30 NOSTALGIA
November 16, 2023
From our news files... n Droylsden Council’s plans to build on green belt land in Littlemoss came under fire at November’s full council meeting. Cllr Delargy said it was “a retrograde step to nibble into the green belt”. Going ahead would make it difficult to refuse future proposals by private builders. n The Mayor of Hyde Cllr Ernest Myles extended a “cordial civic welcome” to residents of the new Hattersley estate. Speaking at a public meeting at Pinfold School he confirmed that a site had been earmarked for a community centre. Residents did not pull any punches with their demands for bus and rail services, shops (a chemist as top priority), library, and medical centre. n More than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for a new primary school to be built in Haughton Green to cope with the influx of families moving to the new ‘overspill’ estate from Gorton, Ardwick and Hulme. n It was eyes down for a full house with 450 players hoping their lucky numbers would come up at the opening night of the new Oxford Bingo Club, Dukinfield. n For nearly a year Shepley Road Methodist Church, Audenshaw had stood empty and was becoming increasingly dilapidated. The trustees wanted to sell the building but Audenshaw Council had opposed its conversion to industrial use. n Ashton builder and ex- speedway rider Val Morton was months away from opening an indoor sports stadium at Castle Street, Stalybridge which he hoped would become the “Wembley of the North West.” n Nine years after a ground- breaking project for children with severe learning difficulties opened at Stockport Road Methodist Sunday School, Gee Cross, it was replaced by a new £90,000 purpose built training centre for children and adults at Back Bower, alongside Hyde Hospital. n Norman Williams, the headmaster of Egerton Park Secondary School, Denton was a guest on Granada TV’s Scene At 6.30 to discuss the teaching of the international language Esperanto which he had pioneered over the past decade. n A charter of incorporation flown specially from Rotary International HQ in America was presented to the newly formed Dukinfield and Stalybridge Rotary Club. Dr Tom Holme was officially installed as the first president.
Tune into The Show the Time Forgot on Tameside Radio 103.6FM every Sunday at 1pm. Spotlighting 1963 Navy petty officer’s bravery honour
Miss Reporter crowned to cheers Miss Reporter 1963 Lynnette Stopford receives a congratulatory kiss from Coronation Street’s Graham Haberfield. Betty Schofield from Hyde who finished third is on the left and on the right is runner-up Vivienne Hughes from Hadfield.
To a fanfare of trumpets and cheers from more than 900 teenagers, Coronation Street builder’s mate Jerry Booth (actor Graham Haberfield) crowned 16-year-old Ashton girl Lynnette Stopford as the first Miss Reporter. The crowd at Ashton Mecca Palais had earlier been dancing
the night away to the Beatle-like music of up-and-coming Man - chester beat group Herman’s Hermits. Given the choice of a £50 cash prize or a weekend for two in London, she opted to take the money. “Some will go in the bank and some on new clothes and there will be presents for
the family,” she said. Lynnette’s proud mum Doris was in the audience at the Palais while dad Harry stayed at home looking after their younger daughters aged 14, 10 and eight months. The contest which ran for several weeks in the Re - porter, attracted scores of entries.
Beatlemania hits the Apollo
City legend Bert topples pennies Battling intense heat and a lack of oxygen Kenneth and one of his ship- mates managed to stay in the boiler room long enough to shut off the main isolating valve. The former Greenfield Secondary School pupil was commended for “the courage and presence of mind he displayed”. A Hyde man had been honoured with a Royal Navy Special Order of the Day for bravery while serving on the fisher protection vessel HMS Keppel. While at sea, Petty Officer (engi - neering mechanic) Kenneth John Nolan, aged 23, of Bradley Green Road, Newton mustered the boiler room watch and supervised a successful evacuation after a pipe burst filling the compartment with steam.
On a never-to-be-forgotten No- vember night 60 years ago, the Reporter was there to capture the excitement and hysteria as Beatlemania erupted in East Manchester. The hordes of fans heading for the ABC Ardwick (the Apol- lo) on Wednesday, November 20, 1963, came “to weep and scream themselves hoarse at four young men from Liverpool with long forehead fringes and a fantastic physical magnetism.” Girls in black leather coats, knee-high leather boots and small black caps waited outside for several hours before their heroes arrived - concealed in a police van. Tension mounted as the con- cert began with support acts The Brook Brothers and Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. Amid screams and chants of ‘We Want The Beatles!’ the cur - tain rose slowly and the whole theatre was rocked by an explo- sion of sound. Everyone rose from their seats as John Lennon led the Fab Four into their first song. Girls screamed the name of their favourite Beatle and threw jelly babies at the band on stage - apparently George Harrison had said in a recent interview that they were his favourite sweet. Our reporter gave a vivid account of the amazing scenes which followed. “The atmos - phere was alive with surging, breathtaking excitement as the words and the deep throbbing music of She Loves You (Yeah
JUST FAB: The Beatles with a gift from a fan.
Yeah Yeah!) filtered through the screams. Two girls on the front row fell to their knees, eyes glassy and streaming with tears, hands clawing fervently towards the stage. Behind them, the theatre was a solid mass of waving arms and pink gleaming faces.... “As the group swung into Twist And Shout, everything that had gone before paled. ‘Shake it, shake it, baby now!’ they urged and the girls went wild. Hundreds ran down the
aisles, others collapsed in a sob- bing heap on the floor, pulled frantically at their ruffled locks and soaked up every morsel of the Mersey Sound.” For several days afterwards the Reporter offices were un - der siege with fans queueing at the counter with their cut-out coupons from the newspaper to claim a free copy of our ex- clusive souvenir photo. Dozens more were sent out by post as far afield as Glasgow and Plym - outh.
Manchester City’s legendary goalkeep- er Bert Trautmann had been tasked with toppling 150 piles of pennies for charity during the past 18 months. His latest port of call was The Butchers Arms, Stalybridge where the landlord Joseph Bacon - also a City scout - invit- ed him to knock over a tower of coins which totalled about £11. The veteran keeper who had recently turned 40 stayed on to sign autographs and chat to the regulars, revealing his favourite subject which - much to their surprise - was history, and not football.
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