Saturday 26 October 1963
British scientists are planning a new-style “rocket” power station, to cope with sudden electricity shortages. The station will work just like one of the huge rockets that put men into orbit – except that it will be fixed to the ground. It will produce a 150 mph jet from which heat will be extracted to make electricity.
The Vatican Council in Rome has voted overwhelmingly for a fixed date for Easter, replacing the 381 year old calendar currently used.
A potato grown by Mrs Glaves of Staxton weights 5lbs 3oz.
Time often stands still in the Devon village of Combe Martin because so many pigeons sit on the minute hand of the church clock. Villagers, who have missed buses because of the birds, are demanding action. The Rector, Reverend Frederick Lovell said, “We might have to shoot them.” (My note: presumably, he was talking about the pigeons, not the villagers).
Football: England’s 2 – 1 friendly win against a Rest of the World team was even more remarkable because the referee was Scottish.
The BBC suffered a setback in its plans to start colour television in Britain early in 1965. For a meeting of broadcasting experts failed to agree on a standard method of televising colour throughout Europe. Instead, the experts ordered experiments on the three methods – American, French and German – under consideration.
Television highlights: The Avengers – Death of a Batman. Thank Your Lucky Stars with the Beatles, the Searchers and Tommy Quickly. Charlie Drake Show.
Radio highlights: There Goes That Song Again. Play – The Seventh Wave.
Weather: sunny spells. Outlook – similar. 15c, 59f.
Sunday 27 October 1963
A special village is to be built in Richmond, Yorkshire for twelve troublesome families so that they can only disturb each other. A spokesman said, “These families smash everything possible in a normal house, so the inside of their new houses will have the strongest possible fittings without any frills.”
More and more lorry drivers are taking a 14-hour cruise with their loads across the North Sea as Britain’s trade with Europe increases. The drivers get a five-course meal, duty free cigarettes and a night’s sleep. Then they are on the road again, boosting our economy.
Girls should not abandon hope of going to the alter before they reach the age of 35, for now there is a surplus of men right up to the 30-34 age bracket. For the age group 20-24 there are 104 men for every 100 women. For 25-29 there are 106 men for every 100 women. And for 30-34 there are 103 men for every 100 women.
When should Christmas begin? Northern housewives reckon that it starts too soon and should be banned from department stores until early December. They also complained that toys were not robust enough and soon fell apart. Christmas cards for charities were acknowledged as a good idea, providing that at least half the proceeds reached the designated charity.
Football Results: First Division – Arsenal 4 Nottingham Forest 2, Burnley 1 Sheffield United 2, Everton 1 Spurs 0, Ipswich 1 Liverpool 2, Leicester 4 Blackburn 3. Top three – Sheffield United, Manchester United, Liverpool.
Television highlights: Auto-Mechanics – carburettors and air filters. Fireball XL5 – Space Magnet. International Football – Hungary v Austria.
Radio highlights: Fifteen 45s in Thirty Minutes. Music Magazine.
Weather: cloudy, sunny periods, warm.
Monday 28 October 1963
Bill Brown, Spurs’ Scotland international goalkeeper, was hit by a dart at Goodison Park on Saturday. The incident could plunge Everton into more trouble over the hooligans amongst their fans. Brown was also bombarded with marbles, stones, and rice blown through pea-shooters. Everton fans have also been involved in wrecking trains.
A police superintendent halted a stampede of 7,000 teenagers yesterday. The 7,000 were waiting outside a ticket office in Newcastle upon Tyne for tickets for two concerts by the Beatles pop song group. One girl lost her jeans in the stampede. Others were wet because someone had thrown a bucket of water over them. Some were suffering from exposure. But everyone who wanted a ticket got one.
The biggest supermarket chain in Britain will start giving trading stamps today. The stamps, issued at Fine Fare stores, will be pink. Lord Sainsbury has formed an alliance of 37,000 shops to fight the spread of stamp giving. The stamps can be swapped for gifts.
Another case of typhoid has been reported in Northampton. Nine people are in hospital because of the latest outbreak.
The condition of Michael Foot MP, injured in a car crash, continues to improve. His wife, Jill, also injured in the accident, is improving too.
Personal Advertisements: New Calcutta Restaurant, 594 Kings Road, SW6 for Indian and Pakistani curries. Also English dishes. Curries to customers’ taste. Support the Royal National Institute for the Deaf by purchasing our gay and charming Marion Foster Christmas cards.
Television highlights: The Way We Live – an experiment in social understanding. Dancing Club. Kitchen Party with Annie Ross and Alfred Marks.
Radio highlights: Spanish for Beginners. Pops at the Piano.
Weather: some sunny spells. Outlook – rain likely. 12c, 54f.
Tuesday 29 October 1963
Norman Parker, who shot his gun-loving, pro-Hitler girlfriend Susan Fitzgerald was cleared of capital murder yesterday. However, he was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for six years. Parker said of Susan, “She admired Hitler and the American fascist Lincoln Rothwell, and collected books and photographs of their activities. She admired all acts of violence and cruelty.” Dr Desmond O’Neill, a psychiatrist, said that Susan was “unstable”. Parker shot Susan after accusing her of two-timing him.
“I’m just longing for the day when one of these screaming mobs of hysterical teenagers breaks through the police cordon guarding those precious Beatles. Then maybe we will have a rest from them and their wretched fans. And the policemen can then go back and do their proper jobs.” – K Henriques, Epsom, Surrey.
Schoolteacher Robert George is making a map of Britain – a flea map. When it is finished, Mr George will have a handy guide to the whereabouts of all types of British fleas. Meanwhile, a big drugs firm has asked Mr George to help them find a “flea-bite cure”.
Christine Keeler has returned to court. Facing perjury charges, she wore a lime-green suit. An interested man in the public gallery was Clacton holiday-camp photographer Colin King – Christine’s father. He divorced her mother 13 years ago. Every so often, Mr King smiled at Miss Keeler. She did not return his smiles.
Escaped mink in Cardiganshire are catching trout in the River Teifi and killing poultry. Farmers and anglers have declared war on the mink.
Television highlights: World in Action – the repair racket. International Concert Hall – Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4. Professional Boxing.
Radio highlights: Folk Songs of Australia. Haworth Before the Brontes.
Weather: some drizzle. Outlook – little change. 11c, 52f.
Wednesday 30 October 1963
The BBC’s plan for its second television channel: Sunday nights – music and drama, Monday – straight family entertainment, Tuesday – adult education, Wednesday – encore night, for viewers who have missed a good programme, Thursday – for minority tastes, Friday – straight family entertainment, Saturday – no sport and an alternative to the present evening shows.
Coalminers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire have been reassured that computers that will be introduced in the new year will calculate their wages “as fairly as any pay clerk”.
Christine Keeler met her father yesterday, for the first time in seventeen years. She chatted with holiday-camp photographer Colin King – once known as Keeler – over coffee in her new £10,000 Marylebone house. Miss Keeler said after, “We discussed how very much alike we are. We got on very well, but haven’t made plans to meet again.”
There is no further cause for anxiety over the condition of Mr Michael Foot, MP for Ebbw Vale, who was seriously injured last week in a car crash.
“In the eighteenth century, the affluent went on the Grand Tour of Europe and brought back the Elgin Marbles of a Titian as a souvenir. The European traveller of today is more likely to bring back 200 cigarettes and a bottle of liqueur, with an au pair to follow on the next train.” – Sir Donald Anderson, chairman of P & O.
Agony Aunt: “Wondering” from Stockport writes, “Two years ago, I went out with Bill and taught my parrot to say, ‘I love darling Bill’. This makes my present boyfriend Jim very mad. What should I do?” Jane Adams’ reply, “Teach the parrot to say, ‘I love darling Jim’.
Television highlights: Make a Note – pop entertainment with Val Doonican. Sportsview – Newport v All Blacks, rugby union highlights. What’s Next in Men’s Fashion?
Radio highlights: Come into the Parlour. Sounds Topical.
Weather: cloudy, rain at times. Outlook – little change. 11c, 52f.
Thursday 31 October 1963
Beauty specialist Micheline Lugeon, who was yesterday jailed for a year for her part in a horse-doping plot, was trapped because of the shape of her legs. Lugeon, 26, who spied for the dope gang, has thin and unshapely legs – in contrast to the rest of her figure. Witnesses, doubtful about her facial appearance, recognised her legs.
Detectives investigating the Great Train Robbery traced the history of ten Pipkin beer cans after a palm print was found on a can at the gang’s hideout farm, a court heard yesterday. The palm print belonged to club owner Robert Welch. The cans were sold in a local shop the day before the train robbery. So far, nineteen people have been arrested in connection with the robbery.
Mrs Isobel Portway pulled her lavatory chain and received an electric shock. Water from a leaking pipe had dripped into the fuse box causing a short-circuit. Mrs Portway had just spent a year in hospital. She is the second woman to receive an electric shock from a lavatory chain in recent weeks.
The number of British servicemen killed during World War Two – 244,723. The number of people killed on British roads so far this century – 275,000.
The Beatles are going to make a film. Shooting will start in February when the beat group return from a Paris date. Playwright Alun Owen will write the screenplay. John Lennon and Paul McCartney are working on numbers for the film.
What a day for the Welsh! Twenty-five thousand of them went wild with delight yesterday when Newport Rugby Union Football Club defeated the New Zealand All Blacks by three points to nil. This is only the third match the All Blacks have lost to British club sides in five tours. Their other conquerors? Swansea and Cardiff. The ecstatic fans invaded the pitch, then rushed to the pubs.
Television highlights: Dr Kildare – return of the medical series. The Beggar’s Opera. Man From Interpol.
Radio highlights: Round Britain Quiz. Your Songs and Ours.
Weather: rain at times. Outlook – similar. 12c, 54f.
Friday 1 November 1963
The British people are reliable, conscientious, hard-working and pleasure-loving. Who says so? The British people. However, the people of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg reckon that the British are cold, stiff, disciplined and scientific.
West Ham Council has been attacked by the RSPCA for scattering drugged corn to get rid of pigeons. Some of the drugged birds were then shot with air rifles, others fell into the river and drowned, and more were brought into family homes by cats. A spokesman for the RSPCA said, “The council’s actions are barbaric.”
In comparison with the Common Market countries, British homes lead the field in television sets and transistor radios. One in three British households owns a car – that figure is 50% in Luxembourg and 40% in France. Britain dominates when it comes to lawnmowers – 50% of British homes own a lawnmower. Across the English Channel that figure is 7%.
Britain’s domestic water consumption will treble in the next 25 years the Royal Society of Health was told in Swansea yesterday.
False teeth lost by Mr E Willmott of Forest Green, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire while swimming on holiday at Looe, Cornwall, have been found by the police – and he was wearing them again yesterday.
Fantastic precautions were taken at London Airport yesterday when the Beatles, Britain’s top pop group, arrived home after an eight-day tour of Sweden. Police rushed the Beatles through a crowd of over 1,000 screaming teenagers. Such events are now becoming commonplace.
Television highlights: Friday Night – new series of plays about the north of England. Roving Report – Corsica. Town and Around.
Radio highlights: The Tune’s The Thing. A Visit to China.
Weather: showers. Outlook – similar. 12c, 54f.
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Hannah Howe 