Web Page 3014 2nd November 2022 WHACKO! First Picture: Professor Jimmy Edwards

Second Picture: School nameplate

Third Picture: A mass whacking

Forth Picture: In the classroom

Whack-O was a sitcom TV series starring Jimmy Edwards, written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and broadcast from 1956 to 1960 and 1971 to 1972. The series (in black and white) ran on the BBC from 1956 to 1960 and (in colour) from 1971 to 1972. Jimmy Edwards took the part of Professor James Edwards, M.A., the drunken, gambling, devious, cane-swishing headmaster who tyrannised staff and children at Chiselbury public school (described in the opening titles as "for the sons of Gentlefolk"). The Jimmy Edwards character bore more than a passing resemblance to Sergeant Bilko as he tried to swindle the children out of their pocket money to finance his many schemes. The first six episodes were subtitled "Six of the Best". In 1959 a film was made based on the show, called Bottoms Up!. The series was revived in colour with updated scripts in 1971–72, slightly retitled Whacko!. In all, it ran for a total of 60 episodes, with 47 of black-and-white and 13 colour, of 30 minutes each. There were three special shorts. There was also a radio version with Vera Lynn starring as herself in the second episode. Many of these radio episodes were recovered by a BBC archivist from a listener's collection of tapes in 2012, and are now being broadcast on Radio 4 Extra. The front of the historic house of near Egham in Surrey was used in the opening title sequence of the TV comedy series, behind the name of the fictional Chiselbury School. Most of the show's episodes are missing, presumed lost. Six of the original black-and-white episodes are known to exist today; from the colour revival series of the early 1970s, only one is known to have survived. TV comedy historians have written that the central theme of Whack-O! and Bottoms Up! was corporal punishment and specifically the caning of boys’ backsides. This however was largely absent from the revived series in 1971, as by that time corporal punishment was becoming less acceptable in Britain and was eventually banned in state and many independent schools in 1986. Whack-O! tended to glorify a ritualised form of punishment that had been an accepted practice in British schools, but by modern standards the popular humourizing of corporal punishment is an anathema. The comedy of the series was built around whether boys would be caught and punished for minor misdemeanours, and the size and effectiveness of canes and the building of caning devices. In one episode a device and long cane was made so six boys could be punished together. In another a device was made so the teacher carrying out the caning did not see the boy, and it turned out that all the backside seen to be caned were that of deputy headmaster Pettigrew (when played by Arthur Howard). A feature of Jummy Edwards carrying out punishment was the clear enjoyment he exhibited. Both Jimmy Edwards and Arthur Howard were gay men and Anthony Slide, a biographer of Jimmy Edwards with "Wake Up at the Back There! This is how the BBC sums up this aspect of Whack-O! on its official website: "Watching the series now is a little painful in one respect – we're too sensitive to find canings amusing – but it's right on the money in other ways, mainly because finding over-privileged kids vile hasn't gone out of fashion." BBC Radio adapted the TV scripts into 45 thirty-minute shows, mostly with the original cast, of which 42 recordings survive. There were three series which originally ran on the BBC Light Programme from 23 May 1961 until 22 July 1963. They have been repeated on BBC Radio Extra since 2015 and the last airing was in 2020. Jimmy Edwards died in 1988 Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3012 26th October 2022 Ruby Murray First Picture: Ruby Murray

Second Picture: Publicity Photograph

Third Picture: Sheet Music Softly, Softly

Forth Picture: A Ruby Murray

Ruby Murray was a Northern Irish singer and actress. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959 and made pop chart history in March 1955 by having five hits in the Top Twenty in a single week. Ruby Florence Murray was born near the Donegall Road in south Belfast the youngest child in a Protestant family. She had surgery at six weeks of age due to swollen glands, and as a result, had a very husky voice. Entering a public speaking contest run by Eglinton Young Farmers Club, Londonderry in March 1947, she won a special prize for the youngest competitor under 18. A performance at the Ballymena Variety Theatre in February 1948 received a wonderful reception[ and she then toured in Northern Ireland as a child singer. Murray first appeared on television at the age of 12. Owing to laws governing children performing, she had to delay her start in the entertainment industry. She returned to Belfast and full-time education until she was 14. She was kept busy on the variety stage in Northern Ireland and in 1954 she joined a touring revue called "Yankee Doodle Blarney" which gave her very useful exposure on the English variety stages. Richard Afton offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite Contrary television show, to replace Joan Regan. After being again spotted by Ray Martin she was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reaching No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1954. " The 1950s was a busy period for Ruby, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance (1955) and toured the world. In a period of 52 weeks, she constantly had at least one single in the UK charts – this at a time when only a Top 20 was listed. Her only film role was, as Ruby, in A Touch of the Sun, a 1956 farce with Frankie Howerd and Dennis Price. A couple of hits followed later in the decade; "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye", a No. 10 hit in 1959, was her final appearance in the charts. Her popularity led to her name being adopted in Cockney rhyming slang as a rhyme for "curry". In 1957, while working in Blackpool, she met Bernie Burgess, a member of a successful television and recording vocal quartet, the Four Jones Boys. Shortly afterwards she left Northern Ireland to marry him and live with him in Northampton. Burgess, contrary to press reports, did not become her manager, but rather his role was that of a supporting husband. The couple included a song-and-dance segment in her act during the 1960s. She struggled with alcoholism for most of her life and this contributed to the breakdown of her marriage in 1974. The divorce was finalised in 1976 and she moved to Torquay to live with an old friend, Ray Lamar, a former stage dancer and theatre impresario, who was 18 years her senior. They married in 1991 and spent the evening with a small party of friends and family at an Italian restaurant in Babbacombe. She had two children from her marriage to Burgess, Julie (b. 1960) and Tim (b. 1965). Tim died unexpectedly from a heart condition in July 2020, aged 55. Although her days as a major star were long over, she continued performing until close to the end of her life. Spending her last couple of years in Asprey's Nursing Home, she often delighted her carers with a song, and was visited by her friend Max Bygraves. She died of liver cancer on 17 December 1996, aged 61. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

19th October 2022 Brian Matthew First Picture: The Thank Your Lucky Stars days

Second Picture: Brian and his wife Pamela

Third Picture: Sounds of Sixties fifth anniversary

Forth Picture: Brian Matthew in later days

Brian Matthew (17 September 1928 – 8 April 2017) was a broadcaster who worked for the BBC for 63 years from 1954 until 2017. He was the host of Saturday Club, among other programmes, and began presenting Sounds of the 60s in March 1990, often employing the same vocabulary and the same measured delivery he had used in previous decades. In January 2017, after a short break from the programme after suffering a fall at home, the BBC announced, against Matthew's wishes, that he would not be returning to the programme and that he would be replaced. He was succeeded by Tony Blackburn. Brian Matthew later died of pneumonia on 8 April 2017, aged 88. Brian Matthew was born in Coventry, the son of musical parents. His father was a conductor of the Coventry Silver Band and his mother a professional singer. He first broadcast in Germany in 1948, and trained as an actor at RADA before joining the BBC in 1954. On the BBC Light Programme, as a staff announcer, he introduced numerous programmes including Take It From Here and Saturday Club[5] (originally called Saturday Skiffle Club, starting in 1957) and Easy Beat (starting in 1960). Also starting in the 1960s he had a regular show on Radio Luxembourg. At the time, airtime for pop music on BBC Radio was limited, and the demand for it among young people meant the shows attracted large audiences. Virtually all the big names of the era, including the Beatles, appeared on the shows. Brian Matthew's voice is present on the Beatles' Live at the BBC and On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 CD compilations, as well as other BBC session compilations from bands such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, and the Who. On television, he was the presenter of Thank Your Lucky Stars (ITV, 1961–66). The influence of Easy Beat on radio declined owing to the rise of offshore radio after 1964. When BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 launched in 1967, Easy Beat was dropped, and Saturday Club was taken over by another presenter, Keith Skues (formerly of the "pirate" Radio London), before it too was axed in 1969. Brian Matthew celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first edition of Saturday Club in a special edition of Sounds of the 60s on 4 October 2008, by featuring some recordings from some of the shows and entertaining listeners with some reminiscences. In 1972, he narrated The Beatles Story, a 12-part documentary series on BBC Radio 1 and 2 which has been repeated on BBC Radio 6 Music. In 1973, he fronted a new radio series entitled My Top 12, which lasted for an hour on weekend afternoons on Radio 1.The programme was later presented by Bob Harris and Noel Edmonds. Guests in 1974 included Rod Stewart, Joni Mitchell and Neil Diamond Later, he was the presenter of BBC Radio 2's arts magazine Round Midnight, from 1978 to 1990. From 1990 he hosted Sounds of the 60s (a programme first presented in 1983 by Keith Fordyce) on the same network on Saturday mornings, playing many of the records he initially played on Saturday Club and Easy Beat. He announced at the end of his show on 26 August 2006 that owing to ill-health he would be taking several weeks off his Radio 2 show, for the first time in sixteen years. Johnnie Walker was the main host in his absence. Sandie Shaw, Joe Brown and Suzi Quatro were also guest hosts. Matthew returned to the show and the station on 10 February 2007. He won a Sony Gold Award in 2008: "To celebrate an impressive record of more than 50 years of national and international radio broadcasting. For that lifetime career and in recognition of a truly outstanding contribution to UK radio." On 29 October 2016 he became the oldest regular broadcaster on BBC Radio, following Desmond Carrington's retirement. On 26 November 2016, Tim Rice stood in as presenter of the show he announced that he would be sitting in for a few weeks since Brian was "under the weather" In fact, he had suffered a fall at home and had spent a few weeks in hospital. On 27 January 2017, the BBC announced that he would not return to the station due to ill health. Brian himself, however, disagreed with the BBC's statement, saying: "That's absolute balderdash. I was ready and willing and able to go back, and they've just said they are going to put the programme in the hands of other people."[ The BBC's off-hand treatment led to an e-petition signed by thousands of "avids" demanding his return but failed. and as a result he presented his final show on 25 February 2017, which was a compilation of his favourite tracks and moments from his time on the show. A week later, Sounds of The 60s became a live show, hosted by Tony Blackburn, moving to an earlier slot between 6am and 8am on Saturday mornings. In 1951, Brian Matthew married Pamela Wickington with whom he had one child, Christopher, born in 1954. They involved themselves in amateur theatre and were prominent members of Chelsfield Players in Kent from 1958 to 1966. He built a theatre in his Chelsfield home and formed his own dramatic society called the Pilgrim Players. During this time he worked with actor brothers Arthur White and David Jason. He died of pneumonia on 8 April 2017 in London. Four days before his death, the BBC had reported that he had died, but later corrected this, saying he was critically ill in hospital. He is survived by his wife and their son. Stay in touch Peter gssditor@gmail.com

First Picture: Arthur Brown with headdress

12th October 2022 Second Picture: Album cover

Third Picture: Larger headdress

Forth Picture: Arthur Brown and his group The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwood (bass). This early incarnation were noted for Crane's organ and brass arrangements and Arthur Brown had a powerful, wide ranging operatic voice and was also notable for his unique stage persona such as extreme facepaint and burning helmet. Their song "Fire" (released in 1968 as a single) sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc[2] reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart and Canada, and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100[3] as well as its parent album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown which reached number 2 on the UK album charts and number 7 in the US.[4] In the late 1960s, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's popularity was such that the group shared bills with the Who, Jimi Hendrix, the Mothers of Invention, the Doors, the Small Faces, and Joe Cocker, among others. Arthur Brown quickly earned a reputation for his outlandish performances, including the use of a burning metal helmet, which led to occasional mishaps. During an early appearance at the Windsor Festival in 1967, he wore a colander on his head soaked in methanol. The fuel poured over his head by accident caught fire; two bystanders doused the flames by pouring beer on his head, preventing any serious injury The flaming head then became an Arthur Brown signature. On occasion he also stripped naked while performing, most notably in Italy, where, after setting his hair on fire, he was arrested and deported. He was also notable for the extreme make-up he wore onstage, which would later be reflected in the stage acts of Alice Cooper, among others. By 1968, the debut album, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Produced by The Who's manager Kit Lambert, with Pete Townshend credited as associate producer, on Track Records, the label begun by Lambert and Chris Stamp, it spun off an equally surprising hit single, "Fire", and contained a version of "I Put a Spell on You" written by Screaming Jay Hawkins, a similarly bizarre showman. "Fire" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Theaker was replaced in 1968 by Chris Farlowe The band recorded a second album, titled Strangelands, intended for release in 1969 but shelved by their label over concerns that it lacked sales potential.. The band re-formed in 2000 and released Tantric Lover.[16] In 2013, as the result of a successful pledge campaign on PledgeMusic, the band released the album Zim Zam Zim, recorded in Arthur Brown's yurt in Lewes. Arthur is still performing, I last heard of him appearing in Brighton last September. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 3006 5th October 2022 Billy Bunter First Picture Billy Bunter

Second Picture Bunter Book

Third Picture With Mr Quelch

Forth Picture Gerald Campion Headstone ( he died 2002)

Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School was a BBC TV show broadcast from 1952 to 1961. It was based on the Greyfriars School stories, written by author Charles Hamilton under the pen name Frank Richards. He also wrote all of the scripts for the television show. Bunter was portrayed by actor Gerald Campion, who was aged 29 when he was cast in the role in 1952, hence was playing a schoolboy only half his age. A number of genuine child actors were featured in the other schoolboy roles in the show, some of whom would gain notice in their subsequent adult careers, including Anthony Valentine, Michael Crawford, Melvyn Hayes and Kenneth Cope. Only 9 of the show's 52 episodes are known to exist. The character Billy Bunter featured in stories about the fictional Greyfriars School which appeared for over 30 years (in fact, continuously from 1908 to 1940) in the boys' comic The Magnet, written mainly by author Charles Hamilton (although, as Hamilton was not always the author, the stories were published under the collective pen-name of Frank Richards). Plans to bring the stories to the cinema screen, featuring the comedian Will Hay as Bunter's form master Henry Samuel Quelch (based on his previous stage and film portrayals as a schoolmaster), had been discussed in the 1930s, but were unrealised. In January 1947, the Daily Mail reported that the Rank Organisation and Rock Productions were interested in resurrecting the film project, with the latter paying a £150 fee to Charles Hamilton, but again the project was dropped. In May 1951, the BBC Children's Department made public its plans to screen a series of half-hour television shows featuring Billy Bunter as the principal character. These would be broadcast during Children's Hour. Later that year, in December 1951, the BBC announced that it was looking for an actor to portray the character of Bunter, prompting seventy-five hopefuls to apply for the part. The search for a suitable actor received wide newspaper coverage, with the Daily Mirror covering the auditions both on its front page and in columnist Ian Mackey's 'diary'. The Daily Telegraph and Reynolds News were among other newspapers that also provided prominent coverage. When a 29-year-old actor, Gerald Campion, who was married with two children, was cast in the role of Bunter, a 15-year-old schoolboy, the choice was greeted with mixed reactions. Apart from the matter of his age, Campion, although fairly short and somewhat rotund, was a relative lightweight at 11 stone 2 pounds (70.8 kg), compared with Bunter's weight of 14 stone 12 1/2 lb (94.5 kg) (as described in The Magnet in 1939), and this added to the controversy (for the television series, Campion would wear padding to make him appear much fatter than he actually was). In fact Campion had already been considered for the role of Bunter, twelve years earlier, when the intention was to make a cinema film based on the character. Veteran character actor Kynaston Reeves was cast as schoolmaster Mr Quelch (and would play Quelch in four of the seven series, as the only recurring member of the main cast apart from Campion himself), with various unknown child actors cast in the roles of the various schoolboys. As the show continued into successive series over the following nine years, the schoolboy roles would be recast regularly as Campion's youthful co-stars aged beyond the putative ages of their characters. A number of the young actors later carved out successful acting careers as adults, including Anthony Valentine (cast as Lord Mauleverer and, later, as form captain Harry Wharton), Michael Crawford (as Frank Nugent), Jeremy Bulloch (as Bob Cherry), Melvyn Hayes (as the cad Harold Skinner), and Kenneth Cope (as school bully Gerald Loder). Being set in a school, albeit a public school, the show was a production of the BBC's Children's Department rather than the Drama Department, and was aimed at a youthful audience. Accordingly, its first producer was Joy Harington, who had also produced an adaptation of Richmal Crompton's Just William stories, and of Robert Louis Stevenson's children's novel Treasure Island, among other children's shows. Later episodes were produced by Shaun Sutton, who would eventually become a long serving head of television drama for the BBC. The programme was made on a small budget. Artist Tony Hart, who would later become well known as the presenter of TV shows Vision On, Playbox and Take Hart, provided the artwork for the opening credits.] The theme music was the "Portsmouth" section of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Sea Songs. The earliest episodes were live performances, broadcast in two timeslots: at 5:40 pm (during children's programmes), and a repeat performance was given live the same evening at 8:00 pm, during family viewing when parents and children might watch together. Many of the television scripts are adaptations, based on the Greyfriars novels featuring Bunter which Charles Hamilton wrote during the 1950s: more than three dozen such novels appeared in print between 1948 and 1965, and many of the television scripts bear titles which echo those of particular books. Reaction to the first episode of the show was mixed. Jonah Barrington, radio critic of the Sunday Chronicle provided the doubled-edged observation that Bunter was the greatest TV character since Muffin the Mule. Newspaper reviewers generally agreed that the casting of Gerald Campion as Bunter and character actor Kynaston Reeves as Mr Quelch were successful . The portrayal of the senior boys was generally viewed as adequate, but most reviewers agreed that the portrayal of the junior schoolboys was much less successful. The characters of Hurree Singh and Bob Cherry were seen as particularly poor. The low budget of the production also attracted adverse comment, with reviewers noting a "certain emptiness of the sets" and the fact that the school seemed deserted apart from the principal characters. The show did not lose its popularity over its nine years on the air. If anything, it gained in popularity and ratings as time went by, resulting in later seasons comprising greater numbers of episodes. It eventually came to an end due only to the death, in December 1961 at the age of 85, of Charles Hamilton, who had created the character of Bunter and who wrote all of the televised scripts over the entire nine years. Almost all episodes have been lost. Nine episodes exist today as telerecordings. The survivors are the complete third series (six episodes), and three isolated subsequent episodes, one from each of the final three seasons, preserved under the BBC library's policy at the time of retaining one programme from a season as an example. Some audio-only recordings also exist, in private hands. No recordings of the first series or the 1953 special are thought to have ever existed, as they were live broadcasts before telerecording was fully utilised by the BBC. The edition aired 3 June 1961 entitled Double Bunter, survives because a 16mm film print of the episode was presented by the BBC to Gerald Campion upon the series ending, as it was an episode he particularly liked (because the script called on him to play two characters, not merely Bunter), so that many years later his family were able to loan it to BBC Archives – an organisation which didn't exist in 1961. Gerald Campion and a BBC film crew travelled to Malta to film location footage around the Mediterranean, for a sequence of episodes in which Lord Mauleverer lends his yacht, and takes a party of schoolboys (including Bunter), under the supervision of Mr Quelch, touring various holiday attractions. Gerald Campion died in 2002

WEB PAGE NO. 30004 28th September Wendy Richard First Picture: Publicity Picture

Second Picture: Are You Being Served

Third Picture: Blue Plaque

Forth Picture: From the Come Outside days

Wendy Emerton – later to take the stage name Richard – was born in Middlesbrough on 20 July 1943. Later, her parents moved to London to manage a Mayfair pub, and she attended St George’s school in Mount Street. Her father, who had been a master mason, committed suicide when she was 11. With Masonic assistance, she went to the Royal Masonic School for Girls at Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, which she found “strict” rather than congenial. The art mistress called her paintings and drawings “affected, rather like herself”. Her ambitions took her to the Italia Conti drama school, where she helped fund her tuition by working as an assistant in the great London stores, Selfridges, DH Evans, Dickens & Jones, Fenwicks and the fashion department of Fortnum & Mason. Her looks and enthusiasm meant that she did not have to wait long for jobs. While at the Italia Conti, she appeared on television with Sammy Davis Jr in the ATV programme Sammy Meets the Girls, and also in No Hiding Place. In 1960 she had her first speaking part, in the popular television police series Dixon of Dock Green, as a runaway teenager. She then made a pop record with Mike Sarne, Come Outside, that hovered in the Top 10. The single sold over half a million copies but Wendy was paid just £15. The first television series in which she regularly appeared was Harpers West One, in which she played an office receptionist in a West End store for two series, ending in 1963 when she made another record, We Had a Dream. Her first comedy TV series was Hugh and I with Terry Scott, Hugh Lloyd and Mollie Sugden, through whom she met the director David Croft, who was to employ her throughout her career. Her early film career was not so fortunate. Her small part in the 1964 Beatles film Help! (1965) ended up on the cutting room floor and she had to wait until 1966 for her big screen debut in Doctor in Clover. In 1970 she was in two episodes of Dad’s Army as the cinema usherette girlfriend of the spiv Walker and appeared with Frankie Howerd in Up Pompeii and in Thames TV’s Carry On Again Christmas. In 1971, Wendy played a semi-competent conductor in On the Buses. She was given a role in the film version in the same year. She also appeared in Both Ends Meet, a sitcom that centred around a sausage factory, in 1972 – a year that was to prove especially significant for her. The pilot program for Are You Being Served? was screened in September, and early in 1973, the BBC decided to make it into a series. As the bewildered but spirited Shirley Brahms, the junior shop assistant, Wendy played a cockney girl who seemed rather lost amid the well-bred accents and office politics in the genteel department store founded by the Grace brothers. She was a sympathetic foil to the high-pitched campery of Mr Humphries (John Inman), the inadvertently suggestive ramblings of Mrs Slocombe (Mollie Sugden) about her “pussy”, and the constipated efforts of the decorous floorwalker Captain Peacock (Frank Thornton) to keep a semblance of order in front of the shopping public. The 1977 cinema version was largely seen as unsuccessful, probably because the plot involved the Grace Brothers taking all of their employees on holiday on the Costa Plonka, leaving behind the in-store tensions that had given rise to most of the comedy. In 1973, Peter Rogers (producer of the Carry On films) asked her to play a girl entering a beauty contest that ended up being wrecked by women’s rights demonstrators in Carry On Girls. It seemed as if she might become a regular member of the Carry On team, but it was not to be. The women’s rights demonstrators were so realistic in hurling bags of flour and creating mayhem that Richard fled from the stage, a breach of professionalism that ensured she never heard from Rogers again. A provincial tour of Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit, in which she played the maid, and some work in pantomime, beginning with Dandini in Cinderella at Dartford, Kent, convinced her that she would not be able to stand long theatrical runs. With the invitation to play Pauline Fowler in EastEnders she was able to put such reverses out of her mind. She stayed with the show for more than 20 years – during which time she bore the screen deaths of her husband, mother and brother, and supported her HIV-positive son and pregnant teenage daughter – until script disagreements and illness led her to leave in 2006. “Looking back on my career, I’ve virtually no regrets,” she wrote in her autobiography, Wendy Richard No S: My Life Story (2000), adding: “I’ve had more than my fair share of problems in my personal life.” This was no exaggeration, for she seemed to have a genius for being exploited financially and emotionally, and her relationships were often marred by alcohol abuse or violence. Wendy Richard was first married, in 1973, to Len Black, an importer. The marriage lasted only a matter of months. She married the advertising executive Will Thorpe in 1976, which lasted for three years, after which she married Paul Glorney, a carpet fitter, only to divorce again in 1994. She lived with John Burns for 12 years before marrying him on 10 October 2008, just after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Wendy Richard died on 26 February 2009, aged 65. Stay in Touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 30002 21st September Brown and Poulson First Picture: Cornflour packet

Second Picture: Vintage Packaging

Third Picture: Worker’s housing

Forth Picture: Packaging

Do you remember Brown & Polson in your mother’s kitchen cabinet? The comany was established in 1840, when two muslin manufacturers (John Polson & Co and William Brown & son of Glasgow) collaborated and opened their first factory in Thrushcraigs, Paisley. Together they worked on the process of bleaching, scouring and scratching of muslin cloth. It was here that John Polson discovered an ideal starch that could withstand bleaching. After many experiments, he succeeded in making a starch for household use. This was marketed in 1842 as ‘powder starch’ and was sold to housewives. After the death of his father in 1843, John Polson Jnr took over the business. He invented the process of making pure starch from maize. and in 1854 he took out a patent to market it as foodstuff. It was to become a household name throughout the world as ‘Brown & Polson’s patent cornflour’ and made the company world famous. Even nowadays cornflour remains a standard store cupboard item. John Polson was greatly concerned about the welfare of his workers. In the 1870’s he began a profit-sharing scheme. He also built a row of cottages and a recreational institute for the workers. The building was used for the workers to meet and socialise. Outside the building, the grounds had bowling greens and tennis courts. John Polson Jnr died in 1900. By then, Brown & Polson’s were the largest manufacturer of starch products in the UK. In 1962 the factory became the home of Knorr, making soups, stock cubes, sauces and Hellmans mayonnaise. Penicillin was also made for the pharmaceutical industry. Baby food production also began production in 1964. The blackest event in the history of Brown & Polson took place at 6.40am on the 5th June, 1964, when the animal feed plant, a large building to the rear of the rear in Braids Road, was completely destroyed in a huge explosion. Workers who had arrived for the 6.45am shift had to run for their lives. Local firemen, ambulance men and workers tore at the rubble in the search for casualties, while anxious relatives stood waiting for news. Four men were killed and four badly injured. A local policeman described the disaster, “I have seen terrible things during the war, but never anything like this”. Over the years the company was greatly reduced. In 1996, the company finally closed its doors and the Knorr soup factory was demolished. All that remains of the huge imprint of Paisley is the office block at the corner of Braids Road, housing has been built on the remaining land. The old tennis courts were refurbished in 2011 and can still be used today. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 3000 7th 2022 September Wall of Death First Picture: Wall of Death

Second Picture: Outside of the Wall of Death

Third Picture: Three on the wall

Forth Picture: Guy Martin At the wall

Wall of Death I have only seen the Wall of Death twice in my life. The first time when, as a family, we visited Southend on Sea and for some reason we visited the funfair and it was here that my father and I visited this sideshow and I was hooked. My second visit to a Wall of Death was when a travelling show visited Billy Mannings at Southsea and there was a Wall as one of the attractions and I visited several times. The Wall of Death has been synonymous with speed and danger since it's conception back in the early part of the 20th century. The Original Wall of Death harks back to those early days, with the Wall being constructed in 1928, and the bikes, Indian Scouts, made in 1921. There are only three Walls of Death in the United Kingdom today, and these are travelled by Graham Crispey, Ken Fox and Allan Ford. The Fox family have been touring and entertaining since the 1920's. With their vintage Indian Scouts and 20ft high vertical wall it is a show that needs to be seen to be believed! All those who see the show will remember it for the rest of their life. The noise, the speed, the smell, the proximity of the bikes ridden to the top of the wall, barely 6 inches from the audience - an experience never to be forgotten!Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 2902 3 April 2022 Kia Ora First Picture: Kia Ora adver

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Forth Picture: Kia Ora Fruit Pastils + Kia Ora Kia-Ora is, or was, a concentrated fruit soft drink brand, made by Atlantic Industries (a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company) and licensed for manufacturing in Ireland and up to 2019 in the UK by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd. The juice drink, you may remember was only sold in a concentrated state. The brand takes its name from kia ora, a Māori language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. The first Kia-Ora was a lemon squash sold by Arthur Gasquoine in Sydney, Australia, in 1903. The brand was sold to the Dixon Family in the same year, with the first factory being established by Roland Dixon in Prahran in Melbourne. The original factory chimney still exists and is now a heritage-listed building. The first bottle off the production line is still in the hands of the Dixon family, as is the original recipe for Chilli Cordial, one of the first flavours launched, alongside orange and lemon flavours. Kia-Ora was launched in Great Britain in 1917 in orange and lemon flavours. The success of Kia-Ora prompted the Dixon family to expand the range of its drinks, and that led to many other flavours emerging: orange mixed fruit, raspberry, and pear were just a handful of the flavours created in the ever-expanding range. No-added-sugar variants were also created. Kia-Ora continued to prosper throughout the 20th century, with the World Wars only affecting the brand slightly in terms of production. The brand remained popular amongst children aged 3-10 in both Australia and the United Kingdom. From 1953, Kia-Ora was advertising with full-colour posters. In 1961, Kia-Ora was sold to the Campbell Soup Company of the US. The brand became popular in the 1970s within the UK. It was widely available in cinemas as a ready-to-drink product in cartons, paired with an advertisement spoofing the Columbia Pictures logo. In 1982, Kia-Ora launched a colourful, animated advertising campaign, directed by Oscar Grillo of Klacto Animations, which used the jingle "We all adore a Kia-Ora", and featured a child in a straw hat, a dog called Fedora who served the drink, and multiple crows who pursued the boy for a drink, with the boy responding with "it's too orangey for crows". Later promotions included Caramba's song "Fido", and the jingle was referred to in the Spaced episode "Gone". The advertisements attracted a degree of controversy in later years, with claims of implicit racism, because the boy looked similar to a golliwog. The brand was refreshed in 1987, with a series of advertisements directed by Geoff Dunbar, featuring redesigned characters, the introduction of the boy's chubby father, and new variations on the jingle. The success of the Kia-Ora brand subsequently declined, overtaken by rival juice producers such as Robinsons. Coca-Cola eventually discontinued all variations except sugar-free orange and sugar-free mixed fruit. In Spring 2019 Coca-Cola cancelled production in the UK, but production continues in Ireland, I must admit that I had not noticed it disappear from our shelves. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

Web Page 2900 17th April 2022 First Picture: Gauntlet and Walker Bottle

Second Picture: Typical Milk float

Third Picture: Jubbly Orange Drink Carton Going Out with the Milkman I do not mean going out on a date with him but assisting him on his Saturday morning round. This happened to me when I was about 12 years old when our regular milkman, Roy, from the Gauntlet and Walker Dairy asked if I would like to help him each Saturday morning for a month as his usual boy was away on holiday. I would start from our house on the Havant Road along to Rectory Avenue and as it involved not too strenuous work for half a day and paid 10/- plus all the milk and orange juice I could drink. I readily said ‘Yes’. So having got my parents agreement the next Saturday I became a Junior Milkman. Must admit that I did not realise that the job would involve quite so much walking and by the end of the round my legs really ached. Having got the knack of carrying several empty bottles at once, life was good. The biggest house we delivered to was Farlington Manor which stood in its own land on the corner of the Havant Road and Gillman Road. Here we drove round to the back of the house to deliver milk to the cook via the scullery. This was the first time I had been this close to the manor and it was all very exciting. I remember the walls of the corridors were painted cream and green and the kitchen was tiled out with white tiles. Here the cook made us tea and gave us sandwiches in case we got hungry later, a kindness we both appreciated. rested here for a time or until the Butler came below stairs and insisted we carried on with our milk round duties. I also remember a couple of other below stairs servants but they all seemed in awe of the Butler. Our next stop was to turn into a narrow gateway between the church fence and the main road. This led to Councillor Mrs Kerrs Farm which she ran with her husband. The place always looked a mess and I never did figure out what the farms main crop was apart from piles of rubbish. There is an unfortunate story of how a previous farmer had drowned himself in the cess pit there. Details of which can be found in one of my Drayton Books. By now time was getting on and by the time we reached Rectory Road it was time to look and see what goodies the cook had packed for us. Here I clearly remember a word of warning that Roy gave me over these sandwiches. Always hold the sandwich bb the crust and eat down to the crust. But do not eat the crust as you hands had been holding it and they were dirty from the milk bottles. So the crusty crust had to be thrown away. Sensible really. I only did the job for four Saturdays until the regular lad came back but by that time I had secured a part time job as a petrol pump attendant in Davy Smiths Garage in Farlington. But that was another story. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 2890 6th March 2022

First Picture: Iced Gems Second Picture Packet Iced Gems

Third Picture: Messrs Huntley and Palmer

Forth Picture: Singapore Iced Gems

The Iced Gem Biscuits These were always a treat from my Granny! The real name is Iced Gems and they were first made in 1850s (the biscuit part) by biscuit manufacturers Huntley and Palmers in Reading. Like many inventions, they were an accidental discovery as these biscuits shrunk and came out smaller than their intended size during a biscuit experimentation! The makers started selling them as Gems and subsequently added the icing bit in 1910 and as they say, there was no turning back. After a whole series of mergers/sell-offs, the production of these little guys now come under what is known as Jacob's today. The Huntley and Palmers brand today is a newly established biscuit company who bought the brand over from Danone when they sold it. It is interesting to see how different people from all corners of the world identify with these little biscuits. Many people in Singapore and Malaysia probably thought these were indigenous to our part of the world, often referred to as local old school snacks, since many of us grew up eating them.. They are locally known in Singapore/Malaysia as Biskut Ais Jem (malay transliteration), some also call them Belly Button biscuits, and probably more often than not, the terribly long name of ''those little biscuits with bits of colourful icing on them''. The local cousin of Iced Gems differ from the British originals in a few aspects - colour, taste and pointy-ness. Those found in Singapore have bright neon coloured icing of green, pink, yellow and white, compared to the muted colours of the Jacob's ones (though I wonder what colour Huntley & Palmers made them originally). The Singaporean ones are also far more pointy than Jacob's from what I see in pictures..! Do a quick search online for Iced Gems and you will find that there are many people who have fond childhood memories of eating them and sharing their stories on different forums. Everyone has a different method of eating them. Some eat the biscuits first and save the icing to savour at the end, others would bite off the icing first and throw away most of the biscuits or I'm sure some of you just chomp the whole thing down, perhaps even several at a time! dedicated to them. Stay in touch Peter

Web Page No 2892 20th March 2022😊 First Picture Pilot Cap

Second Picture: Fashion cap

Third Picture; Kids cap

Forth Picture: Competition cap

Bathing caps Being a bloke the bathing cap was never an item that really concerned but I do know that in some female circles they were reguarded as fashion statements. For most of us it was down to the seaside, change under a towel and in you went. The one thing that we had to watch is that if we were wearing a home knitted costume coming out of the water could be embarrassing. The swimming cap, swim cap or bathing cap, we remember were tightly fitted, skin-tight garments, often made from silicone, latex or lycra, but today are mainly worn by recreational and competitive swimmers. Swim caps are worn for various reasons: they can be worn to keep hair out of the swimmer's face, reduce drag, protect hair from chlorine or sun damage, keep hair dry, keep the head warm, or (sometimes in combination with earplugs) to keep water out of the ears. Originally swim caps were made of rubberized fabric during the early 20th century. By the 1920s, they were made of latex. The earliest chin strap caps were known as "aviator's style caps" as they resembled the strapped leather helmets of flyers of the day. During the 1940s, swim caps became scarce as rubber was needed for war materials. The permanent wave hairstyle for ladies took time to obtain and was expensive, so many women wanted to protect their hair while swimming. The 1950s saw decorated caps come into vogue, and during the 1960s, colorful flower petal swim caps became popular. Men's long hair styles of the late 1960s and early 1970s gave rise to increased use of swim caps, not by me they didn’t! Without swim cap requirements, wearing swim caps fell out of fashion during the 1970s. Recently, Toks Ahmed and Michael Chapman created a swim cap specifically designed for dreadlocks, hair weaves or extensions, and voluminous hair. They named it the Soul Cap, but it was banned from the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo because of its size and configuration. Its use in future Olympics is currently under review. Many swimmers have trouble finding a swim cap that keeps their hair dry. "Double capping"—wearing two swim caps—can provide a tighter swim cap seal. An inner silicone or latex swim cap pulled low over the ears worn under a second traditional style chin strap swim cap with an inner seal may provide the protection desired. Double capping is also used by participants of open water swimming to provide warmth. In order to make as smooth a surface as possible for maximum streamlining, sometimes an inner latex cap is put on, followed by swim goggles over the latex cap, and then second snug silicone swim cap is fitted over both. One bastion of the swim cap is upheld by the English "Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation" and the "Channel Swimming Association" state that "one standard swim cap" may be used for official English Channel record swims. The cap must be approved by the official observer who accompanies the swimmer on the pilot boat across the channel. "Standard swim caps" that have been used by English Channel swimmers of record over the years include solid rubber "tank" style swim caps, molded rubber swim caps with chin strap, bubble crepe rubber swim caps with chin strap, silicone swim caps and latex "racing" swim caps. Swim caps that have neoprene within the cap construction such as the "Barracuda Hothead", or that are completely made of neoprene are not allowed for record English Channel swims. Several other long distance swims such as the Santa Catalina Channel California swim have similar rules for record swims. Swim caps worn for open water swims should be of visible colours that contrast with the water so that observers may safely monitor them, and operators of vessels may see them. Today I need not worry about a swim cap today as I hair very little hair to worry about! Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 13th March 2022 First Picture: Duffle Bag

Second Picture: Channel Airways

Third Picture: Portsmouth Airport

Forth Picture: Duffle Coat

When you were a young teenager did you ever collect those either sew on, or stick-on badges from the places that you and your family visited or went on holiday to. Once acquired the next job was to attach the badges to my red duffle bag, they were all the rage at the time. Remember them. A duffel bag was and still is a large bag made of either natural or synthetic historically with a top closure using a drawstring. Generally a duffel bag was often used by non-commissioned personnel in the military, and for travel, sports and recreation by civilians One of the first ports of call whenever we went away was the souvenir shop to try to find a badge I did not have. If I was lucky that town would have more than one. I remember on a school coach trip to Cheddar jn the second or third year I was lucky enough to acquire four badges on one trip. Cheddar Gorge, Goughs Caves, Cox’s Caves and nearby another from Wookey Hole. Mind you this trip was tinged with embarrassment when on the way home on the coach I was sick into a towel provided by Miss Crocker who promptly rolled it all up and gave it to me and I was told to have it washed and return to school clean. This I found deeply embarrassing so I hid the towel in my duffle bag and when I got home I sneaked it up the garden and hid it deep under one of our hedges. I never said a thing, no one asked for the towel back and as far as I am aware 60 years later it could still be there!!!!! As a family we never went abroad on holiday but we did fly to Guernsey twice for a weeks break. We flew Channel Airways from Portsmouth Airport. I understand that this was one of Freddie Lakers first ventures. Here in Guernsey I managed to find all sorts of badges some even with French writing on. I was one satisfied lad at the time and when I could get one from a visit to Herm and another to Sark I was over the moon. Looking back, I wondered what ever happened to that duffle bag and then of course was the whole era of the duffle coat, But that’s another story completely. Just to say I had two a navy blue one and a camel coloured one. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

WEB PAGE NO. 2888 6th March 2022 Fanny Cradock First Picture: Fanny Craddock

Second Picture: Major Johnny Craddock

Third Picture: Gwen Troake

Forth Picture: Gwens book

You must all remember Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey better known as Fanny Cradock, as she frequently appeared on television with her fourth husband Major Johnnie Cradock a slightly bumbling hen-pecked partner. She was born in Leytonstone, London and the birth was formally registered in West Ham. As a child she lived with her family, with her maternal grandparents. A plaque (with her name misspelled) can be found at Fairwood Court, Fairlop Road, London E11: "Fanny Craddock 1909–1994. On this site until 1930 stood a house called Apthorp, birthplace of the famous TV cookery expert Fanny Craddock; born Phyllis Pechey." Her fortunes began to change when she started work at various restaurants and was introduced to the works of Auguste Escoffier. Fanny and Johnnie Cradock began writing a column under the pen name of "Bon Viveur which appeared in The Daily Telegraph from 1950 to 1955. This sparked a theatre career, with the pair turning theatres into restaurants. Fanny would cook vast dishes that were served to the audience. They became known for their roast turkey, complete with stuffed head, tail feathers and wings. Complete with French accents, their act was one of a drunken hen-pecked husband and a domineering wife. At this time, they were known as Major and Mrs Cradock. She also wrote books under the names Frances Dale, Bon Viveur, Susan Leigh and Phyllis Cradock. In 1955 she recorded a pilot for what became a very successful BBC television series on cookery. Each year the BBC published a booklet giving a detailed account of every recipe Fanny demonstrated, allowing her to frequently say, "You'll find that recipe in the booklet, so I won't show you now." Fanny advocated bringing Escoffier-standard food into the British home and gave every recipe a French name. Her food looked extravagant, but was generally cost-effective, and Fanny seemed to care about her audience. As time went by, however, her food began to seem outdated, with her love of the piping bag and vegetable dyes. As she grew older, she applied more and more make-up and wore vast chiffon ballgowns on screen. She had always included relatives and friends in her television shows. Johnnie suffered a minor heart attack in the early 1970s and was replaced with the daughter of a friend, Jayne. Another assistant was Sarah, and there was a series of young men who did not last long. Throughout her television career, the Cradocks also worked for the British Gas Council, appearing at trade shows such as the Ideal Home Exhibition and making many "infomercials," instructing cooks, usually newlywed women, on how to use gas cookers for basic dishes. Despite the BBC's ban on advertising, she used only gas stoves in her television shows and often stated that she "hated" electric stoves and ovens. Her series Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas is the only one of several she made to have survived in the TV archives and to have been repeated in recent years and she appeared in twenty-four television series between 1955 and 1975. In 1976, Gwen Troake, a farmer’s wife from Devon, won the Cook of the Realm competition, leading to the BBC selecting her for its TV series The Big Time, where talented amateurs were given the opportunity to take part in a spectacular professional event. Gwen Troake was to organise a three-course Literary Lunch at The Dorchester in honour of the former Prime Minister Edward Heath, with Earl Mountbatten of Burma and other dignitaries in attendance, and asked Fanny Cradock, by then a tax exile in Ireland, along with chef Eugene Kaufeler, actor and gourmet Robert Morley, nutritionist Magnus Pyke and many other experts she admired to advise her. The result brought the end of Fanny Cradock's television career Gwen Troake went through her menu of seafood cocktail, duckling with a lemon jelly-and-cornstarch fortified bramble sauce and coffee cream dessert with rum. Her idea was that with seafood, water fowl and rum, the meal had a nautical "theme," which would appeal to Mr Heath’s love of sailing and also be an appropriate salute to the former Admiral Mountbatten. Fanny Cradock, grimacing and acting as if on the verge of gagging, told Gwen that her menu was far too rich and she would "never in a million years" serve a seafood cocktail before a duck. She appeared not to be familiar with the term "bramble," and when told it meant a blackberry, was horrified that it would be paired with a savoury duck, remonstrated that a sauce like that should be brushed on flan. She derisively declared that the jam in it was "too English" and that the English had never had a cuisine, erroneously claiming that "Yorkshire pudding came from Burgundy". While accepting that the dessert was delicious, she insisted that it was not suitable, as it was "too sickly" served after the sweetly-sauced, rich duck, countering Gwen’s numerous objections with "Yes, dear, but now you're among professionals." Fanny suggested that unless a salad and cheese dish was served afterward, as is done in France, then she should use small almond pastry barquettes filled with a palate-cleansing fruit sorbet with spun sugar sails, as this was equally suitable for the naval theme. Gwen kept insisting that she liked her signature coffee pudding with "nautical" rum in it, while Fanny Cradock appealed to her to think of her diners' taste buds and stomachs, and try to achieve a balance in her menu. Unfortunately, the replacement dessert was not executed properly, and Robert Morley said he felt that the original coffee pudding was perfect. The public were incensed at her eye-rolling rudeness and condescension, and felt that Fanny Cradock had ruined Gwens special day. The Daily Telegraph wrote "Not since 1940 can the people of England have risen in such unified wrath....". Fanny wrote a letter of apology to Gwen, but the BBC terminated her contract two weeks after the broadcast of the programme. She would never again present a cookery programme for the BBC. (Gwen by contrast, published A Country Cookbook of recipes the following year; it included the coffee cream dessert Fanny Cradock had vetoed). Fanny and Johnnie Cradock spent their final years at Bexhill on Sea. They became regulars on the chat show circuit, and also appeared on programmes such as The Generation Game and Blankety Blank. When she appeared on the television chat show Parkinson with Danny La Rue and it was revealed to her that La Rue was actually a female impersonator, she stormed off the set. She married four times, twice bigamously. She died following a stroke, on 27 December 1994, at the Ersham House Nursing Home, Hailsham, East Sussex. Johnny died in 1987. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com