Saturday 6 April 1963
Leo Horn, the Dutch referee in control of the England v Scotland Home International, is an Amsterdam textile king, top-ranking judo expert, and a personal friend of Crown Prince Bernhard.
Ready and raring to go – five women who will be out on the trail of speeding motorists next week. The women are the first Z-Cars team for the south of England. Their shiny new MGs will be on the roads of south-east London on Monday. “Men drivers will probably be surprised to be stopped by women, but I don’t think we’ll have any trouble with them,” said WPC Dorothy Farrant.
A million pound order for a fleet of long-distance luxury buses, complete with bars and lavatories, was announced yesterday. Stewardesses will serve on the buses, which will operate between London, the Midlands and Lancashire.
Detectives were called to the Mayfair offices of bandleader-businessman Geraldo where a gelignite gang had blown out a safe during the night and stolen about £2,000.
Television Top Five: Coronation Street (March 25), Coronation Street (March 27), The Defenders, Take Your Pick, This is Your Life.
Television highlights: Grandstand. Juke Box Jury. That Was The Week That Was.
Radio highlights: Motor Cycling. Piano Interlude.
It snowing again. An inch of snow fell on Dartmoor last night. Snow also fell on Bath, Chelmsford, the Chilterns, Kent, Norfolk, the West Riding and Central London.
Weather: rain or sleet with snow on high ground. Outlook – little change. 8c, 46f.
Sunday 7 April 1963
The Labour Party’s plans for a “University of the Air” have taken a big stride towards becoming effective. However, a national TV university will only be possible when the government sanctions a fourth channel devoted to education. This channel could be run through a joint project between the BBC and ITA.
Many marriages break up simply because the wife becomes unattractive before the husband loses his looks, so says Sir Jocelyn Simon, President of the Divorce Court. He is against divorce by consent. In 1960 under half the divorce cases were on the grounds of adultery. More than half were husbands against wives, though few were “hotel cases”.
Scotland Yard, worried about the increase in cases of robbery with violence, is planning to make more use of newspapers and television to trap wanted men.
We eat around £90,000,000 worth of sausages in Britain every year, but we can do better if we go beyond just frying them. This week sees the launch of a new sausage that can be served at dinner parties. It’s a tasty beef model coarsely chopped to give a chewy meat texture and absorb other flavours.
I tip the Beatles’ new self-written disc, From Me to You, as a cert to hit the jukebox jackpot.
Television highlights: Noggin and the Flying Machine. Jane Eyre. The Harry Secombe Show.
Radio highlights: Three-way Family Favourites. Your Hundred Best Tunes.
Scotland, despite an injury to left back and captain Eric Caldow – who broke his left leg after only five minutes – deservedly beat England 2 – 1 to win the Home International soccer championship. England, for the first time at Wembley, wore their new long-sleeved shirts. The 100,000 crowd paid £76,500 – a British record – to see the game.
Weather: sunny spells, showers, average temperatures.
Monday 8 April 1963
Britain’s car planners are studying the Paris fashions, and the result will be more colour on the roads. A Ford spokesman said, “Women usually decide the colour of the family car, and they are influenced by fashions.” Computer analysis revealed that Triumph saloon car buyers prefer dark blue or dark green, while white or red is favoured for sports cars.
More and more wives are sending their husbands’ shirts to the new 48-hour shirt service shops that are opening up all over the country at a rate of one a week. They offer a professionally laundered shirt returned in a plastic packet at prices from 1s 9d to 2s 3d a time.
Canon Gervase Markham, Vicar of Grimsby, wants young people to be forbidden to marry until six months after the formal announcement of their engagement. He conceded that this might lead to an increase in the number of illegitimate births, but believes it would reduce the number of divorces.
The Post Office plans to switch its parcel traffic from the railways to the roads. This is in response to the Beeching railway cuts.
What’s wrong with British soccer? Sheffield Wednesday’s manager Vic Buckingham has an answer to this hoary question. “There are not enough oohs and aahs. Keep the ball in the penalty area to get the crowd oohing and aahing. The more you get the ball into the penalty area the more excitement there is – and more goals.”
Television highlights: Panorama – the Canadian elections. Ballroom Dancing. Rugby Union – Richmond v Wasps.
Radio highlights: Ballads. The World Tomorrow.
Weather: mainly dry with sunny spells. Outlook – dry and sunny. 12c, 54f.
Tuesday 9 April 1963
New European space projects include a space post office system for phone calls, cable and TV employing twelve satellites, which would orbit 7,500 miles above the Earth, starting in 1968, plus a two-satellite system serving the Commonwealth and Europe, and a rocket-ferry system to be used to build orbiting stations in space.
The first automatic Tube train went into service on London’s District Line yesterday. The driver switched over to automatic control at Stamford Brook Station and the train ran to the next station, Ravenscourt Park. Then the driver took over again.
Out of the first 5,000,000 vehicles officially tested for road-worthiness, more than a million and a half failed to pass a straightforward mechanical check. There are fears that this problem could get worse as more vehicles take to the roads due to Dr Beeching’s cut in rail services.
The Faroe Islands are to enforce a twelve-mile fishing limit next year. This will end a concession under which British trawlermen have been able to fish within six miles of the Faroes.
Football League, Division One. Top three: Tottenham Hotspur played 32, points 47. Leicester City played 33, points 47. Everton played 32, points 44. FA Cup Sixth Round, second replay: Nottingham Forest 0 Southampton 5.
Portsmouth beat St Mirren 2 – 0 at Fratton Park last night. However, they lost two footballs that landed on the roof.
Television highlights: The Apple Tree with the Golden Fruit – Hungarian film. Programme For Deaf Children. The Story of a Test Pilot.
Radio highlights: Bidin’ My Time. Unmarried Mothers.
Weather: cloudy but dry. Outlook – dry. 13c, 55f.
Wednesday 10 April 1963
Railway lines axed under the Beeching plan may be turned into roads. At the moment, there is no road plan to compensate for the lack of railways. It is hoped that bus services will fill in the gaps left by the railway changes.
The battle of the petrol pumps hots up today with the announcement of another new chain of filling stations. One day after Italian-owned Agip opened its first three stations, Jet revealed plans to open regular price filling stations in Britain. Jet had 248 filling stations in 1961. That figure is now 535 and expanding at a rate of 100 a year.
The extra 30s charge for a coloured telephone is to go. But from 1 May there will be a £1 charge for a new-type phone of any colour.
Over 280,000 houses were built in England and Wales last year, 10,000 more than in 1961.
It makes you think what qualifications – if any – are needed to become an MP when hairdressers and comedians stand for parliament. – WH Story, London, SW4.
Theatrical agent Mr Earl de Wolfe was ordered yesterday to return to his wife, actress Catherine Lancaster, within 28 days. Miss Lancaster was granted an order for restitution of conjugal rights by Mr Justice Karminski of the Divorce Court.
Television highlights: Welsh Radicalism. Hobbies Club. Barn Dance.
Radio highlights: Round Britain Quiz. Parade of the Pops with Russ Conway.
Weather: cloudy with rain. Outlook – unchanged. 15c, 59f.
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