Year 1967

4th January The 6pm news on the telly. Donald Campbell has been killed a split second before breaking his own water speed record in his jet-powered boat, the Bluebird K7. He was travelling at more than 300mph (483 km/h) on Coniston Water when the boat was catapulted 50ft (15m) into the air after its nose lifted. Forty-six-year-old Mr Campbell was killed instantly as the boat hit the water and immediately disintegrated. He was just 200 yards (183m) from the end of the second leg of his attempt when the accident happened.

On the first leg he had reached speeds of 297mph (478km/h), which meant he had to top 308mph (496km/h) on the return journey. Initial reports suggest he had actually reached speeds of up to 320mph (515km/h). This means the water speed record of 276.33mph (444.61km/h), which Campbell himself set in Australia in 1964, remains unbroken as both legs of the attempt were not completed. Had he broken this barrier it would have been his eighth world water speed record.

Divers have attempted to recover Mr Campbell's body which is submerged in more than 120ft (37m) of water, but as yet have been unable to locate him. Norman Buckley, chief observer for the attempt and holder of five water speed records, said: "Donald wanted to put the record so high that it would be unassailable by any foreign competitor. "I think conditions were as perfect as I have seen them on Coniston, but Donald was going into the unknown and he was well aware of the risks." Mr Campbell's wife, Tonia Bern, flew to Coniston from London late this evening.

5th January The start of the new Spring-Summer term 1967, I believe something of this 'train of events' occurred in the story of Upbury Manor. There were some staff duty rearrangements due to Mrs Fisk (one of the French language teacher's) having taken maternity leave. As a result, our 3A2 class lost the good services of Miss Lake (our French language teacher), when she was time-tabled to stand in for not only Mrs Fisk's classes (teaching French) but also keeping some of her own existing classes. I'd been rapidly improving, catching up on my French studies with Miss Lake's extra help during the previous term, and now to my regret that had come to a sudden halt. And poor Miss Lake, the extra workload and the strain I can imagine must have taken a heavy toll on her during this year. A supply (French language) teacher, Mrs Garth, was assigned to take over the place vacated by Miss Lake in the 3A2 class for the remaining time until Mrs Fisk felt ready to return to her teaching post. For Mrs Garth, I cannot remember whether that teaching post was to become permanent?

7th January On BBC 1 TV  The Corporation censors cut a seven-minute discussion on Juke Box Jury of the Game's "The Addicted Man" for its explicit descriptions of drug use

Throughout the 1960's I've enjoyed hearing all different kinds of music mainly through broadcast pirate radio, TV pop shows, and buying a limited few vinyl records when I had jobs washing neighbours cars and had a paper round earning 17/6d a week. Favourites were Soul, Funk, R&B and Rock pop.

18th January The 6pm news on the telly. The man who claims to be the 'Boston Strangler' has been jailed for life after being found guilty of assault and armed robbery against four women in Connecticut. Albert DeSalvo says he murdered 13 single women in the Boston area between June 1962 and January 1964, creating a climate of fear in the city.

The women, aged between 19 and 85, were sexually assaulted and then strangled to death in their homes. Some were found with trademark ribbons around their necks. But the 35-year-old has not been charged with any of the murders because of a lack of evidence.

During the seven-day trial, DeSalvo's lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, attempted to prove that his client was guilty of the murders, and should be found insane and sent to a psychiatric hospital for life. Mr Bailey described DeSalvo as "uncontrollable" and sending him to prison would be a cruel punishment. He said: "There were 13 acts of homicide by a completely homicidal vegetable walking in the form of a human being." But the jury found DeSalvo legally sane and not guilty of the murders. The judge said: "This defendant must be incarcerated for as long as he shall live or until psychiatric science can cure him."

The former military police officer has been held on charges of rape in the Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts since 1964. He will be kept there pending an appeal against his conviction. Mr Bailey has said that shortly after DeSalvo arrived at the hospital, which has a designated section for patients with criminal records, he told other inmates that he murdered the women. DeSalvo has said: "I would go home and watch what I had done on TV. Then I would cry like a baby."

Because DeSalvo's police record was filed under "breaking and entering", he never came under suspicion during the murder hunt. Detectives, pathologists and psychologists were investigating known sex offenders. Some women in Boston were so terrified by the murders that they carried pepper, ammonia and tear-gas bombs to protect themselves.

27th January The 6pm news on the telly. Three American astronauts have died after fire swept through the Apollo spacecraft designed for a manned flight to the Moon during rehearsals at Cape Kennedy. It is thought an electrical spark started in the area holding oxygen supplies and other support systems. The fire spread quickly in the oxygen-filled atmosphere of the capsule, killing the crew within seconds.

The space crew, flight commander Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, were taking part in a test run for the launch of the first Apollo mission. Navy Lieutenant Commander Chaffee, aged 31, had never flown in space before. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Grissom, 39, was the first American to make two flights. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel White, 35, made America's first space walk. It is feared the disaster on launch pad 34 could delay America's plans to put a man on the Moon by as much as a year.

The three men were in the command module, mounted on the Saturn rocket as if ready for launch, but Saturn was not loaded with fuel. At 1831 hours one of the astronauts was heard to say, "Fire, I smell fire." Two seconds later, another astronaut, probably Lt Col White said, "Fire in the cockpit." The fire spread through the cabin rapidly. The last communication from the crew was heard just 17 seconds later.

The pressurised atmosphere inside the capsule meant the astronauts would not have had time to open the hatch. Under ideal conditions, the process takes about 90 seconds. It involves venting the cabin to relieve the interior pressure which helps hold the door closed. It took technicians on the outside about five minutes after the fire had started to open the hatch.

There will be a full investigation into what caused the fire, but already questions are being asked about whether safety corners were cut in the race to be first to the Moon. The astronauts knew there were risks involved. Lt Col Grissom became the second American in space in the Liberty Bell 7. On splashdown, the space capsule filled with water and sank and he almost drowned.

A few weeks before the launch pad tragedy, he wrote: "There will be risks, as there are in any experimental programme, and sooner or later, we're going to run head-on into the law of averages and lose somebody. "I hope this never happens, and... perhaps it never will, but if it does, I hope the American people won't think it's too high a price to pay for our space programme." The Apollo mission's maiden flight was due to blast off into space on 21 February.

GEC Crystal 13

A new affordable portable TV set was advertised to be able to receive the BBC 2 channel and the other TV channels. It was called a GEC Crystal 13 "dual-standard" 405/625 line monochrome TV receiver. Boy it was small, the tube size being 13 inch, the set weighed about 20 lbs. I'm not sure how my parents were persuaded to buy it, but they did and I was glad about that. It was thereafter whisked up to our bedroom and lived there from then on. The main TV set, rented, stayed in the lounge where 405 line ITV and BBC1 channels were viewed. I found many BBC 2 all new TV programs, documentaries, arts, theatre, films and music to be really stimulating and thought provoking.

15th February 1967 B.B.C.1 and ITV get the go ahead for colour service broadcasting in three years.

Colour Television service arrival soon

The MAD MAGAZINE

It was during my period of working a paper round from the Spot newsagents, that I started reading and later went on to regularly buy Mad magazine each month.

The themed variations of the image of Alfred E. Neuman on each months front cover issue, the boy with misaligned eyes, a gap-toothed smile. It was a combined comic strip book and magazine which often featured parodies of ongoing American culture, including advertising campaigns, the nuclear family, the media, big business, education and publishing. In the 1960s and beyond, it satirised topics such as the sexual revolution, hippies, the generation gap, psychoanalysis, gun politics, pollution, the Vietnam War and recreational drug use. The magazine struck a balanced tone, viewing counterculture drugs such as cannabis and LSD, the same as mainstream drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Mad always satirised Democrats as mercilessly as it did Republicans. Mad employed top rate writer's and artist's presenting comic spoofs, of well known TV shows, in a cartoon strip.

9th March The 6pm news on the telly. The daughter of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has requested political asylum at the United States Embassy in India. The American Mutual Radio network broke the news but the American State Department has so far refused to comment.

Since her father's death in 1953, little has been heard of 42-year-old Svetlana Alliluyeva - who prefers to be known by her mother's maiden name. She has been living in a flat in Moscow near the British Embassy working as a researcher and translator.

Svetlana is the only daughter of Joseph Stalin by his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva who committed suicide in 1932 when Svetlana was nine years old. When she was just 18, Svetlana, married a Jewish fellow student at Moscow University against her father's wishes. She had a son by him but the marriage was dissolved and her ex-husband sent to his death in a Siberian labour camp.

Her second husband was Yuri Zhdanov, the son of Andrei, a close ally of Stalin. This marriage was also dissolved. In 1964 she married Brajesh Singh, an Indian communist. He died last November and Svetlana came to India on 20 December last year to bury his ashes. She is believed to be planning to go to Geneva, Switzerland, after the Indian authorities refused her permission to stay in the country for fear of marring relations with the Soviet Union. She leaves behind a grown-up son and daughter in Moscow.

18th March The 6pm news on the telly. Supertanker Torrey Canyon has run aground on rocks between Land's End and the Scilly Isles and is leaking its cargo of oil into the sea. The 974-ft (297m) tanker, which was carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil, hit Pollard's Rock in the Seven Stones reef. The oil patch already forming is believed to be the biggest ever to threaten the West Country coastline.

There are fears that the beaches of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset could be hit by the slick. The Navy is plotting the direction of the oil, which is heading slowly towards the French coast, but say a slight change in wind direction could send it towards Cornish beaches.

Troops will regularly patrol around the coastline to give some indication of where the oil might be heading. The 2nd Infantry Brigade, stationed at Plymouth, is standing by to assist if the oil threatens beaches. A Penzance lifeboat official said the position was "serious" because the oil could cover the whole of the south-west coast for the next year.

The crew of the Seven Stones lightship, two miles off the reef, said they realised the tanker was in danger when she was still a mile from the disaster. There are also fears that the supertanker could catch fire or break-up in heavy seas. Up to 10,000 gallons of oil detergent are on their way from Grangemouth in Scotland to Falmouth.

The Arts and Crafts subjects in the school: From a boys perspective

This was all quite an interesting, leisurely and absorbing time away from the academic subjects taught during the other parts of the day.

Along with the subjects of art, wood & metal workshop for boys and domestic science & needlework for girls, there was Mr Peters crafts class, which was specifically only taught to the 1st and 2nd year (in mixed classes of boys and girls) of the lower school. At the time of 1964-66 his workshop studio was equipped with a kiln, a foot treadle powered potters wheel and a small printing press. Crafts taught included basket weaving, book binding, clay pottery, tile glazing art, paper folding art, paper mache and sculpting. The potters wheel was used by the class but nothing I can remember sculpting and moulding from clay was shaped well, painted, fired and good enough for taking home to display. Sixpenny fairground stall prizes of plaster ornaments and live goldfish in a polythene water filled bag were a much better prospect.

Basket bowl made in 1965

One of the earliest simple craft projects, everyone should remember, was something called a magic wallet. Of all the things I had made during my time in the crafts class, the only two I still have are a white ceramic wall tile, of which I hand painted with a tropical bird portrait design, glazed and kiln fired during the year 1965. The other, a woven cane shallow basket made in the same year, I did keep for a long time after, until I left home. I believe my eldest brother might have it stored someplace in his attic? Now I've found my 1965 year woven basket bowl. My brother Raymond had it stored away, forgotten, in the bottom of one of the cupboards at the old family home in Gillingham. Have not seen this bowl for near on forty years. It may not seem important to anyone but myself. It brings to mind the carefree side of school craftwork days along with the smell of ink, paper glue, wallpaper paste, gum and the taste of it.

The wood and the metalwork classes were held by Mr Coulson and Mr Twyman respectively. Mr Twyman taught both woodwork and  metalwork. Within the first two years of schooling it were the foundation of learning, measurement, the techniques of choosing the correct tools and using the tools and materials. The classes were located on the ground floor of the central building block, facing the staff car parking area. This building had a large external wall clock on the upper storey side facing North, overlooking the sports field.

During 1966-67 in woodwork class I made a wood fruit bowl polished with beeswax, a coffee table with fold away legs and a plasterers skimmer tool and other projects but cannot now recall what these were. In metalwork class, I learned forge work, soldering, braising and working with iron, steel, brass, and copper. No memory though of doing any work with aluminium and bronze. Amongst the brass metal products I made were a hexagonal shape ashtray, small bowl, and a jug. The forge work projects produced a brass poker and shovel and other items, but most of them have since been lost during my travels. I still have the small brass (bowl and the jug) and the wood fruit bowl. The hammered brass hexagonal shape dish ashtray, remains a missing item. I have a feeling I lost that during the years that I lived in Weymouth.

Coffee table made in 1967. Yellow Formica top with Black/Gold edge trim

The hand painted glazed tile from 1965
The small brass bowl made in 1966
The brass jug made in 1966
Wood bowl made in 1967

Further stimulating developments at Upbury..

As from around the early spring term 1967, I can write about this, because of being in the thick of it, positioned as a bemused spectator to recall these happenings. The girls, some of whom with the advanced figure, fashion conscious 2nd and 3rd formers, turned up at school, wearing a different new type of underwear designed by Mary Quant. These garments were called "mini-knickers" and "pantalettes", and were close fitting shortie type bloomers, dazzling and coloured (in scarlet or blue) with white garter lace leg trim. These girls with their school skirts worn rolled up mini-style, and if you were the chosen lucky boys, they would flash their flags to tantalise during the class break times on the school sports field. This was the transition era when the wearing of stockings and suspender belts, were being superseded by the nylon fashion tights to match up with the new mini skirts and dresses.

To my memory, there was no fuss made, coming from the teachers, about girls customising the school uniform to suit fashion trends. So long as they didn't stray too far away from the basic uniform look. In fact they were encouraged to make pop fashion clothing designs in their craft and needlework projects. The summer of 1967, they organised and staged a fashion show at Upbury, to demonstrate and promote their artistic creative skills.

And now to the boys, whom being still 'not with it' enough to come up with much of a fashion surprise to replace the humble satchel and duffle bag for to carry sports attire and their books and school work. The boys in the A stream classes, started to use the brief case as the means to carry all items in. The case, with the Gladstone style hinge opening, a pretentious status symbol, to be seen with, to show some element of sophistication and lofty ambition of career path to some high postion in the civil service or profession. I was also guilty of being influenced and taken in by this and then went on to pester my parents into buying a brief case for me to take to school, instead of a duffle bag.

Upbury Manor School: New building completions

When the new, separate purpose built metal/wood craft block building was opened in this year 1967, it was then able to operate a fully equipped forge and workshops with new modern quality machine tools, lathes and plant. Much more complex projects work were then possible for exam courses leading to industry recognised certified qualifications.

This new facility has been constructed on the upper school playground some distance West of the far end of the long block of classrooms. A second extension wing block of classrooms was built onto the North end of the long classroom block, giving the block end a 'T' shape. At the time of writing, for reference, I do not have a 1960's architect's plan of the new buildings. On sole reliance on my memory, it is not clear the exact shape and position of the craft block when it was first constructed in 1967. Even though I did wood/metal craftwork class in there, during that era, I remember very little of its architecture. Later on, during the years post 1970, the craft block building was substantially altered and extended a number of times, therefore obliterating any evidence of the original construction. For my pre 1971 picture of the complete school site, I had to make a studied guess about the original craft block, based on the shape and position of the last view of the crafts building complex before it was demolished during April 2014. The aerial picture is my re-created view of Upbury Manor school as was during the years 1967 to 1970.

The Easter and summer funfairs and Billy Smarts circus and others on the Great Lines

(Forrests, Gerry Cottles, Bertram Mills)

The large area of common grass land of the Great Lines adjacent to the school playing field and Marlborough road was a great leisure asset to the local community and was also open for seasonal public entertainment use by travelling funfairs and circuses. The site was accessed from a gated private road off from Marlborough road near the Paget street end junction. The private road lead to Sallyport in Brompton. During the early 1960's years, I was only ever taken once to see a circus show there. Which circus was it? I'm unable to recall. It could have been any one from Billy Smarts, Gerry Cottles or Bertram Mills). All throughout my years of school, there were the annual Easter and summer funfairs on the Great lines, and the Gillingham park fetes. The 'Forrests' funfair was the main one and I think there was a smaller travelling funfair that appeared at half term holidays. The name of that funfair, I don't know on first thought. Life was never dull in those times because there was lots of events and activities taking place in many halls, premises and rooms for hire in and around the town. Dance halls, parties, hobby club events, meetings, jumble sales, 1 day auctions sales etc. Over time, some halls have been demolished or converted to housing or other use during various areas redevelopments. I'll list those I remember (not including church halls, established club buildings and cinemas).

• Oddfellows Hall (Vicarage Road)
• Labour Hall (Alleyway linking Belmont road/College avenue)
• Paget Halls (Paget Row, a narrow road pathway linking Paget st/Lock st)
• Pavillion Ballroom (Canterbury street)
• Aurora Hotel Ballroom (Brompton road)
• Foresters Hall, King Street
• A large hall (adjacent St Marks Church Canterbury street)
• Mission Hall (Cross street)
• Gospel Hall (Skinner street)
• Masonic Hall (Alleyway off Connaught road near Plaza cinema)
• Franklin rooms (Franklin road)
• Gym club (Top floor room of old Co-op shop/Liberal HQ Nile road)
• A hall (near St Augustines Church Rock avenue)
• A large Invicta Co-op hall (adjacent public lavatories Gardiner street/High street)
• Kingdom Hall (Gillingham road not far from the Fleur de Lis pub)
• Rechabite Hall, 44 Queens Road, Gillingham

29th March The 6pm news on the telly. The stricken oil tanker, the Torrey Canyon, is refusing to sink despite more than a day of heavy bombing. The supertanker, snagged on rocks between Land's End and the Scilly Isles for 11 days, began breaking up three days ago, leaking more of its cargo into the sea.

Bombing is a last-ditch attempt to send the supertanker to the bottom of the sea, and burn off the tens of thousands of tons of oil which have already formed a slick 35 miles long and up to 20 miles wide around the area. The bombing raids began yesterday, when eight Royal Naval Buccaneers set off from Lossiemouth in Scotland. Since then, the RAF and the Royal Navy have dropped 62,000lbs of bombs, 5,200 gallons of petrol, 11 rockets and large quantities of napalm onto the ship.

Despite direct hits, and a towering inferno of flames and smoke as the oil slick began to burn, the tanker refused to sink. The mission was called off for the day when particularly high spring tides put out the flames. A disappointed statement from the Home Office said "We have been informed officially that the fire in the wreckage of the Torrey Canyon is out. We cannot say at this stage what the next step will be."

It was decided at first light this morning to carry on bombing. Holiday makers gathered on the cliffs to watch the towering column of flames and smoke which could be seen up to 100 miles away. The shipwreck has coated miles of Cornish beach in brown sludge, in the worst environmental disaster to date. Oil pollution now stretches from the area of Hartland Point in North Devon, to Start Point, south-west of Dartmouth. Another slick is heading towards the French coast of Normandy. Dozens of ships have been spraying the oil with detergent since the start of the crisis, in an unsuccessful attempt to disperse it. The slick is still creeping along the south coast, and it is estimated it will reach the Solent within 10 days.

April. The VIP in the form of the famous Jennie Lee, the Labour Government Minister for the Arts visited Upbury Manor, and given a tour of the departments. A TV news crew were filming the event. I somehow missed that (not being in the right place at the right time) and never had a glimpse of her on her walkabout route in the school.

Saturday April 15th A group of Americans, about 30 in number, most of them students, paraded twice round Grosvenor Square, London, chanting slogans. Their plan, to set fire to a mock child's coffin outside the United States Embassy, as a protest against their Government's Vietnam policy. As they marched round the square, shouting and carrying banners, a policeman snatched up the coffin, which was draped with the American flag, then run back across the road and shoved the coffin into the boot of a waiting police car. Later the demonstrator's dispersed to Speakers' Corner, in Hyde Park.

20th April At a Press conference it was announced that the B.B.C.'s full service of colour television will start on Saturday, 2nd December 1967. A preview in colour of one of the items to be broadcast later on B.B.C.2 "Late Night Line-up" was shown to the Press. Tonight, viewers in the Midlands and London who have colour sets will see the first preliminary experimental colour programme broadcast output of Late Night Line-up.

From 2nd December B.B.C.2 will transmit most of its programmes in colour, adding up to between 15 and 25 hours a week. The controller of B.B.C.2, Mr. David Attenborough, announcing the plans, said that these hours would be four times as much as any other country is doing at the moment.

From 1st July, B.B.C. will have a colour-launching period and will transmit regularly about five hours of colour programmes each week until the start of the full service. These programmes will include Wicker's World, The Virginian, Man Alive, The Andy Williams Show and many outside broadcasts, including the second half of the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Mr. Attenborough said that manufacture of outside broadcast colour equipment was well ahead, and it was planned to use the equipment at the centre court to show all the play there. As a result there should be 40 hours of colour in the first week of the launching period.

Late Night Line-up will be transmitted periodically in colour until the launch period start in July. Viewers with monochrome sets are unlikely to notice any difference in the technical quality. The main purpose of these broadcasts will be to give experience to engineers. The news will be transmitted in colour, but will also carry black and white film.

24th April The 6pm news on the telly. The Soviet Union has announced the catastrophic failure of its latest space mission, with the crash of Soyuz 1 and the death of the cosmonaut on board. Colonel Vladimir Komarov, 40, is the first known victim of a space flight. He was an experienced cosmonaut, on his second flight, and had completed all his experiments successfully before returning to Earth.

But within seconds of landing, just after he re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, the strings of the parachute intended to slow his descent apparently became tangled. The spaceship hurtled to the ground from four miles up. It is likely that Colonel Komarov was killed instantly on impact.

A message of condolence from the Communist Party in Moscow described him as "a loyal son of our motherland and a courageous explorer of space." He has been decorated posthumously with a second Gold Star for heroism, and his ashes will be buried at the Kremlin wall - one of the highest honours accorded to a Soviet citizen.

News of the death of Colonel Komarov was greeted with regret and concern in the United States. The head of the US space programme, James Webb, called for greater cooperation in space exploration. The team of 47 American astronauts working at Houston in Texas sent a telegram of condolence to their Russian rivals.

The announcement from Moscow gave few details surrounding events leading up to the disaster, and there remain a number of mysteries surrounding the last moments of the doomed flight. The Soyuz 1 is known to be a new and heavier type of spacecraft, built as part of the Soviet attempt to land a man on the Moon, and Colonel Komarov was thought to be testing it when the disaster happened.

Correspondents in Moscow had indications that all was not well with the flight from as early as yesterday, when earlier reports on Moscow Radio suddenly stopped and there was no mention of the space flight for nearly 13 hours. Experts have questioned why Colonel Komarov did not use an ejection system to get out of the spacecraft. The cosmonaut was also known to have suffered from heart problems.

Kent Messenger 50 mile walk:The final one of the era

Friday night 5th May 1967, from Margate's Dreamland, more than 6000 walkers were directed to start at the clock tower and on to the seaward side of the road to Birchington. This year due to ever increasing costs, the entrants pre-paid fee was set at 7 shillings and sixpence per person. Police reminded all walkers to use footpaths and verges, where possible, otherwise they should walk facing oncoming traffic. The walk, the K.M. reporter wrote, "is believed to be the biggest of its kind in the world, is a spectacle never to be forgotten by both entrants and spectators." You can look for your name in all these published lists of entrants to the K.M. walk for 1967.

Similar to the previous four K.M. 50 mile walks, the refreshment stop checkpoints were at Wemyss Barracks Canterbury (16 miles) and at Templar Barracks, Ashford (32 miles), together with secret checkpoints along the route to deter any cheating. Vans patroled the route, picking up walkers who wanted to drop out after Canterbury, to be taken to Maidstone by bus or van. A cooked breakfast was served to those walkers reaching the finish point at Invicta Park Barracks Maidstone (50 miles). A certificate was awarded for any walker reaching one of the set checkpoints or the finish point.

Whether you were there walking the miles, or at home snugly tucked up in bed, the offshore commercial pop music station 'Radio Caroline' (South) was on-air specially broadcasting record requests overnight to entertain the weary walkers. View the Caroline Countdown Of Sound chart records played, selected from the charts of the week beginning 22nd April 1967 and the 29th April 1967.

Here is the complete Kent Messenger walk pictures 8 page supplement from that last time in 1967. It contains the full lists of those thousands of entrant names, together with their home towns/villages, that reached each of the set checkpoints and the finish point.

This year saw an explosion of the number of organisations, commercial and charitable, sponsoring entrants to the K.M. walk. It was a huge success, but the Kent Messenger was soon to expand its newspaper group into a larger business during early 1968, which soaked up all its resourses and funding. After that, there was never another K.M. organised 50 mile walk. On a very small scale on a Saturday night 1st June 1968, a 50 mile Margate to Gillingham charity sponsored walk was organised by the Medway Muscular Dystrophy charity group. This received hardly any mention in the K.M. newspaper, though may have been reported in the Chatham News, Chatham Standard and the Chatham Observer newspapers. I haven't the access to those archives for that time.

10th May The 6pm news on the telly. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of rock band the Rolling Stones have appeared before magistrates in Chichester, West Sussex, charged with drug offences. The magistrates heard that after a tip-off, police raided Mr Richards's mansion in Redlands Road, West Wittering on the evening of Sunday 12 February during a party. They searched the house, interviewed eight men and one woman and found various tablets and substances that were later examined by the Metropolitan Police Laboratory.

During the police raid, officers took away a number of items including Chinese joss sticks suspected of masking the sweet smell of cannabis resin and pudding basins holding cigarette ash. Stones' lead singer Mr Jagger, 24, has been accused of illegally possessing four tablets containing amphetamine sulphate and methylamphetamine hydrochloride. Guitarist Mr Richards, also 24, is charged with allowing his house to be used for the purpose of smoking cannabis.

Both Mr Jagger and Mr Richards pleaded not guilty and were released on bail to appear for trial at West Sussex Quarter Sessions on 22 June. Outside the court, a crowd of young fans were waiting to see the stars but the two men were driven away in a chauffeur-driven car from the back of the building. A third man, 29-year-old Robert Fraser, a gallery owner has been charged with possession of heroin and eight capsules of methylamphetamine hydrochloride.

12th May The 6pm news on the telly. The British Government has given the green light to plans to convert Stansted into London's third airport. President of the Board of Trade Douglas Jay told the House Of Commons that the small airfield in Essex would become the site for a £47m international airport by 1974.

Announcing the decision following the conclusions of a White Paper, Mr Jay said the verdict had been reached "after very careful consideration". There had been considerable support for an alternative site on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent but Stansted was eventually selected by an inter-departmental committee.

The cost of developing Stansted, where there was already an airport with a 10,000ft runway, would be far cheaper than building a new airfield from scratch. But Mr Jay said that the government had carried out a thorough re-examination and was satisfied that Stansted, though by no means ideal, was the best area for the airport.

Under proposals in the White Paper, the current airfield will be extended from 800 acres to 2,500 acres and once operational will include two parallel runways for supersonic and jumbo jets. On top of the £41m development, another £6m will be allocated for road and rail access.

When the new travel facilities are completed it will take 70 minutes by road using the M11 and 45 minutes by rail to reach the airport from central London. The development will also create jobs for over 20,000 people. But 20 schools and a hospital will have to close and around 7,000 houses will be exposed to high levels of noise.

Peter Kirk, MP for Saffron Walden, objected to the development and said the decision would be received with "deep resentment and bitterness in his constituency". But Mr Jay said: "We realise there will be regret in the neighbourhood but this is inescapable wherever the airport is placed. "No matter where the airport is sited, there will be a disturbance to some people who live and work in the area."

Farmers also objected to the development on the grounds that it would lead to the loss of good agricultural land. The National Farmers Union said: "From an agricultural point of view, few if any sites could be more disastrous. "The government has opted for the easy and unimaginative course in preference to the realistic and bold planning for which we had hoped."

Mr Jay defended the proposals and said that compensation would be "arranged in the normal course of compulsory land purchase." He said that Stansted would begin operating scheduled services from next year. Improvements to all three of London's international airports including Gatwick and Heathrow, would cost £100m.

12th May 1967 a newly named group 'Procol Harum' released their debut record called "A Whiter Shade of Pale". Weeks later on, this was played over the P.A. system during a morning school assembly by one of the class form groups that were conducting the school assembly that day. This record's song lyrics, laced in surrealism and mystery, were widely open to interpretation. Were you ever puzzled by that fact that the last chorus was sung three times consecutively up until the recording fadeout? Around three decades later, an extra two verses of the song's lyrics (originally omitted from the 1967 recording) were revealed. It appears the reason being for the verses edit, in my opinion, was to shorten the record run time to about 4 minutes, and also the full lyrical content might of triggered the BBC to ban the record from their playlist. Despite the missing two final verses, the original recording proved a classic, up there amongst the greatest of all time.

The full lyrics:

We skipped the light fandango

 turned cartwheels 'cross the floor

 I was feeling kinda seasick

 but the crowd called out for more

 The room was humming harder

 as the ceiling flew away

 When we called out for another drink

 the waiter brought a tray

And so it was that later

 as the miller told his tale

 that her face, at first just ghostly,

 turned a whiter shade of pale

She said, 'There is no reason

 and the truth is plain to see.'

 But I wandered through my playing cards

 and would not let her be

 one of sixteen vestal virgins

 who were leaving for the coast

 and although my eyes were open

 they might have just as well've been closed

And so it was that later

 as the miller told his tale

 that her face, at first just ghostly,

 turned a whiter shade of pale

She said, 'I'm home on shore leave,'

 though in truth we were at sea

 so I took her by the looking glass

 and forced her to agree

 saying, 'You must be the mermaid

 who took Neptune for a ride.'

 But she smiled at me so sadly

 that my anger straightway died

And so it was that later

 as the miller told his tale

 that her face, at first just ghostly,

 turned a whiter shade of pale

If music be the food of love

 then laughter is its queen

 and likewise if behind is in front

 then dirt in truth is clean

 My mouth by then like cardboard

 seemed to slip straight through my head

 So we crash-dived straightway quickly

 and attacked the ocean bed

And so it was that later

 as the miller told his tale

 that her face, at first just ghostly,

 turned a whiter shade of pale

Imagine now, replaying in your head, the complete original record with the full lyrics, as though you were listening to it for the first time in the Summer of 1967.

VIEWMASTER

View-Master is special-format stereoscope and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing 14 film transparencies in seven pairs, making up the seven stereoscopic images. The components of each pair are viewed simultaneously, one by each eye, thus simulating binocular depth perception.

At the time I heard about the View-Master on BBC TV Tomorrow's World program, the themed picture reels began to feature fewer scenic and more child-friendly subjects, such as toys and cartoons. Television series were featured on View-Master reels, such as Doctor Who, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Beverly Hillbillies.

19th May "The Greatest TV Show Ever... with the Beatles." The BBC announces that they have chosen the Beatles to represent the UK on the first global television broadcast, Our World. BBC. Internal memos prepare the Publicity Department to answer reporters' questions about the Corporation's decision to ban the recording "A Day in the Life" from that weekend's preview of the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

In Belgravia, London: the Beatles introduce their new album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, to the press.
At the release party, the band learns that the BBC has banned "A Day in the Life."

Christina Sassmannshausen as the name implies, her father Gustav was German, mother Frances was British. They lived in Parkfield road Rainham, close to the rail station. Her elder sister was Christel and much younger sister was Heidi. The family had moved out from London sometime after 1962. Christina though was full on British and happy go lucky in character and I liked her humour. She once told me that the department store C & A was named just for her and me. I later found out that C & A was (Clemens and August). One often caught a glimpse of her that revealed she was wearing stockings and suspenders, which being quite erotic in effect.

Mary McClory I liked her too. She lived in Milton road and had known of her ever since our time at Byron road Primary school. I used to wait for her to walk on the way home with with me, after a day at Upbury when she had a Domestic science lesson. Chatting away with her, hoping she would open her baking tin to give me a sample of whatever cakes or such she had baked that day. I have tried to think of where the boys were when the girls were at their class of Domestic science. Could it have been Woodwork class? Mary had an elder sister, Judith, also at Upbury.

Elizabeth Singleton Very nice natural girl with long dark hair and a pale coffee tanned skin. I think her mother was from India and her father British was in the armed forces. Last I knew of her was when some years after leaving Upbury, she had entered the Miss England beauty contest.

28th May The news on the telly. Sir Francis Chichester has arrived in Plymouth tonight in his yacht, Gipsy Moth IV, after completing his epic single-handed voyage around the world. He crossed the finishing line at 20:58, nine months and one day after setting off from the historic port.

Sir Francis is the first man to race around the world solo with only one port of call, Sydney. About 250,000 well-wishers cheered and sang, welcoming home the 65-year-old adventurer who has inspired the nation this past year. Thousands of small boats accompanied Gipsy Moth into Plymouth Sound 119 days after it set sail from Sydney, Australia, the only stop in the mammoth journey. They let off hooters and sirens as fire boats sprayed red, white and blue water. The Royal Artillery sounded a ten-gun salute.

At the breakwater, Sir Francis was joined by his wife, Lady Chichester, and son Giles who brought two bottles of champagne on board.

Today's home-coming was carefully planned and he was met on shore by the Lord Mayor of Plymouth and other dignitaries and driven to the Guildhall. There, at a press conference, he was asked what he would like to do now. "What I would like after four months of my own cooking is the best dinner from the best chef in the best surroundings and in the best company." Later he received a message from the Queen and Prince Philip congratulating him on his achievement.

Sir Francis has spent nearly 220 days alone at sea and crossed the Atlantic, Cape of Good Hope, the Pacific and Cape Horn - 28,500 miles of dangerous ocean. But this man is no stranger to seafaring. He won the first solo transatlantic yacht race in 1960 in Gipsy Moth III, sailing from Plymouth to New York City in 40 days. He beat his own record in 1962 repeating the voyage in 33 days.

At home,  May 1967

During one class, the subject lesson could have been anything, all were sitting at their desks, which were arranged in rows all facing the front wall. They were in the process of copy writing into their exercise books the scribblings the teacher was chalk writing on the blackboard. I momentarily glanced up from my book to read the next piece from the board, the teacher was still marking the board and the chalk made some screeching noises as it made its way along the surface. Sitting at the desk in the next row in front of me, was Kevin Sandy. He was reaching over to a girl that was sitting in the next row in front of him. With his right arm fully extended, he was picking hold of something on her back, through her white shirt, tugged and let go. It was her bra that had Kevin's attention, that wasn't the only thing on his mind. The girl immediately turned around leftwards, her arm stretched back in a wide arc swipe as if to swat away an irritating fly.

A touring repertory theatre company gave a performance on stage at Upbury Manor for one day. I've no idea who they were or what the play was called. All I remember of that day, was our class helping to put all the available chairs into the Assembly hall prior to the performance. Then later on, the class groups filing into the hall to sit in their allocated seats and watch the play.

30th May The 6pm news on the telly. The King of Jordan and President Abdel Nasser of Egypt have signed a joint defence agreement. The news came as a surprise to Egyptians and foreigners alike since King Hussein has often been criticised for cosying up to the West. Just two days ago, the president had called the king an "imperialist lackey".

  

But it seems they have found a common enemy in Israel. Tensions in the region have been building for the last three weeks since Egypt increased its military presence in the Sinai Peninsular and ordered the United Nations Emergency Force off Egyptian territory. On 22 May President Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Five days later he declared: "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight."

Today, King Hussein was met at Almaza military airport by the president on an unannounced visit to the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Five hours later, Cairo Radio announced the two leaders had signed the deal stating that "the two countries consider any attack on either of them is an attack on both and will take measures including the use of armed forces to repulse such an attack".

The five-year deal paves the way for the creation of a defence council and joint command. General Mohammed Fawzy, Egypt's Chief of Staff, would command military operations in case of war. After the agreement was signed, President Nasser thanked his "dear brother" King Hussein for coming to Cairo and said any differences between their nations had been erased "in one moment".

King Hussein then flew back to the Jordanian capital, Amman, accompanied by the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Ahmed Shukairy. He is in charge of commando forces in the Gaza strip bordering Israel. Israel says the pact has greatly increased the danger of an all out-war between Israel and the Arab states.

5th June The 6pm news on the telly. Israeli forces have launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt and destroyed nearly 400 Egypt-based military aircraft. Fighting broke out on the Israel-Egypt border but then quickly spread to involve other neighbouring Arab states with ground and air troops becoming embroiled in battle. Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol said in a statement that the Egyptian Air Force had taken a great beating and Jordanian and Syrian air forces had been largely destroyed.

The attack follows a build-up of Arab military forces along the Israeli border. The Arab states had been preparing to go to war against Israel with Egypt, Jordan and Syria being aided by Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Algeria.

On 27th May the President of Egypt, Abdel Nasser, declared: "Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight." Egypt signed a pact with Jordan at the end of May declaring an attack on one was an attack on both. This was seen by Israel as a clear sign of preparation for all-out war.

Israel took decisive action today claiming the element of surprise was the only way it could stand any chance of defending itself against the increasing threat from neighbouring states. Israeli troops claim to have captured the key town of El Arish in north Sinai and are now advancing towards Abu Gela. Hundreds of thousands of Arabs are said to be fleeing the crossfire in Jordan's West Bank.

So far the US state department has announced, "Our position is neutral in thought, word and deed." This follows its recent stance declaring Israel would not be alone unless it decided to go it alone. The path for war was cleared on 16 May when President Nasser ordered the withdrawal of the United Nations Emergency Forces from the Egyptian-Israeli border.

10th June The 6pm news on the telly. Fighting in the Middle East has ended after Israel finally observed the UN ceasefire and halted her advance into Syria. Within the last six days Israeli troops have taken territory many times larger than Israel itself and united the holy city of Jerusalem for the first time since 1948.

Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol justified the pre-emptive strike on Egypt, and battles with Jordanian and Syrian forces by saying his country was acting in self-defence. He told the Sunday Times newspaper: "The threat of destruction that hung over Israel since its establishment and which was about to be implemented has been removed." He added: "For the first time in 19 years, Jews are again free to pray at the Wailing Wall and at other shrines sacred to Judaism in Jerusalem and Hebron."

The UN set a ceasefire at 1630GMT (1730BST) after Israel and Syria agreed to position UN observers on both sides of the front line at Kuneitra, nine miles (14 km) inside Syria, and at Tiberias, on the Israeli side. But Syria has said Israeli fighter planes flew over its capital, Damascus, five minutes after the ceasefire had been due to come into force. Two hours later the observers sent word to the UN Security Council in New York that firing on both sides of the front line had indeed stopped.

There was good news and bad news for Egyptians. Having decided to resign yesterday after his country's humiliating defeat, President Abdel Nasser today announced he would in fact remain in office. This brought thousands of Egyptians out onto the streets of Cairo and other Arab cities cheering and rejoicing. In an address to the Assembly, relayed by loudspeaker to the crowds outside, he said: "I will give the nation everything I have, even my life itself." But this was tempered by reports from Cairo Radio that Israeli bombing raids of the Suez Canal had left it blocked with sunken ships, a further blow to the nation's economy.

Meanwhile the Soviet Union - which has broken off diplomatic relations with Israel - and its Eastern Bloc allies have agreed a plan to re-supply Arab forces with armaments.

11th June 1967 Procol Harum set a chart record, in the music industry, for a new group.

13th June The 6pm news on the telly. The United Nations Security Council has rejected Soviet demands for an immediate vote on a resolution condemning Israel's aggression in the six-day war. Moscow - which has close ties with Egypt - is also demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Arab territories. It follows six days of fighting in which Israel has made advances on three fronts doubling the area of land it controls.

Israel says the attacks were launched to counter huge Arab troop movements along its borders. It has seized Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in the south and the Golan Heights from Syria in the north. It has also pushed Jordanian forces out of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The advances ended with ceasefires signed as Israeli troops were poised within striking distance of each of the respective capitals, Cairo in Egypt, Damascus in Syria and Amman in Jordan.

It is not clear what action Moscow will take in the face of the UN's hesitation. The council has postponed making a decision on how to respond to the war until tomorrow at the earliest.

Israel has already declared its intention to remain in control of its newly occupied territories until permanent peace with its Arab neighbours can be established. Israel's casualties after six days of fighting are calculated at 759 dead and about 3,000 wounded, Arab casualties are far higher, about 15,000.

The scale of the refugee problem caused by the war is also now becoming clear. The International Committee of the Red Cross is making preparations to help thousands of Egyptian soldiers stranded in the Sinai desert after last week's bitter fighting. Water supplies to the area were cut off in the hope of slowing the Israeli advance.

Gaza City in the Gaza Strip saw some of the fiercest fighting between Egyptians and Israelis during the brief war. It is estimated there are now some 200,000 Arabs living in five camps outside the city. Many have not eaten for days.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency is appealing for help to buy tents, blankets and vehicles and has also asked for medical supplies. It says many of the refugees in Jordan are homeless for a second time - having been forced to flee the camps outside Jericho which had been their homes since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

The British Government is contributing towards the cost of the emergency relief, as are many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia which is donating half a month's salary per soldier in its armed forces.

During the two decades from 1950, the Strand was the summer leisure centre attraction of Gillingham. Maidstone & District bus services (146, 145) Borstal/Cookham wood via Jezreels -  Strand, got you there and back. A threepenny ticket fare allowed a journey from Byron road down to the Strand and was a regular pastime for us up until the summer end 1967. The bus travelled via Canterbury st Byron road school, Montgomery rd, Windmill rd, Canterbury st, Gillingham High st, James st, Richmond rd, to Medway rd. Then a right turn to go under the dockyard railway bridge. The waft on the breeze, the whiff of...., alerted one to the presence of the nearby Gillingham gas works. The bus continued along Pier rd passing by the giant gasholders containing the pungent town gas, the odour infiltrating deep into your nostrils. Local residents were used to it and it was no bother to them. We too as regular visitors to the area were not discouraged going there. Driving into the Strand approach rd, prompted the passengers to ready themselves to disembark at the final bus stop, the Strand.

It was like a pocket seaside resort, but instead of a beach, sea, sand and breaking waves, it had a river and stinking mud when the tide was out. There being a sewage pumping station, landscaped screened off by fencing, planted trees and shrubs, right at the centre of the Strand. Also the outflow pipe was visible on the riverbank at low tide. Bloody hell, remember seeing, in the river, turds floating by and so not fit for swimming and bathing in, although some fools did ignore the displayed warnings and they entered the disgusting soup that was the river. Those days, unbelievable, some form of raw sewage effluent was still being discharged into the Medway at the Strand.

But on the upside, the Strand had a children's paddling pool, boating pool with row boats, paddle boats, a large open air swimming pool with a poolside snack refreshments shop, a bandstand, grassed picnic areas, putting green, tennis courts, and the miniature steam railway. Our leisure summer time was mostly spent at the swimming pool. From about 1962 at weekends, my brother Anthony, friends Kevin Sandy, Martin Sandmann, and later on the addition of Christopher Sandy (Kev's younger brother), Mark Sandmann and Nigel Thomas were regulars, after our parents gave us each the money to buy the annual 2/6d priced May to September season ticket for the Strand swimming pool.

There were no restricted timed sessions during each day at the pool. We'd be there the whole day, mucking about in the water and on the springy diving board. Sometimes jumping off the high dive tower platform, performing water bombs. Other times just sunning ourselves on the poolside and buying feasts of crisps, sweets, Pepsi and Coca cola with our pocket money. The real happiest days of our life, meeting your other school friends there and listening at the poolside to pirate pop music on our little transistor radios. 1967, the last year of going there was because my eyes had become sore and so was my throat. It may have been related to the chlorination of the pool water and a developed skin allergy reaction to it.

25th June Sunday: A big new sound blast from Jamaica. The music recording artist Desmond Dekker single record "007" has reached the offshore pirate Radio London Big L record chart position in Britain. It was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica last year 1966. The record is selling fast and is expected to enter the national record charts here fairly soon. A movie clip filmed in Kingston this month has been made which includes a promotion for the single, due for showing on British television.

1st July 1967, B.B.C. 2 launched Europe’s first trial period broadcast schedule of a colour television service with the Wimbledon tennis championships. This was broadcast using the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system, which was based on the work of the German television engineer Walter Bruch. PAL seemed the obvious solution, the signal to the British television industry that the time for a public colour television service had finally arrived. PAL colour was a marked improvement over the American NTSC system.

The retail colour TV installer engineer was a new trade in a growth industry, and so they needed the training for the task. The British Radio Electronic Manufacturers Association (BREMA) produced a colour cartoon animation film technical guide to instruct colour television installers on how best to configure a customer's new colour television receiver. This film was regularly transmitted daily during trade test transmissions on B.B.C.2 soon after the launch of their colour service. The voiceover on the film was of TV presenter Michael Aspel.

The introduction of colour had been a long time coming. The B.B.C. and the larger ITV companies like A.T.V. and A.B.C. had been experimenting with various different systems for years. Even when colour finally arrived, there were few immediate takers, although the immense interest was there. B.B.C.2 was a minority channel and Government ministers had dragged their feet on allowing B.B.C.1 and ITV to migrate to a colour service. “No-one is going to buy a colour TV just to watch B.B.C.2,” said Lew Grade, the boss of A.T.V.

Sunday July 2nd Anti-Vietnam war demonstrators were outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square. Several hundred members of youth organisations walked round and round the square carrying paper nameplates inscribed: "City of Westminster, Genocide-square, W.1." The 'Committee of 100 spokesman said that it was intended to rename the square, but "we were warned by police beforehand" that it would be breaking the law. A woman and four teenagers were among the eighteen arrested, with various charges ranging from possessing offensive weapons, assaulting police, obstruction, and using threatening or insulting behaviour.

9th July 1967 "Procol Harum group may break up" read the newspaper headline

Procol Harum, the British pop group, may be splitting up. They came from obscurity to top the charts for the last six weeks with their hit disc, A Whiter Shade of Pale, which has sold more than a million copies.

Lead guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison told our reporter yesterday: "There has been a difference of opinion between our business manager Jonathan Weston and personal manager Keith Reid, and we have decided to stick with Jonathan Weston."

The other members of the group are Matthew Fisher, Gary Brooker and Dave Knights. Mr Weston said last night: "Things have come to a head and the group has decided to split. As it stands today it seems certain that the quintet which made A Whiter Shade of Pale will not be playing together again. There have been some L.P. tracks recorded although there's no single disc been made to follow up their No. 1 hit."

Keith Reid said: "It would not be true to say that no one is any longer with the Procol Harum. They have been resting on doctor's orders and during that time solictors have been sorting out various points. Without question the group will be working in the near future."

14th July In London, Parliament passes the "Marine Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967" to outlaw UK offshore pirate radio stations.

18th July 1967 "PROCOL HARUM IN SACKING STORM" as reported in the newspaper

Two former members of the top British pop group Procol Harum claimed last night: "We didn't quit. We were sacked."

The group rocketed to fame with their first record- "A Whiter Shade of Pale." But early this month, guitarist Ray Royer, 21, and drummer Bobby Harrison, 24, left the group.

Yesterday, their solictors said: "Far from leaving of their own accord, both were sacked by people who we know had no right to do so. We plan to take out an injunction stopping the group from using the name Procol Harum."

A spokesman for the group, which has replaced Royer and Harrison, said: "I think the root of this is that there is a lot of money involved." He added: "Both boys will get every penny they are entitled to. If their hit record makes £50,000 in royalties- and we are not definitely sure yet- they will each get a fifth."

Harrison and Royer had in fact left the band before 15th July.

22nd July In London: Free the Pirates concert at Alexandra Palace sponsored by Radio Caroline and featuring the Move

Kevin Sandy (groovy sunglasses)
and his young brother Christopher
at Viking bay, Broadstairs
July 22nd 1967

Last ever shared summer holiday with Kevin Sandy was in July during the school summer term break. We had decided to do day trips to the seaside destinations along the North Kent coast. By buying a British railways rail rover week ticket, it was affordable and the weather was superb for the beach and swimming in the sea. All one needed to take with you was a rolled up towel, bathing shorts/trunks and a bit of spending money each day for a snack meal (fish and chips) and refreshments. At Margate, there were some mini trampolines (Jumping Jimmys) set up on the beach, it may have been sixpence or one shilling charged per short session on them, great fun. If money was to spare, we went into the Dreamland fairground. Kevin's little brother Chris came along with us. The blissful days of our lives when our outlook was all so simple and carefree.

23rd July 1967 Procol Harum own up to having used a session musician on their hit record.

5th August In London: Pop pirate Radio London closes its offices

14th August In London: Radio London shuts down in anticipation of the Marine Offenses Act

15th August UK: Marine Offences Act takes effect banning pirate radio stations 

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a new experience, listening to a copy of this Beatles LP record, my eldest brother's friend plays it for the first time at our house

Wednesday August 16th A British man who served in the U.S. Army for two years and wounded twice while he fought in Vietnam has claimed that American soldiers were deserting and coming to Britain. The man, age 26, who was with the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Vietnam said in Birmingham: "The only way I could get out of the Army was to volunteer for six months extra service. This entitles a soldier to thirty days leave anywhere in the world, and the Army pays for the fares. I chose England because this is my home and I do not intend going back to Vietnam ever. I know of many other soldiers who have deserted and come to Britain."

His mother, lives in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, has said he went to America in 1963 and because he lived there for more than six months became liable for call-up. An American Embassy spokesman in London said: "When this man came back to England and decided to continue living as a British subject, the American military no longer had any control over him."

Sunday August 20th Gunmen shoot up the American Embassy building in London. It was a few minutes to midnight when the men in a light coloured Ford Cortina, drove up alongside the entrance, the rattle of bullets from automatic weapons blew apart the quiet of this part of Mayfair. The machine-gun burst of ten shots fired at the glass doors of the consulate department of the American Embassy in Upper Grosvenor Street shattered five panes of glass. White-capped U.S. Marines and the police on duty from the main embassy building rushed out to see what was happening, and then soon after, the police began to seal off the West End of London area. But the three gunmen had already escaped, making a Chicago-style fast getaway by car travelling in a westerly direction. No-one was injured. Spent bullet cartridge casings found laying in the roadway are believed to have been shot from a 9mm machine-gun or a Sten-gun. A note was found, left on the pavement by the steps of the embassy, signed "The Revolutionary Solidarity Movement", It read: "Stop criminal murders by the American army! Solidarity with all people battling against Yankee fascism all over the world! Racism no! Freedom for American negroes!"

The perpetrators of the attack against the U.S. Embassy, it was later revealed had escaped to France. They were a group of French, Italian and Spanish anarchists known as "la groupe premier Mai", whose headquarters were in Paris, they themselves admitted to carrying out the armed assault. They claim to have entered England in an Italian car with the machine gun hidden in the door panels, and left the country in that same car two days later along with the weapon hidden in the same place. These details were not released to the British newspaper press, although they became known to the Special Branch and the American security agencies. 

21st August At Sunk Head, Thames Estuary: Royal Engineers demolish the erstwhile Pop pirate radio station (Tower Radio/Radio Tower)

24th August The 6pm news on the telly. Two penguins from Chessington Zoo have been taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during London's sweltering temperatures. As temperatures in the London area reached nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), Rocky the Rockhopper penguin and his female companion, who did not have a name, joined skaters at Streatham ice-rink.

Zoo-keepers at Chessington, concerned about the welfare of the two penguins in the sweltering heat, contacted the owners of the ice-rink who were only too happy to be of service. And the penguins, who are more used to the cooler temperatures of the Antarctic, seemed delighted with their new icy surroundings.

They arrived at the Silver Blades ice-rink accompanied by their keepers Philip Gunstone and Jane Redding. Miss Redding said: "These are Rockhopper penguins from the Falkland Islands. "Rockhoppers are more bothered by the heat than our other kind - Humboldt penguins. "Humboldts don't mind the hot weather."

As they were released from their box the pair waddled purposefully through the door of ice-rink which bore a sign reading "It's cooler inside." As they made their way towards the ice they appeared completely unfazed by the other skaters and once on the slippery surface conducted themselves with dignity and grace. Staff at the ice-rink were so impressed they extended an invitation to the zoo's other 20 penguins and said the seals could even come along too!

Thursday August 24th 1967 a newspaper report:

What is shaping like one of the biggest centres of entertainment in Kent will be opening in a few weeks time. This is the Aurora Hotel, Gillingham, formerly the N.A.A.F.I. Club.

When the district was truly a Garrison area this club was a real live spot but after a previous Services "axeing" the club was closed down. Many plans were put forward for this magnificient building, with its terrific ballroom, stage, spacious bars and ample hotel accommodation, but none reached fruition. Now, however, the premises have been taken over by two Canadian businessmen Lawrence Scott and Walter Kimmel, both from the Yukon. These shrewd prospectors are all set to garner a big portion of the huge tourist trade to this country from North America. They have already linked up with major airlines. Work has already begun on major redecoration of the premises and this work will include the laying of a new dance floor and equipping the stage. An entertainment programme on a very big scale is visualised which will prove an attraction not only to hotel guests but also to non-residents. The Canadians do not reveal yet who will be responsible for handling the entertainment but we can be sure it will be someone who knows business from A-to-Z; high calibre bands and artists will be the order of the day.

25th August The 6pm news on the telly. The leader of the American Nazi party, George Lincoln Rockwell, has been shot and killed by a sniper at a shopping centre in Arlington, Virginia. Minutes after the shooting a "captain" in Rockwell's Nazi party, John Patler, 29, was arrested and charged with his murder.

Police say two shots were fired from a rooftop of a beauty salon across the street from the Dominion Hills shopping centre. Two bullets went through the windscreen of the 49-year-old's blue and white Chevrolet and hit him in the head and the chest. He died instantly.

Eye-witnesses said the Nazi leader was reversing his car out of a parking space in the shopping centre when the incident happened. As the shots hit his car he dived onto the passenger seat in an attempt to escape. His car apparently crashed into another vehicle. A coroner pronounced him dead at the scene.

George Lincoln Rockwell, who lived just yards from the scene of his death, founded the American Nazi Party, originally known as the World Union of Free Enterprise and National Socialists, in 1959. He believed all blacks should be deported to Africa and every Jew dispossessed and sterilised. He also believed that "traitors" such as former Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower should be hanged.

It is understood that Matt Koehl, Rockwell's second-in-command, will take over the leadership of the party. Speaking tonight Mr Koehl told reporters the murder suspect, John Patler, had been expelled from the Nazi party in April this year for "Bolshevik leanings".

27th August The news on the telly. The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, has been found dead at his Belgravia home in London. It is not yet clear how he died. Friends found his body in bed after his housekeeper raised the alarm.

Mr Epstein, 32, was due to travel tomorrow to Bangor in north Wales to join the Beatles at a meeting of the International Meditation Society. Paul McCartney and his girlfriend, Jane Asher, drove back to London in a chauffeur-driven car after hearing the news. The other Beatles were also returning to London.

Before leaving Bangor, John Lennon said: "Our meditations have given us confidence to stand such a shock." George Harrison said: "There is no such thing as death, only in the physical sense. We know he is ok now. He will return because he was striving for happiness and desired bliss so much."

Brian Epstein's housekeeper became worried when she did not get an answer after knocking on his bedroom door in the middle of the afternoon. Friends, who had called round to see him, broke into the room and found him dead. The police were called. One of his business colleagues, Don Black, described his death as "a terrible and stupid accident". Another colleague said: "He has been unwell for some months. The reason for his death is at present unknown, but there were no untoward circumstances associated with it."

A concert at the Saville Theatre, London, headed by Jimi Hendrix, was cancelled tonight in tribute to Mr Epstein. He owned the theatre's lease.

Mr Epstein brought a number of singers to fame. Apart from the Beatles, his other protégés included Cilla Black, Billy J Kramer, The Dakotas and Gerry and the Pacemakers. Mr Epstein discovered the Beatles when they were still performing in blue jeans and leather jackets at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. He encouraged them to smarten up their image, wear suits and stop swearing and smoking in public - in order to broaden their appeal.

In January 1962 the band agreed a five year contract with Epstein, although he refused to sign it, saying their mutual regard for one another was enough. He got them their first record deal with EMI in October 1962 and by autumn 1963, Britain was engulfed by Beatlemania. Mr Epstein was a director of Northern Songs, the company which owned the copyright to McCartney and Lennons' songs. He was also a major shareholder in Nems Enterprises, which in turn was a big shareholder in Northern Songs.

7th September New school term starts

1967 Autumn Term Class 4A2; The Teaching Staff

• Mr Thompson; our Form group teacher; Religious Education, Mathematics
• Mr Porter; English
• Mr Askew; History
• Mrs McDonald; Geography
• Mr Carroll; Science
• Mrs Garth; French
• Mr Elsegood; Technical Drawing
• Mr Brown; Art
• Woodwork; Mr Coulson
• Metalwork; Mr Twyman
• Mr McDouall; Physical Education and Sports
• Miss Rotherham; Music

This is my new Upbury Manor school uniform I began wearing it at the start of my fourth year term September in class 4A2. Consists of White shirt, tie, badge, very dark grey jacket and trousers, brown brogue shoes. The tomato red pullover was now no longer mandatory for pupils of 4th year's age and older. It is a recreation picture, as faithfully as I can construct.
My head and face really is the authentic one lifted from the Summer month, of August 1967.

20th September The 6pm news on the telly. The Queen has launched the new Cunard cruise liner named after her, the Queen Elizabeth 2, at a ceremony on the Clydebank. Tens of thousands of people crowded the river's banks as the Queen appeared on a platform high against the bow of the 963 ft (293.5 metres) long liner, with Prince Philip and Princess Margaret by her side.

In clear tones, she pronounced: "I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second. May God bless her and all who sail in her." She then pressed the launching button, and a bottle of champagne shattered against the huge bows of the ship. After a pause, the ship began her journey down into the water. She began slowly, but soon gathered speed, hitting 22mph (34.4 kph) before she entered the water stern-first. A two-foot (0.6m) high wave rose up and travelled across the Clyde, announcing the arrival of Cunard's latest - and probably last - great luxury cruise ship to be built here.

Her launch comes just a few days after Cunard's other great liner, the Queen Mary, made her last transatlantic crossing to New York. The 58,000-ton QE2 is now Cunard's only big cruise ship.

Since the early 1950s, when cruise liners carried over a million passengers a year across the Atlantic, sea traffic has almost halved to around 600,000 journeys. By contrast, the airlines are now carrying over five million people each year.

Shipping companies like Cunard are increasingly turning to the pleasure cruise market as their main source of income. The new QE2 will be fitted out with just this market in mind, with big deck spaces and four swimming pools. There are nearly 1,000 cabins, restaurants on the upper decks with sea views, cocktail bars, night clubs and a theatre.

The mammoth liners, like the original Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary, were built for speed rather than luxury, and in using them for long, leisurely cruises Cunard has been losing money fast. The company is hoping to reverse that trend with its first giant cruise ship to be targeted exclusively at the leisure market.

25th September The first showing of the SEXTON BLAKE TV Series

Children's TV Classic fictional Detective series first screened in 1967.

Sexton Blake was originally a character in a comic called The Halfpenny Marvel at the turn of the century. The stories transferred well to the small screen and retained the serialised comic feel and non-stop action.

Laurence Payne starred as the titular detective, a cigar-smoking Sherlock Holmes-style sleuth with his own “Dr Watson” equivalent – Tinker (Roger Foss), an uncouth lad given to wearing cloth caps.

The setting was the 1920s and Blake, like Holmes, lived in Baker Street. With Tinker, and his bloodhound Pedro, Blake tooled around London in a Rolls Royce nicknamed ‘the Grey Panther’.

Mr Porter was the new term year teacher of English literature for my class 4A2, he was of medium build and height, short dark hair with traditional side parting, usually wore rimmed spectacles (similar in style of Mr Sharp). He being quite approachable, and most distinguished for wearing a dark olive green corduroy jacket. Of the few Upbury teacher group photographs found, published online, I've not recognised Mr Porter being amongst them.

Of the English literature class book studies of previous Upbury Manor school term years, the books covered during the first three years of my stay 1964-67 included; 'To kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, 'The Purple Plain' by H.E. Bates, 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding, 'The Diary of Anne Frank' 'Cider with Rosie' by Laurie Lee, and 'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene. There were also many readings of classic poetry, none of which I can recall any verse, except one, the subject of a blackbird that Mr McVie taught the class during my first year at Upbury. That just goes to show to me that classic poetry did not fire up any interest.

By the look of Porter, you would not label his outward physical appearance and dress sense as being anything near 'Groovy'. That was our first impression of him when he introduced himself as our new 4th year term English and literature teacher.

As the days passed and we all settled into our timetable of classes, it became clear that Porter was on the progressive side of teaching. His classes were a joy to be attending. You never felt any sense of being left out of class discussions through lack of self confidence. He was very good with encouragement to draw you in and to build on your abilities, therefore your interest increased in particular with drama participation and literature studies.

One of the class studies was of the play 'The long, the short and the tall' written by Willis Hall. The class of boys and girls, had already read the book, as homework, in preparation for a discussion. But before then, in the classroom, with Mr Porter, his face set in a sly grin, allocated some of us (the boys seated at their desks) a scene part to read out as though being performed on stage. My chosen part was the character Lieutenant Corporal Macleish 'Mac' which in the book script there were some strong language being used in the hut. I had never had to loudly swear in front of an audience before, but I did and felt better for doing it without fear of any public disapproval.

Click image for background story

Another huge surprise, and a sign of the switched on times of 1967 at Upbury Manor, when Mr Porter introduced into the class, the paperback book 1st edition Penguin Modern Poets 10: The Mersey Sound. An anthology work of the Liverpool poets Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, and Brian Patten. The book had only just recently been published on 25th May 1967. I often wonder what sort of people were at that time inhabiting the department of the Kent education committee. They were certainly some cool art jazz cats, capturing the essence of the age, and their engagement and speed at which enabled this book to enter the schools reading list.

From the early part of 1960's, in Liverpool there was a thriving music and arts scene which included public poetry and prose readings. In the vanguard were the poets Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten. They were featured in a book 'The Liverpool Scene' edited by Edward Lucie-Smith, with a blurb by Allen Ginsberg and published in March 1967 by Donald Carroll. Also soon after, a live record was made; 'The Incredible New Liverpool Scene', a CBS LP featuring Henri and McGough (but without Patten) reading their work, with accompaniment by the guitarist Andy Roberts. Also they were labelled the ‘Liverpool Scene Poets’ and were first seen performing, to a national television audience, on Sunday 5th March 1967 in a broadcast arts show titled 'THE LOOK OF THE WEEK', on BBC1 11.10pm. That performance, never to be viewed again, one of the many that were soon wiped out of existence. Next up was in May 1967 when the breakout Penguin paperback book 'The Mersey Sound' was published and is still in print and widely available.

The Liverpool Scene Poets at that time spawned two distinct musical offshoots, one a commercial pop group 'The Scaffold' began recording in the spring of 1966, the other being avant-garde 'The Liverpool Scene' gelled in mid 1967. I need not detail the work of 'The Scaffold' as they are already well documented elsewhere. 

Here is a short video with a witty poem from the 1967 'The Incredible New Liverpool Scene' LP. These were a set of the earliest live recordings made of the Liverpool Scene Poets readings, (prior to the The Liverpool Scene band forming). The track being 'Knees Down Mother Brown' performed by Roger McGough with Andy Roberts

Returning now to Mr Porter, I was studying in his English class only during the Autumn term from September to December 1967. The cause of my departure being those school form class subject assessment exams reports, that we all have to face every mid and end of year term time, which triggered my move out. I had done far too well generally on subjects balance which put me 2nd from top of form placing in class, qualifying me a promotion. It was not the wisest decision to interrupt a good flow of literature work and a great combination of teachers, by leaving the best matched class group of my school career, oh well.

9th October The 6pm news on the telly. Marxist revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has reportedly been killed during a battle between army troops and guerillas in the Bolivian jungle. A statement issued by the commander of the Eighth Bolivian Army Division, Colonel Joaquin Zenteno Anaya, said the 39-year-old guerrilla leader was shot dead near the jungle village of Higueras, in the south-east of the country.

Guevara, former right-hand man to Cuban prime minister, Fidel Castro, disappeared from the political scene in April 1965 and his whereabouts have been much debated since. His death has been reported several times during the past two-and-a-half years, in the Congo and in the Dominican Republic, but has never been proven.

In his statement, Colonel Anaya said Guevara was one of six guerrillas killed in today's battle. It is understood five Bolivian soldiers were also killed in the clash. Guevara's body is due to be flown by helicopter to La Paz later today. It is understood that his hands have been amputated for identification purposes.

Argentine-born Che Guevara, an experienced guerrilla leader, was a member of Fidel Castro's "26th of July Movement" which seized power in Cuba in 1959. He rose quickly through the political ranks, becoming head of the National Bank and ultimately Minister of Industries, and many saw him as the intellectual force behind Castro's government. But amid rumours of differences with Castro, largely on guerrilla warfare policies, and a desire to further his revolutionary ideals in other parts of Latin America, he resigned in April 1965 and disappeared. Some say he was dismissed although there has never been evidence of this.

It is known he still maintained ties with the Organisation for Latin American Solidarity (OLAS), a group dedicated to "uniting, coordinating and stepping-up the struggle against United States imperialism on the part of all the exploited peoples of Latin America." His death comes less than two months after an OLAS conference in Havana which highlighted the need for further armed guerrilla action in South America.

11th October The 6pm news on the telly. The Move pop group have made an apology in the High Court to the Prime Minister for a "violent and malicious personal attack". Libel action was taken by Harold Wilson after a postcard was published, promoting the group's new record Flowers in the Rain. It featured a caricature of the Labour Prime Minister in the nude. Speaking for Mr Wilson, Quentin Hogg QC described the publication as making use of "malicious rumours" concerning his character and integrity.

As part of the libel settlement, the band and their manager Tony Secunda have agreed to devote all royalties from their record to charities of the Prime Minister's choice. The defendants also included the card's artist, the advertising agency and printers. All have apologised for their involvement and have agreed to pay the costs of the proceedings estimated at £3,000.

Mr Hogg labelled the card "scurrilous" and criticised the decision to send it to journalists, television producers and music publishers.

Representing the group's manager, members and the artist, Richard Hartley said his clients wished to express their "profound regret" for what had happened. Members of the Move did not arrive at the High Court in time for the proceedings, but appeared in high spirits. Asked about their political standpoint they joked: "We've no faith in any political sides at all. We'd vote for people like Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, you know."

The Move recorded and published Flowers in the Rain in August, and Mr Secunda circulated copies of the promotional postcard to coincide with the record's release. But he denied the publication was a publicity stunt, suggesting the resultant libel action had created that impression. "Wilson started legal proceedings, we did it as a cartoon, remember that. It wasn't intended to be anything but that," he said.

Worldwide sales of the record, of which an estimated 200,000 copies have already been sold, are expected to generate about £10,000 in proceeds. Mr Wilson has nominated the Spastics Society and the Amenity Funds of Stoke Mandeville Hospital for the benefit of paraplegic patients to receive the royalties. Mr Hogg concluded Harold Wilson had never intended to be "harsh or vindictive" and he warned that in any future incident Mr Wilson might not be so lenient.

12th October The 6pm news on the telly. Zoologist Dr Desmond Morris has stunned the world by writing about humans in the same way scientists describe animals. His new book, The Naked Ape, was published today. It was so named because out of the 193 species of monkeys and apes on the planet only man is not entirely covered in hair.

The former curator of mammals at London Zoo who is best known for planning to bring together Chi Chi the panda with Moscow's An An panda bear says he wants to popularise and demystify science. The provocative book sheds new light on our own behaviour and society, describing our ways of "feeding, sleeping, fighting, mating and rearing young".

He highlights some surprising facts that are raising quite a few eyebrows in the scientific and non-scientific world.
For example:-

Homo sapiens not only has the biggest brain of all primates but also the largest penis, and is "the sexiest primate alive." Our fleshy ear-lobes, unique to humans, are erogenous zones that have been known to provoke orgasm in both males and females, the more rounded shape of human breasts means they are primarily a sexual signalling device rather than simply a milk machine.

The book has been serialised in the Daily Mirror - and with great success. It has already netted £80,000 in the USA and £70,000 in the UK and Europe. But critics of the book have labelled him "an inadequately informed amateur" who has oversimplified and distorted the way we behave by creating a zoological portrait of the human being.

Dr Morris and his wife are now planning to leave Britain as tax exiles after learning that the Inland Revenue are to send him a bill of £180,000. He told the Daily Mail newspaper: "The speed and timing of all this has rather shattered me. I am now faced with the situation where I shall probably be turning to writing as my major activity. "It is pretty definite that I shall go abroad although I have not finally worked out the details."

Monday October 16th Angry Americans took part in a noisy anti-Vietnam demonstration outside the American Embassy in London's Grosvenor square. Seven young Americans attempted to hand back their call-up (draft) cards to embassy officials. The demonstrators put the cards into a brown envelope and pasted it onto the embassy door. Then with about 50 supporters, they paraded round the square, carrying coloured banners 'Women want love... not war' and chanting: "Hey, hey L B J - how many kids have you killed today?" The protesters, members of the 'Stop It Committee', aim to encourage resistance to American policy in Vietnam.

16th October The 6pm news on the telly. Rallies across America have taken place in 30 US cities, from Boston to Atlanta, to protest against the continuing war in Vietnam. In Oakland, California, at least 40 anti-war protesters, including the folk singer Joan Baez, were arrested for taking part in a sit-in at a military induction centre.

As many as 250 demonstrators had gathered to try and prevent conscripts from entering the building when the arrests were made. The 'Stop the Draft Week' protests are forming part of a nationwide initiative organised by a group calling itself 'the Resistance'.

Accompanied by singing from Ms Baez and others, the sitting protesters forced draftees to climb over them in order to get inside the building. As they entered they were handed leaflets asking them to change their minds, refuse induction and join the protests. Police formed a human barricade to enable inductees to pass and then made their arrests.

In New York, around 500 demonstrators marched to protest against the draft. Young men placed draft cards into boxes marked 'Resisters'. 181 draft cards and several hundred protest cards were presented to a US Marshal but he refused to accept them. The group then marched to a post office and posted them directly to the Attorney General in Washington.

The anti-war movement took on an added gravity yesterday when Florence Beaumont, mother of two, burned herself to death. After soaking herself in petrol she set herself alight in front of the Federal Building, Los Angeles.

Counter-demonstrations have been planned by the National Committee for Responsible Patriotism, based in New York. Parades have been scheduled for the weekend in support of "our boys in Vietnam".

18th October The 6pm news on the telly. The Soviet Union has successfully sent a space probe into the atmosphere of the planet Venus for the first time. After its four-month journey from Earth, Venera 4 plunged through the planet's dense cloud cover and down towards the surface. Almost immediately it began sending back coded bleeps carrying details of the gases that make up the air around Venus, as well as readings for temperatures and pressure. It is the first time any measurements have been taken from inside the planet's atmosphere.

The Soviet Union had hoped to attempt a "soft" landing on the surface of Venus, and Venera 4 carried equipment designed to allow communications even while submerged beneath any oceans which it was suspected there might be on the surface. But contact was lost 94 minutes after the probe entered the atmosphere, when it would still have been about 15 miles (25 km) above the planet itself.

The signals sent back from Venera 4 were picked up by the radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. The observatory was invited to take part in the mission to Venus by the Soviet Academy of Scientists. The director of Jodrell Bank, Professor Sir Bernard Lovell, said the radio signals sent back from Venera 4 confirmed that it was unlikely and almost impossible that there was life on the planet.

At a news conference, Professor Lovell said Jodrell Bank was delighted to help the Soviet Union in tracking the spacecraft. "This appears ... as a rational common-sense attitude, the sort of thing one always hopes will emerge in these colossal, expensive space enterprises," he said.

Venera 4 is the first successful attempt to reach Venus after three failed Soviet missions. Venera 3 came closest, and successfully reached the planet, but communications had already failed, making the mission a failure.

Within the next few days, the American spacecraft Mariner 5 is also expected to arrive at Venus. It is not, however, planning to attempt a landing, but will fly past at about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from the planet while instruments on board measure the atmosphere and magnetic fields. A previous American mission, Mariner 2, was the first to fly by Venus and scan its features in December 1962. Data sent back from that mission suggested that Venus has hot surface temperatures and an atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide.

19th October The 6pm news on the telly. The American spacecraft Mariner 5 has successfully flown past the planet Venus, just one day after a Soviet space probe disappeared into its atmosphere. Mariner 5 passed within 2,480 miles (3,990 km) of Venus and sent back the most detailed data yet gathered about what it is like there.

The probe was travelling at about 19,122 miles an hour (30,774 km/h) as it began the fly-by at 1734 GMT. After three minutes, communications were broken as it went behind the planet and out of the line of sight of the Earth. It resumed transmissions 23 minutes later.

During the fly-by, the spacecraft's instruments measured the amount of hydrogen and oxygen in the upper fringes of the planet's atmosphere. From this information, US scientists hope to work out how much carbon dioxide is there, and also double-check the data sent back from the Soviet probe, Venera 4, yesterday.

That probe was the first to penetrate the dense layer of cloud which permanently shrouds Venus. It sent back information for 94 minutes after entering the atmosphere, but then suddenly disappeared. Before it went, Venera 4 had already registered a temperature of 536 degrees Fahrenheit (280 degrees Celsius) - hot enough to melt lead. It also found high-level winds whipping round the planet at six times the force of a hurricane.

Venus is often called the Earth's sister planet as it is similar in size and density, but scientists have now ruled out any possibility of life there.

The logistics involved in getting Mariner 5 to curve around the front of Venus with only about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to spare was likened by scientists to an insect being able to cut across the front of a thrown ball with just half an inch (1.25cm) to spare. The tiny spacecraft was powered by four solar panels and weighed just 244.9kg (540 lbs), as opposed to the Venera 4 which tipped the scales at about a ton. It was originally a back-up for the Mariner 4 fly-by past Mars, but was refurbished for its trip past Venus instead.

More and more future planetary missions are expected to use a "standard basic design", with only key components being different for each mission.

20th October The 6pm news on the telly. The biggest demonstration yet against American involvement in the Vietnam War has taken place in the town of Oakland, in California. An estimated 4,000 people poured onto the streets to demonstrate in a fifth day of massive protests against the conscription of soldiers to serve in the war.

The city was brought to a standstill as protesters built barricades across roads to prevent buses carrying recruits to the Army's conscription centre. Police reinforcements came in from San Francisco as the protests turned violent. Demonstrators, many wearing helmets and holding plywood shields, overturned cars and threw bottles, tin cans and stones at the police. Four people were injured and seven arrested.

There was no repeat of the scenes three days ago, however, when police in Oakland used clubs and chemical sprays to clear the streets. The heavy-handed treatment of demonstrators caused outrage throughout the country.

Today's demonstration was part of what is being called "Stop the Draft Week" - a nationwide initiative which has seen peace marches in cities across the United States. It is expected to move to Washington DC tomorrow, and demonstrators are said to be targeting all roads to the capital. It is thought up to 40,000 could join a protest march from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon.

The demonstrators are trying to disrupt military induction centres, encouraging large numbers of young men to turn in their draft cards. Many are burning the cards - an illegal act under a law passed by Congress two years ago. About 50 conscientious objectors have already been sent to jail for their protest. It is estimated up to 7,000 have left the country, mainly to Canada, to avoid the draft. Recent polls suggest that American support for the war in Vietnam is declining steadily.

President Johnson is under attack from those who believe he is not being aggressive enough on Vietnam as well as those who think he should withdraw. A Gallup poll published earlier this month showed his popularity rating plummeting to the point where if an election were held at this point in his term of office, he would lose by a landslide.

Autumn term, October an Upbury Manor school class day trip out to a London cinema film screening of a film, which had recently been premiered at the Odeon Marble Arch, Edgware Road. The film was "Far From The Madding Crowd" and our chaperone on the coach and tour was Mr Porter. Sadly, there's no memory of there being a side trip whilst in London. I'm not surprised though, it was a long film to watch, nearly 3 hours run time plus intermissions. I should think we were uncomfortable, excruciating being sat in there for so long. I thought the Thomas hardy novel rather bleak and baffling at that time of viewing the film version. I do remember shortly after, that Mr Porter had us do an English Literature class project of the novel. For boys, What a bore, What a turnoff it all was writing about it. Mr Porter, if you ever mention taking us to another film again.. DON'T BOTHER! When I watched that film "Far From The Madding Crowd" again many years later on, as when I'd grown into adulthood, I then fully understood and appreciated the novel and the film.

Sunday October 22nd Police and anti-Vietnam war demonstrators fought a running battle in Grosvenor Square, London. The thousands of demonstrators marched from an afternoon "Peace in Vietnam" rally in Trafalgar Square to the Australian and American Embassies. Before the march, at the rally organised by the "Vietnam Ad Hoc Committee", a message had been read out at the Earl Russell pub. It spoke of the "world-wide pattern of aggression by America, requiring international assistance." Humanity had gone into action against the American activities. The message also spoke of the "heroes of Vietnam" who were resisting American  aggression.

The marchers on arrival at Grosvenor square were met by hundreds of policemen who tried to hold them back from the American Embassy. Demonstrators stopped on the north side of the square, while a petition was being delivered to the main entrance of the Embassy on the west side. The crowd refused to move on, when asked by the police. Violence erupted as the police moved in to disperse the crowd. Fences surrounding the square were broken down. Stones, sticks and lighted fire crackers were hurled at police and U.S. Embassy windows smashed. When police reinforcements were rushed in, the protesters surged forward and fighting broke out when twelve mounted police made a cavalry style charge in which demonstrators were knocked down. Girls screamed as the horses pushed them roughly aside and some people were injured in the crush, as was one police horse.

A mini-van, mocked up like an American tank and bearing the name "Lady Bird" was driven toward the police cordon in an attempt to break through to reach the embassy. The van was stopped and its driver and occupants were arrested. One American, who had been in the mini-van tank, said "Next time we'll bring a tank with tracks on it and we'll mount those stairs outside the embassy." Grosvenor Square, now a battle ground, littered with clods of earth, upturned park benches, shattered flagpoles, tattered placards and battered police helmets. Twelve ambulances were called to pick up the injured and the unconscious strewn around. Running a shuttle service between the embassy and St. George's Hospital, Hyde park Corner.

Into the evening, after most of the demonstrators were dispersed, a group of about a 100 staged a sit-in in Oxford street, blocking the road outside the Bond street Tube station. They chanted "Hey, hey L B J - how many kids have you killed today?" Other demonstrators were moving towards Whitehall and Downing street, while another group attempted a return to Grosvenor Square, but were turned away by the concentrated police presence in the area.

Violent demonstrations, against the United States Vietnam war policy, broke out today in many parts of the world, including Amsterdam, West Berlin, Sweden, Washington, and Toronto.

27th October 1967 This film was released "To Sir, with Love" Storyline. Engineer Mark Thackeray arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class of teenagers at an East End school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he's hopeful that he won't be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students' personal lives, and must avoid the advances of an amorous student while winning over the class tough boy gang leader Denham. What will he decide when the engineering job comes through?

1st November 1967 This film was released "Cool Hand Luke" Storyline. Luke Jackson is locked up in a Southern jail after a night of petty crime (decapitating a parking meter). He becomes a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as the top dog inmate 'Dragline' explains it, "You're an original, that's what you are!" Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.

5th November The news on the telly. At least 40 rail passengers have died and 80 more have been wounded after a commuter train derailed in south-east London. The 19:43 express train was travelling from Hastings to Charing Cross when at 21:16 it crashed off the rails between Hither Green and Grove Park stations near the Southern Region Continental goods depot. It happened just over a mile from the scene of the Lewisham train crash in 1957 in which 90 people were killed and 175 were injured. Only the first two of the train's 12 coaches remained on the rails. One overturned completely and the next two jack-knifed onto their sides.

Tonight, rescuers working under floodlights are trying to free those still trapped in them. Driving rain and the position of some of the overturned coaches has made the rescue operation especially difficult. Firemen are using special equipment to cut through many coaches to release passengers.

Hospital medical teams and ambulances are at the crash site and doctors have had to crawl through twisted wreckage to treat survivors and give them painkilling injections. Most of the survivors were taken to Lewisham hospital, praised for its work after the Lewisham train disaster ten years ago. The driver and guard escaped unharmed but remain in a state of shock.

Eyewitnesses have been describing the accident to journalists.

Shirley Ward, a 21-year-old secretary from Broadstairs in Kent who emerged unharmed from the wreckage, told the Times newspaper: "The lights went out before we turned over. We felt ourselves travelling along on the carriage's side. Everyone was clutching on to one another. There were some terrible screams."

Another survivor, 19-year-old medical student Ray Moore from Hastings, said: "Stones came chipping up from the track as we went along this stretch which is usually a pretty fast one. "Then it rocked and swayed and went over on its side. At least three people in my compartment were killed."

A spokesman for the British Railways Board said it was not known what caused the derailment. He said: "It is wide open what could have happened. [The train] could have crossed points or hit an obstruction."

After Sgt. Pepper, where to next?

The Beatles filmed promotional footage for their forthcoming single "Hello, Goodbye" on 10th November 1967 at the Saville Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London. The single, their next release to follow the worldwide hit "All You Need Is Love", is the first one to be produced in the absence of their manager Brian Epstein, whose sudden death occurred in August.

With the decision to release 'Hello, Goodbye' as a single separate from the "Magical Mystery Tour" project, the Beatles needed to assemble a film clip to promote the song on television. Unsurprisingly, Paul McCartney took charge of this, acting as director and employing the same editor (Roy Benson) and camera crew used on the 'Tour'. The group assembled onstage at the NEMS leased Saville Theatre for filming without an audience present and lip-sync'd several performances of the song and also with a different stage setting each time, accompanied by hula dancers for the coda.

This resulted in three versions of the 'Hello, Goodbye' promotion film clips being produced.

The most commonly seen version (A) features the Beatles dressed as Sgt. Peppers's band in the Day-Glo satin uniforms they had worn displayed on their last LP cover. The stage backdrop is a floral art painting, and Ringo is playing his absurdly small "toy" drum kit, with no Beatles logo on the bass drum head. In all the version clips, their instruments, Paul plays his repainted Rickenbacker electric bass guitar, George his Epiphone Casino electric guitar, and John a Martin D-28 acoustic guitar. Brief film inserts feature the group posing together in their 1963 grey collarless suits, made famous in Dezo Hoffmann's photos, and waving quizzically at the camera.

A. Hello, Goodbye - film version 1

The second variation (B) was performed in front of a painted farmland country and woodside backdrop and has the group dressed in their casual civilian clothes, with John in black apart from a white jacket and a tie, Paul wearing his colourful patchwork sweater waistcoat with shirt, and the others in more psychedelic fashion garb. This time Ringo plays his regular size kit with the familiar Ludwig Beatles logo.

B. Hello Goodbye - film version 2

A third clip (C) incorporates outtake footage from the performances A and B and combines it with film of a rehearsal in front of a lighted and glittery pastel backdrop. This the most entertaining variety performance version, showing the group clowning around, Paul running across the stage, and frenetic dancing (John does the Charleston and they all do the Twist). Ringo bashes his sticks on the front of an oversize bass drum (again, with no logo) and George even does a brief mock striptease, slipping his jacket provocatively off his shoulders.

C. Hello, Goodbye - film version 3

Although version (A) was screened in the United States on both 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and 'Hollywood Palace', in Germany on 'Beat Club', and in several other European countries, all the hard work went to waste in Britain. A Musicians Union ban on mimed TV appearances was in effect at the time, and the Beatles went to great lengths to circumvent this. Since no viola players had been filmed, a special mono mix of the song was created and dubbed onto the BBC's version (A) copy of the film promo. This mix, done by producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick on Wednesday November 15th at EMI Studio 2,  Abbey Road. The mix eliminated the viola track, but in the end, the ruse fooled no one.

A planned airing on 'Top of the Pops' on November 23rd was denied with a last-minute decision by senior BBC executives on the 20th. A BBC Corporation spokesman explained that "a minor portion of the film contravened the Musicians Union regulations concerning miming on television." Since the whole thing was clearly mimed, it's not clear what the "minor portion" would have been; perhaps it's the moment in (version A) when Paul's lip sync is obviously late (on the word "goodbye-bye-bye-bye").

NEMS press officer Tony Barrow commented: "The brief miming passages were pointed out to us by BBC officials on Monday 20th. Consequently, the Beatles made themselves available on Tuesday 21st for BBC cameraman to shoot new film, which was to be used to replace the offending segments. The cameramen filmed the group in a Soho film editing suite, working on their 'Magical Mystery Tour' project.

The BBC had other ideas and dumped their new film shots of the Beatles. The initial quashed Top of the Pops airing on the 23rd was replaced in the show, at the last minute by some film footage from the Beatles 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night." A screening in colour on BBC 2 'Late Night Line-Up' the same evening was canceled entirely.

On 24th November 1967 'Hello, Goodbye' the 45 rpm single record was released, the B side being "I Am The Walrus". The BBC then also banned airplay of  'I Am The Walrus', on all its TV/Radio networks, because of the word "knickers" used in the song's lyrics.

As the Beatles will have no further opportunity to make drastic changes to their song promo film clip, it is now unlikely to be seen on British television, because ITV is expected to follow the BBC's lead in banning it.

The song was missing from Top of the Pops on the 30th November, and by December 7th, a compromise version promo film was shown, consisting entirely of the edited suite footage and still photographs, with no sign of the original Beatles 'Hello, Goodbye' film promo performance that had been staged at the Saville Theatre. This BBC clip hasn't surfaced: nor has a fifth alternate prepared by John Lennon and Roy Benson and comprised of outtake rushes from 'Magical Mystery Tour'.

18th November The 6pm news on the telly. A ban on the movement of farm animals has been imposed across the whole of England and Wales in an attempt to curb the spread of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. From midnight, animals cannot be transported around the country without a special licence. Livestock markets also have to obtain licences.

The restriction follows the confirmation of another 55 new cases, the largest increase in a single day since the outbreak began three weeks ago. The total now stands at 495. The number of animals slaughtered in the latest epidemic rose to 93,000 yesterday, the highest total since 1923.

Last night the international RAC rally was called off at an estimated cost of £250,000. It is feared drivers - and spectators - may have unintentionally spread the disease. The decision to cancel the rally was announced to drivers completing the preparation of their cars near London airport. The five day, 2,500 mile event was due to start from outside the airport at 1100 this morning.

Yesterday's outbreaks of foot-and-mouth were in the districts of Chester, Oswestry, Market Dayton, Shrewsbury, Llangollen, Crewe, Macclesfield, Northwich and Cheltenham.

Foot-and-mouth is a highly infectious viral disease that can affect cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. Symptoms include blisters in the mouth causing increased salivation and lameness. Animals do not actually die from the disease but stop gaining weight and dairy cattle produce less milk.

The movement ban became necessary after two outbreaks of the disease were diagnosed in Gloucestershire - 20 miles south-east of a case confirmed near Worcester three days ago, indicating the virus was spreading further south-east.

The current dry, frosty weather has brought no relief. The virus appears to thrive in dry, cold, dark conditions. Warmth and direct sunlight destroys the organism. It is still not clear where the virus came from. It may have been carried in the air across the Channel or it may have been transmitted from infected swill or imported meat.

Regional veterinary officer for Yorkshire and Lancashire Tom Stobo, who's been put in charge of the emergency measures, warned that milk lorry drivers could be leaving a "trail of trouble" by handling infected churns and passing the virus on to empty churns. The Milk Marketing Board has asked all lorry and tanker drivers to disinfect themselves between calls at farms. Mr Stobo said: "I am pretty satisfied that we are containing the virus within the prescribed areas. "

The Ministry of Agriculture has denied the epidemic poses any threat to the country's meat supplies. A spokesman said the number being slaughtered was only a small proportion of the numbers killed each week for food.

19th November The 6pm news on the telly. The Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, has defended his decision to devalue the pound saying it will tackle the "root cause" of Britain's economic problems. The government announced last night it was lowering the exchange rate so the pound is now worth $2.40, down from $2.80, a cut of just over 14%. The decision came after weeks of increasingly feverish speculation and a day in which the Bank of England spent £200m trying to shore up the pound from its gold and dollar reserves.

In a radio and television broadcast this evening, the Prime Minister said devaluation would enable Britain to " break out from the straitjacket" of boom and bust economics. The only alternative, he said, was to borrow heavily from governments abroad - but the only loans on offer were short-term ones.

The government inherited an £800m deficit from the Conservatives when it was elected three years ago. Mr Wilson said Labour had managed to reduce the deficit, but the cost of hostilities in the Middle East, the closure of the Suez Canal and the disruption to exports through the dock strikes had contributed to the strain on sterling.

He said: "Our decision to devalue attacks our problem at the root and that is why the international monetary community have rallied round. "From now the pound abroad is worth 14% or so less in terms of other currencies. It does not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued. "What it does mean is that we shall now be able to sell more goods abroad on a competitive basis."

The government hopes a boost for British exports in turn will lead to increased production and more jobs at home. The bank lending rate has been raised to 8% and there will be cuts of £100m in defence spending and in some capital expenditure programmes. Although there are likely to be increases in the cost of some goods imported from abroad, such as certain foods, the government hopes this will not feed into excessive wage demands.

Conservative leader Edward Heath has also appeared on television to reply to Mr Wilson's broadcast. He accused the Labour Government of failing in one of its foremost duties - to safeguard the value of the country's money. He said: "Having denied 20 times in 37 months that they would ever devalue the pound, they have devalued against all their own arguments."

21st November The 6pm news on the telly. The number of animals slaughtered in the latest epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease has reached a record high of 134,000. More than 70 fresh outbreaks were confirmed today, bringing the total to 746 since the first case last month. The epidemic is now the worst this century. There were 40 fresh cases in Cheshire, a key dairy-producing county at the centre of the epidemic. A further 13 were diagnosed in neighbouring Shropshire, where the first outbreak was reported. Northamptonshire also confirmed its first case.

The Ministry of Agriculture has issued farmers with four measures which it says will help contain the epidemic:

•  keep as many animals as possible under cover
•  split livestock into separate units where practicable
•  have all animals examined at least every day
•  keep people and vehicles off the farms by arranging a farm-gate collection and delivery service

Fred Peart, the Minister for Agriculture, told MPs the epidemic is being contained, despite the gravity of the situation. "If the present united effort is kept up we shall win through," he said.

The government is following a ruthless slaughter policy, in line with previous methods for dealing with the disease. Under the policy, all the animals on a farm where an outbreak is confirmed are killed. Some farmers have argued vaccination would be a more humane way of dealing with the disease. The government, however, believes it would cost too much and would not cover all types of farm animal.

The government is committed to paying an estimated £8m in compensation to farmers after the first month alone. But the National Farmers' Union points out that the actual losses to the farmer are far higher. Apart from the lost income, there is also the incalculable loss caused by the destruction of a lifetime's work.

Many of the animals slaughtered come from long-established pedigree herds, built up over generations. Yesterday, 60 of the Duke of Westminster's 300-strong Eaton herd of pedigree Dairy Shorthorns on one of his farms near Chester were slaughtered after the disease was confirmed there. The herd dates back to 1880, and included current show champions.

It's still not known what caused the current outbreak, although veterinary officers say investigations are proceeding. One theory is that the virus was brought into the country in imported frozen beef. Suggestions that the beef may have come from Argentina, a key source of Britain's frozen beef imports, are being strongly denied by the Argentine government.

27th November The 6pm news on the telly. The French President, Charles de Gaulle, has for a second time said he will veto Britain's application to join the Common Market. He warned France's five partners in the European Economic Community (EEC) that if they tried to impose British membership on France it would result in the break-up of the community. All five - Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany - have said they would support negotiations towards British membership. Only France remains opposed.

At a news conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, attended by more than 1,000 diplomats, civil servants and ministers as well as journalists, General de Gaulle accused Britain of a "deep-seated hostility" towards European construction. He said London showed a "lack of interest" in the Common Market and would require a "radical transformation" before joining the EEC. "The present Common Market is incompatible with the economy, as it now stands, of Britain," he said. He went on to list a number of aspects of Britain's economy, from working practices to agriculture, which he said made Britain incompatible with Europe.

Hopes that he might offer clear terms for associate membership were also dashed. He said France would back commercial exchanges with Britain - "be it called association or by any other name" - but that was all. His remarks were greeted with dismay in Europe, where it is feared an open crisis within the EEC is now inevitable.

General de Gaulle's position has hardly changed since he first vetoed Britain's application to join in 1963. He leaves the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, with no realistic hope of taking Britain into Europe in the near future. All three political parties are committed to joining the EEC, and the news of General de Gaulle's continuing intransigence on the issue was met with gloom in Westminster.

The only group which was pleased with the General's comments were anti-European campaigners. They called on the prime minister to withdraw Britain's application immediately. Only then, they said, could a "humiliating" inquiry into the UK's economic affairs be avoided when Common Market foreign ministers meet to consider Britain's application formally next month.

Mr Wilson himself said he would not countenance what he called "peevish reactions" which might jeopardise Britain's relations with France or the other five EEC countries.

28th November The 6pm news on the telly. All horse racing in Britain has been cancelled indefinitely to help prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. The decision was taken by the National Hunt Committee, on the advice of the Ministry of Agriculture.

It means the certain cancellation of two of National Hunt racing's top races: the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup on 9 December, and the highly prestigious King George VI Cup at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. It also throws thousands of jockeys, stable lads, trainers and bookmakers into a state of uncertainty.

Top jockey Stan Mellor said he would be £200-£300 a week out of pocket due to lost earnings, while lesser-known jockeys without steady work from trainers could find themselves out of work altogether.

Racehorse trainers have particularly difficult decisions to make, as racing can be re-started at any time with seven days' notice. Lambourn trainer Fulke Walwyn spoke for many when he said he was disappointed that there had been no time limit set. "I would be happier if we knew how long this would last," he said. Most trainers, however, were accepting of the decision, saying that they would do whatever it took to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Bookmakers are also expected to be hit badly. William Hill estimate they stand to lose tens of thousands of pounds each week. The government is also expected to lose millions of pounds in tax revenues, normally collected from betting.

As recently as two days ago, the Ministry of Agriculture was still saying that no immediate shutdown of racing was necessary. But it is now thought the situation has become so critical that any movement of animals around the countryside could spread the disease. The latest figures show the number of foot-and-mouth cases still climbing to record levels. There were 52 new outbreaks reported today, bringing the number of cases to more than 1,200 since the beginning of the epidemic. More than 200,000 animals have so far been slaughtered.

The Agriculture Minister, Fred Peart, told the Commons the government was preparing a vaccination programme as a last-ditch weapon against the disease. However, he said, he was still convinced that the slaughter policy was in the best interests of the country.

Thompson digs Gershwin.

Mr Thompsons' 4A2 class. On one occasion, possibly when we had entered our form classroom at morning registration, Thompson had the wood cased school record player, plugged in, already set up on his desk. An LP sized record in its cover sleeve (might have been a 78rpm) was laying flat beside the player. After all names were called and checked off at the registration, there is some confusion in my recollection of what took place next in relation to which syllabus was being implemented here? Mr Thompson for form 4A2, was tasked to only cover the subjects Maths and Religious Education. Music teaching was Miss Rotherhams' department.

So, our class group were, all seated at their desks, with rising curiosity, looking at Thompson take the record out of its sleeve then place the disc on the turntable. I'm of an opinion that it was not part of any subject lesson at all. He either just had an urge to play music that morning or he was setting it up for a different class group that would come into this room later that morning? The music he then played, I definitely remember it to be 'Rhapsody in Blue' composed by George Gershwin. This was a most unusual start to our day. That being the only time a teacher in my form class actually played a classic piece of orchestral jazz music to us, outside of the school lessons timetable. I also know that Thompson could play a musical instrument [the clarinet]. That might be an explanation of his choice of music. Everybody at school during the late 1950s through 1960s should be able to still visualise in their minds, the old schools portable box record player's. The manufacturer's brand names Clarke and Smith; Coomber; Goodsell - were all common makes within schools and designed specifically for educational use.

1st December 1967 This slapstick British comedy film short was released "The Plank" Storyline. On a house building site, Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper are two workmen, when one of them uses the last floorboard for heating, they go out to buy a replacement. They return to the house with the plank on top of a van, but the journey is fraught with unexpected situation difficulties.

2nd December The BBC-2 TV channel begins its full schedule of colour broadcasts. Before that, there had been a restricted selection of colour programs broadcast in the previous five months. We still only have the black and white TV to watch at home. Colour TV, I can only dream of the day when we can afford one.

12th December The 6pm news on the telly. Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones has had a nine month jail sentence overturned at the Court of Appeal in London. He has been ordered instead to pay a £1,000 fine and has been put on probation for three years. An order to pay 250 guineas in costs still stands from his earlier hearing. Jones, aged 25, has also promised to continue medical treatment with a psychiatrist.

On 30th October the guitarist pleaded guilty to two drugs offences, possession of cannabis and permitting his home to be used by others smoking cannabis. The judge handed down a nine-month jail term - but Jones was released on bail a day later pending his appeal.

The drugs - enough to make up to 10 reefer cigarettes - were found during a police raid of his Kensington flat in May after a party.

James Comyn QC told the Appeal court his client had since "cut out drugs, soft, hard or what you will for the future". He said Jones was a highly intelligent and extremely sensitive young man who had been catapulted to fame. He added: "It may sound trite but Jones has suffered every single day since sentence was passed upon him - a suffering which cannot be removed and may be regarded as penalty enough. "This man is at the very crossroads of life and if you uphold the sentence it is liable to break him and his career. "Brian Jones is at your mercy and it is mercy that he seeks."

Dr Anthony Flood, a consultant psychiatrist who treated Jones for three weeks while he was on bail, also spoke on his behalf. He said waiting for the appeal had had "an astounding effect" on the young musician. "I think if one put a reefer within half a mile of Brian Jones he would start running," Dr Flood said.

The court also heard from Dr Leonard Henry, a Harley Street psychiatrist, who described Jones as emotionally unstable. The judges' view was given by Lord Parker who said it was difficult to understand the kind of life Jones led. He said there was nothing wrong with the jail term imposed on Jones but the court had decided "not without considerable doubt" a degree of mercy would be shown. The fine of £1,000 was the maximum allowed under the law.

Stones' lead singer Mick Jagger was in court to hear the judges' decision. He and fellow band member Keith Richards had been in court earlier in the year following a different drugs raid. They had also had their jail terms overturned.

As Jones left the court, he said: "I am very happy to have my freedom."

26th December BBC 1 TV: The Beatles' colourful film Magical Mystery Tour premiers, but it was transmitted only in black and white. It was announced that BBC 2 TV would broadcast it in colour, the next month.

The Gillingham "Odeon" cinema was one of a batch of British Odeon and Gaumont cinemas that were sold off by the owner, J Arthur Rank company to the Classic cinemas chain in December 1967. Most of these newly acquired cinemas were then re-named "Classic" in the new year 1968.

New Year's eve 1967, playing the David McWilliams Vol. 2 record, one of my favourite LP album's at the time, first heard songs from it on pirate radio Caroline, earlier in the year.