1st January 1969 This gritty war film was released "Play Dirty" Storyline. A British Petroleum executive is assigned to work with the British Army in North Africa handling port duties for incoming fuels. This gives him the official rank of Captain Douglas in the British Army. Colonel Masters in charge of preparing a special team of criminals is told he must have a British officer accompany his men on a dangerous mission 400 miles behind the German lines and is saddled with the Petroleum executive, who tries to argue his way out by saying that his contract states he is to only work port duties. That argument is lost on Brigade Commander Blore who simply points out that the executive is wearing a British uniform. The real leader of the team, Captain Cyril Leech, a released prisoner himself and a mercenary, doesn't need or want the British officer, who's supposed to be in charge, but he's promised an extra 2,000 British Pounds if he gets Douglas back alive. Disguised as Italians, their trek and mission across Rommel's Africa is to blow up a Nazi fuel depot. After they head off, unknown to them, we learn that they're just a decoy team for another unit to actually fulfil the assignment.
2nd January The 6pm news on the telly. The Australian media magnate, Rupert Murdoch, has beaten off a rival bid to win control of the News of the World newspaper group. Mr Murdoch defeated a £34 million offer from Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press to become the new managing director of his first Fleet Street newspaper.
He said: "Anyone interested in journalism and mass newspapers realises that Fleet Street is the heart of it all. To be in Fleet Street is to be at the heart." The 37-year-old Australian already owns a national Australian newspaper, as well as several regional daily and weekly papers and a number of television stations.
The bitter battle for control of the News of the World began last October when Pergamon offered an initial £28 million. It had the support of Professor Derek Jackson's family, who owned around 25% of the shares. But the deal was fiercely opposed by the Carr family, who owned around 30% of the shares and ran the company. They joined forces with Mr Murdoch's News Ltd group and rejected Pergamon's bid as "completely unacceptable".
Unaware of what Mr Murdoch was plotting behind the scenes, Mr Maxwell increased his offer by an extra £8m, bringing the bid to 50 shillings (£2.50) per voting share, a price regarded in the City as being very generous. But when the offer was put to the vote, shareholders chose to support the Carr family and Mr Murdoch.
Afterwards, Mr Maxwell accused News Ltd of using "the laws of the jungle" to win the deal, he said: "Pergamon Press made a fair and bona fide offer in October which has been frustrated and defeated after three months of (cynical) manoeuvring." Mr Murdoch denied any dirty dealing, saying: "The shareholders have judged my record in Australia, I presume, and they're hoping I can do the same in this country, with this company."
10th January The 6pm news on the telly. Civil rights leaders in Northern Ireland are defying police orders and refusing to abandon their planned march through Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland. The People's Democracy movement say it is a non-sectarian organisation that just wants to be allowed to march through a protestant area of this quiet border town.
Orders from the Northern Ireland Government in Stormont are to re-route the march away from the area "in the interests of the preservation of peace". Catholics and protestants normally live happily side by side in Newry - but the town is just five miles from the Irish republic and there are fears militant Catholics might cross the border to join the march.
Local schoolmaster Tom Keith is leading the demonstration. He insists they are committed to peaceful protest. He said: "We certainly realise our civic responsibility in this matter, but we blame any damage to life, limb and property that may be caused, first of all on the government and secondly on those people who will cause it and that won't be us, of course. "Any guilt we might feel about such damage will be assuaged by the fact that those people who take part on our side will be very responsible people who won't be provoked to retaliate no matter what the pressure on them is."
Newry has a police force of just 30 officers. Heavy barricades of steel fencing and parked cars are being moved into strategic points along the planned route.
16th January 1969 This film was released "Bullitt" Storyline. San Francisco Police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt is selected by Walter Chalmers, a politician with ambition, to guard a Mafia informant who is about to turn evidence against the organization at a US Senate subcommittee hearing on organized crime. Bullitt's friend and underling is shot and the witness is left at death's door by two hit men who seemed to know exactly where the witness was hiding. Bullitt begins a search for both the hit men and the leak, but he must keep the witness alive long enough to make a breakthrough in a maze of complications and double-crosses.
Geoffrey Glover was seen riding a motor scooter up and down Marlborough road, during a school lunch break, and had then parked his new Orange/Green Lambretta scooter outside the Upbury Manor lower school gate. He was dressed in the full mod regalia, fish tail parka and close cropped ginger hair. The show off, with a small group of Upbury girls (13 to 14 years old) gathering around him in admiration. He had left school, aged 15, last year and had earned enough to buy the scooter.
As part of the 5th year metal work course, there was a side project in mechanical engineering and someone had donated an old moped to work on for the students to learn about petrol engines and how it is all constructed into a working motorcycle. Most of the old 4A1 gang of boys had stayed on for a fifth year, and were on this course with Mr Twyman in charge. Amazingly, their old attitude of rivalry had vanished as we were all working together on fixing up the moped. That was quite interesting and I put the knowledge to practical use a couple of years later, when I bought myself a two tone Red/White second hand Lambretta series 3 TV175 scooter and then other larger 4 stroke motorcycles in later years.
20th January 1969 Kent Education Committee bid to balance the books.
In committee it was agreed to recommend that £1.4 million cuts in budget estimates for 1969-70 should be reduced to £1.1 million. This was because £300,000 more than expected had already been paid into nationally pooled expenditure. The cuts in the budget, the committee wants to reverse are £180,000 for building repairs and maintenance, £100,000 for school allowances such as books and stationery. Other amounts too for teacher training maintenance grants.
It was said, the increases in population and through raising the school leaving age will mean that by 1973 the loss of schoolchildren when part of Kent was transferred to Greater London, will have been made up, and the school population will be around 250,000. Expenditure has risen to the proposed figure of £42.5 million for 1969-70 but cuts have had to be made in estimates every year since 1967-68. Prices were continually rising and more cuts in allowances for food price increases are expected.
A big drop in unqualified teachers
There were 480 more teachers in Kent schools last term according to figures issued by divisional education officers. Kent had 502 more teachers with qualifictions and 55 fewer unqualified teachers. At the same time, the number of pupils increased by 7,729. In October 1968, Kent had nine more qualified teachers than the Ministry of Education and Science's quota allows. For many years, it had been unable to recruit its fulla quota.
A Reluctant go-ahead given
The committee has set out details of the reorganisation of secondary education which has been reluctantly agreed by Gillingham's local education executive. The details now go before local executive for submission to the Department of Education and Science.
The six giant schools to take all Gillingham borough's children from 11-18, will be situated at Rainham Mark (boys and girls), Thames View (mixed), Upbury Manor (mixed), Woodlands (mixed), and Parkwood/Hempstead (mixed). There will also have to be a Roman Catholic school.
Before these schools can come into use, it has already been stressed that the two 12-form entry comprehensives will have to be completed on the Rainham Mark campus, one for boys and one for girls. Upbury Manor will have to be extended to 12-form entry standard. The Technical High school, Pump Lane, will have to be extended to a nine-form entry school. A purpose-built nine-form (mixed) comprehensive will have to be built on the Cornwallis Avenue site. A site for a 12-form entry school will have to be found to serve the south east of the borough.
The six proposed schools will be able to attract specialist staff for academic work and provide posts such as house mastership and tutorships, says the K.E.C. The 11-18 range, it is thought, will avoid unsettling change in adolescence, and "family" tutorial groups are planned to offset the dangers of mass organisation.
24th January The 6pm news on the telly. The London School of Economics has been closed following violent protests by students angry at the installation of steel security gates. Police were called in to try to break up the demonstrators who broke through seven sets of steel protective gates put up last week at the university in the Aldwych, central London.
The gates had been attacked with crowbars, pickaxes and sledgehammers. Officers arrested 25 students who were taken to Bow Street police station. A crowd of student protesters followed, marching in a column, nine abreast, calling for the release of their colleagues. The installation of the gates was regarded as highly provocative by the students - and some members of the academic staff.
They resemble the iron grilles fitted outside jewellers' shops and students claim they made the school look like a concentration camp.
LSE director Dr Walter Adams, whose appointment two years ago sparked off a series of student sit-ins, said the gates were put up to allow certain parts of the building to be closed off during protests - and allow others, such as the union premises, to remain open.
Students and staff held a meeting during the day to discuss the removal of the gates - but the student union president, Francis Keohane, lost a motion that removal should be by negotiation. Within half an hour the gates were down. The union president, and treasurer Roger Mountford, announced their resignations saying they could not defend the law-breaking action.
The damage to the security gates is the latest in a long line of confrontations with the authorities which began in 1966 when students protested at the appointment of Dr Adams, then principal of the University College of Rhodesia. The students claimed Dr Adams had not shown sufficient resistance to the regime of Ian Smith.
26th January The 6pm news on the telly. Police wielding truncheons and firing tear gas from pressure canisters have broken up a march by hundreds of demonstrators in central Prague. The violence erupted as officers tried to disperse the crowd gathered at the foot of the Wenceslas Statue, to pay tribute to Jan Palach, the student who burned himself to death in protest at the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia.
The mourners, mostly students, have been placing lighted candles and wreaths at the foot of the statue - traditionally a focal point for protesters. The statue was also daubed with a slogan "Do not be indifferent to the day when the light of the future was carried forward by a burning body." Signs which said "Red Army Square" have been painted over with the words "Jan Palach Square".
Palach was buried yesterday after a ceremony at Charles University, where he was studying philosophy. An estimated 500,000 people gathered in the rain to watch the funeral procession on its final journey to the cemetery at Olsany. There were no government representatives at the funeral and no police. Soviet troops kept out of sight.
It is understood the tough measures adopted by police trying to clear today's demonstration were the result of an ultimatum from the Soviet authorities. The Russian leader, Leonid Brezhnev, is said to have threatened to use military force to restore order if the Czech authorities did not take control themselves.
Police say they moved in after the crowd began chanting slogans, like "Russians go home", and refused to disperse. Officers waving batons charged the crowd and began letting off tear gas. They made a number of arrests.
27th January The 6pm news on the telly. Students protesting against the closure of the London School of Economics have seized control of another university building. The rebels have taken over the University of London Union building, in Malet Street in central London, saying they want to establish an LSE in exile until their own college is reopened.
Three days ago, students went on the rampage at the LSE, in the Aldwych, with pickaxes, crowbars and sledgehammers, smashing several sets of steel gates which had only just been installed. LSE Director Walter Adams, who ordered the gates to improve security, closed the school and has announced it will remain shut until he is satisfied order can be maintained.
The students, who claimed the gates made the college feel like a concentration camp, say they now need a new base from which to continue their studies. They have barred the entrances to the union building and stuck posters on the doors and walls, with slogans like "Occupied for Student Action" and "LSE in exile".
One student, who refused to be identified by the cameras, said: "It is very difficult to say how long we are going to be here. We need a base from which to work and this is why this base was taken in the first place." He said so far only sociology lectures had been held in the ULU.
Another rebel student blamed Dr Adams and the governors for closing the school: "They hold the power, not the revolutionary students of LSE. They closed LSE, we would like to open it." He accused Dr Adams of trying to restrict their academic freedom by putting up the security gates.
However, it is clear the LSE rebels do not command total support among the student community. Another group of students tried to get into the union building but found their entrance barred. Their spokesman said: "We feel something should be done to tell people they do not represent us. We do not want our grants stopped. The vast majority of us want to pass our exams."
The love bug bites, in my 5th year, Lynne O'Halloran was the first girl I'd met that I felt I would like to be good friends with and more. I cannot recall Lynne being in any classes I was in during my first four years at Upbury. Maybe she had been in the C stream before entering the 5th form group? I remember walking by a classroom, the door was open, I could see her amongst a row of girls seated at a long desk, each girl clacking away at the keys of their typewriter. It was the shorthand typing course room located somewhere on the upper floor of the main building.
She was a not a lean girl nor could be called plump, just a couple inches above 5 feet tall, with short spiky style natural Raven colour hair. I liked her bonny face and her kind personality. Unfortunately, there was her off-putting, controlling, best friend named Gillian Smead, who treated Lynne as a sidekick. Gillian, I'd known of from the days at Byron road infants and then the primary school. She had been in the A stream all through the years at Upbury and by the time I'd reached the A1 stream rather late in school life, to my mind, she seemed to have developed bitchy traits when I had joined her class in the 4th year. Gillian who was an active barrier blocking most of my approaches to Lynne. The young sister Kerry O'Halloran was in the second year stream class, but I never met her or saw her around in the school days.
18th February The 6pm news on the telly. Hundreds of people have clamoured to see the marriage of pop stars Lulu and Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in a Buckinghamshire church. Lulu, 20, had hoped to keep her wedding plans secret but around 1,000 people - mostly women and girls - filled the grounds of St James' Church in Gerrards Cross.
Several children were hurt as the crowd - that had waited for an hour - surged forward when Lulu arrived in her green Rolls Royce, 20 minutes late. Wearing a long, white, mink-trimmed coat with fur hood and a white, silk mini-dress, Lulu - born Marie McDonald McLaughlin - begged onlookers to let her through, saying, "Please let me in, please let me in."
As police formed a cordon to allow the bride to reach the church, Maurice Gibb - also wearing white - waited inside with his best man, twin brother Robin, who was married only three months ago. The third Gibb brother, Barry, arrived 10 minutes later, after earlier objecting to the wedding saying the couple was too young. The Bee Gees and the bride were the only celebrities at the small, family wedding.
After a half-hour service - presided over by Reverend Gordon Harrison - the newlyweds were trapped in the church for another 10 minutes until a path had been cleared to their waiting car. They spent a few minutes at the 19-year-old groom's parents' house in Gerrards Cross before travelling to London for their reception.
After a one-day honeymoon Lulu plans to return to work on her BBC television series. She says she wants to cut down on her work-load to concentrate on her family and wants lots of children.
The daughter of a Glaswegian butcher, Lulu has already enjoyed a successful singing career for five years - beginning with number one single, Shout. She will represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in March.
2nd March The 6pm news on the telly. The supersonic airliner, Concorde, has made a "faultless" maiden flight. The Anglo-French plane took off from Toulouse and was in the air for just 27 minutes before the pilot made the decision to land.
The first pilot, Andre Turcat, said on his return to the airport: "Finally the big bird flies, and I can say now that it flies pretty well." The test flight reached 10,000ft (3,000m), but Concorde's speed never rose above 300mph (480kph). The plane will eventually fly at a speed of 1,300mph (2,080kph). Mr Turcat, his co-pilot and two engineers taxied to the end of the runway at about 1530 GMT. Strong winds meant the test flight was in doubt for much of the day. Two previous test flights had to be abandoned because of poor weather conditions.
Concorde sped down the runway and there was a spontaneous burst of applause from watching reporters and cameramen as the wheels lifted off the ground. The noise from the four Olympus 593 engines, built jointly by the Bristol division of Rolls Royce and the French Snecma organisation, drowned out any noise from the crowd.
Less than half-an-hour later, the aircraft was brought back down to earth using a braking parachute and reverse thrust. The crew emerged at the top of the steps, led by Mr Turcat, who gave the thumbs up signal with each hand.
The first British test pilot, Brian Trubshaw, who watched today's flight from the news stand, said, "I was terribly impressed by the way the whole flight was conducted. It was most professional and I would like to congratulate Andre on the way he handled this performance."
The British government has so far invested £155m in the project. It is hoped Concorde will begin flying commercially in 1973, when it will cut the flying time between London and New York from seven hours 40 minutes to three hours 25 minutes.
4th March The 6pm news on the telly. The Kray twins, Ronald and Reginald, are facing life sentences after being found guilty of murder at the Central Criminal Court. The jury deliberated for six hours and 55 minutes before returning the unanimous guilty verdict for the murder of Jack McVitie.
Christopher and Anthony Lambrianou and Ronald Bender were also found guilty of murder. Ronald Kray and John Barrie were also convicted of murdering George Cornell. Anthony Barry was found not guilty of murder and discharged. Albert Donaghue who pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder earlier in the trial will be sentenced tomorrow.
The Kray's elder brother, Charles, Frederick Foreman and Cornelius Whitehead were all found guilty of being accessories to the murder of Mr McVitie.
The judge, Mr Justice Melford Stevenson, will pass sentence tomorrow. The accused were brought up into the dock one, by one, to hear the jury's verdict.
The Old Bailey trial has lasted 39 days so far, the longest and most expensive-ever held at the London court. In the dock were 10 men, the judge tried to make them wear numbers to make life easier for the jury, but the twins just ripped them off.
The court was told how Ronald Kray shot dead George Cornell in front of customers at the Blind Beggar pub in the East End in 1966 for calling him a "fat poof". It also heard how Jack "The Hat" McVitie was repeatedly stabbed by Reginald Kray in a north London flat while his brother held him down. Their elder brother, Charles, was convicted to helping to dispose of the body.
After the verdicts, the judge turned to the jury and thanked them for the "devoted and selfless attention" they had given to the evidence. He added: "You set a standard with which I shall judge all juries in the future."
Thursday 6th March. The film "Baby Love" was premiered at the Metropole cinema, Victoria Street, London.
The Storyline. After the shock of finding her promiscuous, impoverished, cancer-ridden mother had committed suicide, 15 year old schoolgirl Luci is adopted by her mother's ex-lover Robert, now a wealthy, married doctor living the high-life in London. Once in her new home, the deeply-disturbed girl gradually spirals out of control, teasing teenage son Nick, flirting with sleazy family friend Harry, allowing herself to get felt up by a pervert in a cinema, taunting local lads by the river, whilst driving a wedge between her adoptive parents by her seductive behaviour and awakening latent lesbian urges in her new mother. And so on..
10th March The 6pm news on the telly. James Earl Ray has been jailed for 99 years by a court in Memphis, Tennessee, after admitting he carried out the murder of the American civil rights leader. His guilty plea was made on the understanding he was spared the electric chair. It also brought a swift end to the trial, which otherwise might have lasted weeks. Ray will not be eligible for parole until he is 90.
The verdict is unlikely to silence the speculation that Dr King's murder was the result of a conspiracy. Until now, it had been assumed Ray's defence would be that he was involved in a plot to assassinate the civil rights leader, but did not fire the fatal shot.
Dr King, who preached non-violence, was shot dead by a sniper in the southern city of Memphis in April 1968 as he stood on a hotel balcony. He was in the city to lead a civil rights march. He had come to Memphis to support striking dustmen, the majority of whom are black. The unresolved dispute meant feelings between black and white were running high in the city.
Immediately after the shooting, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was ordered to begin an investigation.
Ray had escaped from Missouri State Penitentiary in April 1967 where he was serving a 20 year sentence for armed robbery. He was eventually traced to London in June 1968, where he was travelling under a false identity. He was arrested at Heathrow airport and charged with possessing a loaded firearm and false passport.
Today, Ray appeared in court wearing a dark suit. He spoke only to admit his guilt and in a brief statement he hinted there may have been some kind of plot to murder Dr King. He showed little sign of emotion as sentence was passed.
Judge Preston Battle pointed out no-one else had so far been connected to the crime, but that was not conclusive evidence there had not been a conspiracy. He added: "If this defendant was a member of a conspiracy, no member of that conspiracy can ever live in peace or security or rest his head in sweet dreams because in this state there is no statute of limitations for capital offences."
12th March The 6pm news on the telly. Paul McCartney has married Linda Eastman in a civil ceremony in London. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Marylebone Register Office to catch a glimpse of the couple as they arrived with Miss Eastman's six-year-old daughter, Heather, from a previous marriage. A dozen policemen were on hand to fend off enthusiastic teenagers, many of whom were distraught that the last remaining bachelor Beatle was tying the knot.
The couple entered the building via a side-door to the disappointment of many of the crowds. Miss Eastman, 27, was wearing a daffodil yellow coat over a fawn dress, while 26-year-old Mr McCartney was sporting a matching yellow tie.
The ceremony was delayed because the best man, Mr McCartney's brother Mike McGear of the Scaffold pop group, arrived late. He had been travelling from Birmingham where he had been performing the night before when his train became delayed. After the ceremony the newly-weds were ushered through the crowds into a waiting car and driven away to their local parish church where the marriage was blessed.
The couple met two years ago when Miss Eastman, a professional photographer, was taking photographs of the Beatles in America.
Linda Eastman was born in 1941 in New York and was educated at the prestigious Scarsdale High School. After leaving school, she trained as a photographer and throughout the 1960s has photographed many famous names, including Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, Bob Dylan and Otis Redding.
Paul McCartney was born in 1942 in Liverpool and had written his first song, I Lost My Little Girl, by the age of 14. The Beatles were formed in 1960 and by 1963 Beatlemania had gripped the country.
The couple plan to spend their honeymoon visiting relatives in America.
28th March 1969 Design go-ahead for 29 schools in Kent
Ministry of Education approval has been given for architects to start designing extensions to 21 Kent primary schools and eight secondary schools, in the expectation that building will start in 1970-71.
A major feature of the "design list" is the approval for design go-ahead for a new secondary school for 570 children at Meopham, costing £290,628. Approval is also given for the eventual enlargement of Upbury Manor Secondary school, Gillingham, to 10-form entry, accomodating 1,590 children, at a cost of £316,589. Sandown Court Secondary school, Tunbridge Wells, will be enlarged to six-form entry size, accomodating 960 children at a cost of £266,045. Herne Bay Secondary school, will be enlarged to five form-entry size, accomodating 780 children at a cost of £189,967. St. John's Roman Catholic school, Gravesend, will also be enlarged to five form-entry, reducing in size to four form-entry for children over 13. This means an extra 660 places, costing £62,791.
Primary school projects given design go-ahead are based on two schools at Wilmington, near Dartford, Singlewell Primary at Gravesend, New Ash Green Primary at Hartley, and the primary schools at Meopham and Longfield. Other schools to benefit will be Broadwater Down and St. James primary schools at Tunbridge Wells, Outer Lordswood Primary at Chatham, Twydall Gillingham, Hadlow and Paddock Wood primary schools. East Kent primary schools to be extended are at Joy lane, Whitstable, Upton, Broadstairs, Birchington Church of England, and Capel-Le-Ferne.
The mod fashion was branching an offshoot that later evolved into the skinhead phenomenon and some boys were already reflecting the changes in their sharp new close crop cut hairstyles. The girls too, were influenced by the Julie Driscoll look, which in my opinion knocked Twiggy off her perch. My hair had usually been cut in the traditional barber shops "Smorfitt" Canterbury street near the 'Westcourt Arms hotel' or "Fisher" in Canterbury street near the high street and sometimes by my dad at home, when short of money. With my "grownup's" approved hairstyle of combed over with side parting, I really felt inadequate and was being left behind in the new youth fashion arms race. Lynne though, thought my hair was longish and she liked it and so I left it at that. Even knowing that Lynne might go out with me if I asked her, it wasn't enough for me to find the courage to do it.
New sounds from Jamaica had been filtering into the pirate radio airwaves during the last year 1968. The American singer Johnny Nash first charted with his Jamaican influenced pop records "Hold Me Tight" and "You Got Soul" which opened the way for the real stuff into the mainstream. The most notable records played being from Desmond Dekker and the Aces, with recordings made during 1967 such as "007 (Shanty town)", "Sabotage" then in 1968 "Bongo Gal". At that time the music was labelled as "Rocksteady". A few years before that, the West Indian music was different and was known as "SKA" in Jamaica and in Britain called "Blue Beat" and "Ska Beat" named after the record labels of the same name. I think most people of my age first encountered heavily diluted SKA music in the commercial hit records of the 1964 British pop charts "My Boy Lollipop" and "Sweet William", performed by the teenage Jamaican singer Millie Small. She looked cute and her high pitched child voice must have been the main appeal for the records to sell to the British public. Soon after that, Jamaican music faded out of the British pop chart placings and from the public consciousness for a few years.
The music had evolved and now called Reggae, Desmond Dekker and the Aces weren't finished yet, his 1968 Jamaican recording "Poor Me Israelites" began selling extremely well in the UK, re-titled as "Israelites", zooming up the charts March 1969 and topped the charts. It was another brilliant dance record and the beginning of the skinhead and reggae craze in Britain. A British based reggae band, Cats, with their instrumental 1968 recorded single "Swan Lake" did a good job sounding authentic Jamaican, entering the charts in April 1969. Two rude records, Lloyd Terrel's "Bang Bang Lulu" and the Max Romeo "Wet Dream" were released in Jamaica during 1968 then later on in the UK the following year. They started selling well, "Wet Dream" reaching the UK charts end of May 1969, staying there for many months. The song was explicitly sexual, the BBC banned their radio DJ's from making any references to the song. Dutch pirate radio station "Veronica" had no such qualms and continued plugging the records because of them being cracking good discothèque records. At school, it was the subject of much curiosity and sniggering when listening intently to the lyrics of both songs whenever we heard them being played on the radio. My opinion is that "Bang Bang Lulu" was the more entertaining lyrically, but although not being banned by the BBC, it failed to achieve the chart success of "Wet Dream. Another 1968 recording from Desmond Dekker and the Aces, "It Miek" was a hit in late June 1969, then in July, British based singer Tony Tribe had a hit with "Red Red Wine".
9th April The 6pm news on the telly. Sikh busmen in Wolverhampton have won the right to wear turbans on duty after a long-running campaign. Conductors and drivers who are practising Sikhs will also be allowed to have long beards - another requirement for strict adherents of their faith.
Wolverhampton's Transport Committee dropped its ban after the leader of a Sikh group, Sohan Singh Jolly, had threatened to burn himself to death in protest. Mr Jolly, 66, said the ban on turbans and beards was a direct attack on his religion. Fourteen others had vowed to follow suit and set fire to themselves if their request was not granted.
However, Mr Jolly's actions did not receive whole-hearted support from all of Britain's estimated 130,000 Sikhs. Dr A K S Aujila of the Supreme Council of Sikhs in the UK said: "We are going to wage relentless war on the idea that individuals can take this sort of action involving the whole community and very likely lead to a worsening of community harmony in Britain".
But both the Transport and General Workers Union and the Indian High Commission in London urged the Wolverhampton committee to change its rules. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Employment and Productivity, Ernest Fernyhough, also visited the city and warned councillors of "wide repercussions" if Mr Jolly carried out his threat.
After the committee's decision its chairman Ronald Gough said though the eight-man committee felt their ban on turbans had been "right and proper" none had vote against removing it. "In the interests of race relations we have taken the decision to relax the rule," he said.
After the committee's change of heart Mr Jolly said he had been forced to make his threat: "I am a moderate and religious man and would never have taken the extreme step of threatening my life if they had not refused to listen to reason," he said.
17th April The 6pm news on the telly. A 21-year-old woman, Bernadette Devlin, has become Britain's youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever. Standing as an independent Unity candidate, Miss Devlin wrested the seat of Mid-Ulster in Northern Ireland from the Ulster Unionists.
In a straight fight she defeated Anna Forrest, the widow of the late MP George Forrest, by more than 4,000 votes. At the last general election Mr Forrest had a majority of just over 2,500.
It was only Miss Devlin's second foray into politics after standing against Northern Ireland's agriculture minister, James Chichester-Clark, in February's Stormont elections. She polled nearly 6,000 votes against Major Chichester-Clark's 9,000.
In Mid-Ulster Miss Devlin was helped by the constituency's natural Catholic majority of about 4,000 and the fact that Mrs Forrest did not campaign at all.
The young MP, a Catholic, has declared her sympathies with the IRA and her win has dismayed Northern Ireland's Protestant community. However, the Queen's University psychology student has always said her approach is non-sectarian and she wants to promote unity among the people of Ireland. A leading figure in the student civil rights movement, Miss Devlin said her political ambitions were only awakened last October after she took part in a march that was violently suppressed by the police.
After her victory, Miss Devlin who turns 22 next Wednesday, said she would raise issues concerning Ulster in the House of Commons. "I was elected by the oppressed people of Ulster and I shall work for them," she said. She did not yet know when she would take her seat in Westminster or where, as an independent, she would sit, Miss Devlin added.
18th April It's all over now for The Beatles. Following the August 1967 death of Brian Epstein, the Beatles' finances were controlled by Epstein's brother Clive. But the Beatles really needed a new business manager for a replacement. John Lennon had met Allen Klein, (the Rolling Stones business manager) while filming The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968 and began lobbying for his services. Paul McCartney had other ideas and was lobbying for his soon-to-be father-in-law to look after their affairs. He put forward Lee Eastman as a possible lawyer, but the other three Beatles said, "No, he'd be too biased for you and against us,"
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| The Three to One letter |
21st April This school week started off the 3 week long process of the 5th form group year course work assessments for our forthcoming Certificate of Secondary Education (C.S.E.) subject exams tests. The good aspect of the C.S.E. system, was your class work performance being part of the test in the markings consideration. For English coursework there was also an oral test, where each candidate was required to give a 10 to 15 minute class talk on a subject of personal choice. I'm sure every one of these talks were recorded live onto the school reel to reel magnetic tape recorder. It would be a shock to learn now, if any of these recordings survived!
The reasoning for my choice of subject for the coursework oral test.
"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark," the US astronomer, Carl Sagan, noted. "There is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."
All we have are questions waiting for answers and it's urgent, for our human lifespan is too short.
My talk was about the National Aeronautics Space Agency (NASA) Apollo space missions. Which being the greatest historical events of human exploration and technical achievements then in the making as I was speaking. Not being a James Burke or Raymond Baxter radio/tv presenter, I might have come across as rather nerdy?
Apollo 7, the first crewed Apollo space mission for Earth orbit only
Launch October 11th, 1968 with a three-person American crew
Walter Schirra Jr., Commander
R. Walter Cunningham, Lunar Module Pilot
Donn F. Eisele, Command Module Pilot
Landing October 22nd, 1968 Atlantic Ocean, Recovery Ship: USS Essex
Mission Objectives
Demonstrate Command and Service Module (CSM) with crew performance; demonstrate mission support facilities' performance during a crewed mission and demonstrate Apollo rendezvous capability; demonstrate live TV broadcasts from space.
Apollo 7's achievement led to a rapid review of Apollo 8's options. The Apollo 7 astronauts went through six days of debriefing for the benefit of the next mission Apollo 8.
Apollo 8, the first crewed Moon orbital mission that was a spiritual trip
Launch December 21st, 1968 with crew
Frank Borman, Commander
William A. Anders, Lunar Module Pilot
James A. Lovell Jr., Command Module Pilot
Landing December 27th, 1968 Pacific Ocean Recovery Ship: USS Yorktown
Mission Objective
The mission objectives for Apollo 8 included a coordinated performance of the crew, the command and service module, or CSM, and the support facilities. The mission also was to demonstrate translunar injection; CSM navigation, communications and midcourse corrections; consumable assessment; and passive thermal control. The detailed test objectives were to refine the systems and procedures relating to future lunar operations.
Apollo 9, a space mission for Earth orbit only
Launch March 3rd, 1969 with crew
James A. McDivitt, Commander
Russell L. Schweickart, Lunar Module Pilot
David R. Scott, Command Module Pilot
Landing March 13th, 1969 Atlantic Ocean Recovery Ship: USS Guadalcanal
For this mission, the spacecraft were now given popular names; "Gumdrop" (command and service module), "Spider" (lunar module).
The primary objective of Apollo 9 was an Earth-orbital engineering test of the first crewed lunar module, or LM. Other prime objectives included an overall checkout of launch vehicle and spacecraft systems, the crew, and procedures. This was done by performing an integrated series of flight tasks with the command module, or CM, the service module, or SM, the joined command and service module, or CSM, the LM and S-IVB stage while they were linked in launch or various docked configurations, and while they were flying independently. The LM was to be tested as a self-sufficient spacecraft, and was also to perform active rendezvous and docking manoeuvres paralleling those scheduled for the following Apollo 10 lunar-orbit mission.
All prime mission objectives were met. All major spacecraft systems were successfully demonstrated. The few off-nominal conditions that developed did not affect achievement of the major goals.
Apollo 10, the one so close to a moon landing
Launch due May 18th, 1969 with crew
Thomas Stafford, Commander
Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot
John Young, Command Module Pilot
Landing due May 26th, 1969 Pacific Ocean
For this mission, the spacecraft are given popular names; "Charlie Brown" (command and service module), "Snoopy" (lunar module).
The Apollo 10 mission encompassed all aspects of an actual crewed lunar landing, except the landing. It was the first flight of a complete, crewed Apollo spacecraft to operate around the Moon. Objectives included a scheduled eight-hour lunar orbit of the separated lunar module, or LM, and descent to about nine miles off the moon's surface before ascending for rendezvous and docking with the command and service module, or CSM, in about a 70-mile circular lunar orbit. Pertinent data to be gathered in this landing rehearsal dealt with the lunar potential, or gravitational effect, to refine the Earth-based crewed spaceflight network tracking techniques, and to check out LM programmed trajectories and radar, and lunar flight control systems. Twelve television transmissions to Earth were planned.
"Thank You."
After that talk, I was relieved to hear that nobody in the group had any questions to put to me. The tape recorder was then switched off! Mr Dan Willis [course assessor], "the next one up please, um... Mary."
28th April The news on the telly. The French President, Charles de Gaulle, has resigned from office after 11 years, following his defeat in a referendum on governmental reforms. A terse, three-line communiqué from the Elysée presidential palace, issued shortly after midnight (2300 GMT), announced his decision to step down. His decision takes effect from 1200 local time (1100 GMT).
The result of the vote was decisive: 52.87% of the electorate voted "no", with 47.13% supporting the president. Turnout was over 80%. The result of voting in overseas territories has yet to arrive, but will not affect the outcome.
His resignation has caused shockwaves around the world. General de Gaulle, 78, is a towering figure in post-war politics: the symbol of Free France during the Nazi occupation in the Second World War, he founded the Fifth Republic in 1958 when he became President of France. He was a controversial figure at home and abroad, but nonetheless revolutionised French political institutions, and became France's most powerful head of state since Napoleon III.
The Prime Minister, Maurice Couve de Murville, spoke in a television broadcast of his "profound sadness" at the result. He said it was "an event the gravity of which will very quickly appear to all people in France and in the world".
Robert Poujade, secretary-general of the Gaullist Party, was one of many paying tribute to General de Gaulle. "He who inspired our struggles of yesterday will continue to inspire our struggles of tomorrow," he said. "In this ordeal, as he taught us, we shall not flinch one moment."
The proposals for reform which brought down the president were aimed at modernising the structure of government. General de Gaulle saw the issue as so crucial that he tied his own future to that of the referendum result. It turned the campaign into a vote of confidence in the General himself.
All attention now turns to former Prime Minister Georges Pompidou, who has never denied his intention to stand as President if Mr de Gaulle resigned. Mr Pompidou, controversially dismissed by the General after the elections last year, has long been regarded as his obvious successor. With declarations due within the next month, the race is on to see who can follow one of the greatest acts in the history of France.
2nd May The 6pm news on the telly. About 200 students calling for educational reforms at Columbia University have given up their sit-in after a supreme court judge issued a warrant for their arrest. One hundred pacifists have also abandoned their demonstration at Stanford University after they were met with an equal number of police officers.
The moves signal the start of a police crackdown on campus uprisings all over America, including the prestigious institutions of Harvard and Cornell. But many universities remain under siege with both black and white students demanding an end to alleged racial discrimination, on-campus military recruitment and a greater share in college government. Black students are also demanding a special Afro-American studies programme.
In New York, City College has been barricaded by black and Puerto Rican students for the last week. The grounds of the southern campus are littered with debris and slogans in red paint on the side of buildings read: "Malcolm [X] lives" and "Long Live Che Guevara".
Queens College has also been vandalised by black students protesting against the disciplining of 38 students and a lecturer for an earlier demonstration. It remains closed, as does Bronx Community College.
The Nixon administration and House of Congress is in no mood for compromise. "The time has come for an end to patience," said the Attorney-General John Mitchell. "I call for an end to minority tyranny - and for an immediate re-establishment of civil peace and protection of individual rights."
The Senate has set up two full-scale investigations into the unrest. Senator John McClellan, head of one of the investigation committees said the riots had been masterminded by the Black Panthers, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Black Students' Union.
21st May In London: The Beatles announce that Allen Klein will handle their finances
22nd May The 6pm news on the telly. Two US astronauts aboard Apollo 10 are on their way back to the safety of their mother ship after their lunar module came to within eight nautical miles (14kms) of the Moon's surface. Colonel Thomas Stafford and Commander Eugene Cernan were carrying out a rehearsal for a planned Moon landing this summer.
They were in the lunar module (LM) nicknamed Snoopy and are now about to rejoin the command module (aka Charlie Brown) piloted by Commander John Young 50 miles (80km) above the Moon.
The two spacemen came closer than any human being has come to a celestial body. "Snoopy" made two passes over the planned landing site for Apollo 11 before making a successful rendezvous with "Charlie Brown". After the first sweep at six times the speed of sound, Col Stafford said they had taken so many photographs he feared the camera had jammed while trying to change the film.
If the mission fails to bring back still shots of possible landing sites and approaches it will be a serious blow to Apollo planners. They want to make sure astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have a safe landing this July in Apollo 11.
But Col Stafford did manage to get a good view of the surface which he described as "very smooth, like wet clay". Commander Cernan then reported to control at Houston: "We just saw earthrise - the Earth appearing over the edge of the lunar horizon - and it's got to be magnificent. It would be nice to be here more often."
Apollo 10 was launched four days ago from Cape Kennedy. It is the fourth manned Apollo launch within seven months. It is hoped that the mission will bring back plenty of colour stills and moving images of the Moon and views of the Earth.
The month of May, nearing the end of my time of study in the 5th form and we were going through the pains of our first weeks experience of C.S.E. exams. The examination test rooms had large "Keep Quiet" "Exam in Progress" signs taped onto their entry doors, one or two prefects were posted guarding the corridors to maintain order when the rest of the school changed classes at various times when an exam was under way. I still had not got together with Lynne and now it was too late to make a move on her. Also I was elected vice captain of the Nowell House athletics team, therefore my attention was focused on helping organising the team trials in preparation for the Summer inter-house athletics competition. On top of that I was taking part in the high jump and the hurdles events. Little memory remains of the outcome of the competition and of which house was the overall winner? The lasting impression in mind was the weather was dry, warm and sunny for the events that day on the lower field adjacent to Marlborough road.
30th June The 6pm news on the telly. Millions of people face starvation because Nigeria has banned night flights of food aid to Biafra, a breakaway state at war with federal Nigeria. The Nigerian Federal Government has taken charge of relief operations on both sides of the front line and in doing so has stopped the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from co-ordinating aid to starving civilians.
General Yakubu Gowon, leader of Federal Nigeria, refuses to recognise Biafra which declared independence in May 1967. His forces have managed to shrink the rebel state to one-tenth of its original size, cutting it off from seaports and other supply lines. Food aid can only brought in from the air.
Nigerian Information Commissioner Chief Anthony Enaharo told representatives of relief organisations in Nigeria's capital, Lagos, that only "authorised relief operators" would be allowed to take in "permissible relief items" for fear of any supplies getting into the hands of Biafran troops. This means all relief supplies will be inspected by armed forces before being allowed on to Biafra and then only between 0800 and 1700 local time.
Acting president of the ICRC, Jacques Freymond, said the world must put pressure on Nigeria to allow his organisation to carry out its humanitarian mission. In London, more than 80 backbench MPs signed an all-party motion urging the British Government to take action towards resuming the relief operation and to stop selling arms to Nigeria. The Foreign Secretary, Michael Stewart, said representatives in Lagos would try to mediate between the ICRC and the Nigerian Government.
Yesterday, Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe said he had written to the head of the United Nations, U Thant, asking him to organise a major relief effort with the Red Cross. He said he was making his appeal independently of the British Government whose involvement in the Nigerian civil war was "immoral". He told the Times newspaper: "There are three million people who are going to starve to death in the next few weeks unless something is done."
Biafra, under Lieutenant-Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, is made up of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria mainly inhabited by Igbo, or Ibo, people. In September 1966 thousands of the Igbo minority in the Northern Region were massacred by the majority Hausa who resented their relative prosperity. As a result, a million Igbo refugees settled in the Eastern Region and expelled non-Igbos.
Just before July, placements on the G.C.E. courses available for the next year were being considered and negotiations were opened to fill them with the right candidates of ability. Still not knowing what to do with myself in life, I chose to stay on another year and signed on for the absolute minimum number of courses I could get away with to justify a position in the 6th form.
Breaking up for the long Summer holiday and still had no girlfriend, what would I do about it now? At home after a few days I settled down to relax, going out dropping in to see Martin Sandmann and his Cypriot girlfriend and sometimes Kevin Sandy during the rare times he wasn't out with his girlfriend. Kevin had left school the year before, in July 1968 at the end of his 4th year in the A2 stream, then entering an electrical engineering apprenticeship at the Chatham dockyard Collingwood centre. This was the last Summer of visiting Martin, I've no knowledge of his future after that. Friends come and go, mine were definitely vanishing into growing up making new friends and a life for themselves. Kevin Sandy's younger brother Christopher often came to visit our house because Kevin no longer had much time for him. Chris was about 5 years younger, very bright and imaginative and I invented amusing games to keep him occupied. It was as though I was his elder brother instead of Kevin. Chris had passed the 11 plus and was due to go to Gillingham Grammar in September.
7th July The 6pm news on the telly. Former Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones drowned after taking a cocktail of drink and drugs, an inquest has been told. A verdict of death by misadventure was recorded by the coroner, Dr Angus Sommerville, after hearing the inquest into the star's death at East Sussex coroner's court.
Brian Jones was found dead in the swimming pool of his home at Cotchford Farm in Hartfield in Sussex four days ago. The blonde-haired guitarist with a reputation for wearing flamboyant clothes and jewellery was one of the founder members of the Stones. He left the band a month ago citing musical differences and was planning to set up a new group.
The inquest was told the musician had gone for a midnight swim after complaining of the heat. His girlfriend Anna Wohlin, another friend Janet Lawson and a builder, Frank Thorogood, had spent the evening with him. Mr Jones and Mr Thorogood had been drinking spirits and the guitarist had also been seen taking some pills. Miss Lawson, who is a nurse, said she had warned the men they were not in a fit state to go swimming but they had disregarded her warning.
The alarm was raised by the housekeeper, Mary Haddock, who found the musician's body at the bottom of the pool. Miss Wohlin said she dived in and pulled him out and gave him artificial respiration. She felt his hand grip hers briefly, but there was no other movement. By the time the police and ambulance arrived he was dead.
Pc Albert Evans told the inquest he was called to the farm at 1210 hours and found the guitarist already dead. He recovered a small bottle of brandy, which was almost empty, and a vodka bottle and small bottle of whisky, both of which were partially empty. He also found a number of bottles containing different types of pills.
First reports suggested Brian Jones had died after an asthma attack in the pool, brought on by the high pollen count. But he lived a rock 'n' roll lifestyle, was a heavy drinker and also had a history of drug-taking.
He had spent some time at the Priory rehabilitation clinic in Roehampton, south-west London, where he was diagnosed as paranoid. Later he escaped a custodial sentence at the Appeal Court for drugs offences. His sentence was overturned on condition he continued to see a psychiatrist and received medical treatment.
He bought Cotchford Farm as a retreat and was reported to have given up drugs and was planning to settle down with his latest girlfriend.
16th July The 6pm news on the telly. The Apollo 11 space rocket has taken off successfully from Cape Kennedy, Florida, at the start of the first attempt to land a man on the Moon. An estimated one million people gathered from all over the state to see the giant Saturn 5 booster rocket blast off. The launch was on schedule, at 1432 BST (1332 GMT).
Nine seconds before lift-off, the rocket's five engines ignited, sending a sheet of flame over the launch pad and about 20 acres of the surrounding marshland. Then with an immense roar, the booster rocket took off into the sky, taking Apollo 11 and the hopes of the world with it. It is the first time human beings have attempted to land on another heavenly body. Almost 12 minutes later, Apollo 11 went into orbit around the Earth.
On board are three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. All have already flown in space during the Gemini manned space missions, and have been intensively training as a team for many months. They carry with them goodwill messages from the heads of the member states of the United Nations and their flags.
Two hours and 44 minutes after take-off, the engine of the third-stage booster was fired for five minutes and 47 seconds, and the speed increased to 24,545mph (39,500 km/h) to take the astronauts out of orbit and shoot them off to the Moon. Neil Armstrong, the flight's commander, reported: "We have no complaint with any of the three stages on that ride. It was beautiful."
The launch was watched by US Vice-President Spiro Agnew, who said it marked a "new era of civilisation". "With the lift-off of Apollo 11, America enters a new age of discovery," he said.
Apollo 11 is scheduled to touch down on the Moon on Sunday 20 July if all goes well. Speaking at a news conference before the launch, Neil Armstrong said the landing on the Moon and the take-off from it were "the big unknowns".
The lunar module, known as Eagle, is scheduled to land on the Moon at 2100 BST (2000 GMT).
21st July The news on the telly. American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon. The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft. Armstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep.
The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong. Armstrong spent his first few minutes on the Moon taking photographs and soil samples in case the mission had to be aborted suddenly.
He was joined by colleague Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin at 0315 GMT and the two collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag at 0341 GMT. They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind."
After filming their experience with a portable television camera the astronauts received a message from the US President. President Nixon, in the White House, spoke of the pride of the American people and said: "This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made." Many other nations - including the UK - sent messages of congratulation. Moscow Radio announced the news solemnly in its 1030 GMT broadcast.
As Aldrin and Armstrong collected samples, Michael Collins told mission control in Houston he had successfully orbited the Moon in the mother ship Columbia, and take-off was on schedule for 1750 GMT this evening.
I and my family sat at our TV set during the weekend, eating TV dinners, watching the activity broadcast live from the moon. The BBC TV "Tomorrows World" program presenter James Burke did the commentary all throughout the marathon coverage of the events.
24th July The 6pm news on the telly. British lecturer Gerald Brooke has been returned to London after four years in a Soviet jail. Mr Brooke, 31, was arrested by the Russian secret service, the KGB, in April 1965 for smuggling anti-Soviet leaflets. The Russian teacher was sentenced to five years' detention, one year in prison, four years in labour camps, for "subversive anti-Soviet activity on the territory of the Soviet Union" at Moscow City Court three months later.
Speaking at Heathrow airport, where he arrived at 1117 BST, Mr Brooke revealed the Russian authorities only told him he was being sent home 24 hours ago. His release, nearly a year early, came after negotiations between the British and Russian Governments.
Harold Wilson's Labour Government has been criticised by the opposition for jeopardising British security by agreeing to release Soviet agents Peter and Helen Kroger in exchange for Gerald Brooke.
Looking pale and thin as he stepped off his plane, an Aeroflot Ilyushin 62 jet, wearing his old school tie - Firth Park Grammar in Sheffield - Mr Brooke was startled by the phalanx of media waiting for him. He explained he had been suffering from an inflamed colon, aggravated by prison food, and he was not used to speaking English or seeing so many people.
His 29-year-old wife Barbara, a librarian, greeted him with his mother Marion, 74. They prevented him from answering too many questions about his ordeal. All he said about prison conditions is "they were not particularly soft". Mr Brooke is looking forward to relaxing at home in Finchley this evening.
Mr and Mrs Kroger will be released from prisons in Britain in October after serving just nine years of their 20-year sentence for their part in the Portland Spy case. British intelligence services discovered the couple had seriously damaged national security by passing secret details about the country's submarine activities to the USSR.
25th July The 6pm news on the telly. Senator Edward Kennedy has pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crime and has been sentenced to a two-month suspended jail sentence. The verdict follows a tragic car accident on the island of Chappaquiddick, east of Martha's Vineyard, a week ago in which 29-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne was drowned. Miss Kopechne was a former secretary to Senator Kennedy's late brother Robert.
Senator Kennedy was driving back to Edgartown, the main town on Martha's Vineyard, from a party on Chappaquiddick when his car careered off a narrow bridge and into a creek. He managed to escape from the vehicle but Mary Jo was killed. He did not report the incident to Martha's Vineyard police until the next morning, some eight hours after the accident. Police found her body in the back seat of the overturned car.
This evening, the Massachusetts Democrat senator made a speech on national television defending his actions on the night of 19 July. He denied any improper relationship with Mary Jo and said he was not driving under the influence of alcohol. He said he was in a state of shock when he emerged from the creek and confused by "a jumble of emotions". He added that he made several attempts to find Mary Jo by diving down into the water. He gave up and said he remembers little of how he got back to his hotel in Edgartown except that he swam the narrow channel because there were no night ferries and nearly drowned in the process.
He acknowledged that he must now decide whether or not to resign as senator. Mary Jo's bereaved mother said she hoped he would not resign. "I am satisfied with his statement and hope he decides to stay in the Senate," she said from her home in New Jersey.
27th July 1969 This Great British caper film was released "The Italian Job" Storyline. Mr Beckerman worked hard to plan the perfect crime but unfortunately for him he has a fatal 'accident' before completing it. That isn't the end of the plan though as his widow takes it to Charlie Croker. Charlie has just got out of Wormwood Scrubs but finds himself breaking back in to get permission from Mr Bridger, a suave and patriotic crime boss, to go ahead with the planned job. Once he has his permission he assembles a crack team and heads to Italy where they will have to evade the local police and the Mafia, create gridlock in the City of Turin, hold up an armoured car full of gold then drive out of the city along a carefully planned route in three Mini Coopers and then drive a bus load of the stolen gold to Switzerland. What could possibly go wrong?
31st July In Britain: The old coinage Half-penny ceases to be legal tender
14th August The 6pm news on the telly. The British Government has sent troops into Northern Ireland in what it says is a "limited operation" to restore law and order. It follows three days and two nights of violence in the mainly-Catholic Bogside area of Londonderry. Trouble has also erupted in Belfast and other towns across Northern Ireland.
It also comes after a speech by the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic, Jack Lynch, regarded by many as "outrageous interference" in which he called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to the province. He also called for Anglo-Irish talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Major James Chichester-Clark, responded by saying neighbourly relations with the Republic were at an end and that British troops were being called in. The British Home Secretary James Callaghan was in a plane on his way to talks with Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Cornwall when he received a radio-telephone call asking for troops to be deployed.
Shortly after 1700 hours local time, 300 troops from the 1st Battalion, Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, occupied the centre of Londonderry, replacing the exhausted police officers who had been patrolling the cordons around the Bogside. They have been on standby for the past couple of days.
The arrival of the British troops was greeted with cheering and singing from behind the barricades in the Roman Catholic area of Londonderry. They were chanting: "We've won, we've won. We've brought down the government."
The trouble began three days ago during the annual Apprentice Boys march, which marks the 13 boy supporters of William of Orange who defended Londonderry against the forces of the Catholic King James II in 1688.
The Royal Ulster Constabulary were forced to use tear gas - for the first time in their history - to try to bring the rioting under control. But tensions mounted with the mobilisation of the B Specials. The special constables, who are armed and mostly part-time, were supposed to help the RUC restore order - but they are regarded with deep suspicion by the Roman Catholics. On the streets of Belfast, the appearance of the B Specials led to an escalation in the violence while the special constables reportedly stood by and watched.
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| Hairstyle change, done by Trendsetters. |
The "White Album", "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road" were a collection, mainly of musical solo contributions under the Beatles banner. Their "Apple" record company was also falling apart. After some time in a daydream pondering the news I'd read, my time in the chair had arrived. I spent a little time to explain how I would like my hair styled. I didn't want a full skinhead cut, but more like mod as I believed it a better shape for me, otherwise I'd come out looking like a peanut head. I then relaxed back in the chair as it was being adjusted for height. My hair was prepared with some gel stuff, rubbed in and then the scissor cutting began. I could feel the strands of hair falling passed my neck and could see in the mirror, the dark cut tufts were falling onto my shoulders. The stylist every now and again would tilt my head to check on the evenness and symmetry of the cut.
When finished I was offered the chance to look in the mirror and admire the style and handiwork done. It really was an impressive mod cut, fantastic, on paying and leaving the shop, I could feel the air around my head and neck.
The new me, my confidence level had risen up quite a few notches.
1st September The 6pm news on the telly. King Idris of Libya has been deposed in what appears to have been a bloodless coup. A group of military officers have seized power and declared the country a republic. But the king, who is in Turkey, has dismissed the coup as "unimportant".
According to reports from the capital, Tripoli, troops and tanks converged on the city in the early hours of the morning. Within two hours they had taken key positions and the royal palace, military and security headquarters were surrounded by 0500. All communications with the outside world were cut and a curfew was imposed.
In Libya the king's heir, Crown Prince Hassan, has announced his support for the new regime, which the military junta has renamed the Libyan Arab Republic. News of the coup came as a surprise to the British Government but officials said it would not harm Britain's good relations with Libya. Egypt and Iraq have announced recognition of the new regime.
The Revolutionary Command Council which has now taken over running the country, has issued a statement declaring the aim of the revolution is "unity, freedom and socialism". However, it also gave a warning that any attempt to overthrow the revolutionaries would be "crushed ruthlessly and decisively".
The coup appears to have been led by an Army officer called Colonel Saad ed-din Bushweir. But it is not clear whether he has any political backing. King Idris has conducted recent purges against Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese and Syrians. He has also tried to purge the country of Baathists for conspiring against the state.
Britain is involved in extensive engineering projects in Libya and is also the country's biggest supplier of arms. The United States also has a large airbase in Libya.
Starting in the lower 6th form group September 1969
1969/70 6th Form group; The Teaching Staff
- Mr Rye; Form group head teacher
- Mr Dan Willis; English Language & Literature
- Mr Carroll; Physics
- Mr Elsegood; Technical Drawing
- Mr Twyman; Metalwork
If Lynne stayed on into the 6th form year, I've no memory of her being there. I'm absolutely sure that if she had been in the sixth form, we would have got it together that year, but she has marked herself on the Friends Reunited site, as leaving Upbury in 1971. That would indicate that she went into the upper 6th form for completion of A level courses. This is confusing, and during the year 2005 on Friends Reunited, I did send a message to say hello and also ask her to try to clarify her school leaving date. There was not a reply from her and so ends that part of the story, incomplete. The sadness of the missed opportunity of a romance with her during 1968/69, now soon to be replaced in my mind with a new attitude and being at ease, finding pleasure with girls during my sixth year.
The morning assembly of the second day started off as expected, then towards the final part and the announcements, I really was in a soothing daydream of summer days of music and dancing girls. In the background was a low hubbub of voices mixed with a sprinkling of short coughs, sounding in the hall, and I thought I heard someone say my name, then a few seconds later I felt a bony elbow nudge me in the side of my rib cage, jolting me back into focus and a whispered plea in my ear to "go up on stage". That moment, in with a flash shot of adrenaline, in realisation, the day had come, just like the shock and panic of receiving your first letter summons to a magistrates court. I must of been the first name on the list, Miss Chalkley standing there on stage, patiently waiting with a supply of prefect badges in hand. My blood pumping and with a rising self conscious hot blushing face, I made my way walking the route of execution to the stage, all the while trying to look unflustered and cool in front of the whole school. Why me? thinking to myself, as I approached the stalwart Miss Chalkley at the rostrum. She said a few words of encouragement and of congratulations, then presented the badge. What I did next, is to accept the badge in my right hand then immediately offered my left hand for a handshake. As soon as I did that, it was clear that it wouldn't work with the right handed Chalkley. Faux Pas indeed, in plain sight, and I swiftly switched over to a right handshake. I doubt if anyone off stage actually noticed, but at the time it felt you were in the spotlight and being judged by all those in attendance. It was all over now, what else can they do to me was in my thoughts as I ambled off the stage, down the large wood steps to take my holding position at the side of the hall. The next in line for sentencing were being called up, which gave me the time to recover my composure, pin the badge on my blazer breast pocket and to observe the remainder of the award ceremonies.
These staged events had been taking place at Upbury Manor school, from the year 1960 and therafter at the annual autumn term start in September. The awards ceremony of meritorious appointments was held in the school assembly hall to present a special badge of office, going to each of the selected senior pupils (of the 5th and 6th form) to undertake with authority to hold responsible posts and duties in the order and discipline threading through within the tapestry of the daily school life. The four very top prestigious badges presentations being for a head boy, head girl, deputy head boy, deputy head girl, then below them in precedence, were the prefects awards.
The top appointments it seems apparent to me, were a reward to the perfectly behaved ones, that had a clean school record, that also meaning a heavy bias towards the swots, those likely to gain the most academically with expected multiple O and A level GCE passes within the next year or two of their remaining time in school. In my opinion, through my own experience, the prefects duties were the most opportunistic (in a positive way) and interesting to mix socially within the school, meeting pupils of all ages. Their other duties also included marshalling at various school sponsored hosted events, escorting and guiding parents to various classrooms around the school building during parent teacher meetings and open evenings.
As far as I have seen, the Red enamel badge designs, Upbury Manor chose in their awards to senior students, were the shield for the head and deputy head (boy or girl), and for the prefects it was either a traditional intricate scrolls or a plain rounded edged oblong badge.
Fifty one years on, I unearthed my enameled prefect badge, Miss Chalkley had presented to me that early morning in September 1969. The Gold badge is bright, has no tarnish, though it isn't the precious metal, most likely it's steel and good quality with a Gold colour electro plated finish.
My badge is the Standard Red colour vitreous enameled Gold colour metal Prefect badge 41 x 13mm in traditional intricate scroll style. All these design badges were supplied to Upbury Manor school and manufactured by the famous Thomas Fattorini Ltd at Regent Street Birmingham
During the First World War the company manufactured badges for the armed forces, including the Royal Flying Corps (R.F.C) badge, and Home Front badges for civilians. Thomas Fattorini Ltd registered its punch at various Assay offices: Birmingham Edinburgh London and Chester
Other names from the days of my final year in the 6th form are; Martyn Adley, Stephen Whitethread, John Weir, Laura Wheeler, Iain MacVicar, Michael Fairservice, Bruce Amos, Stephen Gifford, Michael Hewison, Janet Rayner, Keith Sharman, Jenny Oliver, Linda Myles, Brian Rising, and Nina Attwell in the upper 6th and other names I've now forgotten.
There was a lightweight battery operated portable record player bought in to the common room by one of the group, Michael Fairservice I believe. He liked to play his Moody Blues LP records "To Our Childrens Childrens Children", "On The Threshold Of A Dream", "In Search Of The Lost Chord" and another LP record called "Nice Enough To Eat", a compilation sampler promotion of various artist's tracks from Island records label. It was all very communal, being open for all to share, bring in your records and play what you like. One of the boys smoked cigarettes, I think it was Iain MacVicar. It may have been allowed in the 6th form, but am unsure. During some free period time out of classes, Michael Fairservice and I amused ourselves, inventing and drawing cartoon characters on paper with a written comical script and captions, similar to the format of strip cartoons found in newspapers and magazines. He also quite often, when certain records were played, start tapping out on the table top, the drum beat rhythms of the music, using his hands as one would do playing a conga drum. He lived in Zetland avenue near Darland. I discovered many years later, reading somewhere, that he went onto playing drums in a local Medway rock group, the name of which has been forgotten by me.
11th September The 6pm news on the telly. Up to three million people in Britain urgently need re-housing because they are living in damp, overcrowded slum conditions, according to housing charity Shelter. In a report published today, Shelter says the government official figure of 18,689 homeless, based on the numbers in temporary accommodation, vastly under-estimates the scale of the housing problem in Britain.
The charity is launching a £1m campaign called "Face the Facts" aimed at getting the government to adjust its definition of homelessness to include the many hundreds of thousands living in appalling conditions.
Shelter Director Des Wilson said: "We want a commitment to the homeless. The real emergency end of the problem won't be solved unless a special action programme is tailored for that purpose. "We are getting desperate on behalf of so many families we can't reach and we believe society would want to reach them if only it was allowed to face the facts about their existence."
The Shelter report gives 61 case histories of families in desperate need of re-housing because the conditions they live in are so bad.
The problem is worst in inner-city areas like Tower Hamlets in east London.
In one overcrowded block of flats lives a family of four. They share two damp rooms. Their youngest child, a 21-month-old baby, died recently of bronchitis. In the same block, a couple with five children have been on the housing waiting list for seven years. One of their rooms is so damp it is unusable in winter. The husband has pleaded to be re-housed: "I get the same reply every time. When accommodation comes available we will get it, but at the moment the priority is for slum clearance tenants." He has been told the family is not likely to be moved to a bigger house for another two to three years.
Shelter was launched in December 1966 to publicise the housing crisis in Britain. It followed the BBC drama documentary "Cathy Come Home" which depicted the devastating effects of homelessness on a family's life.
The charity hopes this new campaign will raise awareness of the numbers of homeless people in Britain and kick-start the government's re-housing programme.
21st September The 6pm news on the telly. Police have raided a mansion in Piccadilly and evicted squatters who have occupied the building for the last six days. It took just three minutes for the police to storm the 100-room building.
The first cordon of about 50 police officers had to cross a makeshift drawbridge through a ground-floor window to get in. As they ran forward, they were bombarded by water-filled plastic balls, roof slates, stones, pieces of wood and iron bars thrown from the roof. A second wave of police followed on, while others climbed over the surrounding fences and walls using ladders.
The operation involved over 200 policemen - more than one for each of the squatters left in the building. There was little resistance once the police were inside, and within a matter of minutes an officer signalled from the roof that all was under control.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said several weapons were found in the building, including lead piping and a petrol bomb. He added that there were no serious casualties.
The first civilian into the building was Graham Harris, the under-sheriff of London. "The place was in a mess," he said. "There was rubbish everywhere. People had written on the walls and things like that."
The building at 144 Piccadilly, at Hyde Park Corner on the junction with Park Lane, was taken over six days ago by the so-called London Street Commune, who broke in in the middle of the night. It is thought that up to 500 homeless people came to live inside the house during the week, although most had gone before today's raid.
A spokesman for the Commune, calling himself "Dr John", said the squatters were attempting to establish a home for many of London's homeless families. Negotiations have been going on all week to allow the Commune to use part of the building to carry out their plans to help the homeless, in return for their peaceful departure. But after the squatters ignored a High Court order issued four days ago ordering them to get out, the police were brought in to evict them by force.
25th September 1969 This film was released "Midnight Cowboy" Storyline. Convinced of his irresistible appeal to women, Texas dishwasher Joe Buck quits his job and heads for New York City, thinking he'll latch on to some rich dowager. New York, however, is not as hospitable as he imagined, and Joe finds that he is the one getting 'hustled' and down on his luck, soon finds himself living in an abandoned building with a down-and-out but resilient outcast named Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo. The two form a rough alliance and a friendship, and together they kick-start Joe's hustling career just as Ratso's health begins to seriously deteriorate.
This autumn term, some senior form classes were treated to a day out in London to view a new film being screened at the 'Astoria Cinerama Theatre', Charing Cross Road. The film being shown was "Krakatoa: East of Java" and was a 70mm film to be projected onto a large format special wide angle curved "Cinerama" screen and with stereo surround sound output. Cinerama technology gives the illusion of the human eye peripheral field of view and of hearing, surrounding the viewer completely with action and sound in an environment.
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| The Astoria Theatre, London |
Only those who were at that showing can describe the experience, and hopefully memory prevails to someday write about it and send me a copy to publish here. Meantime here's a memory jogger showing of the film opening titles sequence in a Cinerama Theatre.
Michael Billington's review from August 1969
I WOULD NOT HAVE BELIEVED UNTIL I SAW Krakatoa: East of Java (Astoria) that it was possible to work singing nuns, striptease, drugs, volcanic eruptions, and a tidal wave all into one film. However this extraordinary cinematic stewpot manages to combine them all, at considerable cost to plausibility and narrative consistency. One suspects that basically it's intended for children but that its makers have decided that mums and dads have to be kept reasonably happy too.
Ostensibly it concerns an expedition to the Krakatoan coast in 1883 to search for sunken treasure. However on board the Batavia Queen, as it leaves Singapore, is the motliest collection of individuals you're likely to come across in a lifetime of seagoing. There's the darkly handsome captain and his lover, happily described in the synopsis as " a slim, intent woman "- intent on what, one wonders?; a diver with a busted lung and an addiction to laudanum who's brought his night-club, singing mistress along for the ride; an Italian balloonist and his rantipole son; a fresh faced young scientist not long out of Oxford who's come along to supervise the loading of his diving bell; four Japanese diving girls who limber up in the mornings with what looks like the Oriental equivalent of Morris dancing; and some 30 unshaven prisoners, mutinous dogs to a man. Whatever can have persuaded the scriptwriters to leave out a troupe of stranded dancing girls? A herd of elephants? Or Morecambe and Wise? Having assembled such a bizarre collection of passengers, it is then only natural that the writers should subject them to every hazard known to seafaring men. Below decks there's the superannuated diver going on a trip all of his own- " Harry," his mistress tetchily remarks, " I know you're in pain but go easy on the laudanum." Meanwhile aboveboard there are mists that literally look as if they've been made out of pea soup, nocturnal banshee wails of uncertain origin, and strange suddenly-flaring lights on the horizon that suggest the special effects department is having a whale of a time. The trouble is that by the time the film gets round to the volcanic eruptions and the tidal wave, half the customers will probably be punch drunk.
Absurd hokum though it is, the film does raise a point of general interest. That is, that modern spectacle and action films seem to have lost the art of spacing out their effects. That is why the last two Bond films were such a bore. If you have too much excitement too soon, the law of diminishing returns inevitably begins to apply. It is surely preferable to present just the big spectacular effect, saved to the last reel, than to have a series of mini-spectacles cropping up at ten minute intervals. Not only does Krakatoa fail to observe this simple rule but it also wastes the talents of a number of distinguisbed performers, including Maximilian Schell, Brian Keith, and Diane Baker, who all spend a good deal of the time looking for something to act. Barnard L. Kowalski directed.
Now here is the full movie to view -- Krakatoa: East of Java
During September and months after, all through to Christmas, a string of reggae records were appearing in the UK charts. Upsetters "Return of Django", Pioneers "Long Shot Kick De Bucket", Pat Kelly "How Long", Jimmy Cliff "Wonderful World Beautiful People". Dandy "Reggae In Your Jeggae", Harry J Allstars "The Liquidator", Symarip "Skinhead Moonstomp", Owen Gray "Girl What You Doing To Me", Pioneers "Poor Rameses", Upsetters "A Live Injection".
Bruce Amos, he lived in Stopford road, near the primary school which was located bordered by Canterbury street, Chaucer road, Byron road and Milton road. I'd known of him since Byron road primary school days, but had not been aware of him again until the move into the 6th form group. His parents, I think arrived from the West Indies during the 1950's. He suddenly came to prominence one morning, gaining the instant attention of everyone in the common room when he walked in through the door, showing off his new look skinhead mod haircut. Not only that, but he had bought with him some reggae records, Laurel Aitken's "Jesse James", the Pioneers "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" and a 1967 Ska record Prince Buster "Al Capone". I thought that I'd been the only one of the group with an ear for Jamaican music, now here's a kindred spirit. He did look a sharp dresser and I then knew that I was going to proceed in dating girlfriends.
I'm not sure how the duties were rostered for the prefects, but I sometimes wound up working the lower school gate duty early mornings from about 8:30 am to report latecomers into the late book, for a detention class after school. I only used to bother to name the ones that were arriving at the gate more than 10 minutes late, the others I let be unreported, unless they were giving me some rude backchat. Keith Sharman and John Weir seemed to like working together and relished performing all their duties more than most that I can remember. For myself, I soon found a duty that was quite stimulating in ways that were not intended. That was during the day at school playtime and meal break times, the corridor near the art room and cloakrooms had to be cleared of loitering 3rd and 4th former's and moved on into the upper school playground. Some of the girls were at a certain age and stage in their development and often used their feminine attractions and flirtations towards me to let them stay in the cloakrooms, usually if it were cold or raining outside. What a set up, and I did let some lovely girls stay hiding amongst the cloak racks, chatting them up and forming very friendly relationships over time. One of the 3rd year cheeky girls had my tie off, stuffed it inside her shirt, presumably down her bra, then ran off with it along the ground floor long block corridor towards the end wing classroom block. The girl might have been 3rd year girl Andre Denton, whom told me that she lived in Longhill avenue. I wasn't going to chase after her, on a retrieval attempt. Score: 1 tie lost. All those girls names now remembered are; 3rd years, Lesley Lyon (deceased), Glenis McLaren, Lindy Mabb, Sheila Pidgen, Annette Milbourn, Brenda Harvey (ginger) and; 4th years, Gillian Chisell (platinum blonde), Linda Turrell, both Angela and Linda Doyle, Lorraine Redgrave (loopy loo), Trudi Nicholls, Beverley Bragg. Fun and games with girls and socialising soon became more important than the studying for G.C.E. course subjects, of which I did neglect.
A few of these girls I did ask out to meet for a disco night in town, there being an opportunity on Friday October 10th, a mobile disco 7:30pm Lights & Sounds at the Rechabite Hall, 44 Queens Road, Gillingham. None took the bait, mostly because of living too far out of town and their parents unwilling to transport them from Hempstead and Wigmore for such an activity that was not related to school.
10th October The 6pm news on the telly. The British Government has accepted the recommendations of the Hunt committee on policing in Northern Ireland which include the abolition of the Ulster Special Constabulary, known as the 'B Specials'.
The Home Secretary, Jim Callaghan, ordered a commission, headed by Lord Hunt, in response to this summer's violence in the Bogside area of Londonderry. The subsequent report recommends a complete reorganisation and disarming of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, including the disbanding of the B Specials auxiliary force seen by many as a Protestant army.
Among several proposals, the Hunt report suggests a reformed RUC should comprise:
- the existing reserve force to be renamed the Special Patrol Group to carry out routine police duties, and its members limited to a three-year term of service
- a new volunteer reserve police force to aid police at local level, recruited in Belfast, Londonderry and the Six Counties
- a cadet Corp.
The Northern Ireland Prime Minister, James Chichester-Clark, said the Stormont government had been consulted before the Northern Ireland Cabinet decided to accept the recommendations. He made assurances that the B Specials would remain intact until a fully effective security force had taken its place. The British Army, which Major Chichester-Clark invited in to quell the August riots, will remain in place.
Unionist backbench MPs voted by 28 votes to seven to support the Hunt report but opposition MPs in Stormont have attacked it. The Rev Ian Paisley described it as "an absolute sell-out to the republicans and the so-called civil rights movement which is only a smokescreen for the republican movement". He also called on the prime minister to resign.
Formed in April 1922 when the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was disbanded, the RUC initially made provision for one third of the places in the RUC to be reserved for Catholics, with preference given to former RIC men. But this proportion was never achieved and only 11% of the RUC are Catholic.
14th October The 6pm news on the telly. The seven-sided 50p coin has come into circulation to replace the 10-shilling note - but it has received a mixed reception. It is the third decimal coin to be introduced into the British currency which goes totally decimal on 15 February, 1971, to be known as D-Day.
The British public have already got accustomed to the new 5p and 10p coins introduced last year. There are still three coins left to come - the 2p worth 4.8d, 1p (2.4d) and half pence (1.2d).
Today's new arrival, made of cupro-nickel, is the only heptagonal coin in circulation in the world, according to Lord Fiske, chairman of the Decimal Currency Board (DCB). But some shopkeepers, bus conductors and members of the public are complaining that in spite of its distinctive shape it is too easily confused with the 10-pence coin or half crown.
One Londoner told the Evening News he accidentally left a 50p coin in a saucer full of 10ps as a tip for a waiter.
"Fortunately the waiter was dead honest and told me. But I suspect there'll be a lot of cases where that doesn't happen," he said.
The DCB has stockpiled 120 million 50-pence coins at banks around the country ready for today's introduction of the coin, making it the largest ever issue of a new coin. Lord Fiske said the reason for this was to replace the 200 million ten-bob notes as soon as possible.
He said the issue would eventually save the Treasury money. "The note is being replaced primarily on economic grounds. A 10s note has a life of some five months and the costs of distribution and withdrawal are comparatively high. "Although a 50p coin will cost more to produce initially, it should have a life of at least 50 years and the metal will subsequently be recoverable."
But many people were unhappy with the new addition to their purses and pockets.
15th October The 6pm news on the telly. Americans have taken part in peace initiatives across the United States to protest against the continuing war in Vietnam. The Peace Moratorium is believed to have been the largest demonstration in US history with an estimated two million people involved.
In towns and cities throughout the US, students, working men and women, school children, the young and the old, took part in religious services, school seminars, street rallies and meetings. Supporters of the Vietnam Moratorium wore black armbands to signify their dissent and paid tribute to American personnel killed in the war since 1961.
The focal point was the capital, Washington DC, where more than 40 different activities were planned and about 250,000 demonstrators gathered to make their voices heard. Some peace demonstrators gathered on the Capitol steps last night singing songs and holding a candlelit vigil until rallies began in the morning.
Addressing a rally in Washington, Dr Benjamin Spock, the child care expert, said the war was a "total abomination" that was crippling America and must be stopped. Outside the White House, there were scuffles and several arrests made when police clamped down on black activists.
In Portland, Oregon, 400 protesters clashed with police after an attempt to prevent conscripts entering an army induction centre.
Administration supporters have been critical of the moratorium. General Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called protesters "interminably vocal youngsters, strangers alike to soap and reason". In a letter to President Richard Nixon, 15 Republican Congressmen have called for an intensification of the campaign.
Supporters of the war made their views known, too. In New York, where the mayor, John Lindsay, had ordered the US flag to be flown at half-mast for the day, police officers and fire fighters drove with their headlights on in protest at the moratorium day as did many ordinary American citizens. Some officials wore badges that read: "USA - Unity and Service for America".
But Senator Edward Kennedy, a vocal anti-war campaigner, called for combat troops to be withdrawn from Vietnam by October next year and all forces by the end of 1972. Speaking in Boston, Senator Kennedy was careful not to accuse the president of perpetuating the war. "I do not believe that President Nixon is committed to continuing the war in Vietnam, but I do believe this nation is in danger of committing itself to goals and personalities that guarantee the war's continuance."
President Nixon continued to work from the White House without comment, as thousands marched around him.
Peace activists congregated outside US embassies across Europe. In London a crowd of some 300 people demonstrated opposite the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.
School social activity
Late October, one afternoon break in the upper long block corridor, a small group of 3rd year girls were strolling towards my duty position near the main staircase. They, I guess were on their way down to the cloakroom then out to the upper school playground. My attention was drawn to one of the girls, she had dark bobbed hair. On impulse, I stopped her as she was about to pass by, and I let the others go on down the stairs. Her classmates, giggling, let out a long, knowing, Frankie Howerd type, intoned vocal exclamation "OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH" and a unified nursery rhyme sung tune comment of "We know what you doing" as they disappeared from sight. Well they had me sussed, I was that transparent. Giving no excuses, I launched straight to the point and asked her out for a date.
She gave the answer "Yes" and so we were to go to the disco, and I hadn't asked for her name yet. We then chatted exchanging vital getting to know each other details as I walked with her on part of her journey to rejoin with her classmates that were waiting for her in the playground. There's me still aged 16, the girl was Elizabeth Richards, not yet 14 years of age in the 3rd year A stream. She had a younger sister named Jayne, aged 12 in the 1st year A stream. Her two younger brothers John and Andrew were in primary school. They all lived at 1 Harty Avenue in Wigmore. Liz was one of the quiet girls, so my usual flirting and banter with other girls was suspended, as I was now regarded as her boyfriend.
One of the other Halloween night entertainment events, under consideration but quickly ruled out, was a night out to a David Bowie gig. He was not yet in the limelight of stardom, but almost about to emerge from being just a support act on the current Humble Pie tour of Britain.
It struck me that Bowie and Oscar had pinched the tune to "Here We Go Looby-Loo", a very familiar song, first heard and originated from the late 1950/60's TV "Watch with mother" children's program featuring the puppets "Andy Pandy", "Teddy" and "Looby Loo". I'm glad they did nick it and to transform for their record.
A 7" vinyl single "Doing My Time" by Ray Cameron, having a similar subject theme, was in the record shops the same week as the Oscar one in January 1967.
These two competing comical songs with commentary poking fun at the prison service, inspired by events alluding to a series of infamous HM prison breakouts which had taken place during the previous couple of years 1964 to 1966. The escapes were all made from the high profile prisons, Wandsworth, Wormwood Scrubs, Parkhurst, Winson Green, and Dartmoor. It was headline news in the newspapers, with fascinating stories involving the names of George Blake, Charles Wilson, Ronald Biggs, John McVicar, Frank "Mad" Mitchell and the two Kray brothers (Ron and Reg). Following that and after the "Mountbatten Report" paper was published, the government began a reform of HM Prisons, introducing categorising prisoners into risk group streams labelled A, B, C and D and also imposing strict security measures, surveillance and guard dog patrols.
Now back to the gig. I now believe that his agent either had double booked him for that night or my memory is messed up, but new evidence I've found shows advertisements for a performance in Gravesend and Gillingham on the same Friday Halloween night, their admission both priced at 8s/6d. His Gillingham gig advert was placed in the 'Kent Messenger' edition of Friday 24th October. The Gravesend gig might have been advertised in the 'Evening Post', of Friday 31st October. The nature of that ad. indicates it could have been a late change of venue date and artists line up. So I still do not know which night he actually appeared at the Aurora, Thursday or Friday?
The proof of confusion is in the two newspaper clippings and a pop fan's comments linked to that Gravesend gig night, I now tell.
History notes that he was booked, after the UK Humble Pie tour ended 26th October, for two local gigs to fulfil in the last two days of October, one in Gillingham, the other in Gravesend. Just reliance on my memory is not enough, sad that I haven't found any story of his gig at the Aurora hotel. Upbury girl, Cynthia Hooper is said to have been at the Bowie gig that October night in the Aurora, perhaps she will be kind to share her memories of it and I'll include them here. See my homepage for contact email address.
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| Bowie goes solo |
The one chance to see Bowie perform before he made it big, was missed in 1969, in the ballroom at the Aurora Hotel, Brompton road that October night. History reveals that was his only visit to Gillingham. What a pity that we weren't quite old enough or have jobs to be able to afford going there in that era.
The Aurora hotel also held the "Village of the Dammed" Blues club every Monday night. Oh, the many ground breaking performing artists and all the quality live music we missed out on, if only we'd been born a year or two earlier than we had been.
A historical list of some musical variety and entertainment bookings at the Aurora Hotel ballroom:
The Aurora hotel also held the "Village of the Dammed" Blues club every Monday night. Oh, the many ground breaking performing artists and all the quality live music we missed out on, if only we'd been born a year or two earlier than we had been.
A historical list of some musical variety and entertainment bookings at the Aurora Hotel ballroom:
Friday 24th November 1967 Tuesday’s Children
Sunday 31st March 1968 The Delroy Williams Show (might have performed at the Central Hotel?)
Thursday 23rd May 1968 Toby Twirl
Saturday 3rd August 1968 Unit 4+2 plus Sketto Rich and Sonority
Thursday August 15th 1968 Mike Clements showtime cabaret with Paul Webzell (tops on the guitar) the fabulous, long-legged Lynne Reynolds, Billy Carrol (female impersonator), the Minchellas (Nelly, Tony and Danny). Nellie is an electronic accordionist. Tony is a comedian.
Sunday September 8th 1968 Gethsemane
Monday 9th September 1968 Sloopy’s Club The Troggs
Monday 16th September 1968 The Mud
Tuesday December 3rd 1968 Showtime cabaret with Chris Smith, Johnny Maxim and Kathy Lane.
Saturday August 30th 1969 debut of The Telegraph. This is a new group, whose members are Dave Froine, just back from Australia where he was with The Track - a top line outfit in Down Under's Southland, Roger Smith, formerly with The Way, Mick Curno, one time drummer with Lee Harmer's Popcorn, and vocalists Ray Avery and Terry Lowe.
Monday September 15th 1969 Taste (featuring Rory Gallagher)
Monday September 22nd 1969 Blodwyn Pig + support (Sam Apple Pie)?
Monday September 29th 1969 Aynsley Dunbar + Dr. Jon's Hoodoo Band
The relatively cheaper night out for entertainment at the Aurora was at their "Green Light" disco held every Thursday night. About half the price of admission than of the blues club, but still could stretch your pocket with buying drinks etc. I had never been there yet but was thinking of going sometime when I could afford to. The disco played mostly Soul, Motown and Reggae records, and so it's reputation was formed by it being a haunt for the working age, local mods and skinheads.
Some of the 6th formers were surprised to learn of my activity with the girls because I hadn't been seen as lively and sociable in the 5th form and earlier years. It was shocking at the speed of my change of behaviour since the long summer break. The mature girls of my age group, although generally nice and friendly, held no interest for me, their heads were in the exam courses and mostly already had a boyfriend in their life. That's my excuse for chasing the younger girls, for there was a great urge to quickly catch up and experience the delights I'd missed out on since my departure from Mr Thompsons 4A2 class at the end of 1967.
It seems odd that I don't remember buying admission tickets, if they were ever needed at all, though logically money was being raised for some purpose by these organised periodic social events.
Monday October 6th 1969 King Crimson + One Way Only
Monday 13th October 1969 Savoy Brown Blues Band
Thursday October 30th 1969 David Bowie
Monday 24th November 1969 The Killing Floor
The relatively cheaper night out for entertainment at the Aurora was at their "Green Light" disco held every Thursday night. About half the price of admission than of the blues club, but still could stretch your pocket with buying drinks etc. I had never been there yet but was thinking of going sometime when I could afford to. The disco played mostly Soul, Motown and Reggae records, and so it's reputation was formed by it being a haunt for the working age, local mods and skinheads.
Some of the 6th formers were surprised to learn of my activity with the girls because I hadn't been seen as lively and sociable in the 5th form and earlier years. It was shocking at the speed of my change of behaviour since the long summer break. The mature girls of my age group, although generally nice and friendly, held no interest for me, their heads were in the exam courses and mostly already had a boyfriend in their life. That's my excuse for chasing the younger girls, for there was a great urge to quickly catch up and experience the delights I'd missed out on since my departure from Mr Thompsons 4A2 class at the end of 1967.
The Halloween school disco dance on Thursday 30th October
The evening arrival of staff and guests entered through the main entrance doors to the foyer and began gathering in the dining hall, seating themselves at the tables after 6:30 pm before the start. Walking in there, looking around amongst those chatting faces, there was Liz with some of her classmates at one table. Many other boys and girls of various ages, even some 5th and 6th former's, were moving about randomly to and fro between different tables, laughing and joking in the holiday party atmosphere.
Reaching Liz, I commented on how wonderful she looked in her full length dark green dress. Her black neck choker, makeup and earrings also added to her fashion look of sophistication. Her mates smiled and uttered the innuendo laden long "OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH". Liz was blushing at that, and so holding my hand in hers I led her away to a vacant table so we could talk alone for a while. Looking back on the event, I think I was wearing hipster trousers, with paisley shirt, floral tie, casual jacket, Chelsea boots.
A small refreshment bar, run by staff and pupil volunteers, had been set up for the evening at the canteen, selling soft drinks and snacks. The side doors to the assembly hall were eventually opened up, signalling that the disco was starting. Liz and I made our way with most of the other guests into the dance hall, where we saw on stage, Mr Thompson with microphone at the turntables, announcing in a "Top of the Pops" manner, he was our DJ for the evening. Some bod with technical talent had set up the amateur disco with flashing stage lighting effects and the hall ceiling mirror ball was also operating. Many pupils and some staff had supplied their own records that covered a wide variety of current music and some oldies. Mr Thompson had a couple of pupils as assistants with him on stage, sorting through the record piles and selecting the records to be played. They were also open to play requests being made.
The dance got under way, some individuals (mainly girls) were out doing their routines on the floor right away. Mr Thompson was quite good and groovy, enjoying the role of DJ. We were just watching for a while the jiving, gyrations and antics being performed on the dance floor. A few more records played, then things slowed down with Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" on the turntable. Take a partner for a spin around the floor. My cue to dance with Liz, holding her up close, feeling warm. The teachers, dressed up, were also letting their hair down too and enjoying the dance, that was good to see. Next up was Sam and Dave "Soul Man" then Dandy "Reggae in your Jeggae". The floor was now filling up with bodies, bopping and legging. Liz shuffled about swaying, partly restricted in dancing, by her tight ankle length dress. It didn't matter to her, it was a fun time and the records choice pleased everyone there. So it went on until about 8:30, when I sneaked off into the shelter of the darkened cloakrooms with Liz, we had a proper goodnight kiss, before her parents arrived to take her home. Her fathers' name was John, her mother was called Bessie.
31st October 1969 Kent schools gets development go-ahead
Twenty nine Kent schools have been named among 112 school building projects in the South East, totalling over £12,000,000 which are to begin next year. Kent has been allocated £3,516,000. The projects are mainly for new school places in areas of housing development and for replacement of old and unsatisfactory school buildings. In Kent there are 21 primary schools and eight secondary schools which are to be the subject of school building projects.
The secondary schools are Meopham, St. John's R.C. Gravesend, Sandown Court Tunbridge Wells, Westborough Maidstone, Oldborough Manor Maidstone, Herne Bay, Duncan Bowen Ashford and Upbury Manor Gillingham.
Primary schools are Wilmington, Upton County Broadstairs, Lydd, Paddock Wood, Twydall, Broadwater Down Tunbridge Wells, Singlewell Gravesend, Meopham, Outer Lordswood Chatham, St. James Church of England (Controlled) Primary School Tunbridge Wells, Birchington Church of England (Controlled) Primary School, St. Simon R.C. (aided) Primary school Ashford, Capel-Le-Ferne Primary School, Hadlow, Longfield, Smeeth, Birchwood, Staplehurst, New Ash Green, Joy Lane Whitstable, and Larkfield East Malling.
More of Liz...
Arranged another date with Liz, this time to come over on a Saturday to visit me at home in Rock Avenue and have lunch there. On the day, late morning, I met her when her bus arrived from Wigmore, stopping inside the yard at the Gillingham bus depot at Nelson road. The dark green and cream colour Maidstone and District bus was the single deck type, and ran the route number 8 which was from Chatham cemetery, White road snaking it's way through Luton, Chatham, Brompton, Gillingham, Rainham, Wigmore and to Bredhurst and back. She stepped down the couple of steps and off the bus platform, straight into my waiting arms, a quick greeting kiss and then chatted, we held hands, walking along Gillingham road, up to the "Westcourt Arms". On reaching my house, we were met first by my mother at the front door, then introduced to the rest of my family while in the kitchen dining room. There was a problem I had not even thought about. There wasn't enough room at the table for a full sitting. My mothers' solution was that I take Liz into the lounge and eat there, just the two of us. So that was ideal having the lounge, with the TV and record player, being alone together in private for the afternoon listening to records and chat. At half time, a discrete knock on the door was followed by my mother's entry into the lounge to serve us with tea refreshments. It gave her the opportunity to check up on us and have a brief chat with Liz. My father was probably grumbling quietly to himself, of the prospect of missing out on that Saturday afternoons' entertainment of the wrestling matches screened on TV with Kent Walton commentating. My two older brothers had not experienced a girl being in the house, apart from a close neighbour's girl called Jane, then aged 21, who had been a friendly regular visitor for years, now treated almost as part of the our family. Well, they stayed in their rooms while Liz was here.
Our afternoon time was at an end. Liz had to be home before teatime, and after she had said goodbye to my Mum, who was washing up the lunch plates in the kitchen sink, I escorted Liz to the bus station to wait for the Wigmore bus. The bus departed whisking her away up Nelson road towards the park, her face looking back through the side window before the bus grew smaller in view, finally vanishing into Canterbury street.
November and back at school, sitting through the days, trying to get on with my course work, but seriously failing to approach it with any enthusiasm. Still no U cert films of interest to take Liz out to see in Gillingham. There wasn't another school dance likely until the end of term break for Christmas. I was stumped over this for some days and then she asked me if I'd come over to Wigmore for a Saturday afternoon. I'd never ventured into Wigmore during my numerous young boyhood cycling adventures. Hoath woods were as far as I can recall ever going to in that part of Gillingham. It was a good idea and eagerly agreed to go and visit her.
Travelling there by bus was a new experience for me. At the junction of the Watling street Hoath way road junction was Bowaters and the familiar landmark large blue ball perched on top of the high slim pedestal tower. Now driving further along passing Rainham Mark, and as far along as Berengrave lane, the bus turned right into Maidstone road heading another mile or so into Wigmore to Fairview avenue, then Bredhurst road and I got off the bus at the stop at the end of Bredhurst road. The far south end of Wigmore, I'd entered another world, that of solid rural woodland detachment from downtown terraced Gillingham. The houses here being very large semi and detached ones, decorated neat spacious gardens with private garage, oozed an atmosphere of settled wealth. Conveniently, Harty avenue was just across the road from the bus stop, house numbered 1 was on the corner junction of Bredhurst road. The avenue was a 'no through road', the Richards house was a large semi detached bungalow, picket fenced garden area seeming smaller than most in the avenue.
Now approaching the front gate, lifting the latch, a face that of Liz suddenly appeared at the front window inside, then vanished and she had the front door opened, was ready to greet me, before I had pressed the door bell button. Standing behind her in the hallway, were her parents and we shook hands in welcome as Liz introduced me. Both parents were of age, in their early 40's. They ushered me into the lounge to sit with them, and gave me an orange drink from a glass cabinet. As I took in where I was, everything inside the spacious room looked luxurious as was the entire décor of the house. Our old Victorian terraced house in Rock avenue was squalid in comparison. Her parents then engaged with me in brief conversation mostly about school and my subject studies for my exams and career ambitions. This was my first interview, all being polite, they never asked of me, what I was doing with their daughter? I'm really relieved that Jayne was out somewhere else at that time with her neighbourhood friends. The audition ended and I was still playing the part of boyfriend. Her mum and dad then left us alone, they walked out through the patio doors and into the rear garden to do some gardening work. For a November day, the weather was mild and sunny. Liz wanted to show me around Wigmore later in the afternoon, but first to my utter surprise, she then showed me to her bedroom. Not strictly hers, she shared it with Jayne. Her two younger brothers shared the other bedroom and were also out playing with the neighbourhood kids.
The bedroom was filled with their girls adornments and what appeared like small dolls figurines arranged on the dresser table. As elsewhere in the house much money had been lavished in decoration and furnishings. Liz smiled at my facial expression of fascination I was showing. Liz opened one of the wardrobes, pulling out a portable record player and some records for it. After setting the player on the carpet beside the 'drobe and had plugged in the power lead, she sat on one of the twin beds whilst I knelt down looking through a pile of records. The other bed had some discarded skirts to be laundered, laying on top of the bed cover, which I assumed to belong to Jayne. The pop records they had, to be honest, weren't really my cup of tea. So I moved aside, unable to choose a record, then sat next to her on her bed whilst she leaned over, bending down low to the player to stack up the autochanger with some selected of her own choice.
Sitting back up on the soft bed and while the records played, Liz and I got into talking about musical tastes, our general likes and dislikes etc. When that subject was exhausted, pausing for thought Liz asked if I would now like to take a walk with her outside to look around Wigmore. As I stood up, turned around, to get ready to leave with her, I tripped over a small pouffe at the end of her bed and fell onto the dresser table, sending a hanging mirror crashing to the floor, which then cracked into separate pieces.
On my first visit, for that to happen. I entered into a frozen moment, I think Liz had sensed my sudden change of mood, and as I retreated, standing away from her bed, she was sitting on one side, her face was flushed in embarrassment, as was mine when I glanced at my reflection in the broken mirror laying on the floor beside the dressing table.
Leaving her bedroom, we moved into the lounge, sat and talked about what to do next. I thought it best that I return home and we both try and forget what had happened. Finding the courage, I popped into the rear garden to apologise for the breakage and say goodbye to her parents. Liz then showed me around part of the neighbourhood before the next bus to Gillingham was due to arrive. So that day was my last spent with Liz.
Monday 10th November
Unbeknownst to us pupils, for two years, the scent of unfairness and quiet unrest has been fermenting inside our Upbury Manor school gates. Affecting mostly newly established qualified teachers, less so of teachers of a long standing service with attitudes that were set in the wartime era. Where patience, suffering with make do for the day that never arrives and I mustn't grumble had been the staus quo.
A new age of negotiation and political hard bargaining has been launched, but it won't be anything like the worldwide anti-Vietnam war protest movement. It's about what does a civilised society believe is the true value of our teachers, the civil service and other public sector workers? Seemingly trapped in the snare of divisive rigid low pay scales and the rising cost of living?
For the school students, during these unsettling times, this will be an informal education in what you can expect to encounter relevant to real life.
Tuesday 11th November Report of the teachers pay claim
Teachers are to stage strikes at selected schools in different parts of the country. This was decided last night after the teachers' leaders rejected a pay-rise offer of £50 a year. Plans for the strikes will be made immediately by the National Union of Teachers, which is fighting for all-round rises of £135 on the basic scales. The N.U.T. leaders also gave the go-ahead to local associations who want to organise one-day or half-day strikes in a "first reaction" protest to the £50 offer. The offer was made yesterday by representatives of the local education authorities at pay talks in London with the teachers' leaders on the Burnham Committee which fixes teachers' salaries.
After the teachers' panel rejected it, the meeting was adjourned for a month so that the management side could reconsider the situation. Leaders of both the N.U.T. and the National Association of Schoolmasters were angered by the management's attitude. At a meeting of the N.U.T. executive last night it was made clear that the union will not wait for a breakdown in the talks before staging the strikes. The N.U.T.and the N.A.S. are holding top-level talks on strike action. It is likely that they will stage joint action in some areas.
Wednesday 12th November
A strike call to more than 16,000 teachers was sent out by union leaders last night. The teachers were urged to join token strikes in support of their £135-a-year pay claim. They have been offered a £50 rise, which union leaders rejected as inadequate. One lightning strike was held yesterday at Corby, Northants, where about twenty teachers quit their classes at the Lodge Park secondary school. Teachers in Manchester and several other towns in the North of England were meeting last night to discuss future moves. And a union spokesman said that members in the East Midlands had called for "militant action."
In London, 13,000 teachers plan to walk out on Thursday next week. This is likely to be followed by longer strikes in selected London schools. Another strike is to be at Sheffield, where teachers will walk out for half a day on Friday. The city's 230 schools will close. A union spokesman said: "Our members are very angry at the offer of just £50. There is no doubt that in some areas of Sheffield there will be more prolonged strike action." Some schools at Bedworth, Warwickshire, and Clitheroe, Lancs. will be hit today.
15th November On British television, Both ITV and BBC 1 begins broadcasting in colour.
Tuesday 18th November
A thousand or more members of the National Union of Teachers will start a two-week pay protest strike at chosen schools on December 1st. The schools dotted about the country, will probably be selected by leaders of the 280,000-member N.U.T. on Thursday. It is almost certain that these schools will have to close down for the fortnight because they will be ones where N.U.T. membership is strongest. They will not necessarily be the same schools as those chosen for strike action by the National Association of Schoolmasters. The association, joining its rival union in a pay protest for the first time, has decided to hit where it hurt's most. This means in areas where there are many working mothers, who will have to stay away from their jobs to look after their school children.
The N.U.T. strike decision was announced yesterday as angry teachers in several parts of the country staged more one-day and half-day strikes. By the end of the week the number involved in these guerilla strikes will have reached about 35,000. The teachers are striking against what they call a "derisory" offer of 19s/2d. a week on basic scales in reply to their demand for an interim award of £2/12s.
19th November The news on the telly. The crew of the latest Apollo mission has carried out the second manned landing on the Moon's surface. Apollo 12 almost failed before it began because of a leaking hydrogen tank, but launch crews raced against time to change it before takeoff.
There was another moment of drama shortly after launch as Apollo 12 was struck by lightning. Instruments shut down for a few seconds, but power was quickly restored. Since then, the mission has run smoothly apart from the early failure of the television camera which was to have sent the first live colour pictures back to Earth.
The astronauts, Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lieutenant-Commander Alan Bean, made a perfect landing on smooth ground between craters in the Ocean of Storms at 0653 BST (0553 GMT), four days after takeoff.
Pete Conrad was first to step out of the lunar module, codenamed Intrepid, becoming the third man to walk on the Moon's surface at 1244 BST (1144 GMT). The ladder used to climb down onto the surface was slightly short, and forced him to jump the last few feet. As he did so, he joked, "Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me!"
He found the surface soil was softer than at Tranquillity Base, where the first manned mission, Apollo 11, landed in July. It is believed Intrepid had landed on a ray of debris thrown out by the crater Copernicus, 150 miles (240 km) away. The astronaut's boots sank noticeably into the soil. "I can walk okay," he said, "but I've got to take it easy."
The camera failed 15 minutes after Commander Conrad left the module. Engineers are trying to find out what caused the fault, and believe it may have been caused by the intense light of the sun.
One of the objectives of the mission was to recover Surveyor 3, a previous American probe sent to the Moon in April 1967. When Intrepid landed, it was within sight of the probe, 600 feet (200 metres) away and perched on the edge of a small crater. The two astronauts will attempt to retrieve the probe during a second moonwalk tomorrow.
During their three-and-a-half hour walk on the surface, Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were in high spirits, whistling, laughing and joking. They carried out experiments, collected samples, and left a lunar surface experiment package with a number of devices to measure phenomena like solar winds and atmosphere.
Throughout the two men's stay on the moon, their colleague, Richard Gordon, has remained orbiting the Moon in the command module, Yankee Clipper.
Friday 21st November
More than 750,000 children missed lessons yesterday when their teachers went on strike. Schools in almost every area of England closed as 25,000 teachers walked out over their pay dispute. In London 10,000 teachers and students crammed the Albert Hall to hear militant speeches by leaders of the National Union of Teachers. Later they marched to Hyde Park while deputations handed in petitions at 10 Downing street. Mr. Ben Johnson, president of the N.U.T. said that the union's plan for a two week strike next month had received massive support. Originally, the union had planned to call out only teachers in selected schools on December 1st. But so many offers of support poured in that many more schools are likely to be hit by the stoppage. To add to the confusion, 500 teachers, who are members of the National Association of Schoolmasters, will also walk out for two weeks on December 1st.
Militant Kent teachers are calling for a strike in support of their claim for £135 a year pay increase. Their action may close schools throughout Kent for up to a fortnight. In Gillingham, 50 percent of schools may be hit by a fortnight's strike at the beginning of December. Members of the National Union of Teachers in 18 of the town's 38 schools have agreed to stop work if their National Executive calls them out. Even more Gillingham teachers have agreed to join the half-day token strike planned for next Wednesday.
In the North East Kent divisional area, the majority of the 55 primary schools and 12 secondary schools are almost certain to be hit by the half-day strike. These include schools in Sittingbourne, Sheppey, Milton, Faversham and Swale. Sittingbourne's divisional officer, Mr. Albert Millican, said "The affected schools will probably be closed the whole day as it would be dangerous to send home children at lunch-time. Parents will be warned in advance."
In Ramsgate most of the N.U.T. members in 10 out of the 14 schools are ready to strike for a fortnight from December 1st. Teachers in every type of school in Thanet will probably join them. At Herne Bay County Secondary School 29 of the 32 teachers did not go to work this Wednesday morning. The 600 pupils stayed at home. More than 300 members of the Thames-side Teachers Association will stage a token strike next Thursday afternoon.
Only a more generous pay increase than £50 a year offered can avert Kent's biggest ever teachers strike. Teachers claim they are worse off now than they were two and a half years ago. They are especially angry because an agreement signed in April limited teachers annual pay increases to three and a half percent until 1971. Yet since then other sections of the working poulation have been granted much larger increases, including a 12 percent for firemen.
Saturday 22nd November
Teachers in more than 4,000 schools have volunteered to strike for two weeks from December 1st. This was announced by the National Union of Teachers when their executive met in London yesterday. The executive chose 1,000 of the schools, throughout the country, to take part in the strike for more pay. But the names are being kept secret until next Wednesday. Premier Harold Wilson last night condemned wildcat strikes by teachers which endangered children's lives. He told teachers in his constituency at Huyton, Lancs, that proper notice should be given so that parents could arrange to see that small children got home safely.
A growing crisis before a General election?
An unprecedented wave of militancy is sweeping through the teaching profession in this country. The teachers' mounting anger at inadequate pay has overcome the petty union differences that in the past have divided them. In his last few months as retiring general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Sir Ronald Gould, finds himself leading a campaign of aggressive strike action.
Parents all over the country are having the issue forced home to them by finding their sons and daughters back on the doorstep soon after 9 am-sent home because teacher is on strike. Why now? Why have teachers-who in the past have kept their militancy strictly controlled and therefore largely ineffective, or hidden their real grievances (about pay) behind other fringe issues like the supervision of school meals-now come out into the open?
First, the present situation can be seen as the peak of a rumbling frustration and resentment that has been boiling up for years. Second, because teachers have seen the direct results, in terms of more in the pay packet, of strike action in other fields (and by teachers in other countries), and the way in which it has made pay policies, moratoriums, and so forth, crumble away into nonsense. And, third, because their leaders can see that this is an excellent political moment to get a bit extra.
A two-year agreement, giving teachers a new basic scale, up from £800-£1500 to £860-£1600 (a 7.12 percent increase or 3.56 percent a year) was signed by the local authorities and the teachers in March. During the Easter conferences the union leaders were forced by their members to go back to the Burnham Committee-which negotiates teachers' pay, to demand an interim award to take effect from next April. At first, the local authorities poured scorn on the idea of pay talks "before the ink is dry" on the two-year agreement. But the local authority employers as well as the teachers could see the Government's wages policy-under the shadow of which the two-year agreement was negotiated---crumbling away. The two largest teachers' unions, the N.U.T. and the National Association of Schoolmasters (N.A.S.), decided behind the scenes to swallow their past differences and to bring to the Burnham Committee a united front in demanding an all-round increase of £135 a year.
By tradition, the total sum available for teachers' pay increases has always been decided by the Secretary of State-and therefore in this case by the Treasury and Mr Roy Jenkins. The Burnham Committee has been responsible for its allocation. On this occasion the employers agreed with the teachers that the interim award once negotiated should go as a flat increase all round. So the employers offered £50. The teachers rejected this out of hand, but agreed that there was room for negotiation between the offer and their own £135 demand. Meanwhile the teachers had seen offers of 16 percent, 9 percent, and 12 per cent made respectively to the dustmen, miners, and firemen in the face of real or threatened industrial action. For them, 16 per cent would mean an extra £250 a year. They knew that their real negotiation on this occasion was with Mr Jenkins, and with a Mr Jenkins who must be more preoccupied with the beginnings of a pre-election run-up than with a resurrection of the wages policy. Burnham was adjourned for a month and immediately the strikes started. The employers have naturally enough called the action irresponsible and harmful to the children. But now that the public is confronted so clearly and directly with the teachers' case, it must ask itself: in view of the teachers' responsibility to society, what is society's responsibility to the guardians of its future?
Wednesday 26th November The half-day token strike (afternoon walk-out) There was some predictable excitement amongst the Upbury Manor lower and middle school pupils today when they were sent home. Just a few union staff stayed on the premises to keep the school basically functional in support of the senior pupils. The 5th/6th forms stayed put of course, pretending to continue with their studies for the remaining part of the day, but with no class sessions to go to it was actually just a free period few hours of "horsing around" until close.
Friday 28th November
Schools all over Kent have been closing down this week after mass walk-outs by militant teachers demanding a £135 a year pay rise. In Gillingham 10,000 children were sent home after lunch on Wednesday as every school in the town was hit by the half-day token strike. Teachers held a protest meeting in the town.
A message from a student teacher
Our Student Union at teaching college passed a motion to give support to the teachers associations in their strike action and called for complete withdrawal of students from lectures and teaching practice last week. Not only are we acting in support of our fully-fledged colleagues but also, as prospective teachers, for our own future.
How many people can forget about work at the end of the day till the following morning? Not teachers! They have lessons to prepare, books to mark, trips to organise, materials to gather, examinations to set and mark, and so on. They also have the added responsibility of 40 children each day. Surely all this is worth more than £13 a week. We work hard to gain our qualifications. Is it worth it when we know that in many jobs there are no qualifications required for a much higher salary? Why aren't we out earning them then? Because we want to be teachers. But because we want to teach, doesn't mean we must accept the pitiful pay.
By the end of November, I'd settled back into the usual routine prefect break times duty in the cloakrooms area, chucking out 3rd and 4th formers out into the playground. I still often glimpsed a far off Liz walking about the school, in with her class mates and on passing, we had just nodded acknowledgement, then moved along on with our own business. Jayne, I never had any further trouble from her, she'd definitely had lost any interest in me.
Monday 1st December The two week strike begins in local areas (but thankfully not in Gillingham and Kent). Teachers in Medway had been waiting a N.U.T. union executive decision, nationwide on selected local area call outs, set for a two week strike on 1st December. So for now it was back as normal operating in school at Upbury Manor until the end of term. Nobody here, teachers and pupils, would want a long strike just before the Christmas holiday, which would scupper our school preparations and organising the Christmas social and dance party night, therefore losing the booking for the DJ disco and pop group.
Tuesday 2nd December
More than 4,500 teachers began a two-week strike yesterday closing nearly 300 schools and giving more than 250,000 children a pre-Christmas holiday. The strike in support of the teachers pay claim, was the biggest protest ever staged in 100 years of State education in Britain. It followed a series of half-day and one-day strikes in which more than 100,000 teachers took part. Sir Ronald Gould, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said last night that the latest strike was "going like clockwork." He added: "It could not have been better disciplined. There was absolute solidarity and absolute loyalty for the campaign." Eighty-one local education authorities are affected by the strike. The worst hit areas are London, Manchester, Birmingham, the North-West and Wales.
Yesterday education chiefs were warned by Mr. Bernard Mawby, who leads the N.U.T. action committee: "We are not going to have our members victimised. Any threats of suspension will meet with a very strong reaction." Mr. Mawby was referring to the Mayflower secondary school at Billericay, Essex, where three teachers were suspended for refusing to take over the duties of others out on strike. The three were reinsated after talks between the authority and the N.U.T. The Burnham Committee, which recommends teacher's pay, was due to meet again on December 12th. Now it is expected to meet on December 15th ready to make a new offer.
Friday 5th December Meanwhile..Another issue raised is the overcrowding in Gillingham Schools
ZOKKO! series 2
With the Radio Times proudly announcing, “All For Fun! Fun For All! Tar-rah!”, Zokko! returned for another 13 week stint on Saturday mornings, starting from 6 December 1969. Although the new series retained the same production team, some significant changes were made for the new batch of shows; the sometimes excessively psychedelic design elements were calmed down slightly in favour of a stark “two tone” approach, and the pinball machine device was dropped altogether. The reasons for this decision have never been disclosed, although it is rumoured the expensive prop was damaged in storage and the cost of repairs would have been beyond the means of the meagre budget allocated for the second run.
Despite this, Radio Times’ introduction to the new series promised the return of “the old favourites and some new ones”, alongside “a brand new music machine, the like of which has never been seen before”. Said device was essentially a scaled-down Top of the Pops set with a revolving stage, festooned in flashing lights and surrounded by gigantic bubbling test tubes, and resembling an antique pipe organ rebuilt to the specifications of the set designer of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Filmed with camera angles better suited to a raucous pop music show (and more than likely the inspiration for the remarkably similar “Jackie Charlton and the Tonettes” sketch in the second series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, recorded shortly after the second series of Zokko! had aired), the indefinable musical contraption would pump out excerpts from stage musicals and instrumental pop hits while 'punningly' appropriate inanimate objects revolved in the centre.While this occupied the linking role formerly occupied by the pinball machine, the actual contents of the show remained much the same and just as mind-frazzling as ever. The animations, pop films, awful jokes, Disney extracts, stock footage, jarring bursts of exclamation marks and electronically treated voices were all back on board. “Skayn” returned for a new eight-part adventure, this time sent to investigate saboteurs at large on a moon colony, and the final five shows of the run were given over to the big top crime thriller “Susan Starr of the Circus” (with voices provided by Jennifer Hill, Alan Devereux and Stanley Page).
Sadly, but not entirely unpredictably, very little of Zokko! now survives in the archives. The original master tape of one second series edition escaped wiping by pure chance, and more recently a tele-recording of a compilation edition of highlights from that run was recovered from a private collector. On the plus side this does mean that both “Skayn” and “Susan Starr” have had their adventures (or at least a fragment thereof) preserved for posterity, but unfortunately nothing remains of the talking pinball machine that seems to have burnt itself indelibly onto so many memories.
In the 6th form common room, there was talk of the Christmas school dance, the rumour was going around that a local pop group and the Steve Maxted mobile disco show had been booked for the night. The advance ticket price might be about 5 bob (5/-). Ah, this is going to be a fabulous night out, and during early December, I canvassed as many girls as I could get hold of, while on my duty spot near the cloakrooms. Of course, I wanted to get to dance with all the available girls that party night. The more go, the better for me.
Friday 12th December In the regions of the country affected, the N.U.T. union two week strike ends.
Plans are being drawn up to close down Kent schools for a fortnight early next year as militant teachers continue to press for a £135 a year pay rise. Local teachers associations have already contacted schools to see how many are prepared to take complete withdrawal action. Mr. Fred Baker, President of the Kent County Association of Teachers, said this week: "I have not seen teachers in Kent so angry for 20 years." Almost every area in Kent has now been hit by half-day strikes. Many teachers have said they are prepared to go on strike for a fortnight if their demand for better pay is not met. Mr. Baker said: "This has been a remarkable show by teachers in a traditionally liberal area that they are frustrated and angry with the Government."
Tuesday 16th December Well, maybe next year then?
For the sake of the children (not to mention their parents) the dispute over teachers' pay ought to be settled before the new term starts in January. Conceivably, it will be. But the next meeting to discuss the teachers' claim is not until January 5th, which is cutting it very fine. The teachers are asking for another £135 a year all round. Yesterday their employers, the local authorities, offered an extra £100 on the minimum but only £60 on the maximum. Their previous offer was a flat-rate £50, so the gap is closing. But so far not closing enough for the teachers to accept. Between the £50 offer made on November 10th and yesterday's talks there were 35 wasted days. Now there is to be another delay of three weeks. Even allowing for Christmas this is a too leisurely approach.
In some parts of the country, the teachers have just concluded a widespread two-week token strike in support of their claim. A total of 4,500 teachers were missing from their classrooms in 327 schools. At least 200,000 ohildren were idle. If the January 5th meeting fails to reach agreement more strikes are threatened. Thousands of children will again miss school. Working mothers will again face the problem of how their children are to be looked after. This week all the schools will break up for a fortnight's holiday. Mr. Edward Short, the Education Minister, the local authorities and the teachers' unions should use this Christmas break to get down to hard bargaining and reach a settlement.
The night of the Christmas dance, the assembly hall was quite full, but not all the younger girls had turned up, maybe the tickets sold out early? It is so long ago now, the hired DJ with a mobile disco and the local pop group performing that evening was thought to be "Chicory Tip", well before they were signed up to a recording contract and found fame. A really entertaining party night, and fun competitions, the music being the latest and oldies of soul, ska, rocksteady, reggae, motown and pop, you couldn't not dance to it. Teachers too, relaxing, getting in on the act, forgetting their pay dispute until the next year. Quenching my thirst, up close and dancing with more girls (all wearing makeup), one was a 5th former, but most of the time it was a night of solo dancing. There was no need to date any girl, too many to choose from, and I was not going to repeat the mistake of the Liz affair.
Gillingham record shops in 1969, Woolgars radio tv records (next to Railway Hotel, High st), Bakers radio tv electrical & Records (High st), Co-operative record dept (High st), Woolworths, WH Smiths, Marks & Spencer, Lefevre's Department Store, also Pop Inn (Chatham high st), and Impact (Chatham high st).
Riding the crest of the reggae wave
During the last half of 1969, my record purchases were for the budget ska/rocksteady/reggae sampler LP records usually priced at 14/6d, 15/11d and 19/11d. These contained older recordings from various artists dating from years 1965-69, of which I preferred. The LP titles were, "Tighten Up" (TROJAN label), "Tighten Up volume 2" (TROJAN label), "Blow Your Horn" (DOWNTOWN label), "Guns Of Navarone" (TROJAN label), "Ride Your Donkey" (TROJAN label), "Reggae Special" (COXSONE label), "A Scorcha from BAMBOO" (BAMBOO label), "Reggae In The Grass" (STUDIO ONE label), and two ones of Prince Buster, "She Was A Rough Rider" (F A B label) and "Prince Buster's FABulous Greatest Hits" (F A B label). Those LP's were the amongst the best of the bunch of the many sold in that year. I also had bought some new reggae 7" singles at full price around 7/6d each when released, which proved a rip off because shortly after, these records appeared as the tracks on many of the various artists budget chartbuster LP's. Most British released stuff, especially 7" discs produced after that, weren't worth spending money on. The real Jamaican 7" single records, were seldom heard of outside of the dancehall club scene of large cities.
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| 1969 Britain: The multitude of record labels that reggae could be found on |
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| Coaching Kevin Sandy's brother to play card games when he should have been doing his Grammar school homework |
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| Still in my 6th form school uniform, maroon colour pullover and Levi's, while playing ska and reggae when at the height of its popularity in the UK |
