Web Page 976

Top Picture: The Kilner Jar





Second Picture: The Rock Gardens in 1960.

A new school chum today we welcome Malcolm Merritt.


Preservation

This is a much used word today, transport preservation, preservation of the past, the preservation of our good looks and many other forms of preservation that are around today. But the preservation I am thinking of is the form of preservation that our Mothers, Grandmothers and Aunties did in the 1950’s and 60’s. That is Food Preservation and legacy from the dark days of wartime.

I can still remember coming home from school and waking into the kitchen and into a wall of heavy onion aroma almost like a gas attack as my mother and grandmother busied themselves around the sink and cooker peeling and preparing such things as pickled shallots and onions in glass Kilner Jars (did you realise that Jeremy Clarkson is directly related to the Kilner family?) These specially made jars had purpose made rubber sealing rings, a flat glass top and a screw to hold the lot together and make it airtight. Once bottled all these products were safely stored away on a shelf in the larder ready for use. I really do not know why they pickled so many as it was only my grandmother that ate them, but I suppose that kept her going all year. I myself hated the things almost as much as the pickled eggs they also prepared and preserved eggs in Isinglass. These two home made products were alays kept in large salt glazed jars with screw lids. Why did they preserve the eggs you may ask? The only explanation I can come up with is that the man next door had a very large chicken run so there was always a ready supply of eggs.

Living in a house with a large if a little unkempt garden meant that we had many sorts of well established trees, apple, pear, cherry, plum, damson and also a lot of soft fruit, gooseberries, black currants and white currants as well as blackberries. Yes you’ve got it all these were either chopped, sliced or preserved whole and bottled again in Kilner Jars. The rest of the produce was consigned to the preserving pan and jars and jars of different flavoured jams were produced. I was eternally grateful that no one in the family ever thought of making relish, chutney or piccalilli! The other sort of trees we had were hazel nut trees but as far as I am aware neither of the two ladies in the house ever attempted to preserved them. Luckily we never spent any time combing the hill for sloes to make Sloe Gin as I can never remember us having any alcohol in the house, only at Christmas!!!

The one bit of our larder that I took complete charge of was the back right hand corner and this is where I stored and made my Ginger beer. How many of you had a Ginger Beer plant at home? I know to get them started was difficult but once underway and fed with sugar and water these plants grew and grew. So much so that every three weeks the ginger beer had to be decanted, the plant split in half and the whole process started again. Now was the problem, you did not want to throw the spare half of the plant away and very some all your friends had one and they were in the same boat. There must have been hundreds of little ginger beer plans flushed away in the 1950’s!

My father never got involved in this orgy of preservation apart from helping to pick the fruit. His contribution was the carrots and potatoes from his vegetable plot. Most of the vegetables he grew we ate fresh from the garden but I do remember that he had an area at the back of the shed which was covered over with old sacks . This is where he kept his lifted potatoes and carrots and the sacking was to stop the light getting at the vegetables and ruining them.

What a difference to where most things come from the supermarket and the only thing most people grow thee days are tomatoes in pots!


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Mary Writes:-

Re Midwifes fees I have an idea that the fees for a midwife was 7 or 8 guineas. It`s a vague recollection of what mother said. I did hear on breakfast TV last week that a mother wanted a private midwife and it cost her £4000.

News and Views:

Henry Winkler is called the Nicest Man in Hollywood, but now he’s also known as Henry Winkler OBE as he was awarded the honor in recognition of his services to children with dyslexia and special educational needs. He has spent much of the last two years touring the U.K. to educate about dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Henry Winkler, who was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, is also the author of 17 children’s books centered on Hank Zipzer, a boy with dyslexia who overcomes his struggles at school and with bullies. It is easy to just think of him as the man who played ‘The Fonz’ in the TV series ‘Happy Days’ which played from 1974 -1984 there is obviously far more to him than most of us realized!


On this day 30th September 1960-1965.

On 30/09/1960

the number one single was Tell Laura I Love Her - Ricky Valance and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place and the box office smash was Psycho. Brigitte Bardot leaves hospital in Nice after recovering from a suicide attempt. 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 30/09/1961

the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmatians.A pound of today's money was worth £ 13.25.The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On 30/09/1962

the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. The top rated TV show was 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 30/09/1963

the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street 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 30/09/1964

the number one single was I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was 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 30/09/1965

the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was yet again 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.

Web Page 974

Top Picture: Paul and Paula in the 1960’s




Second Picture: The icon of the 1960’s the Ford Zodiac.

Paul and Paula

As far as most of us remember this duo only ever made the big time with the record ‘Hey Paula’, but what was their history?

In the Autumn of 1962, a radio station in Brownwood, Texas, announced a special broadcast to benefit the American Cancer Society. Volunteer performers were invited to come and donate their services in front of the open mike. At nearby Howard Payne College, two students thought it would be fun to appear on the program. These students were Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson.

On the show, the team sang an original tune that had been written a few days earlier by Ray. It went over so well that it was suggested that they make a professional recording of the song. Encouraged by this Ray and Jill drove to Fort Worth in November, 1962, hoping for an audition with Major Bill Smith, the owner of the LeCam Record Company.

At the studio, the two were told that Major Bill was about to record someone else and could not see them that day. Determined to get a hearing, they decided to hang around just in case something happened; and something did.
Major Bill was waiting for singer Amos Milburn Jr. who failed to show up, and that meant he had five musicians standing around (at the rate of $5 apiece). Finally, someone said that there were a couple of kids hanging around the office that would like the Major to hear some of their songs. With nothing to lose, Ray and Jill were granted an interview right then and there.

Major Bill said, "let's hear what ya got, son" and Ray began to strum the guitar and sing "Hey Hey Paula". "Ok boy, let's stop Heyin' and start recordin'", said the Major.

When the session was over, the Major asked "What do you call yourselves"? "Jill and Ray" came the answer and that's what was printed on the record label.
Major Bill Smith knew he had something good and began to pitch the record to Ewart Abner, of Vee Jay Records, who turned it down in favour of another artist's tune that Smith had with him. Not one to be discouraged easily, Major Bill decided to release the record himself and pressed it on American Election Day, 1962. Radio station KFJZ was the first to add it to their play list.

"Hey Paula" sold sixteen thousand records in one day and it didn't take long for Shelby Singleton of Mercury Records to call the Major, wanting to buy the master tape. "One other thing", said Singleton. "This is 'Hey Paula', by Jill and Ray...that doesn't make any sense at all. We're gonna change it to Paul and Paula". At first, Jill and Ray didn't like that idea, because everyone in Texas knew them by their real names, but they got used to it.

Mercury Records released it on their subsidiary label, Phillips. It reached the charts nationally just after Christmas, 1962 and spent nearly three weeks in February at number one in the USA. Incredibly, it also hit number one on the R&B charts too. In all, "Hey Paula" spent fifteen weeks on the best seller list, closing in on two million copies.

Soon after, Jill and Ray got married...but not to each other. Jill married the duo's manager. The pair toured the country with Dick Clark's Caravan Of Stars and reached No 4 in the spring of 1963 with "Young Lovers". A third release, "First Quarrel" made it to No 27 later the same year. By 1965 however, Ray had grown tired of life on the road and decided he'd had enough. Paul and Paula officially split up.
Ray found work as a song writer and record producer. Jill continued as a solo performer in and around Texas for many years and later married an attorney from California. Jill and Ray met up with each other again in Brownwood, Texas in the early '80s and sang together once more, at a town party.
In early 1983, Ray Hildebrand teamed up with singer/guitarist Paul Land for a night of music and fun at a local Christian coffeehouse. Their performance as a duo that night made them both aware of their musical strength and versatility together. The pair teamed up as Land & Hildebrand to perform and record a series of gospel music albums through the 80s 90s and into the new millennium.
Ray and Jill also got back together occasionally to record and perform as Paul and Paula.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Not a You Write more of a You Ask

Those of us who were born before the 5th July 1948 were born before the introduction of the NHS which means that our parents had to pay for our mothers confinement either in hospital or for the midwife at home. This is something that had not occurred to me the question is:- How much did the confinement cost, in other words how much did it cost our parents for us to be born? Over to you!

News and Views:

Wedding banns were posted Wednesday September 14th for Paul McCartney and his fiancé, Nancy Shevell, at the Westminster Register Office in Marylebone, London, where he married first wife Linda in 1969. The couple can be married 16 days later if they wish, so September 30 would be the earliest date. An actual date has not been announced.

On this day 23rd September 1960-1965

.

On

23/09/1960

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

On

23/09/1961

the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey and the number one album was Ipswich Town. 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 £Argentinian swims English Channel both ways non-stop and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Take Your Pick (AR)".

On

23/09/1962

the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. 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

23/09/1963

the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

23/09/1964

the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was 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

23/09/1965

the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 970

Top Picture: Dixon of Dock Green. Jack Warner, Arthur Rigby, Moira Mannion (as Sergeant Grace Millard), Peter Byrne and Jeannette Hutchinson as Mary this part was originally played by Billie Whitelaw.





Second Picture: The opening radiator shot of the series Fabian of the Yard

Law and Order

Today lets take a look at how law and order was portrayed on the TV when we were kids, this is before the gritty true to life series such as Z Cars came along.

I will briefly look at the three most popular programmes then have a look at one or two you might well have forgotten!

Dixon of Dock Green:

We all know the words “Evening All!" spoken by PC George Dixon played by Jack Warner but did you know that he was the first British TV policeman and the series ran for twenty-one years even promoting PC Dixon to Sergeant towards the end of the 367 episodes. The series was cosy and on a small scale dealing with things that were within most peoples experiences, no sensationalism. The series was developed from an idea by Ted Willis, Dixon still ranks as the longest running police series on British Television having notched up some 367 episodes. The theme tune "An Ordinary Copper" played on the harmonica by Tommy Riley one of the many harmonica soloists of the period and wafter having a vocal added was actually recorded by Jack Warner.

Maigret

We all knew of the pipe smoking Frenchman played by Rupert Davis. Maigret was originally part of the BBC’s Sunday-Night Theatre presentations the first one being 'Maigret and the Lost Life' in December 1959, Maigret was then played by Basil Sydney. The actual series began in October 1960, The casting of Rupert Davies as Maigret pleased his creator Georges Simenon immensely

No Hiding Place (1959-67)

Back to the UK and No Hiding Place, which was preceded by Murder Bag and Crime Sheet that dealt with true-life cases from the Scotland Yard archives. Detective Chief Superintendent Lockhart was played by Raymond Francis and this was ITV's best known early police drama series Launched in 1959, it was one of television's most successful series and a former Scotland Yard detective, Glyn Davies, was appointed consultant and the theme music "Mailed Fist" was composed by Cecil Milner

Right now let’s start on the more obscure, Who remembers

Garry Halliday (1959-1962)?

He was a pilot for a commercial airline company, "The Halliday Charter Company", his character was rather like Biggles as he flew from one aeronautical adventure to another. There were three series: Garry Halliday, Garry Halliday and the Gun-Runners, Garry Halliday and the Secret of Omar Khayyam. Terence Longdon played Garry Halliday and Terence Alexander was his co-pilot Bill Dodds and Elwyn Brook-Jones played the arch-villain, 'The Voice'. In real-life Silver City Airways assisted in the production, transforming part of their Ferryfield Airport at Lydd in Kent, into suitable location settings and providing a Douglas DC-3 aircraft. The stories were based on the books by Justin Blake.

Dial 999

This starred Robert Beatty as Inspector Mike Maguire who was sent to London by the Canadian Mounted Police to study advanced crime detection techniques. The stories were rugged and the plots suggested that it took a fist of a Canadian copper to clean up London's underworld. The series was made in conjunction with Scotland Yard and involved much location filming around London and at Elstree Studios.

Fabian of the Yard

This was one of my own favourites, however this Fabian was not to be confused with the pop singer who appeared on the scene several years later. Fabian was one of TV's first police heroes. Inspector Fabian of Scotland Yard would rush around the streets of London in a heavy, almost unmanageable, Humber Hawk tracking down criminals. The series was based on the career of the former Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Robert Fabian who, in the series, was played by Bruce Seton. The series lasted 39 episodes and was shot on film and was re-edited into films for the cinema.

Interpol Calling (1959-60)

I have no recollection of this programme at all but it was a crime series based on the files of the International Criminal Police Organisation, which was involved, largely in European murder, robbery, forgery, and narcotics busting. Signalling the action to come, the series always opened with a speeding driver crashing through a checkpoint and being fired upon by border guards.

M Squad

This was US police series in which Lee Marvin played a Chicago plainclothes policeman assigned to M-Squad. The most memorable part of the series was the Count Basie theme music.

Highway Patrol

I cannot have a page on cops without featuring Highway Patrol. Featuring Broderick Crawford in powerful patrol cars with superheterodyne two-way radios the police department sought to fight crime on the rural highways of America's wide open spaces. The California Highway Patrol strongly supported the program in its first two seasons, and the production company was able to rent actual CHP squad cars. "Highway Patrol" logos were placed over the real CHP emblems and studio license plates were taped over the genuine plates. The 1955 Buick Century two-door sedans seen were built especially for the CHP and were never offered for sale to the public. Two-door sedans were adequate because the real CHP rarely arrested anyone at that time, being involved more with accident investigations, enforcement and car thefts. . The show's uniforms were copies of the khakis worn by the CHP including the state seal and the slogan "Eureka", except that the word "California" was removed. Authenticity was a major goal, and Dan Matthews' call sign - 21-50 - was the actual unit number of then-CHP Commissioner Bernard Caldwell. In mid-1956 the CHP dropped its support of the program over differences in story lines and presentation, and refused to supply any more squad cars. The producers quickly acquired an incorrect Buick Super four-door hardtop to complete that season. Accurate squad replicas were ordered for the 1957 season, but the 1958-season cars differed from reality.

No one remembers the opening words to the episodes, “Whenever the laws of any state are broken, a duly authorized organization swings into action. It may be called the State Police, State Troopers, Militia, the Rangers... or the Highway Patrol. These are the stories of the men whose training, skill and courage have enforced and preserved our state laws.

But we all remember Broderick Crawford’s end quote “Remember leave you blood at the blood bank and not on the highway.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

A message from the USA

The city of Los Angeles declared Wednesday September 7th "Buddy Holly Day" on what would have been his 75th birthday.

News and Views:

Lieutenant-Commander Peter Twiss died on August 31 aged 90, he was one of Britain's foremost postwar test pilots and the first man to fly faster than 1,000mph.



On this day 16th September 1960-1965.

On

16/09/1960

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

On

16/09/1961

the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First Mothercare shop opens in Surrey.

On

16/09/1962

the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

16/09/1963

the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

16/09/1964

the number one single was You Really Got Me - Kinks and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was 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

16/09/1965

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

Web Page 970

Top Picture: Jackie Pallo
Second Picture: Billy Two Rivers as he is today



Television Wrestling
In the 1960’s Saturday afternoon would
not have been the same without the voice of Kent Walton introducing the Professional Wrestling and great numbers of people of all ages tuned in to watch. I must admit that these were the only occasions when my grandmother would shout phrases such as ‘hit him’ o ‘pull his head off’.
But who were the stars of the mat in those days? Here are five of them.


Jackie "Mr T.V." Pallo
One of the biggest names ever created by televised wrestling was born into Islington's Gutteridge boxing family and had scaled no heights as a 1950s professional wrestler when he made his television début against Cliff Beaumont. In this bout, a failed posting resulted in Jackie Pallo spreadeagling the corner and seemingly hurting his private parts. The switchboards were jammed with viewers wanting to know how he was, his name became known, and he needed little more encouragement to establish the persona of the pigtailed bombastic middleweight with an outrageous hair ribbon and striped trunks. His wife Trixie and young son were often to be seen at ringside and were worked into his bouts if at all possible, with kisses from Jack - and once, memorably, from his opponent. His feud with Mick McManus from 1962 to 1973 was the greatest in wrestling history, but what remains rather unclear to this day is just how deep the rivalry went; Jackie Pallo beat Mick McManus once only during this feud (though he had done so in the fifties). His Mr TV tag came after an appearance on Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and for 6 or 8 years from 1958 he was seldom out of the limelight. He used his fame for the benefit of wrestling as a whole, typically getting his Avengers co-star, Honor Blackman, to a 1964 Royal Albert Hall show when she was at the height of her Goldfinger fame, and having her presented in the ring.
By way of illustration of how times have changed and what big names our sixties heroes were, when he was billed to appear at Bishops Stortford in 1964 all tickets were sold out within three hours of the box office opening.
Never underestimate his wrestling skill and the highpoint of his "competitive" career was when on 12th April 1969 he defeated Bert Royal to become only the third holder of the British Heavy Middleweight Championship.
In the ring he was a risk-taking athlete on the one hand but pushed believability to the limits at other times owing to his over-the-top cockiness. A great traveller, he took the game reliably nationwide and made numerous television and stage appearances. He died in 2006 from cancer, aged 80,

Mick McManus

He was born Michael Matthews on 11 January 1928 in New Cross of Anglo-Irish decent. He was the cornerstone from his forties début right through to July 2007 and his appearance on an ITV nostalgia show alongside Dickie Davies as the face of wrestling. He was the most featured wrestler of all time in television bouts. A carefully crafted ring persona was effective in arousing fans’ hatred over several decades. No one equalled Mick McManus. Here was a man who was just as comfortable in the company of the great and the good, or mixing with the Beatles and other entertainment celebrities, as he was mixing it in our local wrestling halls. Few weeks would pass by without Mick popping up on television, radio and the national press. He even had his own weekly column in the Sun newspaper.


Les Kellett

Every fan has a favourite memory of Les Kellett, whether it be his spectacular spin through the ropes (falling backwards through the ropes and then propelling himself back into the ring), or making his opponent look foolish by feigning semi-consciousness and then sidestepping a blow at the last minute. It was this abilty to humiliate his opponent that gave Les Kellet his unique flair for pleasing the fans. Having turned professional in 1938, the outbreak of war soon curtailed Les's wrestling career. Returning to Britain after the war, and living in Manchester, it was a chance encounter with wrestler Joe Hill which resulted in Les moving back to Bradford and devoting his energies to a full time professional wrestling career. By 1946 he was travelling the country and attracting new fans wherever he wrestled. Outside the ring Les Kellet had the reputation of being a very hard man with a high pain threshold. Stories abound of his no-nonsense approach to life, which he publicly admitted led to him being disliked by some in the profession. Personal contentment came from running a small holding and café with his wife, Margaret. There was tragedy for Margaret and Les in 2000, with the untimely death of one of their two sons, David, who wrestled as Dave Barrie. Although Les's career continued until he was well into his sixties he remained a crowd pleaser until the very end. He died peacefully in his sleep, in Ilkley, two years after he moved to a nursing home, at the age of 86, leaving a widow, Margaret, son Christopher and two grandchildren.

Billy Two Rivers

One of the most colourful characters in British wrestling history. Undoubtedly a huge name by virtue of the tremendous impact of his headdress and haircut in his initial 1960 appearances at a time when Cowboy and Indian films were still popular, this Mohawk chief Two Rivers from Quebec had already started to disappoint by the time he returned to Britain in 1964. The routine was well rehearsed and eagerly anticipated by fans. He performed a little wardance before polishing off evil-doing opponents with his famed tomahawk chop finisher. Returned to do the rounds again in 1973: those who remembered the original version were disappointed. He is the father of British fashion designer Wayne Hemingway. I actually remember seeing him wrestle at the Theatre Royal in Portsmouth when it was known as the Royal Arena.
Bruno Elrington
Cannot miss out the local lad, Big Bruno Elrington he might well have been a big package, but it had all the necessary ingredients to be a top rated wrestler. Just the name Bruno on the bills, no need for the surname, was enough for fans who knew exactly what to expect. Whilst some loved to jeer him as a rule bender others loved him because he could, and did, wrestle. His height and weight, around 20 stones, caused an interest, but so did his speed and agility that was surprising for a man of his size. His strength and power moves were admired by many, but so was his wrestling skill. Bruno had an enormous ring presence and he made a fearsome site as he climbed into the ring. But fans always realised that here was a generous, warm hearted man, and had a special affection for him even in his most villainous of days. He entered the professional ring following six years service in the Royal Marines. Mind you, he could have been lost to the world of boxing, having four fights as a pro boxer before turning his sights to wrestling. He mellowed later in his career and was rewarded with winning the Royal Albert Hall Trophy in 1969, and succeeding Al Hayes as Southern England Champion. He owned and trained in a gym in Southsea.
Well grapple fans it is time for me to go.
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Remember the 5th Year coffee table we Boysl made with Mr. Wells our Metalwork Master in the workshops at Court Lane? Mine is still in use all these years later and still looks as good today after a quick re-spray and refurbishment. Hard to believe we made these coffee tables nearly 50 years ago! Take a look at the side bar

Regards to Everyone. Melvyn ( Griff ) Griffiths..





News and Views:

Lyricist Jerry Leiber, who-- along with his partner Mike Stoller-- gave us such legendary tunes as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Kansas City," "Charlie Brown" and "Love Potion #9," died on Monday August 22 in a Los Angeles hospital from cardiopulmonary failure. He was 78. A list of all the tunes written or produced by the duo could fill an encyclopedia, but they include "There Goes My Baby," "Young Blood," "Searchin'" "Spanish Harlem," "Ruby Baby," "Yakety Yak," "Black Denim Trousers," "Hard Headed Woman," "On Broadway," "Only In America" and "Is That All There Is."


On this day 9th September 1960-1965.

On 09/09/1960

the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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 09/09/1961

the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) 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 Charles de Gaulle escapes assasination attempt

On 09/09/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 09/09/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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 09/09/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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 09/09/1965

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

Web Page 970

Top Picture: Billy Bunter




Second Picture: The old IOW car ferry.

Gerald Campion


Gerald Campion, this name probably does not mean much to you but if I say Billy Bunter in the BBC's early television series about the Fat Owl of the Remove and his antics at Greyfriars and that Gerald Campion played the part for 10 years was itself something of a tour de force, since he was a 29-year-old father of two when he began to play the part and aged nearly 40 when he finished.

The producer of the series, Joy Harrington, had almost despaired of finding a suitable candidate for the part when a friend suggested she took a look at Gerald Campion, who was lunching at the Under 30 Club. She decided at once that his button nose and general appearance were perfect, and immediately went shopping for a pair of pince-nez spectacles.
As she saw it, his only drawback was that he was not fat enough in fact he who stood 5 ft 5in tall and weighed 11st 12 lb, having recently been on a diet. "He simply isn't fat enough in the tummy," Joy Harrington declared. Gerald Campion later claimed that, to regain weight, he had gorged himself on home-made jam tarts; judicious padding did the rest, as well as protecting him during Bunter's regular kickings and beatings.

When the series began, in February 1952, each episode was screened twice - at 5.40 pm for children, and at 8 pm for adults - and each was performed live. At the same time he was running his own theatrical club at night, and it was said that, in order to cope with so demanding a schedule, he had to resort to taking amphetamines. On the day following transmission of the first episode, the Daily Sketch declared it "dull, dated, boring" - only to be submerged by an avalanche of complaints from readers whose children had loved it.

Until the series ended in 1961, he continued to endure the attentions of the gimlet-eyed Mr Quelch ("Bend over, you wretched boy") and Bunter's sadistic school chums; and the nation's sitting rooms echoed to his cries of "Geroogh", "Yarooh", "Crikey", "Ouch", and "Leggo, you beasts". Meanwhile, during the 120 episodes, Quelches came and went (the first was played by Kynaston Reeves), as did Bunter's schoolmates, among them Michael Crawford and Anthony Valentine.
As Gerald Campion outlived them all, he found himself, to his horror, one of television's earliest celebrities, recognised everywhere he went. "Sweet shops were the worst," he complained later. "I'd be in them and blokes would manhandle their kids round to face me, and point at me and shout: 'Look there - that's Billy Bunter!' "

After the series was axed following the death of Bunter's creator Frank Richards, Gerald nonetheless sent in some scripts of his own in an attempt to revive it. One had Bunter captured by cannibals, who put him in a cooking pot and invited him to eat a large clove of garlic; he received no reply.

The son of the scriptwriter Cyril Campion, Gerald Theron Campion was born at Bloomsbury, London, on April 23 1921; one of his godparents was Sir Gerald du Maurier. After attending University College School, Hampstead, Gerald went to RADA aged 15. After the Second World War, in which he served as a wireless operator with the RAF in Kenya, he resumed his career as an actor - by the time he was chosen to play Billy Bunter, he had made 12 television appearances.

At the same time he embarked on a parallel life, in 1950 opening The Buckstone, a theatrical club opposite the stage door of the Haymarket theatre. On one occasion he was irritated to find that a visiting artist had doodled on one of the tablecloths; he threw it out, only to discover later that the culprit had been Annigoni.
In 1956 he started The Key Club - to which each member had his own key - close to the Palladium; and this was followed by Gerry's, in Shaftesbury Avenue, whose members included Michael Caine, Keith Waterhouse, Tony Hancock and Graham Hill.
After the demise of Bunter, he continued to work as an actor, although without the same success. Among his film roles were parts in Carry On, Sergeant; Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; and Half A Sixpence. He also appeared in television series such as Minder, Dr Who, and Sherlock Holmes.

He was a lover of French cuisine, and in later life he developed a new and successful career as a restaurateur, running a series of establishments in London and the Home Counties. Among them were Froops, in north London; Bassetts, in Tunbridge Wells; and The Woodman's Arms Auberge, a hotel/restaurant at Hastingleigh in Kent which he ran with his second wife Suzie. In 1989, when he was involved with The Woodman's Arms, he reflected: "I suppose it is fitting that the man who played Billy Bunter should end up in the Good Food Guide." In 1991 he and his wife retired to France, where he died on 9th July 2002.
Gerald Campion married, first, in 1947, Jean Symond. After their divorce he married, in 1972, Suzie Marks, who had worked as a dancer at Gerry's; she, and three children from his first marriage, survived him.

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Stephen Writes:

Your story on the Tracks & Paths did bring back lots of great memories, Before moving to the Highbury Estate we used to live up in Paulsgrove so spent my childhood exploring Portsdown Hill the chalkpits and beyond.
One place that was a magnet for the kids was to walk over the hill to what used to be HMS Dryad the Royal Naval base and Southwick House home to the D Day maps, we often climbed over the old wall that went around the site to scrump for apples and any other goodies we could get our young hands on, one of the best games we would play was to bait the Royal Naval Police who patrol the area by getting them to chase us over the wall, we where far to young and agile for them to catch us, but if they did a clip around the ear was always forth coming.

As I mentioned I used to live on the Highbury estate which was a long walk or bus ride to Manor Court, we often used to go down into Drayton Park after school and risk are lives climbing over the fence and running over the railway tracks by the triangle, then use the bus fare we saved to buy sweets.

Another great place with hidden paths was along the Hilsea fortifications and Portscreek, if you knew were to look you could find old buried military bits & bobs or just watch the courting couples doing their thing. All in all a great place to grow up with Hills the Sea and the countryside not to far away and it was safe for kids to play and learn, its a shame that kids today cannot enjoy what we experienced.

Its been over 35 years since I lived in Pompey, but when I go back to visit my family I find places I knew have change out of all proportion,
I would love to explore around Hilsea again, so next time I’m back home I just might have a mooch around for good old time sake.

Jonathan Writes:-

Your Blog of the 50's and 60's was as ever evocative of memories. I so well remember cutting across the farms in Farlington to get to the marshes. There was a level crossing at the railway where we used to place pennies on the rail lines to get the trains to flatten them.

The marshes themselves were a great place to explore.........they still are. Recently when I was over in England I went for a run around the sea wall and on the way back found a little untouched enclave just close to the motorway and north of it accessed by an unused dirt road underpass. There was a pond there with a bench next to it and a sad little sign stating that a young boy had drowned there some years previous.

The marshes were a great place to fill out the I Spy book about the country side. You did a recent blog on I Spy books if I remember aright and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As boys we used to wade out in the mud up to our knees, probably unwise but what the heck, we were boys.

I used to be allowed to ride from Rectory Avenue in Farlington along the Havant Road to Bosham to visit my Aunt and cousins who lived close to the water's edge in a lovely bijou cottage.

The chalk pits were great weren't they. Do you remember the cave that was about 15 foot up one of the vertical faces. I never dared crawl in lest I got stuck and couldn't reverse out.

We used to go sledging in winter if it snowed at "The Devil's Footprint" just a bit east of the chalk pits.

The water works always had a malodorous smell from the filter beds.

We used to play cricket until it was too dark to see the ball up at the Recreation Ground between the end of Solent Road and Woodfield Avenue. I once split my younger brother's eyebrow open when a ball bowled by me at about 10 p.m. collected his specs.

News and Views:

Elvis Presley's granddaughter, model Riley Keough, will star in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming film, "Magic Mike."

On this day 2nd September 1960-1965.

On

02/09/1960

the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On

02/09/1961

the number one single was Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Blackpool Tower Circus (ATV) 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

02/09/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield 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.The big news story of the day was 20000 killed in Iran earthquake.

On

02/09/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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

02/09/1964

the number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) 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

02/09/1965

the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 968

Top Picture: The Gun emplacement near Fort Purbrook. On a fine evening I could lay in bed at home and se this through my bedroom window in the distance.






Second Picture: Farlington Marshes

Trails and Tracks

Some time ago I read these words ‘paths and tracks that only old men and young boys know’ and this really set me to thinking about how we, as young boys, used to find our way around the area whatever the domain without the benefit of maps or satnavs.
This knowledge extended across the hillside, the countryside and the marshlands as well as the urban paths and byways around the City of Portsmouth.

I will start with a look at the rural scene. I wonder just how many people today know of the pathway hidden behind the clinging ivy and the undergrowth in the chalk pit by the waterworks at the top of Gillman Lane. This was a well known path to us, it took us along the chalk face way up so we were able to see into the blackbirds nests and collect the eggs, which we were allowed to do in those days. This pathway was known only to the lads of the area but was till wee used. There was also several other paths within the other chalk pits in the area and as far as I can remember there were at least three paths up the face of the chalk pit in Upper Drayton Lane and one that took you round the back of the hermits hut in the chalk pit by the George. Mind you this path was always fraught with danger because if the hermit saw you he would chase you. He lived in a kind of green corrugated iron bungalow in the bottom of the pit and he disliked visitors. I wonder who he was and what happened to him?

But it was not only the chalk pits we knew our way around on the hill. We had our own paths through the undergrowth to varying favoured sites to play in. Then underneath the ground touching branches of some bushes made great dens and these were often protected by brambles and thorns. Even in the summer, when the grass was almost as tall as us we could still find our way about the hill for a meeting, a game or a cookout or maybe to explore some of the military installations that were still around.

But it was not just the hill we knew. Farlington Marshes were also our playgrounds. Most of us knew how to identify solid mud from soft mud and so safely navigate our way across the Marshes. We all knew the best spots to catch crabs, find ex government ordinance and to fish. Some of us even knew of a swan’s nest we could watch, mind you we did not try to take their eggs!!!

The area known to us as the Railway Triangle was also a spot for adventure. This was sandwiched between the Portsmouth to London railway line, the Eastern Road and Portscreek and was a mass of bushes, brambles and hidden places all joined together by narrow paths we explored on our bikes.

Talking of bikes. In the 1960’s I would pride myself that I could cycle from home in Farlington to Southsea sea front with only travelling on a main road for about half a mile and that was the stretch between the married Quarters at Hilsea opposite the Coach & Horses until I turned right off of Copnor Road to Amberley Road just past Rugby Camp and then it was back streets, back roads and back alleys all the way to Southsea. I bet that could not be done today!
I suppose that one of the best areas for tracks and trails was on the site where the school stands now. Before building the school, and for some reason I do not remember it being built, the area was composed of derelict allotments. The whole area was a maze of paths, tracks and walkways, an area where many of us travelled miles on our bikes exploring and racing. At the Old Manor Way end of the site were two prefabricated buildings one was an unused Territorial Army Centre and the other I believe was owned by Colt Engineering and had a row of, what looked like steel snails along the roof as ventilators. Does anyone remember them wonder?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk


From the site 10 years ago:-
And now for a short break...
We really are the first of not only the television age but the mass advertising age, just think back.

Televtsion advertising painted a whiter-than-white portrait of modern Britain. Advertisements held up a mirror to a society in which life revolved around home and family.

The Britain of the 2-minute commercial break was a reassuring place to live. Here was Katie who always used two Oxo cubes to give a meal ‘man appeal’, and sat down to watch her husband Philip drown his roast meat in gravy. On another street in safe, respectable suburbia, an immaculate and manicured housewife could be found making light of her spring cleaning with Flash (‘all around the house, all around the house, all around the house, Spring Clean with Flash’), or soaking in a foaming bath, safe in the knowledge that she would look a little lovelier each day with fabulous pink Camay, the soap which contained ‘perfume that cost 9 guineas an ounce.

Hands that did dishes could be soft as your face; Omo washed not only clean, not only white, but bright; and Hoovers beat as they swept as they cleaned. And after all that effortless housework, you could have a break, have a KitKat with a nice cup of Brooke Bond — tea that you could taste right to the last drop.

Men drove fast cars, played golf, went fishing. They drank beer and — for the first half of the decade — smoked cigars, cigarettes, pipes. Ever chivalrous, they would spring up to light the cigarettes of female companions in sparkly earrings. The more heroic of their sex anonymously braved hair-raising dangers, James Bond-style, all because the lady loved Milk Tray. Dads set out for the office (they went to work on an egg) with bowler hat and rolled umbrella, or shinned up ladders, whistling in time-honoured, salt-of-the¬ earth, cheery-chappie fashion.

Until the banning of TV tobacco advertising in 1965, smoking was widely but not always successfully promoted. The moody, black-and-white ad for a new cigarette, which vouchsafed that ‘You’re never alone with a Strand’, was much enjoyed, and the background music, ‘The Lonely Man Theme’, became a hit in its own right, spending two weeks in the pop charts in 1960. But the campaign was a spectacular failure. Who, after all, would buy a cigarette with connotations of loneliness? Better to smoke Anchor, after which a man at sea would so hanker that he even sang a shanty about it.

Pints of bitter were quaffed at the bar, while suave toffs in dinner jackets sipped vermouth (‘Do ‘ave a Dubonnet’). Martini was ‘for people who have a taste for excitement’. And when Pete Murray went to meet his friends at the Hilton what did he say? — ‘Noilly Prat’!

Catchy jingles ran around in the head so that the viewer might suddenly find himself singing that Double Diamond worked wonders, (sorry Gloria!), or tripping down the scales to the words ’Boom-boom-boom, Esso Blue’. Sublty was not copywriter’s stock in trade, this powder washed whitest, a special toothpaste would give you tingling fresh breath or a ring of confidence, this frozen pea would be as sweet as the moment when the pod went pop. Commercials played on insecurities: would your best friend tell you if you had BO? And what horrors lurked around the hidden bend?

As the decade marched on, television advertising took ever stronger hold upon the national consciousness. In school playgrounds jingles were sung, and the best-known selling lines (‘Graded grains make finer flour’; ‘Put a tiger in your tank’) became catchphrases which were almost better known than the products they promoted. And after 1964, when an Old English sheepdog was first used to market emulsion paint, the breed itself became popularly known as the Dulux dog.


You Write:

Steve Writes:-

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. And we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. --And, we were OKAY..

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents. We would get spankings and no one would call child services to report abuse. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, and inventors ever.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.


If YOU are one of those born between 1940-1970, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

News and Views:

Update on the Monkee’s tour. The remainder of the US tour has been cancelled. In a statement, a spokesman for Micky Dolenz said, "Management had booked a number of dates with the venues without running them by the group first... so we had to cancel the remaining dates.

On this day 26th August 1960-1965.

On

26/08/1960

the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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

26/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Burma becomes world's first Buddhist republic.

On

26/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield 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

26/08/1963

the number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer 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

26/08/1964

the number one single was Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

26/08/1965

the number one single was I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Top Picture: The Practical Householder




Web Page 966


Second Picture: Barry Bucknell

DIY

We grew up just as the movement to do it yourself was starting to make inroads into the average household. Men who had never previously held a paint brush were starting out on the home decoration road and painting and wallpapering became more and more popular, with some.

One incident comes swiftly to mind to me took place at home in the late 1950’s. We had a kitchen table which we had inherited but its surface was in poor condition so it was decided to catch the bus into Cosham and buy a length of sticky backed Fablon. This we did every summer without fail renewing the Fablon to keep the table looking nice. But then my father heard about Formica and he decided that the next time the table was covered it would be with Formica and this would last for years and years.

Mother and I were set to peal off the old Fablon whilst Dad caught the bus into Cosham with the Formica measurements. All went well our end but I think that the thing that had slipped Dad’s mind was that you cannot roll up Formica like Fablon and bring it home on the bus. So two hours later he arrived home with Formica sheet under one arm and tin of Evostick under the other. He was not best pleased!!
Then came the fitting, after a sufficient rest, and the table was carried out onto the back lawn because we read that the glue had heady fumes which could cause drowsiness. The able top was all prepared and Dad opened the can of Impact Adhesive and found out almost instantly why the glue was so called because he managed to knock the onto the sticky surface and had a devil of a job to get it off again. However the job which should of taken about and hour had taken nearly all day. To finish off he managed to use his new Surform plane to smooth off the edges. I never remember him Formicaing anything ever again!

Into this world of amateur builders and decorators, as they say: Cometh the hour, though, cometh the man, and the supposed hero of this particular hour in Britain’s domestic history was a Barry Bucknell. There are still men out there who are now in their late 80’s and cannot rememeber what they had for lunch, but they remember Barry Bucknell all right. ‘The TV DIY man,’ they cry the minute his name is mentioned.

Barry Bucknell, was a trained mechanical ¬engineer, and first appeared on the nation’s black-and-white TV screens in 1956 in a popular afternoon ¬programme for practical housewives, About The Home. He got his own show, Do It Yourself, in 1958, and was soon receiving upwards of 35,000 letters a week from viewers desperate for top tips on putting up shelves, papering ceilings and building plywood porches.
Boosting its audience, no doubt, was the fact that the programme went out live, resulting in a regular flow of amusing mishaps. At each of them, Barry would cheerily cry: ‘Ah! Well, that’s how not to do it.’ This is what people remember most!
Barry’s monument, however, was without doubt Bucknell’s House, a 39-part weekly series in 1962 and 1963 in the course of which he completely renovated a derelict Victorian house in Ealing that the BBC had acquired for the purpose. The building, at 79 The Grove, had not been touched for decades, ¬suffered from extensive dry rot, wet rot and woodworm, and a surveyor had strongly advised against ¬purchasing it. But Barry Bucknell, with the nation watching open-mouthed, transformed it into a bright, attractive family home featuring every ¬modern gadget and design idea. A house that still stands today, I wonder how many residents realise that this particular address was once a TV star?
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Nothing this week !!!!!

News and Views:

The remainder of the Monkees tour was apparently cancelled Monday (August 8). While no real official word has been issued, Davy's web site lists no Monkees dates after the July 23 concert in Milwaukee. Pollstar and at least one of the venues say dates in August and September were cancelled. And the Davy Jones Facebook page has a message annoucing the cancellation and asking that the band's privacy be respected. The ony reason reportedly given was the standard "unforeseen circumstances" and further speculation is useless.

On this day 19th August 1960-1965.

On

19/08/1960

the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) 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

19/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

19/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield 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

19/08/1963

the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers 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

19/08/1964

the number one single was Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Manfred Mann and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

19/08/1965

the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was Liverpool. 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 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Watts race riots in US and the big news story of the day was Riviera Police (AR)

Web Page 964

Top Picture: Cliff Richard as pictured in Rave magazine



Second Picture: Who remembers the old ABC Cinema?



The Pop Magazine Explosion

Dozens of pop magazines sprang up in the early 60s to cover the growth of pop music.
In February 1963 The Beatles were No 2 in the charts with Please Please Me and an anonymous reporter from Boyfriend went to interview them for "an exclusive scoop" and her impressions are very revealing.

"They are almost frightening-looking young men," she said, "but when they smile, which is not often, they look wholesome and nice. But the rest of the time they look wicked and dreadful and evil, you almost expect them to leap up and chant magic spells." The Boyfriend article was one of the first in-depth articles about the group. It was well-written and made it clear just how weird the Beatles were when they first arrived.

The magazine was aimed at young women, with colour pin-ups, ads for cosmetics and hair lacquer, and plentiful picture stories. Boyfriend picked up on the hysteria surrounding the Beatles and invested heavily in the British pop boom.
In summer 1963 the magazine produced "Big New Beat", the first of several pop supplements "about the Northern Raves". The Beatles were on the cover and inside were group shots and candid close-ups with large type comments: "They have a knack of looking as if they'd just landed on this planet. They're otherworldly, that's what they are." Between 1963 and 1965, Britain had a vigorous pop and teen press, with at least a dozen weeklies and/or monthlies all bringing their readers the latest pop news. Selling between 70,000 copies up to 200,000 a week The Record Mirror and The New Musical Express charted the unprecedented rise in singles sales reaching a peak of more than 70million in 1964.

These magazines created an all-inclusive, environment and reading them today, they are historical documents yet retain the fervour of the moment. By the early 1960s, there were already several weeklies catering to the teenage female market; who remembers Marilyn, Mirabelle, Romeo, Roxy, and Valentine. Boyfriend was launched in 1959, with Marty - based on the popularity of Marty Wilde - following in 1960.

The newer titles were more pop-heavy: as well as "love scene" picture stories and problem pages. The star staples were Elvis, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, John Leyton and Eden Kane. Launched in 1926, Melody Maker was the longest-running pop magazine with its leanings to jazz, folk and blues, it was not pure pop; that was taken up by the New Musical Express, Record Mirror and Disc All were in black and white with weekly charts and much pop news: and it was aimed at young men as well as women.
Melody Maker was serious about music and it made headway during the early 60s trad boom. The New Musical Express had great insider gossip, "Tail-Pieces by the Alley Cat" and Disc was poppier, with prominent charts and front-page news stories.
Two important new weeklies were launched in January 1964. Jackie ("for go-ahead teens") ", was a streamlined version of Boyfriend: all the same elements but with larger pages and unusual, candid shots of stars like the Beatles. It was a winning mixture: by the late 60s, its circulation was up to half a million. Fabulous was a new tabloid pop paper it contained at least one pin-up of the Beatles in every issue for two years. Several issues, like that of 15 February 1964, were almost totally devoted to the group with 11 colour pages, and a central double-page poster (now hard to find, as they were usually stuck on the wall). Selling for a shilling, Fabulous was pricier than the competition but it had more pages, better quality paper and a regular team of photographers. It also introduced a more direct rapport between the stars and their audience. Features showing stars in their own homes were interspersed with old school photos and pop stars' musings on ideal girls. At the same time, Fabulous had guest editors: the Kinks, the Animals, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, Manfred Mann and the Who. Fashion was given prominent space, not only in the adverts, but in spreads directly related to star "gear".

With the British pop invasion of the USA Fabulous published its "Shaking London Town" issue, with a spread about Ready Steady Go!, as well as Vicki Wickham's and a "POP guide to London", which featured hairdressing salons, recording studios, clubs, mod shops, and the Fabulous offices themselves.

This view of pop culture saw the launch of another magazine in 1964. At 2s 6d, Rave was five times as expensive as the weekly music papers, but in return you got an 80-page quality monthly.The first issue showed the Beatles with 007 badges, inside were Dusty's (not me) fashion tips, a feature on star holidays articles by Alan Freeman's and Billy Fury.

Like Fabulous, Rave prominently featured young women writers. Cathy McGowan was a regular. However, if the ads for guitars were anything to go by, Rave also appealed to young men and it had a circulation of 125,000 by 1966.
During 1966, Fabulous became Fabulous 208; Boyfriend merged with the newly launched Petticoat, Marilyn with Valentine. Disc joined forces with Music Echo (which had already taken over s Mersey Beat) and went colour on the front and back pages.

Would you believe there was actually a film made in 1952 starring Margaret Rutherford and Richard Hearne (Mr Pastry) where the whole story revolved around the publication of a magazune called "The Teenager"

Now how many of those magazines did you remember?

Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:
Christine Writes:

In clearing out the loft this week I found a box of old school stuff which contained a programme (signed by Bill Greer!) of the Messiah performance. It was interesting to read all the names listed and of course wondering what happened to some of them.


News and Views:

A foreclosed property owned by Connie Stevens in Indian Springs, Wyoming will be auctioned by a bank there August 25. Connie reportedly still owes around $2.8 million on the property.

On this day 12th August 1960-1965.

On

12/08/1960

the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was First communications satellite launched.


On

12/08/1961

the number one single was You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Top Secret (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.


On

12/08/1962

the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield 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

12/08/1963

the number one single was Sweets For My Sweet - Searchers 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

12/08/1964

the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - 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. The big news story of the day was Novelist Ian Fleming dies.


On

12/08/1965

the number one single was Help - The Beatles and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Riviera Police (AR) 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 story of the day was First woman High Court Judge.

Web Page 960

Top Picture: Windy Blow in stage outfit





Second Picture: Windy Blow at home as David Cecil entertain the local children







Charles Cole


David Cecil or Charles Cole are not a name from the 1950’s that immediately come to mind but if I mention the Children’s Television silent clown, Windy Blow, who sculptured balloons I am sure most of you will say ‘Ah! Yes, I remember him now’.
David Cecil was a pioneer of British film cartoons, but it was much later in life that he became known as television's first balloon act, twisting balloons into animals birds and other shapes.
In fact way back in the 1950’s, no TV variety show was complete without Windy Blow, the pram-pushing clown who made animals out of balloons and never spoke a word.
It is true he did appear on the TV in the 50's as a clown but his career was vast. In the early 1940's he was a renowned cartoonist and film footage can be found on the British Pathe Web site under his cartoonist stage name of Charles Cole. But it was as Windy Blow that he made his name a household word, so much so that his son Windy Blow junior also went on to perform on TV in 1977 in the magic circle. He was very involved in show business and was secretary of the British Actors Equity Union during the 1970's
It was Windy Blows lung power that saved his life and won Dave Cecil a regular TV date. But there was a time when Windy Blow, the clown who blew up three hundred balloons every show - and had just started a series of regular spots on B.B.C. Television - could not blow out a match. Ten years earlier, as a soldier with one lung he had only a year to live, the doctor threw him a packet of balloons as he lay in a hospital bed. "Have a go!" he said, "Might do some good. Stick at it!" Dave Cecil stuck at it but it was a long time before he could blow up a single balloon. When at last he managed it he began to shape balloons to amuse other patients. He made swans, giraffes, dogs and silly hats. He decided then that if he lived, he would make his living by blowing up balloons on the stage.
Windy Blow, the silent tramp-clown known and loved by children everywhere made his stage debut in 1952. His young audiences loved him and loved to take part in the act and win a balloon toy to take home. He appeared on Children's TV in August, 1953, and was in the first TV Music Hall of 1954. "I get through eighteen gross of balloons every week," he said "and my wife, Blanche, and I have had to start a small balloon factory in the garage behind our flat in Finchley. When I was in hospital, the man in the next bed gave me the formula for making balloons. I would have liked him to help in our factory, but he didn't recover."
Windy Blow only spoke once in public - at a party given by U.S. servicemen. He had given some balloon toys to a little Negro girl. As she returned to her seat some white children deliberately burst them. "Windy saw red! He'd never spoken before, but he said something then. He called that little girl back and made every toy he knew - especially for her. As she went back to her place a second time, she handed nearly all of them to the white children!"
The Cecil's flat was always swarming with the neighbours' children, who knew him simply as "the man inside Windy Blow". "Uncle Windy” as he was known was never short of eager young pupils wanting to learn how to model balloons.
But how did Windy Blow conduct his act? The balloons were all blown up to a certain size, depending on the room temperature – the blowing knack utilising the skill that Windy learned while developing his one surviving lung whilst in hospital after losing the other lung at the Anzio beach-head. David Cecil was born in 1910 and died in the eighties.
So folks of you go, get a packet of balloons and start modelling.
Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Melvyn reminds me of two of the coach companies that operated from Southsea Sea Front in the 1960’s. Who remembers ‘Rambler’ and ‘Shamrock’?

Steve asks:-

If any Manor Court weekly readers know the whereabouts of the following names please email me STEVETIMMS9@AOL.COM

David Costick, Rex Whistler, Roger Lillywhite, Michael Macari, Michael Hawes and Malcolm Smith.




News and Views:

The Fortunes have announced that they are to join The Searchers, Gerry and The Pacemakers on next year's Sixties Gold tour.

On this day 29th July 1960-1965.

On 29/07/1960 the number one single was Please Don't Tease - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Rawhide (ITV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1961 the number one single was Temptation - Everly Brothers. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was No Hiding Place (AR).

On 29/07/1962 the number one single was I Remember You - Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1963 the number one single was Confessin' - Frank Ifield 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1964 the number one single was A Hard Day's Night - 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 Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 29/07/1965 the number one single was Mr Tambourine Man - Byrds 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

Web Page 952

Top Picture: Stars of the 50’s and 60’s, how many do you remember?


Second Picture: Street Hop Scotch

REMEMBER WHEN:

I am very much indebted to Chris for sending me a ‘Remember When’ article which has served as a basis for today’s page. So thanks Chris!

Now, remember when some girl’s schools in the City still insisted on their pupils wearing those ugly gym slips, however that was not all, some of the girls also had to wear big hats or hard straw boaters or, in Pam’s case at the Southern Grammar, a Deportment Sash if they carried themselves well!!! I think that we lads got off lightly only having to put up with collars and ties and school caps. Talking about collars and ties I expect we can all remember when all male teachers wore collars and ties and female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels, especially Jill Cogan!!!!!

With all our progress over the years, don't you wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savour the slower pace of life and share it with the children of today and tell them that, to us, being sent to the headmaster’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home when your parents found out that you had been there. The days when the teachers kept a cane or slipper in the cupboard and some teachers even threatened to keep children back a year if they failed the school yearly exams. . . And they did to! On your way home you thought nothing of reaching into a muddy gutter or puddle to retrieve a penny, nobody owned a purebred dog and nearly everyone's Mum was at home when the kids got back from school.

In those days summers were filled with bike rides, cricket, football, Hula Hoops, cap guns, skating and visits to the Lido or the beach; playing Hop Scotch or just playing on the Rec or on the Hill or in the Marshes. The days of eating lemonade powder, sherbet dabs, flying saucers and liquorice sticks. From that period of time how many of these do you remember? Coca Cola in bottles, Blackjacks and bubble gum, home milk delivery in glass bottles with tinfoil tops (actually, we still do have this but only three times a week now, not daily), Hi-fi's and 45’s and even 78’s. Remember spinning round and round and then getting dizzy and falling down in fits of laughter? Playing cricket with no adults to help with the rules of the game and playing 25 a side football with coats as goal posts! Do you remember when decisions were made by going 'Eeny-meeny-miney-moe'? and a 'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

Catching tadpoles could happily occupy an entire day and it wasn't odd to have two or three ‘Best Friends’? Taking drugs meant orange - flavoured chewable aspirin and the ultimate weapon was not the catapult but the water bomb; and talking about weapons having a weapon in School meant being caught with a slingshot or catapult not a knife or blade.

Bottles came from the corner shop without safety caps and hermetic or childproof seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. We were happy but maybe deep down we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. it was our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was always greater than the threat.

Remember when father would go into the living room several minutes before we sat down to watch the television because the set took at least five minutes to warm up

If your family was luck enough to own a car no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked. When you pulled into a filling station you got your windscreen washed and cleaned, oil checked and petrol served, without asking and all this was free every time. The AA or RAC man would salute you if you were displaying an AA or RAC badge and the Ford Zephyr or Zodiac was everyone's dream car...

These were the days when it was considered a very great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents (actually I cannot ever remember being taken out for a restaurant meal when I was a child).

As far as relationships went people went ‘steady’ and were not just ‘an item’ and the worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was 'chickenpox'?

Ah! All so long ago!

Thanks again Chris that made a really good article.


Stay in touch,

Yours,

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com
Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

David writes:

Jim Fox was older then us he was born in 1941 and lived in Lower
Farlington Road.

News and Views:

Convinced that her dream of a museum will not come to fruition, Debbie Reynolds began auctioning off her collection of Hollywood costumes and memorabilia on June 18th, Marilyn Monroe's white "subway grate" dress from "The Seven Year Itch" went for $5.6 million. Two other Marilyn dresses brought the total to $8 million. A blue cotton dress and ruby slippers made as tests for Judy Garland in "The Wizard Of Oz" and never actually used in the film went for almost $1.75 million. The guitar from "The Singing Nun" was auctioned for $140,000. Even a Charlie Chaplin bowler hat fetched $110,000. It was the first in a series of auctions of Debbie's extensive collection.

On this day 1st July 1960-1965.

On 01/07/1960 the number one single was Three Steps to Heaven - Eddie Cochran and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Neale Fraser wins Wimbledon men's singles. British Somaliland becomes Somalia, Fidel Castro nationalizes Esso, Shell and Texaco in Cuba, Ghana becomes a republic, U.S.S.R. shoots down U.S. RB-47 reconnaissance plane

On 01/07/1961 the number one single was Runaway - Del Shannon and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Harpers West One (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Haleakala National Park established in Hawaii, Diana, Princess of Wales was born.

On 01/07/1962 the number one single was Come Outside - Mike Sarne with Wendy Richard 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 Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Burundi & Rwanda gain independence from Belgium, Burundi became independent as did Rwanda.

On 01/07/1963 the number one single was I Like It - Gerry & the Pacemakers 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 Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Beatles record "She Loves You" & "I'll Get You". The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent. ZIP Codes are introduced for United States mail.

On 01/07/1964 the number one single was It's Over - Roy Orbison and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Club Night (BBC) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/07/1965 the number one single was I'm Alive - Hollies 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 Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.