Saturday 21 September 1963
“Black Magic” effigies of a man and a woman were found nailed to an ancient oak door in a Norfolk village, yesterday. Each of the seven inch figures had a thorn through the heart. With them was a sheep’s heart with thirteen hawthorns stuck in it. Postmaster John Le Poidevin said, “This is an old-world place, so old customs are not surprising.”
County Councillor Douglas Aldridge has decided not to accept a challenge to work for a week with a road repair gang. He criticised the workmen for “leaning on their shovels too long”. Mr Aldridge declined the challenge because it might disqualify him as a councillor.
The GPO announced that, as usual, there will be no Christmas Day postal deliveries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but deliveries will be made in Scotland.
The Ministry of Housing has announced that land around Runcorn, south of Liverpool, will be the site of a new town for 70,000 people.
Approximately £350,000 worth of stamps are sold in Britain each day.
Lincoln City, now in Division Four after three disastrous seasons, are hoping rock and roll will put them back on the soccer map. We’re on Our Way, a twisting tune by a local band, will be played at their game against Tranmere.
Television highlights: Grandstand – including the Mr Universe 1963 international contest. Taxi! starring Sid James. Juke Box Jury with Dora Bryan and Adam Faith.
Radio highlights: Ships and the Sea. Recent Releases.
Weather: mainly sunny. Outlook – dry and rather warm. 17c, 63f.
Sunday 22 September 1963
The new BBC television channel – what is should and should not broadcast. No more Westerns – unless they show us what the West was really like. Tell us what made the British Empire great. Teach us – many of us left school too soon. Tell us about economics. Make us laugh, especially with situations we often find ourselves in. Do something different with serious music so that we can understand it. Show us the world beyond these islands. Show us the privileged and ask them to explain why they should keep their privileges. Show us ourselves, how we live, aspire, fall and succeed.
Predictions for 1984: average wage £2,000 a year. Most families running two cars and two homes. Airlines designed for vertical take-off will travel from London to New York in ninety minutes. Helicopters and hovercraft will be obsolete. Central heating will replace coal fires. Atomic cells will power cars. Plastics will be used for plumbing, doors, furniture and ceilings. The expert saying this is Ronald Brech, head of statistics at Unilever.
A rush to stock up before winter has led to a shortage of top-grade coals. The situation is tight and worrying for the two best grades of coal. However, lower and cheaper grades are more plentiful.
Thieves stole a 30 foot spiral staircase from the Theatre Royal, Exeter.
After their triumphant tour of England, the West Indies cricket team were besieged by fans on their arrival in Jamaica. It took three hours for the team to travel the twenty miles from the airport to their hotel.
Television highlights: The Billy Cotton Band Show. Perry Mason. Wyatt Earp.
Radio highlights: Inspector Scott Investigates. Pick of the Pops.
Weather: cloudy with drizzle, sunny later.
Monday 23 September 1963
The War Office has begun an inquiry into the political activities of several Territorial Army paratroopers. Max Moseley, son of Oswald Moseley the leader of the Fascist-style Union Movement, is a member of the brigade under investigation. Territorial Army regulations forbid officers and men from taking part in political activities while in uniform or at training camps.
Plans to switch the money in your pockets from pounds, shillings and pence to a decimal system were announced today. The Government has accepted the principle that Britain should go over to decimal coinage, but nothing is likely to be done in the lifetime of this Government.
Phials of poison gas were found on a council rubbish dump at Wormwood Scrubs, London, yesterday. The phials included samples of mustard gas. An army unit removed the phials. The rubbish dump belongs to Hammersmith Council.
A magpie in Marton, Warwickshire has been accused of stealing from clotheslines and with putting Mrs Gwen Hinkinson in bed with suspected concussion. Mrs Hinkinson says she fell down when the magpie attacked her. She added, “The whole village is demanding that it should be shot.”
Football league gates were down 25,393 compared to a year ago.
There will be no professional tennis championships at Wimbledon next year. The tournament will remain strictly for amateurs.
Television highlights: Town and Around. Schools – The New Europe. Panorama – reports from Alabama and Czechoslovakia.
Radio highlights: Harp Recital. Piano Recital.
Weather: mainly dry, cloudy. Outlook – dry with some sunshine; rather warm. 18c, 64f.
Tuesday 24 September 1963
A storm is brewing over plans to switch Britain’s currency to a decimal system. However, the longer we wait the more it will cost. If we switch to a decimal system in 1967 it will cost £100,000,000. If we wait until 1970 it will cost £128,000,000.
Psychologist Dr Sheila Jones wanted to find out how quickly housewives would adapt to a decimal coinage system, so she set up a “shop”. Items were marked in both decimal and sterling prices. Customers “bought” the items and Dr Jones discovered that after a week the customers could work out their decimal change almost as quickly as their sterling change.
Passenger trains without drivers are on their way in Britain. Experiments are ongoing in Edinburgh with a system known as guided radar. Robot drivers in the locomotives would take their orders from electric pulses through a metal strip following the rails.
In the parish magazine, the Rev Newall Roberts described his city of Exeter as “dull and snob-ridden”. He claimed that the city was riddled with snobbishness and petty exclusiveness. He added, “It’s a shocking place for a stranger to find himself in. A closed round of bridge parties and similar events prevent any real sense of fellowship in the city. It is hide-bound with convention and respectability.”
How much must a pop star earn before he can afford a visit to the barber’s? Some of the artists on tv appear not to have had a haircut since they were born. – P Mummery, Whitstable, Kent.
Television highlights: Here and Now – Flying Saucers. Play of the Week – The Stone Dance with Michael Hordern. University Challenge.
Radio highlights: Storyteller. Tribute to the West Indies Cricket Team.
Weather: cloudy with rain. Outlook – rain at times. 17c, 63f.
Wednesday 25 September 1963
Quick-frozen fish will put an end to fresh-fish shops in twenty years, it was suggested yesterday. The suggestion was made at a public health inspectors’ conference in Eastbourne. Transporting wet fish in unsanitary wooden boxes will also be a factor.
Bad weather has hit the church funds at the Methodist Church, Stanford, Lincolnshire. Sixty women members agreed to put aside a coin each time the sun shone. They saved only 8s each.
A paradise for drunks, that’s Jersey. Death from cirrhosis of the liver is seven times more common in Jersey than in England and Wales. There are nine times as many convictions for drunken driving and twelve times as many people on Jersey go to hospital for alcoholic psychosis. The reason? Cheap drink, too many bars and long licensing hours.
Nylons are coming down in price. As cheap Italian stockings flood Britain, British firms are hitting back. A bestselling brand costing 6s 11d two years ago now sells for 3s 11d. The price of nylons is expected to fall further as improved production methods increase output.
The Springfields shattered show-business yesterday when they announced that they would split-up, at the height of their success. Vivacious blonde singer Dusty Springfield said the break-up was a “relief”. The Springfields will host a farewell concert in Blackpool on Sunday.
Television highlights: Crackerjack – new series. Citizen ‘63 – a university scientist. Our Man at St Mark’s – new comedy with Leslie Phillips and Anne Lawson.
Radio highlights: A Turkish Family. Book.
Weather: sunny periods and scattered showers. Outlook – changeable with rain and strong winds. 15c, 59f.
Thursday 26 September 1963
Lord Denning’s report on the Profumo Affair has placed Harold Macmillan and his Government in the dock – and left it to Parliament to try them. The report concluded: “It was the responsibility of the Prime Minister and his colleagues to deal with the situation and they did not succeed in doing so.”
After the Denning Report, the question of the dubious morals of people in high places remains unanswered. A quote from Christine Keeler in the report: “The more rich and powerful people I met, the more amazed I was at their private lives. Names who are household words take part in the most obscene things.”
The one comfort for the Government is that the “Headless Man”, a naked figure whose picture was produced during the Duchess of Argyll divorce case, was not a member of the Government. One minister underwent a physical examination to prove this to Lord Denning. The “Nude Man in a Mask” at a party was not a minister either.
Transport Minister Ernest Marples was caught on a train travelling without a ticket. He said that he left the ticket at home and would sent it to British Railways at a later date.
A report on crime in America revealed that Organised Crime is one of the country’s biggest businesses. The modern American criminal wears expensive suits and has dealings with leading industrialists and officials.
Football: European Cup, First Round, First Leg – Rangers 0 Real Madrid 1. First Round, Second Leg – Inter Milan 1 Everton 0 (Inter won 1 – 0 on aggregate).
Television highlights: The Denning Report. Zoo Time. Science and Understanding.
Radio highlights: Greek Serenade. A Scholar in Tramp’s Clothing.
Weather: cloudy, rain at times, windy. Outlook – sunny periods, some rain. 17c, 63f.
Friday 27 September 1963
At a court hearing yesterday, thirteen people were charged with fifteen offences related to the Great Train Robbery. One of the men charged was Ronald Arthur Biggs. His fingerprints were found on the lid of a Monopoly box at the gang’s hideout, Leatherslade Farm.
A five-year investigation into multi-cultural living will be carried out in Britain. The aim of the investigation will be to prevent the race-hatred seen in certain states in America.
The pick-handle bandits struck for the fourth time in a fortnight. Each time they’ve raided London banks stealing a total of £9,000. A girl cashier fainted during the latest raid.
A town’s official wasp-killer has been put out of action – because he’s allergic to wasps. From now on, Colin Drage of Huntington will concentrate on killing rats.
The Football League Cup may be scrapped at the end of the season. Fans are not interested in the competition – the average attendance for the 32 second round matches was only 8,560. Every time a club wins a round, it loses money, so it seems certain that the competition will not continue.
Television highlights: International Film Season – Handsome Antonio with Claudia Cardinale. Ready, Steady, Go! with the Springfields. Watch with Mother.
Radio highlights: Motoring and the Motorist. Alan Freeman.
Weather: sunny periods, showers. Outlook – rain. 17c, 63f.
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