23 minutes.

·         Playing the same tune on 43 different instruments in four minutes.

·         In November 1985 he tap-danced his way to a new record and raised £1 million for charity. He averaged nearly twelve steps a second during the sponsored feat in London.

·         He was a host of the show up until a few months before his death in 1994.

Between 1958 and 1969, he recorded three LPs and in 1963 he married dancer Fiona Dickson, they had been introduced by Eric Morecambe. Roy and his wife were committed Christians and regularly attended the Baptist church near their home. They had four children. Their youngest son, Ben Castle (born 1973), is a jazz saxophonist who has played with a wide range of artistss.

Less than six months before his death, Roy attended the Liverpool-Everton derby match at Anfield  and stood on the Kop terrace. On 31st December 1992, he was awarded the OBE. But in March that year he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was told that his chances of recovery were slim and that it was unlikely that he would live for more than six months. He underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy and went into remission later that year. A non-smoker, he blamed his illness on passive smoking during his years of playing the trumpet in smoky jazz clubs. Several months after the return of the cancer he carried out the high-profile Tour of Hope to raise funds for the erection of the building that would become the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, which is the only British charity dedicated solely to defeating lung cancer. By this stage his condition was deteriorating.

During and shortly after his illness, many smoke-free restaurants and cafes were awarded the Roy Castle Clean Air Award to denote their adherence to a (then voluntary) smoke-free regime.

His final contribution to Record Breakers was aired at the end of the series ending in December 1993, although the programme continued until 2001.

He died in Buckinghamshire on 2nd September 1994, two days after his 62nd birthday.

His widow Fiona worked with the charity after her husband's death, and campaigned for the British smoking ban which came into effect in Northern Ireland in 2004, Scotland in 2006 and  England and Wales in 2007, banning smoking in virtually all enclosed public places.

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On this day 3^rd December 1960-1965

On 03/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley 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 Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 03/12/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley. 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On 03/12/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - 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 day was Heavy smog kills 55 in London.

On 03/12/1963 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.

On 03/12/1964 the number one single was Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - 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.

On 03/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. 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.