Category: 1963

Saturday 12 October 1963

Lord Home has joined the Tory leadership race. Rab Butler is the favourite to replace Harold Macmillan. However, Lord Home is emerging as a dangerous rival to Mr Butler, Lord Hailsham and Reginald Maudling. Lord Home won a standing ovation at the Tory conference for his speech “the priceless prize of peace”.

Scotland Yard detectives have arrested a couple in connection with the Great Train Robbery. They are Walter Smith and his wife Patricia of Shoreditch. Fifteen other people are accused in connection with the robbery.

Motorists who open car doors in a dangerous manner will be liable to stiffer penalties under new regulations made yesterday. The rules governing the carrying of passengers will also be strengthened. At present, passengers can travel in the boot, or on the roof – providing they do not block the driver’s view. And on vehicles registered after 1 September 1965, all flashing indicators must be amber.

The United Nations Assembly voted 106 – 1 against South Africa’s racial segregation policy. Only South Africa voted for the policy.

Girls are showing an interest in soccer. Professor John Cohen explained. “The professional footballer is more glamorous and successful than ever before. This attracts the girls. You even find them hanging around at mid-week training sessions. The game is secondary. It’s the players they admire. The attraction can be the way a player rolls up his sleeves before the kicking starts.”

Television highlights: Grandstand – including the closing speech at the Conservative Party Conference. Espionage – spy series. The Avengers – Man With Two Shadows.

Radio highlights: Play – Comfort Me with Apples. Records. 

Weather: mainly dry. Outlook – mainly dry. 17c, 63f.

Sunday 13 October 1963

The ringing of the church bells in the little Welsh hamlet of Llangendeirne will be the signal for 200 people to start a protest against a plan to build a dam above their village. The local vicar, Rev G A Williams said, “After the recent Italian dam disaster, we feel even more conscious about the danger that threatens us.”

It’s National Old Folks Week. What can you do to help? Here are some suggestions. For many elderly people, the world shrinks because energies and fitness are no longer what they were. A small thing – smile, gift, letter, visit – can mean so much in a world grown small.

Just invented – a new variable switch for electric cookers which, it is claimed, will give a much wider range of cooking heats than at present.

A power breakdown set off burglar and fire alarms for six hours in Southend, yesterday.

The GPO has warned against sending fireworks through the post. Senders can be prosecuted. 

A parson’s son is the latest recruit to the pop parade. Stephen Sholt, singing as Jonny Douglas, has made a private recording, You Have Gotta Play it Rough, and hopes to interest agents. His father, Rev James Sholt, said, “Personally, I think pop music is loathsome and a filthy row. But I wish Stephen every success.” 

Football results: First Division – Bolton 3 Stoke 4, Fulham 0 Nottingham Forest 0, Ipswich 1 Chelsea 3, Sheffield Wednesday 3 West Ham 0, WBA 4 Aston Villa 3. Top three – Manchester United, Spurs, Blackburn (two points separate the top ten teams).

Television highlights: Home Dressmaking. Auto-Mechanics – the engine. Sunday Night at the London Palladium with the Beatles. 

Radio highlights: Join in and Swing. My Oedipus Complex.

Weather: sunny, risk of rain later. Outlook – mainly dry.

Monday 14 October 1963

Young motorbike fans talk about old age: “You’ve just got to accept it. It’s the same with a bike. When your rods start knocking, you’ve had it.” – Brian Miles, 17. “I don’t know any old people, never spoke to one.” – Richard Lewis, 18. “Let’s face it, old people are blooming barmy.” – Albert Sutton, 19. “When I’m old, I’ll tell ya what I think about it, but I hope I’m not around.” – Steve Clark, 18.

Beatles fans in Palladium battle with the police. Five hundred screaming teenaged girls besieged the Beatles at the London Palladium yesterday. Two inspectors leading a force of twenty sergeants and constables walked slowly towards the girls. The twisting, shouting fans held their ground, then backed away. The fans brandished pictures and record sleeves of their idols. The Beatles wanted to go outside, but the management said it was too dangerous. So, they popped their heads around the stage door. There was a tremendous screech as the girls flung themselves at the gate, but the police held them back.

The police set up crash barriers in Paris as thousands of Parisians queued outside the home of Edith Piaf, the singing star who died on Friday, to pay their last respects. Her funeral is today.

Every 41 seconds between January 1 and September 30 an Automobile Association member broke down somewhere on Britain’s 195,336 miles of roads. Major causes were electrical faults, 37%, fuel shortage, 23%, and defective tyres, 17%.

Personal Advertisements: Jim, please write – Rene. Gas, wtr, htrs, fr, £2. Gip 3601. The Victors are on their way!

Television highlights: Kitchen Party with Fanny Cradock. World in Action – the Tory crisis. Here and Now – Shooting and Shotguns.

Radio highlights: Talking About Music. News – new nightly bulletin.

Weather: sunny spells, cloudy later. Outlook – rain, bright spells. 17c, 63f.

Tuesday 15 October 1963

Engine driver Jack Mills, who was coshed during the Great Train Robbery, was yesterday presented with £25 6s and a Certificate of Courage and Resource by British Railways. Mr Mills has not been able to work since the attack.

A young wife complained that she was chained to the sink, morning, noon and night, while her husband engaged in his passion for playing the trombone. The wife, Mrs June Arnold, sought a divorce, and the divorce was granted on the grounds of cruelty.

The roast beef of Old England is in danger of losing its flavour. The taste is being sacrificed for tenderness. This is done through barley-fed beef as opposed to grass-fed. If this trend continues the British family might lose its taste for British beef.

Twenty-five East Germans, including two border guards, escaped to the West at the weekend.

In a survey of twenty people, eight said that their beds squeak. One reason is that people are spending their money on upgraded televisions instead of buying new beds. Divan-type beds are less likely to squeak than bedsteads. Competition for new beds is likely to increase with the introduction of new cars, refrigerators and washing machines.

After two weeks of broadcasts, the BBC has announced that it will drop its pop music programme, Music to Midnight, and, in the new year, replace it with a series of plays, Just Before Midnight. A BBC spokesman said, “We think there will be a larger audience for these plays.”

Television highlights: Town Meeting of the World – the Christian Revolution. No Hiding Place. Dial Rix – farce with Brian Rix.

Radio highlights: Time For Laughter. Expanding Christendom.

Weather: cloudy with drizzle. Outlook – sunshine and showers. 15c, 59f.

Wednesday 16 October 1963

Latest Tory leadership odds: Rab Butler 5/4 against, Lord Hailsham 6/4, Lord Home 5/1, Reginald Maudling 8/1. 

The Queen is replacing her television sets, upgrading to the new 625 lines. She has thirty sets at Buckingham Place and twenty at Windsor Castle. All have been hired, not bought.

An “Automatic Quartermaster”, which will deal with Army paperwork, will be opened by the War Minister Joseph Godber today. This Super Computer, cost £500,000, can read 1,000,000 characters a minute, which means that it could read the Bible in three minutes.

Liverpool is set to become a holiday hotspot, thanks to the Beatles and other pop groups with the Mersey Beat. Hundreds of teenagers have written to guest houses in the city, asking about accommodation. A British Railways spokesman said, “It would not be surprising if we started running excursions soon.”

The bell ringers of Oakham, Rutland will ring a Rutland Surprise – a peal of more than 5,000 changes, lasting 23 hours 20 minutes – on Saturday, when Britain’s smallest county celebrates its successful battle to remain independent.

Football Results: First Division – Arsenal 4 Tottenham 4. Everton 4 Sheffield United 1. European Cup Winners’ Cup – Manchester United 6 Willem II 1 (aggregate 7 -2), Inter Cities Fairs Cup – Sheffield Wednesday 4 DOS Utrecht 1 (aggregate 8 – 2).

Television highlights: What Next in Windows? – Discussion. Preview of the Motor Show with Sterling Moss. Professional Wrestling from Huddersfield.

Radio highlights: Aspects of the Renaissance. The Pop Art of Soccer.

Weather: sunny spells. Outlook – changeable. 14c, 57f.

Thursday 17 October 1963

A £12,000,000 order for four Concord supersonic airliners was announced yesterday by the British Aircraft Corporation. A BAC spokesman said that the order placed by American Airlines brings the total of US orders to thirteen. Deliveries are expected to begin in 1970.

Many of the BBC’s top executives are bitterly opposed to presenting controversial and outspoken programmes on television, such as That Was The Week That Was. Mr Hugh Carleton Greene, the BBC’s director general, is happy with this policy, but other executives, like Sir David Milne, believe the BBC should maintain high standards of taste on television.

The Beatles have been invited to join the Royal Command Performance at London’s Prince of Wales Theatre on 4 November. Marlene Dietrich, at 58 the world’s most glamorous grandmother, is on the bill too. She will sing Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Other stars include Dicky Henderson, Harry Secombe, Tommy Steele and Charlie Drake.

The colour this season is red. Buyers report that red clothes for women are walking out of the stores four times as fast as any other colour. And the most sought after shade of all is scarlet. The reason? Red is flattering and cheering. And it gets you noticed.

Patricia Idenden of London writes: “I think it is very unjust of you to insinuate that the Beatles will be “here today, gone tomorrow”. This, of course, is absolute rubbish. When I am 80 I will still remember the world’s greatest group along with many others younger than I!”

Television highlights: Amateur Boxing – London v Paris. Magic Circle Festival. The Saint.

Radio highlights: Churchill Book Extracts. Science Survey. 

Weather: rain then sunny periods. Outlook – changeable. 14c, 57f.

Friday 18 October 1963

The new prime minister will be named today with Mr R A Butler the favourite to get the job. His closest challenger appears to be Lord Hailsham. Ahead of the announcement, Tory “kingmakers” visited Mr Harold Macmillan, who is recovering in hospital after his recent illness.

A well-known solicitor was arrested yesterday by detectives investigating the Great Train Robbery. The solicitor, John Denby Wheater, will appear in court in Aylesbury, Bucks today charged with conspiring with nine other men already in custody to stop the mail train with intent to rob, and harbouring, assisting and maintaining Leonard Dennis Field – one of the men in custody. Brian Field, the managing clerk of Wheater’s firm, is also in custody.

The big Telstar link-up on Tuesday between New York, Rome and London proved that television is still in its infancy, can be a tricky toy, and dangerous when taken too earnestly. Four top churchmen discussed Christian Unity. However, much of the discussion was two-sided because the link to Rome was lost twice, for a total of twenty minutes. Until the technology improves, maybe the broadcasters should feature something lighter, like the Beatles.

Merchant seaman Michael Fish has admitted that he invented the story about a nail being driven into his head to cure his headache. “I’d been drinking rather heavily,” he said, “and met two former shipmates in a pub. There was a bit of a free-for-all and one of the men hit me with a cribbage board, which had a nail in it for scoring. When I came round, I felt the nail in my head.” A police spokesman said, “We would like to interview these two men.”

Napoleon Bonaparte’s bed was sold for £3,800 at Sotheby’s yesterday. It was bought by Mrs O Alber of Switzerland.

Television highlights: Boyd QC – legal series with Michael Denison. South of Panama – a journey through South America. Roving Report – Indonesia.

Radio highlights: Peter Murray Show. Speedy Disc Show.

Weather: sunny intervals, mostly dry. Outlook – changeable. 17c, 63f.

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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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https://books2read.com/u/bMqNPG

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