TV memories when we all watched with Mother

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 22, 2008 9:00 AM

MOST people find that just thinking about children’s television is enough to conjure feelings of nostalgia.
And whether positive or negative, most have an opinion of children’s shows of past and present.
So with the world’s longest running children’s TV programme, Blue Peter, as well as Paddington Bear both celebrating their golden anniversaries this year, LookBack sounded Southport out on its favourite shows of the past – and what it thinks of today’s offerings...
Broadcaster Dave Turley, who presents Dune fm’s daily Daytime show from 10am-2pm, said: “For me, I don’t think children’s TV has changed a great deal.
“Many classics are still about or being revised, such as Blue Peter, Basil Brush, Thunderbirds and Scooby Doo.

Blue Peter presenters of 1986 vintage, from left: Peter Duncan, Janet Ellis and Simon Groom

“Dick and Dom are OK, as are the Chuckle Brothers. Some newer programmes are quite cool – apart from the Teletubbies and Balamory – or it may be that I’m too old to really appreciate them!”
Dave added: “There does however seem to be a darker side to children’s TV now.
“Grange Hill seems to have been replaced with the very rude, and at sometimes immoral, Hollyoaks.
“Then there is the very scary Charmed and the very violent Buffy The Vampire Slayer.”
Phil King, Sefton’s former tourism chief, said: “When I was younger I remember my favourite children’s programme being Whirligig, which was a black and white puppet show.
“We didn’t have a TV so I had to watch it at my grandmother’s.”

Former tourism chief Phil King had a face-to-face with Sooty at the Institute of Municipal Entertainment’s last Christmas celebration

Mr King spoke of the excitement he and his peers experienced as children, watching something that was genuinely new.
And he keeps up to date with today’s shows courtesy of his grandchildren – who watch BBC’s CBeebies, with Balamory a particular favourite.
Mr King praised how watching TV can help children learn – developing their imagination and skills of self-expression – as well as keeping them entertained.
“But I am a great believer that TV should be switched off at certain times and children should also be encouraged to read,” he added.
David McDonnell, owner of D&J Toys on Tulketh Street, said: “My favourite children’s show was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
“Children’s programmes are now dominated by Japanese cartoons, which are not as good as the shows I watched when I was younger.”
He too cited Balamory – a pre-school programme set amid a fictional Scottish island community – as a great example of fusing education and entertainment.
Alison Buckingham, of The Cherry Tree toy store on Wesley Street, said: “I can’t remember watching much TV as a child but my children were brought up on Sesame Street.
“The programme was very clever in the way it helped children learn the alphabet and numbers, whilst having fun.”
Kelly Brady, assistant manager of Past Times gift shop on Lord Street, opted for Sooty & Co as her childhood favourite.
She added: “All the kids’ shows at the moment are rubbish!
“They don’t compare to the shows that were on when I was younger.”

Kelly (left) and Jade Brady, staff at Past Times nostalgia gift shop on Lord Street, with Peru’s most famous export - Paddington Bear

For more details about Paddington Bear, visit the official website www.paddingtonbear.co.uk
Blue Peter’s 50th birthday is on October 16. If you are the holder of a coveted Blue Peter badge, or ever appeared on the show, let us know by calling Robert Alcock 01704-398276 or e-mail robert.alcock@southport visiter.co.uk

Crackerjack? Captain Pugwash? Bill & Ben? What’s your favourite children’s TV show and why? Let us know below.

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When Boys fought the ‘war’ on the coal face

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 15, 2008 9:00 AM

WHEN David Hewetson turned 18 he graduated from public school to work in a coalmine – and became a star of the silver screen in the process. The lifelong Southport resident owed his unusual journey to a freak of chance, namely a wartime conscription number ending in zero.
Instead of entering training to be a soldier, sailor or airman in the fight against Nazi Germany, David became one of the first wave of Bevin Boy recruits.
Named after Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin, the programme sought to redress a loss of manpower from the mines to the armed forces by enlisting recruits to work there instead.

Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin

Now 82, David spoke in his home at Viceroy Court of how his status as the first public school-educated Bevin Boy ensured appearances in the press and on cinema newsreels.
Yet far from being overwhelmed, he described his attitude to his posting as: “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”
He said: “It was a great experience. Instead of fighting on the front you were fighting on the coal face.”
Born in Princes Street, David attended Terra Nova independent school in Lancaster Road and then St Bees school in Cumbria.
He had initially intended serving in the Army on turning 18, but a random ballot selected him to be among the first intake of Bevin Boys and, in January 1944, was told to attend a training centre in Swinton near Manchester.
“At Swinton they told us what to expect,” said David.

From there he was posted to carry out hard and dirty work in Bickershaw Collieries in Leigh, travelling nine miles everyday to work from his lodgings in Pemberton near Wigan.
Like his fellow Bevin Boys, David did not hew coal himself but worked in haulage and other duties.
“There were around six Bevin Boys and 30 colliers on my coalface,” he said.
He said: “There were some from Wigan but no-one else from Southport. They were lads from all different backgrounds but had all been called up at 18. I wasn’t unhappy there. We had quite a lot of fun between us.”

Working weekday shifts of 8am to 3.30pm or 4pm, David was transported up to half a kilometre underground to help operate the haulage system that ensured a flow of fresh coal from the pit.
That was interrupted in winter 1946, when he contracted dermatitis and spent a number of months underground collecting samples of stone dust – a necessary task to help ward off explosions.

Mining was then a particularly dangerous occupation, and although he knew of only one fatal accident in his pit, there were plenty of near-misses.
“I could have been done two or three times,” David remembered of the times coal had collapsed around him.
After the close of hostilities in 1945, Bevin Boys continued to help power Britain’s reconstruction and David did not leave the pits until September, 1947.

He later trained in horticulture and forged a career as a manager for market gardening firms, living in Trafalgar Road for 46 years.
David has now applied to receive a unique veterans’ badge honouring the service of the Bevin Boys – the first of which of will be issued next month to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the demobbing of the last Bevin Boy.

He said: “We felt we did our job. We felt we were playing our part. We didn’t feel we were failing by not going into the forces.”
Do you have an interesting wartime experience you would like to share with LookBack readers? If so, phone reporter Robert Alcock on 01704-398287, email robert.alcock@southportvisiter.co.uk or let us know below.

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Keith puts focus on people who made Southport great

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 8, 2008 9:04 AM

A PROJECT is underway to honour the contribution that eminent Victorians made to Southport’s development – and LookBack readers are being asked to help.
Keith W. Roberts, a lecturer in photography, is delving into the visual libraries of the nineteenth century philanthropists who left such a mark on our town.
He is conducting his research towards an MA degree and its fruits will hopefully be exhibited at the Atkinson Art Gallery in 2009.

Keith W Roberts, lecturer in photography

Keith told LookBack: “It is in essence a photographic project, so I am hoping to be able to produce a series of images based upon any stories or artefacts that these Southport Victorians may have left behind that still exist.”
Past mayors of Southport are expected to feature prominently in his project, in which the images will be developed using authentic old processes.
Samuel Swire, Walter Smith, Samuel Boothroyd, Richard Nicholson, William Sutton, John Unwin and Edward Rimmer are among those involved, many of whose names have been bequeathed to Southport landmarks.

The entrance to the vault of Victorian mayor Samuel Swire at Duke Street Cemetery Photo by Keith W Roberts

But some traces of their influence have also since disappeared.
Keith, 38, told LookBack how he had learned that Matlock Road in Birkdale was known as Swire Road until 1906, honouring the 1872-73 mayorship of Samuel Swire, Esq, JP.
Time spent in Duke Street Cemetery provided inspiration for the research by Keith – who is a photography programme leader at St Helens College with a background in professional freelancing.
He said that reading the detail of gravestones there made him think: “this person probably contributed so much to society in the course of their lifespan.”.

A broken memorial cross for William Pochin in Birkdale Cemetery. His grave is visible from Liverpool Road, depicting a 15-ft sculpture of Jesus Christ with his arms held open

Any relatives of these eminent Southport Victorians living in the North West – or anyone else who can assist in the project – are asked to contact Keith.
Write to him at: 7 Morven Grove, Southport, Merseyside PR8 6AY or by email at keithroberts@sthelens.ac.uk

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Sew many happy memories of Ede and former hospital

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 8, 2008 9:02 AM

LAUNDRY and sewing room staff at the old Promenade Hospital were captured by a Visiter photographer celebrating a retirement back in 1977.
Ede Lloyd hung up her needles after 19 years at the infirmary which has since been replaced by flats.
After nearly 30 years of retirement, Ede died aged 93 in 2006.
She is warmly remembered by many, including her son Roger and daughter-in-law Phyllis of Alexandra Road.

The retirement party for Ede Lloyd (centre, front row) at the Promenade Hospital in 1977

It was Phyllis’s entry that won a Southport Visiter competition to find Southport’s greatest mother-in-law – with a big bouquet of flowers for Ede as the prize.
“Ede was bubbly, always on the go and always doing things for other people rather than herself,” said Phyllis, 57.
Are you or any of your family or friends featured on this photo? If so, call LookBack on 01704-398287, email robert.alcock@southportvisiter .co.uk or leave your message below.

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On board the bus back to 1976

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 8, 2008 9:00 AM

AN open-top bus tour highlighting the charms of Southport proved a far from smooth ride for the man filming it for Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council.
The year was 1976 and Southport Theatre’s then technical manager, Don Sykes, had been selected to make Wish You Were Here – a ‘movie postcard’ promoting the resort.
The passengers aboard the bus – most of whom were genuine tourists – were taken on a tour starting at Southport Pier and taking in sights including the Botanic Gardens and Rotten Row.
“It was a stop-start journey,” remembered Mr Sykes, who was chosen as filmmaker by Sefton’s tourism department because of his love of photography.
“The bus had to keep stopping and starting for me to get on and off it.”

Holidaymakers travel down Lord Street in a scene from ‘Wish You Were Here’, made for Sefton Tourism

For its stars, Wish You Were Here relied on some of the female workers at Southport Theatre, of which Mr Sykes was technical manager for 20 years.
It was distributed to film libraries around the country and has now been retrieved by the North West Film Archive for its Southport on Film compilation, which received its public premiere last night.
Attractions that have since vanished were included on the bus route, such as Peter Pan’s Playground on what is now Ocean Plaza, and the Model Village near where Morrisons now occupies.
Mr Sykes, who is married to Muriel and is a father of three and grandfather of 12, described Wish You Were Here as “a nice film” that “covered Southport as it was at that time.”
A film devotee since boyhood, Mr Sykes became Southport Theatre’s first technical manager on its opening in 1973, overseeing both screenings and live events.
Prior to coming to Southport he had worked at cinemas in Sheffield, Doncaster and Manchester.
Mr Sykes’s screen output also included a profile of an innovative new council housing estate in Marshside, plus footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee visit to Bootle in 1977 and the fiftieth anniversary of Southport Flower Show.
“I prefer Southport how it used to be,” he added.
“I like progress but it’s a shame Peter Pan’s Playground, the Floral Gardens and the Palace Theatre have all gone.”

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Dashing blades eager to keep dance tradition alive

Posted by Robert Alcock on February 1, 2008 9:00 AM

THE Southport Swords dancing troupe has thrust into 2008 with a packed schedule for its 40th anniversary year.
The men’s morris and sword dancing team will celebrate its milestone by journeying to events around the United Kingdom, with the climax set to be the Swords’ annual weekend of dance in the resort from September 5-7.

An early shot of the Swords

A Swords performance in the early 1980s in Coronation Park, Ormskirk. From left: Paul Watson, Dave Shotliff, Geoff Horne, Dave Lamb

Preparations by the team – which also features two regular musicians – are well underway for its next showcase dance, the Dance England Rapper Tournament in Liverpool from March 7-9.
Dave Roberts, bagman (chief organiser) for the Southport Swords, has been dancing with the group for 20 years.
Speaking to LookBack, he said: “This is a big year for the Swords. We have lots of planned events so there is a very busy year ahead.
“My hopes for the Swords in the future is to just ensure that the group carries on.
“It would be nice to get some younger people involved to carry the legacy on.
“At the moment I’m the youngest of the entire group and I’m 46!”

John Smith, the Swords’ original squire (chairman), dressed as a 'Tommy' character, probably in the late 70s

John Smith (right) handing over the squireship to Howard Cooper in 1978

The Swords were founded in 1968 by Peter Mackie and John Smith after they were dazzled by the talents of a rapper team and decided to form their own troupe.
The rapper is a short, two- handled, flexible sword which dancers hold together to form an unbroken chain.
The Southport Swords’ members use long swords for their main dances – principally the North Skelton long sword dance.
Also among their repertoire are two long sword dances of their own – appropriately named Southport and Birkdale – plus Cotswolds Morris dances and the New Biggin Rapper Sword Dance.

The Swords being filmed outside the Guest House pub in Union Street for the BBC

Godfrey Boardman, a founding member of the Swords, said: “The main celebration of the year is the Weekend of Dance event – this year it will be an extra special occasion to mark our 40th anniversary.
“The event will see us dance across the North of England and finish in Southport.”
Mr Boardman added that preparations will be completed soon and he expected “a brilliant event”.
Les Brown is one of the newest members of the troupe and produces its website.
He said: “I have known about the Swords since they formed but I have only recently joined. I began by just playing the accordion, as I have bad knees, but they soon got me into the dancing. I haven't looked back since!”

A line-up taken in 1977 in the Forest of Dean. Back row, from left:
John Meadows, Geoff Charlton, Peter Rowley, Geoff Horne, Paul Watson, Dave Lamb, Howard Cooper, Derek Gifford, Mal Eyres and Tom Davies. Front row, from left: Nick Dickson, Jake Gallagher, John Smith, Bill Smith, Arthur Williams

The Swords’ 2008 itinerary also includes the fifth International Sword Spectacular in York from May 23-26 – which will feature more than 40 swords teams from around the world – and the Whitby Folk Week in August.
l The Southport Swords practice every Tuesday at the Blundell Arms, Upper Aughton Road from 8.30pm- 11pm. For more information visit the website www.southportswords.org.uk

Airborne on Lord Street in 1992

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