Hannah Howe

Television highlights: Juke Box Jury with Graham Hill and Barbara Windsor. The Third Man - drama series. The Morecambe and Wise Show.

Radio highlights: Desert Island Discs - Geraint Evans. Holiday Music Hall.

Weather: mostly cloudy. Outlook - rather cloudy. 20c, 68f.

The council at St Ives, Cornwall has declared war on beatniks. A spokesman said, “Dozens of them sprawl on the sand and lounge on the harbour wall. They spend as little as possible on food, nothing on soap and razor blades, and drink as much beer as possible.”

An unmarried mother entered her baby in a baby show and won first prize. The mother, Kathleen Morgan of Slough, said, “Why shouldn’t I enter my baby? She’s lovely. Now I’m prouder of her than ever.” Miss Doris Blunden, organiser of the show said, “It is the babies that are entered, not the parents.”

In the past twelve months 2,500,000 radio sets have been sold. Meanwhile, the BBC is considering broadcasting news bulletins on the Third wavelength throughout the day.

The BBC’s plan to give Britain around the clock radio has been put off indefinitely. The decision was made because an agreement could not be reached over the copyright and broadcasting of recorded music.

10 August 1963

A £260,000 reward is waiting for the person who “turns in” the gang who got away with £2,500,000 in Thursday’s mail train raid. And it will be tax free. The reward is as big as the biggest football polls prize ever won - £260,000.

Television highlights: The Eisteddfod. Roving Report - the women of Italy. Ready, Steady, Go! - new pop show.

Radio highlights: Music While You Work. Round Europe in Song.

Weather: dry. Outlook - uncertain. 23c, 73f.

Racing driver Jack Brabham might drive Bluebird and attempt to beat the land speed record. This situation has materialised after a row between Bluebird’s driver Donald Campbell and his leading sponsor Sir Alfred Owen. However, Campbell said, “I own Bluebird and I will decide who should drive it.”

This is the ninth major train robbery in the South of England in the past three years. The previous money grab record was £238,000, stolen from a Post Office van in Oxford Street, London, on 21 May 1952.

The train robbers left behind two clues - a glove used to cover the official green Go signal light, and a battery used to light up the fake red Stop signal light.

At 3.15 am £2,500,000 was stolen from a mail train travelling to London. Driver Jack Mills said, “I tried to put up a fight, but I was coshed with an iron bar wrapped in cloth.” His co-driver, David Whitby, said, “They threatened to kill me. It was a terrifying experience.”

Detectives are watching race courses and other gambling spots for evidence of big spending. A £10,000 reward has been offered for information.

9 August 1963

Scotland Yard was tipped off months ago that a big train raid was being planned. And now it’s happened. Twenty men were in the gang that ambushed a train in Buckinghamshire.

Everyone, thank you for your kind words and messages of support. They mean a lot to me.

I hope to resume regular posting again sometime this week.

And for followers of my newspaper digests, I hope to catch up with them too.

My dog just died.

I’ll be taking a social media break.

Interesting to promote with a pulp novel poster.

Your new channel is on my favourites list so I don’t know why it didn’t appear on my timeline 🤷‍♀️

A bit of a tangent. In the latest Whodunnit? Sally Geeson was on the panel. I thought, come on Sally, dazzle us with your intelligence, identify whodunnit. She selected the detective who was investigating the case 🤦‍♀️

I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum. Authors who have found success usually offer praise while authors who are struggling don’t.

From memory, Jack Higgins praised the book, after Bob had praised one of Jack’s books on Pebble Mill - such is the world of authors, and it’s always been so. The opposite is true too, malevolent authors damaging perceived rivals.

That’s the one. I think the heroine was based on Bob Langley’s colleague, Marian Foster.

If you enjoy modern action-adventures, you will enjoy this film. If you prefer something more traditional, you can give this a miss.

Marian was the main protagonist in the violent scenes, some of which I thought were unrealistic. Robin received two injuries where he was basically sliced in half - his role in the film was as an invalid.

I’m was not so sure about the plot-line and some of the action scenes. The film reminded me of my sons’ video games - lots of running through a landscape, a violent encounter, then a moment of reflection. Repeat, ad infinitum.

I enjoyed the forest scenes and the medieval buildings (many of these were in ruins, but that was built into the script). Also, good to see a story from Marian’s point of view. The legends were well adapted and made sense in the film’s narrative.

What to make of this film, a modern German take on the Robin Hood legend seen from Maid Marian’s point of view?

Bob Langley wrote some books. I read one. I think it was about an assassination at the BBC? Not sure what I’d think of it now, but I thought it was all right at the time.

Maybe a chiropodist was to blame 🤔

I’m still trying to make sense of this “foot and mouth” item.

I think it will run for at least a few days…