Sunday 25 August 1963
An underworld squealer has informed Scotland Yard detectives that £1,000,000 of stolen train loot is hidden away in one fantastic hoard. The robbers only expected to steal a million, not £2,600,000, and the squealer said the gang fell out after the share-out. Members of the gang, who wanted a bigger share of the money, are threatening to shop the leaders.
Meanwhile, Mr Big, the man who planned the train raid, has left the country. The squealer told the Yard Mr Big’s name, and the Yard informed Interpol. Mr Big’s fingerprints were found at the gang’s hideout, Leatherslade Farm.
A 40 mph boat will set out from Plymouth to Torquay on Thursday to try to prove that the roads are so dangerous and crowded it’s quicker to go by sea.
Cricket – Fifth Test Match at the Oval. England 275 and 223. West Indies 246. England failed to capitalise on their slender first innings lead, allowing the West Indies back into the game. Roared on by the crowd – the West Indies must have thought they were playing at home – their quick men Hall, Griffith and Sobers, took wickets at regular intervals, setting up a thrilling finale.
Football – Match of the Day: Sheffield Wednesday 3 Manchester United 3. Champions Everton got off to a winning start, defeating Fulham 3 – 0. Neighbours Liverpool beat Blackburn away, 2 – 1, while Tottenham Hotspur suffered a surprise 2 – 1 defeat at Stoke City.
John Charles celebrated his return to British football with a goal in Cardiff’s 3 – 1 win over Norwich. Charles scored with a kick from ten yards inside his own half which bounced over the goalkeeper’s head into the net. Overall, attendances were down – 745,000 compared to 811,597 on the opening day last season.
Television Highlights: Robin Hood – Bride for an Outlaw. This Nation Tomorrow – advertising and society. Fireball XL5.
Radio Highlights: Pick of the Pops. The Jazz Scene.
Weather: sunshine and showers.
Monday 26 August 1963
Detectives believe that the mail train robbers have sent their share of the loot to hideaways outside London by train. The detectives are looking for large packing cases bought in the past ten days. They are also looking for Roy John James – The Weasel, Bruce Reynolds and James White.
Meanwhile, police have released six-foot Gordon Goody, 32. Goody is a hairdresser who lives with his mother. Mr Goody’s sister, Joan, said, “Gordon had nothing to do with the robbery. He came home from the police station, had a couple of cups of tea, then went straight out.”
Eleven women footballers shut themselves in their dressing room half-way through a match yesterday and refused to play any more. The players, from Howard Harlequins of Newcastle upon Tyne claimed their hosts, the Fife Dynamites, were too rough. Fife were leading 3 – 1 at half-time. Harlequins manager, Alec Morton said, “My players are injured. And they have to go to work tomorrow. The match is off.”
Fifth Test Match, at the Oval. Rain and wind on the rest day should make the West Indies target of 253 tomorrow even trickier. In these conditions, England have a good chance of winning the match and squaring the rubber. Whatever the result, it will be a grandstand finish to a grandstand series.
Side by side, England and West Indian fans will watch the closing stages of this great test series. They will display that harmony can exist, regardless of a person’s background. They will demonstrate that people can get along together. Cricket fans have taught the nation a lesson, one we would do well to heed.
Television highlights: Outlook Europe – Belgium. Boxing from Birmingham. Love Story with Maxine Audley.
Radio highlights: London v Dublin Quiz. The Corruption of the Exotic – talk.
Weather: cool and showery. Outlook – similar. 17c, 63f.
Tuesday 27 August 1963
Great Train Robbery: Scotland Yard detectives seeking “The Weasel”, racing driver Roy John James, think he might have gone to Vienna. Interpol are conducting a search. The Weasel might be with his girlfriend, believed to be named Lillian.
South Africa has banned Peter Sellers’ latest comedy Heavens Above! because it shows people of different races mixing normally.
Music experts gathered in a London hotel to predict the sounds of 1964. They believe that the twang and gzing will go, to be replaced by the meaty thwong. The Midlands might still favour the twang, but Scotland and the North are likely to go for the more modern thwong. London is half twang, half thwong with a bit of gzing thrown in. And what about 1965? Listen out for the waaaaaang.
Cricket: the West Indies won the Fifth Test at the Oval by eight wickets, and the series 3 – 1. However, mere statistics do not convey the brilliance of the West Indies play and the joy of their spectators. Was this the greatest series of all time? Possibly. We should all give thanks to the West Indies and their supporters for making this a summer to remember.
The programme Look No People on ITV was so unusual. No sex, no violence, no swearing, just teapots by the dozen. – R Mumford, Kingston, Surrey.
Football: Aston Villa 1 Stoke City 3. After two games, newly promoted Stoke City are top of the First Division.
Television highlights: The Targa Florio – Sterling Moss comments on the Sicilian motor race. Radio-controlled Models. On Safari – the Herons of Nairobi.
Radio highlights: Workers’ Playtime. People Today – Laurie Lee.
Weather: sunny periods and showers. Outlook – similar. 19c, 66f.
Wednesday 28 August 1963
Police hunting the Great Train Robbery loot have found another £10,000 in fivers, in Dorking, Surrey. The police made more than thirty raids yesterday. Meanwhile, detectives have released new pictures of Roy “The Weasel” James and Bruce Reynolds. It’s suspected that the men have gone on the run in a “hotted up” car.
The British actors trade union, Equity, has barred Christine Keeler from membership. She was going to play herself in a film, The Christine Keeler Story. Yvonne Buckingham will now play the title role. John Barrymore will play Stephen Ward. No one will play John Profumo.
The 2,500 Austin cars produced each week at the new fully-automated assembly plant at Longbridge, Birmingham, are untouched by hand until driven out of the factory.
Transport Minister Ernest Marples has rejected the idea of drivers using dipped headlights when driving by night. Even though an experiment in Birmingham was hailed as a success, Mr Marples has written it off as a failure. Last year, 72,241 pedestrians were killed by cars in Britain.
A new sink will do the washing up for you. You put the dirty dishes in hot water, turn on the machine and high pressure bubbles come up through holes in the bottom and clean the dishes. The machine will also boil clothes. Cost: £99 7s 6d.
Television highlights: Citizen 63 – inside stories of people’s lives. Stars and Garters – pub entertainment. The March on Washington – Telstar relay.
Radio highlights: Ancient Civilisations – China. The Freedom March.
Weather: cloudy with rain. Outlook – sunnier, warmer. 18c, 64f.
Thursday 29 August 1963
Great Train Robbery: Scotland Yard remains convinced that most of the stolen loot is still in Britain. The police now have four-fifths of the serial numbers of the fivers stolen. Meanwhile, detectives are keen to interview Cherry aka Sherree White and her husband James.
Two housewives out of every five in Britain go out to work. Around 5,000,000 housewives now go out to work, an increase of 2,000,000 in five years. Working wives are the main reason for an increase in spending on TV sets, washing machines, fridges and “ready to cook” foods.
The average male manual worker receives £16 3s 1d for a forty-seven hour week. Women receive £8 3s 9d for thirty-nine and a half hours.
Britons drank nine half pints of beer a head every week last year. This places Britain fifth on the world beer-drinking table.
Two out of the five prisoners who escaped from Nottingham jail last week during a cricket coaching session have been recaptured at Lincoln.
Nearly 200 viewers phoned the BBC last night to complain about a scene in Sid James’ series Taxi! The viewers felt that a scuffle between a young taxi driver and three seamen was too violent.
Football Results: First Division – Liverpool 1 Nottingham Forest 2, Manchester United 2 Ipswich 0, Wolves 1 Tottenham 4.
Television highlights: The Marriage of Figaro (two and a half hours). Don’t Say a Word – charades with Spike Milligan and Billie Whitelaw. Cricket – Kent v West Indies.
Radio highlights: It’s Cool, It’s Hot. Book at Bedtime.
Weather: cloudy, sunny intervals. Outlook – rain then brighter. 19c, 66f.
Friday 30 August 1963
The road accident figures are getting worse. In June, 595 people were killed. The number of injured was 32,578. In the first six months of this year 156,916 people have been killed or injured. However, accidents were greatly reduced on roads subjected to the 50 mph speed limit.
A pleasure cruiser, Wee Moppie, took only four minutes longer than a 120 mph Jaguar to travel from Plymouth to Torquay yesterday. It is 32 miles by car, 40 by sea. The car, held up in traffic jams, took one hour thirty-nine minutes.
Birmingham Council is considering offering young couples “build it yourself” house-kits. The kits, for a three-bedroomed house, would cost £2,200. Gas, plumbing and electricity would be installed by corporation workmen.
Letters: West Indies captain Frank Worrell deserves a knighthood. This act of chivalry would be applauded, not only in Britain and the West Indies, but throughout the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, callers are still calling UMP for Test Match reports, even though the series has finished. The GPO estimates that over 6,000,000 calls have been made to UMP since the series started in June.
Racehorse Relko was doped when it won the Derby on 29 May. He won the race by six lengths. The Jockey Club have asked the police to investigate. The Relko investigation is part of an inquiry into widespread horse doping at race meetings.
For the first time in light comedy on the BBC, a young married couple will share a bed. The bed scene opens the episode of The Marriage Lines starring Richard Briers and Prunella Scales. Heavier dramas such as Z Cars and Maigret have already featured double-bed scenes.
Television highlights: Ready, Steady, Go! with Tippi Hedren and the Springfields. Michael Shayne – detective series. Points of View.
Radio highlights: Comment – The Edinburgh Festival. Sing and Spin – folk music.
Weather: cloudy with rain, cool. Outlook Rain clearing. 18c, 64f.
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