Author: Goylake Publishing

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1963

Social History 1963 #63

Saturday 28 December 1963

Sixteen people were taken to hospital last night after twelve vehicles crashed in thick fog on the M1, near Hemel Hempstead. One ambulance-man said later, “It was shocking to see the disregard passing motorists were showing. Some were doing quite 50 mph.” Mr Gordon Wilcox, a motorist, said, “It was like something from an ‘X’ film. People were groaning from their injuries and vehicles were ablaze.”

The mystery of the snakes that are terrorising the town of Maidstone, Kent, deepened last night. The remains of pythons or boa constrictors have been found in eight Maidstone homes. Now people fear that other snakes may be hibernating in the area.

Mr and Mrs Jack Smith were driving home from a party in Exmouth, Devon when they saw a penguin. They turned around to double-check and discovered that the penguin was accompanied by a cat.

The Duke of Edinburgh and five other “guns” killed 200 pheasants yesterday on the Royal Estate at Sandringham. There will be another shoot today.

Kalanag, the last of the great stage illusionists, has died. He was a professional magician for 42 years. His magic library of 20,000 books is the largest in the world. Mr Francis White, President of the Magic Circle, said, “His death marks the end of an era.”

Mrs Barbara Daly, wife of John Thomas Daly, one of the accused in the Great Train Robbery case, has given birth to a baby boy.

Football. Forty-eight hours after the Boxing Day games, the fixtures will be reversed and the teams will play each other again. There are fears that some players will be out for “revenge” and will deliberately injure their opponents. There is a suggestion that these reverse fixtures at Christmas should be scrapped because they have a history of causing trouble.

Television highlights: Dr Who – The Survivors. That Was The Year That Was – final fling with David Frost and Co. The Avengers – Dressed to Kill.

Radio highlights: Association Football Summaries. Take Your Partners.

Weather: mostly cloudy with coastal and hill fog. Outlook – rain or drizzle. 9c, 48f.

Sunday 29 December 1963

Where did The Beat come from? In racing terms you might say it was skiffle out of jazz. It surged up out of the art colleges and was grabbed by the kids who were lost and lonely. They heard The Beat and suddenly they belonged. They were welded into a great freemasonry that had no barriers of class, money or speech. And people in the know say that it has not even reached its peak.

Women in Stroud, Gloucestershire have been invited to visit the local police station and claim the 186 items of women’s clothing that are on display – bras, panties, petticoats and nightdresses. The items were all stolen from washing lines in the district.

“Who is the greatest menace on the roads today? The safety-belt car driver. Eighty percent of them think that when they are strapped behind their wheels nothing can happen to them. How false!” – G Gooday, Enfield, Middlesex.

An engineer, Mr Robinson, inspected a hole in Normandy, Surrey, and drove into it. He was unhurt, but it took four men to get him and his car back on the road.

Doctors are warning of outbreaks of typhoid in South-East Essex.

More was spent on records in Britain in 1963 than ever before. The figure – £33,000,000, up £5,500,000 on last year. Some 80,000,000 discs were pressed, a quarter of them long-players. And the ten number one hits of 1963 were all home-grown.

Listen out for the Aces. They might do for Hull what the Beatles have done for Liverpool.

Football Results: First Division – Aston Villa 2 Wolves 2, Birmingham 1 Arsenal 4, Blackburn 1 West Ham 3, Ipswich 4 Fulham 2, Manchester United 5 Burnley 1, Spurs 0 West Bromwich Albion 2. Top three – Blackburn, Spurs, Liverpool.

Television highlights: No Star on the Way Back – Contemporary Nativity. Sunday Night at the London Palladium – all-star show organised by the Stars Organisation for Spastics. Play – One Night of the Year with Kenneth Cope and Warren Mitchell.

Radio highlights: The Countryside in December. The Trigger – serial.

Weather: fog patches, sunny spells later.

Monday 30 December 1963

An inquiry into the Christmas road death toll of 120 is anticipated. It’s suspected that many of these deaths were due to drivers being incapacitated by alcohol. The use of “breathalyser” drunkenness detectors is a popular proposal. However, Transport Minister Ernest Marples has been reluctant to implement road safety measures in the past.

Charlie Ashby, 73, was trying to remove a jackdaw’s nest from a neighbour’s chimney when he got stuck. Neighbours pulled Mr Ashby’s ankles, but they could not free him, so they called the fire brigade. The Bromley brigade arrived, dismantled part of the chimney and freed Mr Ashby. The jackdaw’s nest remains in place.

A family was covered in soot in Oldham, Lancashire when a balloon got stuck in a chimney pot. A fireman climbed on to the roof and burst the balloon.

At a restaurant in Reading, a man placed his thumb in a radiator and it got stuck. After an hour, police and firemen freed him.

A prediction for 1964: bedrooms will become more feminine with four-poster beds and brass bedsteads. Also for 1964, loose covers in flecked stretch fabric that will fit any armchair.

Hip words for 1964. Thread – dress. Short – car. Boss short – big car. Crumb-crusher – child. To be put down – to be insulted. To be shot through the grease – to be made a fool of. To jump salty – to get angry.

Football: In Division Two, the top of the table clash between Sunderland and Leeds United was a brutal affair. Two forwards kicked each other while another kicked an opponent in the back. A Sunderland player punched a Leeds forward. Two rugby scrimmages broke out in midfield. A Sunderland forward was kicked to the floor by a Leeds defender. A Leeds forward was punched in the face. Sunderland won the match 2 – 0.

Television highlights: The Hoot’nanny Show. Goldenhair – film from Czechoslovakia. Play of the Week – Three Roads to Rome with Deborah Kerr.

Radio highlights: Let’s Get Away From it All. The Pop Art of Soccer.

Weather: sunny then rain. Outlook – rain then sunny. 8c, 46f

Tuesday 31 December 1963

The gayest New Year Ball in London tonight will be at the Royal Albert Hall where stars of stage, screen and television will join thousands of revellers in a six hour non-stop greeting to 1964. The stars include Billy J Kramer, Kathy Kirby and Sid Phillips and his band. Tickets from 30s each.

1963 was a year of industrial peace. In the first eleven months just over 1,500,000 working days were lost because of stoppages – the lowest total for ten years. Over the same period last year 5,750,000 working days were lost. The lost time equates to only 29 minutes per worker in Britain.

Mr and Mrs Average Briton are spending more and more. The weekly budget stands at £18 7s 6d a week. The previous budget stood at £17 0s 6 1/2d. The biggest single item – £1 2s 3 1/2d is spent on cigarettes and tobacco.

A study of 90,000 patients who were first taken into mental hospitals in England and Wales during 1954 and 1955 shows that bachelors had the highest admission rate.

An outbreak of typhoid has been traced to a 93 year old woman who has been carrying the infection since 1917. Experts believe that between two and five percent of people who catch the disease become carriers. Medical checks are complicated because not all carriers develop typhoid.

“Giant rats” – coypus – are on the run in London. Hooligans released them from London Zoo. The coypus have been spotted in Regents Canal, where conditions are ideal for them to breed.

Nona Gaprindashvili, 21 from Georgia, is the first woman ever to qualify to compete with men at the Hastings International Chess Congress. Nona, the world’s woman chess champion, said, “Oh, I love chess. It is the most important thing in my life. Far more important than boyfriends and romance. Chess is my life. I shan’t be thinking about husbands and babies for a long time yet.”

Television highlights: This Wonderful World. A New Year Party from Scotland with Andy Stewart. Last Programme: At the Turn of the Year – Hope.

Radio highlights: Big Ben – Welcome to the New Year. Music For Your Party.

Weather: sunny periods. Outlook – changeable. 7c, 45f.

Wednesday 1 January 1964

Screenshot

Using a sack and an umbrella, John Watson and Ken Brightwell captured two of the coypus that had escaped from London Zoo. They captured the coypus when someone spotted the 2 foot long rat-like animal running along a girder 20 feet above a canal at Maida Vale. A third coypus is still on the loose.

Racing driver Roy John James’ fingerprints were found on a cat’s food dish at the Great Train Robbers’ hideout, Leatherslade Farm, a court was told yesterday. The fingerprints of antiques dealer John Thomas Daly were also found, on a Monopoly game. Eighteen other men and women will also face trial in connection with the robbery.

Police have warned that a highly poisonous Indian plant has been found growing in Canterbury, Kent.

Cricket captain Frank Worrell, whose West Indies team brought verve and gaiety to last summer’s Test matches in England, was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List. Frank, his men and their supporters lifted cricket out of the doldrums with their gay performances in 1963.

Ron Grainer, the Australian composer who has written theme music for a number of television programmes, is leaving Britain for a villa in Lisbon. Working under artificial light has affected his eyes and a specialist has recommended that he should work in bright sunlight.

The Beatles won Melody Maker’s best LP of the year award with Please, Please Me. They also won the single of the year with From Me to You.

Charlie Chaplin’s 38 year old film The Gold Rush won Christmas’ biggest TV audience the BBC claimed last night. The film – the first Chaplin has allowed to be shown in full on TV – was seen by 20,600,000 viewers. The BBC also claimed that during 11am and 11pm on Christmas Day 80 out of 100 viewers watched their programmes, the highest number since the start of the ITV network.

Television highlights: International Ski Jumping from Bavaria. New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna. Top of the Pops – new pop music show.

Radio highlights: Revolution, Change and Marxism. Old Prison Letters. 

Weather: mainly dry, sunny intervals, mild. Outlook – mild, showery, sunny intervals. 9c, 48f.

Thursday 2 January 1964

A firebug is on the loose in the West Country. Over the past eighteen months he has raided at least twenty-four top floor flats, robbed them and set them ablaze. The raids have been in Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth, Weymouth, Dorchester, Gloucester, Exmouth and Clevedon. The firebug is about 5 foot 8 inches tall, between 45 and 50, has receding brown hair and wears horn-rimmed glasses.

Hopes of a breakthrough in the dispute that has closed the giant Port Talbot steelworks crashed last night. A union official said, “The company has rebuffed our gesture. We are back where we started.” The union wants a pay increase, justified by the company’s profits.

Cadbury’s chocolate is to cost more from Monday. General increases include an extra penny for the quarter-pound bar (now 1s 2d), and 3d on a box of Milk Tray (now 3s 6d). A spokesman for Cadbury’s said, “Practically everything you can think of has gone up. We staved off putting up our prices for as long as we could.”

After a bumper 1963 in Discland, what will happen in 1964? We asked Parlophone boss George Martin, the man who produces all the Beatles’ hits. He said, “I don’t think there will be much of a change. The Beat mood will continue and spread more widely. The trend towards Beat will become part and parcel of the music scene. At the same time, there will still be the good ballads. There will be more groups too, but only the good ones will break through.”

Everton, the “soccer millionaires”, whose fans are often accused of unruly conduct, have had their headquarters smashed up – by a gang of hooligans. In the New Year’s Eve raid, the hooligans wrecked the players’ and trainers’ rooms causing £1,000 worth of damage. Everton, in an effort to beat the hooligans, made British soccer history by putting up special barriers behind each goal.

Football Results: Scottish First Division – Celtic 0 Rangers 1, Dundee 1 Aberdeen 4, Hibernian 1 Hearts 1, St Johnstone 2 Dundee United 2, St Mirren 1 Kilmarnock 3.

In the 3.15 at Liverpool, Tear Gas beat Saucy Song by a short head.

Television highlights: Tonight with Cliff Michelmore. Canada Playdate – The Looking Glass World, science drama. Road Works Report.

Radio highlights: The Authorship of Shakespeare. The Novel Today.

Weather: cloudy and mild. Outlook – no change. 9c, 48f

Friday 3 January 1964

A team of psychologists will be employed by Associated TeleVision to answer questions such as: should TV heroes have mistresses? Should heroines be blondes or brunettes? The answers will help programme makers to give viewers what they really want.

Scientists have been trying out plastic bags that can be used to take a sample of breath from drivers suspected of having had too much to drink. Drivers would be asked to breathe into one of the bags. The breath would then be analysed by a breathalyser – an instrument that measures the amount of alcohol in the breath.

The Rev Anthony Hart-Synnot, an Old Etonian, has been accused of removing lead from the vicarage roof, thus causing wilful and malicious damage. The vicar explained that he turned his vicarage into a refuge for homeless families. Later, he wanted to evict them, but they refused to move out, so he instructed builders to remove the lead from the roof.

Best buys this week: apricots, plumbs, peaches and indoor rhubarb. Tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce are also good value. Vegetables are cheap. New Zealand lamb is currently cheaper than English. Best fish buys are cod, haddock, plaice and sprats.

Ranks, who run the Odeon and Gaumont cinemas, are to raise their admission prices. The increases will affect 190 out of 390 Rank cinemas. Granada are also putting up their prices to 2s 9d, 3s 9d and 4s 9d. A spokesman for ABC (280 cinemas) said, “We have no plans to raise our prices.”

Exhibitions: camping at Olympia, 3 – 11 January.

More than 46,000 people bought television licences last November, bringing the total to 12,777,635.

Television highlights: Gala Performance – music, opera and ballet. It’s Dark Outside – new thriller series. Comedy Playhouse – The Mate Market with Lance Percival.

Radio highlights: German for Beginners. Readings on Record.

Weather: cloudy, dry. Outlook – cloudy, mainly dry. 4c, 39f.

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #62

Saturday 21 December 1963

Brian Parks, a telephone linesman from Hull, climbed up a telephone poll and got stuck there, too cold to move. The ground temperature was six degrees below freezing. Brian’s mate, Stanley Dick, climbed up the pole, but couldn’t rescue him. Stanley called the fire brigade and half an hour later Brian was safe on the ground.

Over the past six years the number of railway policemen has dropped by nearly 1,000, from 3,500 to 2,503. The reduction is on the grounds of economy. Last year, property valued at nearly £1,500,000 was stolen from the railways, an increase of £200,000 on the previous year.

Last minute Christmas ideas for the gardener: a long-handled fork, 32s 6d; a Swoe, a hoe with three cutting edges; a Wrake that cultivates as it rakes; the Chrysanthemum Growers Diary; a seed packet of the new dwarf Bijou Sweet Peas.

“My twelve year old son, listening to the news that the two murderers had been executed, said, ‘I think that’s wrong, Dad – two wrongs do not make a right.’” – E C, Exeter, Devon. “The Bishop of Bristol said of the hangings, ‘This is an evil thing.’ It was also an evil thing for two youths to commit brutal murder.” – (Miss) S J W, London.

Felicity Green writes, “A short time ago, I mentioned that for a girl to be With It these days she should much onions. A reader’s letter confirms that her daughter received a jar of onions instead of a box of chocolates to take to the pictures.”

West Bromwich Albion players staged their second walk-out from training in twenty-four hours and threatened to go on strike next week. Twenty-one players refused to train because manager Jimmy Hagan insists that they should wear shorts in the bitterly cold weather.

Television highlights: The Physicists – drama set in a mental clinic. That Was The Week That Was – Dick Whittington and his Fascist Hyena. The Avengers – Death A La Carte.

Radio highlights: Jazz Club introduced by Humphrey Lyttelton. Saturday Club introduced by Brian Matthew.

Weather: cold but mainly dry. Outlook – milder some rain. 4c, 39f.

Sunday 22 December 1963

Brian Clough (pictured in striped shirt), the England and Sunderland centre forward, whose playing career has come to an end because of an injury, could possibly be a leading figure at the next General Election. Mr Clough has been invited to stand for the Labour Party in Richmond, a safe Tory seat. Mr Clough is an able speaker with firm Socialist beliefs.

The Somerset town of Taunton was in a state of chaos yesterday. Over 35,000 people were in danger from leaking gas. A fault at a depot turned down the pressure and flames went out. When the fault was corrected gas poured out of stoves and other appliances. Police cars drove through the streets broadcasting warnings over loud speakers. A gas board spokesman said, “We shall be working around the clock to ensure people’s safety.”

Jack Hobbs, one of the greatest cricketers of all time, died yesterday at his home in Hove, Sussex. He was 81 last Monday. Known as “Gentleman Jack Hobbs”, he broke many cricket records, and was knighted for his services to the sport.

The kiss that shook America. There was uproar when a white man kissed a coloured woman in a production of the musical No Strings. There were violent scenes in the audience followed by threatening letters and phone calls. The show will open in London this month.

Why do people begin to grow old at fifty? Is it work, worry, food, too little exercise, or too little laughter that is to blame? Doctors and researchers are keen to find out why some people are gay and spry at seventy while others are dull and listless at fifty.

Football Results: First Division – Blackburn 2 Aston Villa 0, Blackpool 0 Liverpool 1, Chelsea 3 Sheffield United 2, Everton 4 Manchester United 0, Sheffield Wednesday 3 Burnley 1. Top three – Blackburn, Spurs, Liverpool.

Television highlights: Ghost Squad – The Big Time. Fireball XL5. The Saint – The Benevolent Burglary. 

Radio highlights: Star Over Aldermaston. Top Twenty.

Weather: Dry and cold with sunny spells. Outlook – no snow expected at Christmas.

Monday 23 December 1963

A bronze statue of a discus thrower in Hemel Hempstead was robbed at the weekend…of a fig leaf. The fig leaf was welded on after citizens complained that the statue was immodest. Mrs Violet Blacklock, whose jeweller’s shop faces the statue, said, “I think it is shocking now.”

Thousands of homes in Cornwall and Yorkshire were blackout out last night. The power cuts were caused by ice forming on power cable insulators. Because of severe frost, many roads in Britain are dangerously icy.

Film producer David Newman yesterday rescued two teenaged sisters who were trapped by fire. He made three trips up the stairs through thick smoke to rescue the sisters and their three kittens.

The mills at the huge steel works in Port Talbot, Wales ground to a halt today. The workers are in dispute with management over pay. Over 17,000 jobs are on the line. The Major of Port Talbot and the Ministry of Labour are in talks with management and workers to resolve the issue and save the plant.

“What do I want for Christmas? To get away from the rat race and know the real meaning of peace of Earth. And to escape from money-mad people; to settle back with a cup of tea and know the joy of reading a book again. Bliss!” – A Mother, Canton, Cardiff.

If all you want for Christmas is a Beatle, then television will disappoint you. You will have to make a date with the radio on Boxing Day (10am, Light) for their programme From Us to You.

Personal Advertisements: “Julie, rendezvous London?” – Kathryn. “Molly, see me Christmas.” – Flo. “Yvonne, please come home for Christmas.” – Mum.

Television highlights: Whicker Down Mexico Way. Panorama – AJP Taylor’s round-up of 1963. World in Action – the best of 1963.

Radio highlights: Christmas at the Forge. Carols 1963.

Weather: mainly dry with fog patches and night frost. Outlook – similar. 4c, 39f.

Tuesday 24 December 1963

Battery Hen. A chicken sent to a prisoner on remand at Aylesbury, Bucks contained a battery for his transistor radio. Both the radio and battery were confiscated.

A 32 year old woman broke into jail and laid an escape route, marked with lipstick and red wool, for the man she loved. However, when Phyllis Strutton turned up at Lincoln Prison to visit Frederick Strutton, detectives were waiting. Phyllis climbed a ten foot wall, climbed on to a mailbag shop roof and sawed through iron bars in a skylight. For her trouble, Phyllis was jailed for six months.

Moves to end the dispute that has closed the giant Port Talbot steel plant have failed. There is little hope that the plant that employs 17,500 people can re-open before the New Year. The dispute is over pay and holiday agreements.

West Bromwich Albion’s footballers, who have been in dispute with their manager over training in shorts in the cold, had their first training session since their walkout – in a warm gymnasium. The players and manager will face a showdown with the club’s directors in a “peace and goodwill” meeting.

Television has gone on its biggest ever spending spree this Christmas. The three days’ programmes on BBC and ITV are costing more than £500,000 in artists’ fees and overheads. 

Christmas Eve highlights: Christmas Carols from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. Christmas and a Mouse – Alan Whicker tells the true story of the Song of Christmas. Beat City – a musical documentary on the Mersey Sound.

Christmas Day highlights: Christmas Night With the Stars, Christmas Startime, Mr Pickwick, Christmas Music from Messiah – recorded in Llandaff Cathedral – and Dick Whittington – pantomime.

Boxing Day highlights: Who is Secombe? Friends and colleagues look at Harry Secombe, The Seven Giants of Denby Dale – a chronicle of a town over the last 200 years, Grandstand, Sportstime and Stars and Garters with Kathy Kirby.

Radio highlights: Brought Up in the Cotswolds – reminiscences. Play – Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You.

Weather: cold, dry, sunny. Outlook – milder. 3c, 37f.

Christmas weather: the chance of snow is very slight and if it does fall it will be only a light covering in isolated areas.

The newspaper digest will return on 27 December.

Friday 27 December 1963

Ninety-four people were killed on the roads over the three days of the Christmas holidays. Thirty-four people died on Christmas Day, compared to thirteen in 1962. These figures make it the most murderous Christmas on the roads since 1959. The figures are even more shocking because the road conditions this Christmas were regarded as good.

Families in Maidstone, Kent have been told that boa constrictors or pythons might be hibernating in their homes. It’s believed that the snakes escaped from a zoo or circus. Local residents are said to be “terrified”.

Terence “Houdini” Cutts is at large again after his fifteenth escape. He got away from Brixton Jail on Christmas Day by scaling a wall.

The BBC is to hot up its battle for “round the clock” radio. At present, the Light Programme starts at 6.30 am and closes at midnight. The BBC wants to broadcast from 5 am until 2 am. Broadcasting hours are restricted by “needle time”. The BBC’s current agreement covers thirty-four hours a week. They are appealing to the Broadcasting Rights Tribunal to increase this time.

Football – a piece I wrote for the Seaside News: Boxing Day, 1963, the day the defences in the First Division went on holiday. Two mundane results to start: Leicester City beat the current champions Everton 2 – 0 and Sheffield Wednesday beat Bolton Wanderers 3 – 0. Then the goals really started to flow: Blackpool 1 Chelsea 5; Nottingham Forest 3, Sheffield United 3; Wolves 3 Aston Villa 3; West Bromwich Albion 4 Tottenham Hotspur 4; Burnley 6 Manchester United 1; Liverpool 6 Stoke City 1: West Ham 2 Blackburn Rovers 8. The real turkeys though were Ipswich Town – they lost 10 – 1 at Fulham.

Birmingham City and Arsenal didn’t play until 28 December, but they joined in the fun – an away win, 1 – 4, for Arsenal.

Why so many goals over that particular festive season? Factor one: the weather. Five days of frost led to a thaw followed by heavy rain. This combination produced slippery conditions, difficult for defenders. Factor two: the general philosophy in 1963/64 was to attack – 3.4 goals were scored per game. In comparison, 2.8 goals are scored per game in the modern Premier League.

Television highlights: Only 363 to Go – entertainment for the disenchanted. Ready, Steady, Go! with Little Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones. Puppet Film.

Radio highlights: The Bartered Bride. Play – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. 

Weather: sunny spells. Outlook – rain at times. 5c, 41f.

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #61

Saturday 14 December 1963

A rush-hour train, packed with commuters, crashed yesterday. The train left Liverpool Street, London at 5.29 pm for Gidea Park, Essex, but as it pulled out of the station, the last coach ran off the rails. A woman was killed, thirty-four people were injured, and another girl was trapped in the coach. Police, firemen and medical teams worked for two hours to free the girl. Their efforts were successful and the girl was taken to the London Hospital on Whitechapel Road.

The Beatles are going to court. They are seeking damages for alleged libel and injurious falsehood from two Blackpool companies for misuse of their name.

The film studios at Shepperton, Middlesex will close down tonight for four months. There are no bookings until April. One hundred and eighty men have been made redundant.

Police in Birmingham are on the hunt for Joey the monkey. Joey escaped from his owner, Mr Basil Morgan. He leapt in and out of houses, startled women and evaded the men who chased him. He also leapt through a window and stole 70 year old Mrs Rosina Studley’s dinner. Escaping over the rooftops, Joey was still free last night.

“We girls started a ‘Sneeze Box’ in our work room at the beginning of the year. We put a penny into the box every time we sneezed and after 2,736 sneezes have collected £11 8s for your Christmas Appeal.” – Nine Sneezers, Richmond, Surrey.

The Football Association may close Goodison Park after continuous trouble at Everton’s home games. The latest incident involved stones being thrown at Chelsea manager Tommy Docherty. Meanwhile, Arsenal are to lay a £10,000 “electric blanket” beneath the turf at Highbury so that, should we get snow like last winter, the pitch will remain playable.

Snow fell in Sussex, Kent, Bedfordshire and Hampshire yesterday, the coldest day since February 25.

Television highlights: Dr Who – science fiction series – The Firemaker. The Avengers – Don’t Look Behind You. That Was The Week That Was.

Radio highlights: Record Roundabout. Memory and Imagination.

Weather: snow and sleet, cold. Outlook – sleet. 3c, 37f.

Sunday 15 December 1963

The Home Secretary has refused to reprieve Dennis John Whitty, 22, and Russell Pascoe, 23. The men murdered Cornish farmer William Rowe, 64. Whitty will hang at Winchester and Pascoe at Bristol.

It was Shiver Saturday throughout Britain yesterday with snow and ice reported over most of the country. In London the temperature fell to zero for the first time this winter. The heaviest snowfalls were in Kent and Sussex. Icy roads are making driving dangerous and motorists have been urged to take extra care.

Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite plot: you are in a vast, echoing assembly car plant, walking slowly beside a chassis as it takes shape. You follow it as it grows, piece by piece, towards completion. And then, as the finished car rolls off the line, a door swings open and a body falls out. “All I have to do is explain how it happened and I have a helluva story,” Mr Hitchcock said.

Kathy Kirby has been voted Britain’s number one girl singer in a pop magazine national poll, ahead of Cleo Laine, Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield.

“This year, some children are asking for colour television sets,” said Father Christmas at Selfridges. 

“I wonder how many children had nightmares after watching Dr Who? If this tale of suspense and horror was shown in the cinema, I’m sure it would receive an “X” certificate.” – T Anderson, Exeter.

Football Results: First Division – Fulham 2 Everton 2, Liverpool 1 Blackburn 2, Manchester United 3 Sheffield Wednesday 1, Spurs 2 Stoke 1, West Ham 2 Chelsea 2, Wolves 2 Arsenal 2. Top three – Blackburn, Spurs, Arsenal.

Television highlights: Sunday Night from the Prince of Wales with Gerry and the Pacemakers. Play – A Local Boy with Jack Hedley. Play – The Swindler with Ronald Lewis.

Radio highlights: Join in and Swing. The Reith Lectures.

Weather: cold but mainly dry with sunny spells. Outlook – heavy snow showers.

Monday 16 December 1963

Women who live in Folkestone, Kent have been accused of being too snooty to work at a factory. The accusation comes from Mr J H Miller, the owner of a knitwear factory. He was offering jobs for 270 women, but only 130 applied. Mr Miller will now open a plant in Glenrothes, Scotland.

For twenty minutes last night planes could not land at Manchester Airport. Cows had wandered onto the runway, where they quietly munched away. Farm hands, police and airport officials chased the cows. Eventually, the cows were rounded up and the planes landed safely.

“Blaming women drivers for problems on the roads is wrong. The real trouble is caused by “weekend drivers” who keep their cars as status symbols.” – J G, Gainsborough, Lincs.

“Don’t keep your van doors unlocked in Clacton. I made this mistake and discovered that everything – Christmas presents, cakes, puddings and groceries had been stolen. It is not a friendly place.” – P Wilson, Newhaven, Sussex.

Personal Advertisements: “Ern, come home for Christmas,” – Love, Doris. “Yvonne, please come home for Christmas,” – Mum.

For three years Dave Clark, leader of the Dave Clark Five – London’s answer to the Mersey sound – resisted offers to turn professional. But now he’s accepted a £50,000 contract. The group will tour nationwide in March.

Football: Everton, who have been in trouble this season because of their fans’ misbehaviour, have accused Fulham’s fans of throwing objects at their players. Derek Temple, Everton’s left winger, claimed that a Fulham fan used a catapult to attack him during the 2 – 2 draw at Craven Cottage.

Television highlights: Come Dancing – Central London v East Midlands. Play of the Week – The Teachers starring Judi Dench and Peter Sallis. Discovering Japanese Art.

Radio highlights: Those Record Years – 1933. Requests. 

Weather: rain or sleet showers. Outlook – mainly dry. 5c, 41f.

Tuesday 17 December 1963

By eight votes to six the council at Paignton, Devon voted to ban bikinis from bowling greens because the bikinis make it difficult for the serious player to keep his eye on the ball. Councillor George Cornelins said, “It’s distracting to bowlers when a stout female wears shorts or a bikini which amplifies outstanding features of the body.”

Every year in Britain, one-tenth of the population moves to a new address. To keep track of this trend a mini census, covering a tenth of the population, will be conducted in 1966. This census is required to help local authorities with their planning.

Britain’s car production this year is expected to reach a record total of 1,600,000 vehicles. This compares with the previous record of 1,400,000 set in 1960 and 1,249,000 last year. Home sales have rocketed to 1,000,000.

After thirteen stormy years, the Tomato and Cucumber Marketing Board has been disbanded. Growers voted against it by 1,190 to 637. Critics claim the Board was ineffective because of too much bureaucracy.

Will we have a White Christmas? Experts at the Meteorological Office will not say yes with any certainty, but believe that it is reasonable to expect some falls of snow.

Only a Super League of sixteen teams can save soccer. Two-thirds of league clubs pay out more in wages than they take through the turnstiles. This is not sustainable. The idea of a Super League including Scottish clubs has been dismissed because the idea “has too many snags”. 

Television highlights: Tonight in Person – Nina and Frederik. Fascinating Facts with Lance Percival. Watch With Mother – the Woodentops. 

Radio highlights: Shakespeare’s Rhetoric. Have a Go!

Weather: cold with showers of sleet or rain. Outlook – showers. 6c, 43f.

Wednesday 18 December 1963

Questions will be asked in Parliament about why a £15,000 train robbery was kept secret. And why didn’t the Post Office ask the police to take any action? The theft occurred nine weeks ago from a train travelling from Haverfordwest to London. Labour MPs want to know why no public statement was made about the robbery.

Research has shown that the wearing of a seat belt in a car can reduce slight accidents by half and serious ones by four-fifths. However, a large proportion of drivers don’t use them. And, at the moment, there are no plans to make seat belts compulsory.

The Queen’s Christmas message will not be broadcast by Granada TV. Granada is the only ITV company that does not broadcast the National Anthem each evening. Instead of the Queen’s Christmas message, Granada will broadcast an old film, Storm Over the Nile. The Queen’s Christmas message was recorded in sound only this year because she is expecting her fourth child early next year.

This year, three people certified dead were found to be alive. The Earl of Arran will raise the matter of being buried alive in the House of Lords.

Britain is to have more new towns – but they should be smoke-free. Instead of coal fires, local councils should now give financial help to the development of homes with electric, gas and oil heating.

Auburn-haired actress Jane Asher is dating Beatle Paul McCartney. Jane’s mother said, “There is nothing unusual about them being together. They see quite a lot of each other. I wouldn’t say there was anything extraordinary-special about their friendship. Paul is one of Jane’s many friends.” Paul and Jane denied that they were planning to marry.

Television highlights: I Hear the Blues with Memphis Slim and guests. Here and Now – a coal-mining village. What Next in Lighting? – discussion.

Radio highlights: The Dispossessed. Population and Society.

Weather: sleet or snow showers. Outlook – snow at times. 3c, 37f.

Thursday 19 December 1963

Transport Minister Ernest Marples warned motorists not to drink and drive. He was hammering home the point that most Christmas accidents are caused by drink. Last year, 147 people were killed and 1,709 seriously injured during the six days of the holidays.

Scotland Yard issued a warning to bank managers, postmasters and others who carry the keys of business premises. The warning follows the kidnapping of sub-postmaster Eric Christopher in Willesden last night. Four men used his keys to grab £1,275 in cash and postal orders. They released Mr Christopher unhurt.

Agony Aunt: Judy writes, “My husband told me off because I served red wine with chicken instead of white when friends came to dinner. He said I showed him up. Did I?” Jane Adams’ reply, “Your husband is talking nonsense. Serve what pleases you or your guests.”

Jane Adams writes, “Recently, I implied that the perfect husband did not exist. I have received scores of letters from women claiming that they have the perfect husband. Let us raise our Christmas glasses to these happy wives – and their husbands!”

“When my three-year old cousin arrived in Southampton from South Africa last Friday, it started snowing. He had never seen snow before, so he said to his mother, ‘Look, mummy, it’s raining ice cream!’.” – Keith Goldane, Maidstone, Kent.

The Mersey Sound of the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers drowned out all competition in the Top Ten of 1963. The final line up gives the Beatles three of first four places in the all-star Top Ten. Also in the Top Ten: Cliff Richard, the Shadows, Frank Ifield, and Jet Harris and Tony Mehan.

Television highlights: Buddy Greco Entertains. Sports Review of 1963 Featuring the Sportsview Personality of the Year. Gallery – political review of 1963.

Radio highlights: The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes. Of Birds and Beasts – Madrigals.

Weather: snow showers, sunny intervals, cold. Outlook – similar. 2c, 35f.

Friday 20 December 1963

Your Christmas turkey has started a war in the High Street. Fine Fare, the supermarket chain, are now offering turkeys at 3s 9d a pound – with the firm’s pink trading stamps. Their announcement is a slap in the face for Sainsbury’s, the anti-stamp firm. Sainsbury’s are selling oven-ready birds for 3s 10d a pound, their lowest price since the end of the war.

Despite the cheaper turkeys, this looks like being the costliest Christmas of all time. That is the verdict of the Bank of England. Britons have a record £2,598,000,000 worth of banknotes in their pockets – £145,000,000 more than a year ago.

A gang of safe blowers raided Walton Jail in Liverpool, yesterday. They blew a safe thinking that there was £10,000 inside – double wages for the 300 prison officers. However, the wages were in a different safe. 

Twenty-two SS men are due to stand trial in Frankfurt tomorrow accused of helping to murder millions of men, women and children. About 250 witnesses will testify. There is no death sentence in West Germany, so if the men are found guilty it will probably mean life imprisonment and death behind bars.

Mrs R L of Leeds writes, “Outside my front door, carol singers gave a lovely rendition of We Three Kings. I opened the door and found three lads with Beatles haircuts, drainpipe trousers and elastic-sided high-heeled boots!”

West Bromwich Albion players plunged their club into another sensation yesterday when nineteen players refused to train in shorts in the freezing cold. The players walked out of the training ground when told that they could not wear tracksuit trousers. Skipper Don Howe said, “No other club in the country forces its players to train in shorts in this cold.”

Paper sacks will replace dustbins in all of Bedford’s 20,000 homes the town council decided last night.

Television highlights: Ready, Steady, Go! with Dusty Springfield. Roving Report – winter in Norway. Hobbies Club.

Radio highlights: A Good Man Feelin’ Bad – blues records. Late Victorian Christmas.

Weather: cold with long sunny periods. Outlook – similar with severe frost at night. 2c, 36f.

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Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #60

Saturday 7 December 1963

Christine Keeler was taken last night to Holloway Prison to serve a nine-month jail sentence. She was found guilty of perjury and of conspiring to obstruct the course of justice. Defence counsel, Mr Jeremy Hutchinson QC, said that Christine Keeler had been led astray by unscrupulous men. He added, “With everybody who has met her, it is perfectly clear that her straightforward and curiously naive outlook contrasts very, very strongly with the public image she seems to have created. In the words of Lord Denning, ‘let no one judge her too harshly’.” If Miss Keeler behaves well, she will serve six months of her nine-month sentence.

Police have been protecting Labour Party leader Harold Wilson for the past two days because of a letter threatening to kill him. The letter was sent, anonymously, from Lancashire. Special Branch are taking the letter seriously because of the assassination of President Kennedy.

A mass march is being planned in protest against the forthcoming hangings of Russell Pascoe and Dennis Whitty, two young men who murdered farmer William Rowe in Cornwall. A spokesman for Bristol’s Abolition of Capital Punishment said, “Christmas – what a time of the year for a twin hanging! We are against hanging at any time of the year, but this is just making things brutal.” 

Sharp-shooter Terry English spends his time in Epping cemetery blasting rabbits with his twelve-bore shotgun. So far, he has shot thirty-seven rabbits. “I have to do this,” Terry said, “because the rabbits keep eating the flowers.”

Three masked men in a Jaguar rammed a car carrying wages, and used another car to get away with their £2,000 haul. 

Police warned last night that forged tickets are circulating for the Beatles’ show at the Wimbledon Palais. 

Britain’s biggest chocolate firm, Cadbury’s, has banned its chocolate from the giant Tesco chain of supermarkets. The ban is over Green Shield stamps. Tesco wants to give stamps with the chocolate, but Cadbury’s have objected to this plan.

Television highlights: Dr Who – The Forest of Fear. Juke Box Jury with the Beatles. It’s the Beatles! from the Empire Theatre, Liverpool.

Radio highlights: Play – The Woman in the Woods. Variety Playhouse.

Weather: mainly cloudy, some sunny spells. Rather cold. Outlook – brighter. 4c, 39f.

Sunday 8 December 1963

A special squad of detectives is trying to track down who sent a threatening letter to Labour Party leader Harold Wilson. The letter writer stated that he would kill Mr Wilson. The letter was posted in Bolton. Threats have also been made to blow up cinemas, schools and the town hall.

Political viewpoint: rather than address the various crises, Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home is prepared to leave Office and leave it to Harold Wilson to clear up the mess.

A van loaded with £1,800 worth of radiograms was stolen in Marylebone, London, yesterday.

Thought: the hand that gives, gathers – John Ray 1628 – 1705.

There is something rather nasty in the national woodshed – a colour bar affecting the brightest West Indian children leaving school. Many of these children are denied a career simply because of the colour of their skin. Immigrants are frowned upon. But the fact remains that our hospitals and transport systems could not run without immigrant labour.

Experts have psychoanalysed dolls. According to the experts, if you choose the wrong sort of doll for your child it might ruin his or her life. Golliwogs, they say, are for three year olds. Eight year olds need dolls that walk, talk and sleep. Boys need dolls too. They should resemble heroic characters, and will make the boys grow into brave gentlemen.

Football Results: First Division – Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1, Bolton 1 Spurs 3, Fulham 4 Wolves 1, Ipswich 0 Blackburn 0, Manchester United 5 Stoke 2. Top three – Liverpool, Blackburn, Spurs.

Television highlights: Auto-Mechanics – the hydraulic system and drum brakes. Home Dressmaking. Tempo – more jazz unlimited.

Radio highlights: Fifteen 45s in Thirty. Family Favourites.

Weather: mainly dry, rather cold.

Monday 9 December 1963

Colonel Henry Smith shot a pheasant and placed it over his shoulder. The feet of the pheasant triggered the shotgun and shot the colonel’s wife, Mrs Helen Smith, in the back and arm. Mrs Smith is in hospital and is “as well as can be expected“.

Recently, Dr Robert Mortimer, the Bishop of Exeter, conducted an exorcism service to remove a ghost from a flat. However, now the ghost, Albert, has appeared in a flat next door. Dr Mortimer said he would not try to remove Albert again. Instead, he will ask the Metaphysical Society to send someone else.

Rev Vernon Mitchell of St Philip’s Church, Norbury, Surrey has created “Project X”, a battle for men’s minds. His sermon last night dealt with “girlie” advertising and Communist brainwashing methods. He was assisted by shapely Mrs Claire Shewring, 27, who wore a black leotard and black tights. Rev Mitchell insisted that “Project X” was not a gimmick, and pointed out that the Lord Himself illustrated the parables in many ways.

Raiders stole £6,000 worth of cosmetics from a depot in Cable Street, Stepney, London.

“How dare a Swansea reader suggest that Harry Secombe is no more than a music hall turn. Harry’s singing never fails to bring tears of pleasure to my eyes and I am sure there are plenty of “serious” music lovers who feel the same.” (Miss) S Cheal, Bromley, Kent.

Dick James is the name. He is the uncredited singer of the Robin Hood theme song. He is also the publisher of all the songs written by the two Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon. His songs have been in the top ten since January, and Tin Pan Alley says he’s coining at least £1,000 a week.

Television highlights: Thinking Relativity Through. Whose Neighbour? – the story of a tramp. Discs a GoGo.

Radio highlights: Desert Island Discs – Millicent Martin. Melody Mixture.

Weather: fog early and late, dry, cold. Outlook – rain, milder. 3c, 37f.

Tuesday 10 December 1963

Six hundred and seventeen people were killed on Britain’s roads during September. This is an increase of three percent on the figure last year. If current trends continue, 1963 will be the worst year for accidents in recent memory.

Last year, about thirty people in Britain were killed by dirty saucepans. One place where germs are likely to multiply is in the milk film of a badly cleaned saucepan. Wooden utensils are difficult to keep germ free. Stainless steel, glass and vitreous enamel are healthier options. Dishes should be washed in water as hot as hands can stand then be left to drain dry.

“Most women drivers crawl along as if they are still on their test, slowly, all tensed up. They make male drivers impatient. I would suggest that, whenever possible, women drivers should be allowed to use the roadside cycle track.” – Beastly Male Driver, Coventry.

More than 1,000 people in the British film industry will be redundant by the end of the year, and that figure could rise to 2,000. The unions want a third cinema circuit set up to compete with Rank and ABC. They also want the quota of British films shown in cinemas to increase from thirty percent to fifty percent.

Britain’s miners have set up new records for coal digging. Stocks of household coal and boiler fuel now total well over 2,750,000 tons. This is 350,000 tons more than at this time last year.

“Tory MP Mr Henry Price insists that the Beatles must be beaten. Rubbish. The Beatles are the best thing to happen to the British pop scene in many years. Mr Price should spend his time on more serious things – like solving the unemployment problem in Liverpool.” – Two Girl Fans, London, EC2.

Television highlights: Rugby Union – Oxford v Cambridge, in full from Twickenham. Gala Performance with Geraint Evans. Miss TV Times, London regional final, judges include Roger Moore.

Radio highlights: Pop Inn. Piano Records.

Weather: fog and frost. Outlook – similar. 3c, 37f.

FA Cup Draw

Wednesday 11 December 1963

Drama of train raid swoop. CID grab “The Weasel” in rooftop chase. Racing driver Roy “The Weasel” James, wanted for questioning in connection with the Great Train Robbery, was caught in St John’s Wood after a tip-off. “The Weasel” climbed through a skylight and the chase began. He leapt fifteen feet into a garden – and into a trap, because the garden was ringed with Flying Squad officers. 

In a special effort to reduce Christmas accidents, there will be a 50 mph speed limit on Britain’s roads. The speed limit will be in place from 23 December until 27 December, but it will not apply to motorways.

America is to build a manned space warship that will orbit the Earth by 1967. The project is codenamed MOL – Manned Orbiting Laboratory. The MOL space warship will be attached to a two-man Gemini space capsule. 

Every housewife in Britain is being asked to entertain an “invisible” Christmas guest by sending the cost of an extra dinner to the Freedom From Hunger campaign. Supporters of the campaign include Millicent Martin, Jessie Matthews and Mrs Harry Secombe.

In Broadmoor Prison, three hacksaw blades were discovered in the back of a book of Shakespeare’s works.

Football Results: European Cup Winners’ Cup, Second Round Second Leg – Manchester United 4 Spurs 1 (aggregate 4 – 3). First Division – Arsenal 6 Everton 0.

A marathon discussion programme called Open End – linking-up speakers in London, Paris, Bonn and New York – will begin on the BBC’s Third Programme at 10.15 pm on Sunday. The programme will run until either the topic or the speakers are exhausted.

Television highlights: What’s Next in Toys? – discussion programme. Coronation Street – excitement for Florrie and Miss Nugent. The Face of Fraud – infamous confidence tricksters.

Radio highlights: Mrs Mills. Unread Classics.

Weather: occasional rain, rather cold. Outlook – similar, but with frost in places. 5c, 41f.

Thursday 12 December 1963

Labour leader Harold Wilson has received another death threat. This threat arrived by telephone and the caller said he intended to shoot Mr Wilson. Scotland Yard traced the call to Great George Street, Westminster. Later, police detained a man from that area.

Britain’s steel output was up last month for the fourth month in succession, 20,000 tons above the October figure.

Impresario Harold Fielding claims that he started the “Beatle Scream”. He said, “This type of ‘pop’ concert really started with Tommy Steele in 1956. I was responsible for the staging of his concerts. It seems to be that screaming is a great part of the enjoyment for the youngsters. It’s a psychological problem. To a great extent they are willing to pay their money to be allowed to scream. The biggest screams occur when the performers whirl their bodies around in a peculiar manner. Pop concerts have no lasting merit as music. Do I regret my involvement? Very much, yes.”

Views on marriage: Lord Boothby – “I wouldn’t marry anyone. They are all as bad as each other. I am not married and never will be.” Alan Whicker – “Some American women are as feminine as a boxing glove. They are loud, brash and strident, and not excited by the fact that they are women.” The Marquess of Hertford – “I’d turn down any woman like Elizabeth Taylor. Too bosomy. Having breakfast with her would be unbearable.”

More on marriage. Men reject the following because…

Athletes – too muscular 

Models – too boney

Actresses – too vain

Doctors – too clinical

Clippies – too tired

Waitresses – ditto

Pop singers – too noisy

Lawyers – too argumentative 

Accountants – too clever

Traffic in Trafalgar Square came to a standstill last night as thousands of people gathered to watch the first lighting of London’s Christmas tree. As the Mayor of Oslo switched on the 500 lights, Norwegian carols echoed around the square, sung by Norwegian girls in national dress.

Television highlights: Amateur Boxing – Scotland v Ireland from Glasgow. This Week – Britain’s rising population. Gallery – council housing.

Radio highlights: Music for Dancing. In Search of a Mutiny.

Weather: dull and cold with sleet and drizzle. Outlook – dry and cold. 3c, 37f.

Friday 13 December 1963

The gay but elusive little berry only appears on female holly. And it is necessary to plant one male tree for every three females. The leaf on the male holly is prickly, but the female is smooth. Meteorologists dismiss the folk custom that says plentiful berries mean that the winter will be harsh.

Vicars in Kent have been warned that a dark-haired housewife is going around the county telling hard luck stories so convincingly that vicars are giving her money. So far, it is believed that she has collected £800 from clergymen.

“I wish something could be done to stop half-crazed girls from shrieking when they go to see pop singers. I am in my sixties and think that the Beatles are a nice bunch of lads, but I worry that all this hysteria will destroy their act. Please don’t print my name because a mad mob of girls might go for me.” E.H., Southend, Essex.

The BBC claimed that two shows by the Beatles last weekend set a record for a Saturday night viewing audience. Mr Tom Sloan, Head of BBC TV Light Entertainment, said, “22,000,000 viewers watched Juke Box Jury, on which the Beatles formed the panel, and 21,500,000 watched the Beatles’ own show, It’s the Beatles.”

Figs are good value at the moment, but strikes on the Continent have pushed up the price of dates. Mixed nuts are a good buy, but expect to pay more for walnuts, almonds, chestnuts and Brazils. The cost of kissing is cheap – 6d for mistletoe, but holly is expensive at 7s 6d for one good spray.

“I posted a local letter at 6pm the other night and received a reply – by post – at 11am the following morning.” – R. Ayres, Beavers Lane, Hounslow. 

Snow fell for about ten minutes in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, last night.

Television highlights: Ready, Steady, Go! with the Dave Clark Five. Look – a forest diary. The Sky at Night.

Radio highlights: What’s the Idea? Victorian Album.

Weather: cold, mainly dry. Outlook – no change. 5c, 41f.

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

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Categories
1963

Social History 1963 #59

Saturday 30 November 1963

How to identify a “with it” girl. She wears white fishnet stockings, knickerbockers and heavy round spectacles, does the Shake instead of the Twist, uses glycerine on her nose, and only makes up one half of her face. She also eats pickled onions.

Fascinate the girls! The “Beetle Wig” – only 15/11, post etc 1/7. Genuinely lifelike. It can be combed into the authentic style. Jet black. So realistic, it looks like real hair. No special haircut needed – just put on your Beetle Wig. Two or more post free.

“In June, our tortoise laid four eggs. We are thrilled because these have now hatched out and the babies are thriving well. We have named them after the Beatles.” – Mrs I Patching, London.

105 toys for 17/6. Ideal for parties. Toys include: hilarious jumping spider, running mouse, jumping crabs, parachutes, cap bombs, bow and arrow, handcuffs, conjuring tricks, catapult and genuine flying saucer.

Roast chicken is challenging roast beef for first place on the nation’s Sunday dinner tables. Mutton and lamb, one time favourites, are losing their appeal. Beef and veal are in demand, but the call is for chicken. Rapid expansion in the broiler industry means that chicken is no longer in the “luxury” class of meat.

The Air Ministry begin their long-range weather forecasting service today. The forecast for the month of December will be broadcast at 11.10 pm after That Was The Week That Was on BBC television. Mr Howarth Freeman, assistant director of the Met Office, will present the forecast.

Television highlights: Dr Who – science fiction series, episodes one and two. The Avengers – The Grandeur That Was Rome. The Sentimental Agent – adventure series.

Radio highlights: Motoring and the Motorist. Pop Track.

Weather: sunshine, showers, drizzle. Rather cold. Outlook – rain at times. 6c, 43f.

Sunday 1 December 1963

Britain’s first long-range weather forecast: no White Christmas; instead, freezing fog and severe cold. The very wet weather in November is expected to give way to drier weather in December with rainfall below average. Severe cold spells will alternate with milder interludes.

Colin Jordan’s British Nazi Party is receiving secret funds from abroad. They are also receiving Nazi propaganda publications. It is believed that cash is sent instead of cheques. Colin Jordan believes that his views are popular in England and not subversive.

Beatlemania has infiltrated into trad jazz. Bob Wallis has a new record out – Pavanne – on which he defies tradition by including an electric guitar! This will offend purists, no doubt, and could put a nail into the trad jazz coffin. But it should be a hit for this popular young trumpeter.

Number one with a new entry – I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles. Number two – She Loves You by the Beatles.The Beatles are also at number fourteen with The Beatles Hits EP and number seventeen with their Twist and Shout EP.

“Wednesday night and millions of soccer-loving working men were looking forward to the tele-recording of the Spurs-Manchester United European Cup game. Alas, it was postponed. Never mind, the BBC will show us a consolation. But what did we get? A documentary on work!” – John Griffiths, Bridgend, Glamorgan.

Football Results: First Division – Blackburn 4 Arsenal 1, Blackpool 3 Leicester 3, Liverpool 2 Burnley 0, Sheffield United 1 Manchester United 2, Spurs 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1. Top three – Liverpool, Blackburn, Spurs.

Television highlights: Memorial Service for President Kennedy from St Paul’s Cathedral. Fireball XL5. The Saint – The King of Beggars.

Radio highlights: The Rum ‘Um – Portrait of Hawker of Morwenstow. Family Favourites.

Weather: dull, misty and rather cold.

Monday 2 December 1963

Mrs Rosina Lewis, the blonde wife of the licencee of The Bull at Hornchurch, Essex, has a broomstick hung on the wall in the saloon bar. She claims that the broomstick helps to cure customers’ hangovers through witchcraft. “My great-grandmother was a witch in Essex,” she said. “And she passed many of her secrets on to me.”

Britain is the world’s largest exporter of farm tractors. We export three times as many as Western Germany and five times as many as the United States.

The Royal National Institute for the Deaf are once again holding their Deaf Children’s Party at the Seymour Hall on January 7th. Can you please spare a toy or donation? RNID, Gower Street, London.

A rescue team used a new type of inflatable plastic splint when they brought down an injured climber on Snowdonia yesterday. He was Peter Leyshon of Tonypandy, Glamorgan, who broke an ankle when he fell ten feet.

“Your assertion that Wales is musically illiterate is rubbish. Haven’t you heard of Ivor Novello, Harry Secombe, Ivor Emmanuel and Shirley Bassey?” – Dai the Pencil, Salop.

Commercials will be added to records played on Juke Boxes in 300 of London’s coffee bars. A spokesman explained, “Teenagers are an elusive and difficult market, even though they spend nearly £1,000,000,000 a year. They don’t really watch tv or read the newspapers. This way we can catch them in their own environment.”

Television highlights: Come Dancing with Peter West. The Royal Smithfield Show. Discovering Japanese Art.

Radio highlights: Paul Temple and the Jonathan Mystery. Screwballs and Iron Bars.

Weather: cloudy, rain in places. Outlook – dry and rather cold. 9c, 48f.

Tuesday 3 December 1963

It is estimated that there are 40,000 fruit machines in Britain’s 24,000 social clubs. And between them they are gobbling up sixpences to the merry tune of £200,000,000 annually. This is nearly a quarter of the nation’s gambling bill. When the machines leave the factories, they have been adjusted to return four-fifths of the takings in prizes to the players. However, it is possible for an operator to rig a machine so that the jackpot never comes up.

Mirror Newspapers fundraising for Christmas 1963: Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies, Fireside Fund (a sack of coal) for old folks, Dr Barnardo’s Homes and the Muscular Dystrophy Group of Great Britain.

At the Kinross by-election, won by the Tories, once again the opinion polls were wrong. They over-estimated the Labour vote and under-estimated the Liberal vote. Substantially. They forecast Labour second and the Liberals third, but it was the other way around. This begs the question: is there a deliberate distortion of opinion to influence the voters?

Drivers of Post Office supply vans have been awarded pay rises of between eight and ten percent.

“As a milkman, I was grateful for the suggestion that milkmen should be given Christmas Day off. However, how can we let the cows know that we want a “double issue” for Christmas Eve delivery.” – G.A Hulme, Leicester.

Football: Everton drew 1 – 1 with Glasgow Rangers last night and won the “Unofficial British Championship” 4 – 2 on aggregate. However, the game was marred when a bottle was thrown at a linesman. Both Everton and Glasgow Rangers have been troubled by crowd violence this season 

Television highlights: World in Action – Dallas, city of violence. Here and Now – London’s fashion scene. Fascinating Facts with Kenneth Kendall.

Radio highlights: Bristol Fashion. Keep Up Your French.

Weather: cloudy with sunny intervals. Outlook – mostly dry with night frost. 7c, 45f.

Wednesday 4 December 1963

Detectives have arrested John Thomas Daly, who is wanted for questioning in connection with the Great Train Robbery. The police found Daly and his wife Barbara, who is expecting a baby, in a lavishly furnished basement flat in Belgravia. Members of Parliament, peers and privy councillors also live in the area. This is the twentieth arrest in the Great Train Robbery case.

In connection with the Great Train Robbery, police are still seeking to interview Bruce Reynolds, Roy “The Weasel” James, Ronald “Buster” Edwards and his wife June, James Edward White and his wife Sheree. 

Mr Hugh Carleton Greene, the BBC Director General, denied that the satirical show That Was The Week That Was was ever censored. However, he admitted that when asked for advice, he sometimes said “no” to an item.

Women motorists have been told, if you want to drive well and safely don’t wear tight bras or girdles. Turn-back cuffs, dangling jewellery and high-heeled shoes are also hazards. To lose their bad reputation on the road, women should dress to drive, and should feel comfortable.

Trading stamps with petrol: to get enough stamps to claim a television set, a motorist would have to drive from the Earth to the Moon. Five times around the world would win him a watch, and twice around the world a road atlas of Europe.

Agony Aunt: “Can you put me in touch with a man who does not drink, smoke or swear, and who is thrifty, kind and sensible, and has no bad habits.” Jane Adams’ reply, “Come off it.”

Football: European Cup Winners’ Cup, Second Round First Leg – Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester United 0. 

Television highlights: Stalingrad – epic German war play. 14-18 – the story of the First World War. Sportsview – soccer and rugby.

Radio highlights: Parade of the Pops with Dusty Springfield. A Book at Bedtime.

Weather: cloudy, rain at times. Outlook – rain at times. 7c, 45f.

Thursday 5 December 1963

Extra police will be on duty today to control crowds outside the Old Bailey, where Christine Keeler will face trial with two other women and a man. All four are accused of conspiring to obstruct the course of justice. The three women are also charged with perjury. 

Tory MP Henry Price told women Tories at Sydenham, “We have got to beat the Beatles.” He added that the Beatles’ music is hypnotising teenagers and that these teenagers are “being sent”. They are becoming “addicts”, but Mr Price hoped that they would grow out of it.

Two people in Bedford have typhoid fever. The cases are linked to an outbreak six weeks ago.

Rebels attacked the home of the British Ambassador in Venezuela. No one was hurt.

Historic Woolwich Arsenal Royal Ordinance Factory is to close in 1966. The Arsenal produced the shot for the Battle of Waterloo, turned out 20,000,000 shells to beat the Kaiser and 5,000,000 bombs to smash the Nazis. Future guns manufacture will be concentrated at the Royal Ordinance Factory in Nottingham.

An incident in Gloucester resulted in a mini car being written off. Mr T Poole of Worcester was driving along a country road when a horse ran out from behind a gate. As if in play, the horse sat on his car, shattering the windscreen and crumpling the roof. The horse did not appear hurt.

Housewives may be paying as much for potatoes this winter as they did last winter, but there will be no shortage. Crop acreage is up 28,000 and unless there is a series of sharp frosts, current supplies should see us through.

Television highlights: Gallery – the public ownership of steel. It’s a Square World with Michael Bentine. Weather and road works report. 

Radio highlights: Dylan Thomas Recollections. The Beat Show.

Weather: sunny spells, rather cold. Outlook – little change. 5c, 41f.

Friday 6 December 1963

Britain is set for its biggest ever spending spree. The Bank of England revealed a £40,000,000 jump in banknote circulation to £2,495,000,000. This is £124,000,000 more than Britons had in their purses and pockets a year ago. There is a big demand for £5 notes. They account for about half the value of notes now in circulation.

Debates in the House of Commons will not be televised. Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home dismissed the idea of an experimental period to see if debates were suitable for public transmission.

A bus shelter in Ash, Kent has become a “cesspool of iniquity”. Parish Councillor Frank Jenner said that people are using the shelter as a “lust shelter” and that a police sergeant and two constables are urgently needed to restore order. Mr Sidney Gilby, who manages a nearby cafe, said, “There are all sorts of goings on in the shelter.” The bus shelter is in the centre of the village and is capable of accommodating fifty people.

A turkey weighing 60lbs 13oz won the Heaviest Turkey of 1963 at the International Poultry Show at London’s Olympia. The turkey came from a farm in Cheshire and contains enough meat for 200 Christmas dinners.

Can television cope in an emergency? Since President Kennedy’s death the obsession with Dallas has lingered too long. Many of the original views and comments are merely being repeated. Furthermore, caught by a major tragic event, television showed that the straitjacket of planned programmes is its master, and was thrown right off balance.

“Surely your reader from Salop cannot be really serious when he describes Harry Secombe and Shirley Bassey as singers. They are no more than music hall turns. But Wales has certainly produced more singers of world class than has England.” – J Ahearne, Swansea.

Television highlights: A Hundred Years Underground – London’s Tube. Friday Night Drama – Plastic Mac in Winter. Ready, Steady, Go! with Marty Wilde, Adam Faith and Ted Heath.

Radio highlights: New Names Making News. La Traviata. 

Weather: cloudy, mainly dry. Outlook – colder, cloudy. 4c, 39f.

Available for order and pre-order, my Swinging Sixties Mystery Series

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