1960 Monday April 17th - Death of a rock and roll legend

The death of a rock and roll legend on the local scene didn't even make page one of the Evening Post on April 17th, 1960. Whoever was in charge of choosing that day's main stories for the Post had never heard of 'Summertime Blues', 'C'mon Everybody' or 'Three Steps To Heaven'. And the name Eddie Cochran clearly rang no bells at all when the morning news conference was called.

Although one of the most influential figures in late 50s teen culture and later a hero of the great hall of fame of young, dead rockers like Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding and John Lennon had died in a tragic road crash on the Post's 'patch', the event was only given sparse coverage. Turn to Page One that Monday and you'll search in vain for the tale of Cochran's death. You have to turn the pages to find the news, and even then Eddie Cochran's demise isn't the introduction.

'Two American recording stars, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, who headed the bill in a rock'n'roll show at Bristol Hippodrome last week, and were due to fly home to America, were involved in a crash yesterday. 'Mr Cochran died, without regaining consciousness, at St Martin's Hospital, Bath yesterday afternoon. Mr Vincent, with a fractured collarbone, is still detained there. 'Within an hour of leaving Bristol for London after the last performance on Saturday, the hire car in which they were travelling collided with a lamp standard at Rowden Hill on the outskirts of Chippenham.

'Mr Cochran's body will eventually be taken back to America for burial. 'There were two other passengers, Miss Sharon Sheeley (20), an American song- writer and Mr Patrick Tompkins (29), a theatrical agent of St James Road, Camberwell, London. 'They too are detained at St Martin's Hospital,in the city of Bath. Miss Sheeley with injuries to back and thigh, and Mr Tomkins with facial injuries and a suspected fracture of the base of the skull. 'Neither Mr Vincent nor his two friends were said last night to be on the danger list.

'The driver of the car, Mr George Martin of Bristol, was unhurt. 'There were no other vehicles involved. Mr Tompkins said: 'Just outside Chippenham the front tyre blew out and we skidded sideways into a lamp standard'. 'He added that he had been planning to take a train back to London from Bristol but Mr Vincent suggested travelling by taxi.' The Everly brothers, Don and Phil, were in Bristol the next day and were deeply shocked by the news.

They rang the Bath hospital to ask if Sharon Sheeley could receive visitors and later came to her bedside to comfort the gifted, sparky young songwriter who lay injured and devastated by the tragedy. She recovered an

d returned home. The taxi driver was later fined and disqualified for dangerous driving. As for Eddie Cochran, his reputation as rock'n'roll's equivalent of James Dean grew and grew. His small collection of songs are now regarded as some of the classics of early rock'n'roll.

1961 Monday May 8th - Lord Stansgate

Lord Stansgate brought Westminster to a halt that day ... the day that the self- styled Anthony Wedgwood Benn arrived at the House of Commons to claim the Parliamentary seat he'd just won in Bristol. He had first won it as Mr Wedgwood Benn a decade earlier, after Bristol South - East Labour party adopted him as its Parliamentary candidate.

He was just 25. But there was a time bomb ticking away throughout his 10 years as one of the youngest MPs in the land. Benn's father was a peer, Lord Stansgate, and Benn would inherit the title when he died. And that meant, by the rules of the day, that when plain Benn became Lord Stansgate, he must leave the House of Commons and take his rightful place in the House of Lords.

The Bristol MP, with hefty allies from both sides of the political divide, campaigned to give peers the right to renounce their titles. Attempt after attempt failed. And then, in November 1960, his father collapsed and died of a heart attack in the House of Lords and Anthony Wedgwood Benn became automatically barred from taking his place in the Commons. That didn't stop him fighting the by- election which followed his elevation to the peerage and it didn't stop a dramatic increase in his support. He doubled his majority to more than 13,000. There was trouble to follow.

On May 8th, 1961 he arrived at Westminster to claim his place in the House of Commons. Everyone held their breath to see what would happen. The Post's political editor John Guinery was there to watch the fun: 'Mr Anthony Wedgwood Benn was barred from entering the House of Commons this afternoon on the instructions of the Speaker, Sir Harry Hylton- Foster, when he turned up in the wake of his Bristol South-East by-election victory. 'Shortly after the Speaker had taken the chair in the Chamber, Mr Benn went up to the door flanked by his two sponsors, Mr Herbert Bowden, the Labour chief whip, and Mr W.A. Wilkins, MP for Bristol South.

'About 20 supporters cheered him at the St Stephen's entrance. He held up his certificate of election which, he said, would enable him to take his seat. 'Mr Bowden later described what happened: 'Mr Benn went through a packed lobby and the door-keeper held out his hand to speak to him. ' 'Mr Benn said: 'I have a certificate here which returns me as member for Bristol South-East.' ' 'The door-keeper replied: 'You cannot enter, sir'.

' 'Mr Benn said: 'By whose instructions?' ' 'The door-keeper said: 'By Mr 'Speaker's' instructions, sir'. 'Five minutes after questions time began Mr Benn entered the public gallery with his wife Caroline and his son Stephen, aged nine, and mother. They sat in the side gallery above the opposite side of the house. 'There was a storm of Labour cheers in the full chamber when the Speaker innounced at the end of question time at 1.30 pm. 'I have been informed that Mr Anthony Wedgwood Benn this day desired to take his seat. ' 'I cannot admit Mr Benn to the chamber.'

And the unduly elected Bristol MP wasn't admitted until Lord Stansgate won his fight, was allowed to shed his peerage and became first Anthony Wedgwood Benn and then Tony Benn.

1962 - Bristol's First Skyscraper

The skyline of Bristol, historic city of hills, towers and spires, changed dramatically in the early 60s. And 1962 was the year Bristol started to reach for the sky with the two first-ever 'skyscrapers' which would usher in two decades of building up and up and up. They weren't on the NewYork scale, but to Bristolians they looked like giants.

The printing company Robinson's space- age headquarters by Bristol Bridge was a whopper, a mega-block of light colour which stood out dramatically against its redbrick, low-rise neighbours. Clifton Heights on the Triangle wasn't as big, bulky or tall but its position on the Clifton hillside made it visible for miles around. High rise was a novelty when the Post sent reporter Roger Bennett to take a look at the two giants rising over the Bristol scene.

'Bristol's first two skyscrapers are racing neck and neck towards completion by next summer. 'In the middle of the city the £1 million Robinson Building is due for occupation in July, 1963. 'Overlooking it from the Clifton hillside three-quarters of a mile away, Clifton heights, 160 ft high and costing around £400,000, should be ready next June. 'The main structures of both buildings are now complete. Their full impact on Bristol's skyline can now be appreciated. Or not appreciated—depending on how you feel about these things.

'But nobody will quarrel with one thing. The views from them are absolutely magnificent. The Robinson typist and the Clifton Heights flat-dwelling tycoon will share the breathtaking daily experience of gazing out over a vast panorama of roofs and spires to green hills beyond. 'The Robinson office block has risen very quickly indeed. Demolition of the old buildings on the site by Bristol Bridge started in July last year, piling began in October and the building had risen to its full height of 15 storeys within a year.

'It will be one of England's first completely sealed, air-conditioned office blocks with an even inside temperature around the 70 degree mark. 'Despite the size of the project, there has been remarkable attention to detail. The young planning team headed by Robinsons' chief architect Mr John Collins, has wrangled long and often to make sure there is no jarring note design-wise. This goes right down to the shape and finish of salt cellars for the dining room and the style of lettering on lift buttons.

'Clifton Heights, towering above Triangle West, has been designed by 39- year-old Mr Raymond Moxley. 'He and Robinsons' John Collins are about the same age, are personal friends and work together on the board of Bristol Building Centre and the council of the Bristol and Somerset Society of Architects. 'It is a nice coincidence that they should together introduce Bristol to skyward building. 'The tower starts with a service area, then 10 floors of flats. Each floor will have five units, one with three bedrooms, two with two and two with one. Rents will range from £250 a year for the smallest lowest flats to £750 a year for the highest and largest.

'The top two floors will be let as a restaurant and bar where Bristolians will be able to dine overlooking the superb vista of the city'.

1963 Tuesday December 17th - Hanged for Murder

No-one in Bristol missed the significance of the moment that bells chimed the hour for 8 o'clock that morning. It marked the death of 23-year-old Russell Pascoe for his part in the murder of a Cornish farmer. Dennis Whitty, convicted with him, was hanged at the same moment in Winchester.

The execution was the last to be carried out in Bristol and one of the last to take place in Britain before the abolition of capital punishment in 1965. The Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Rev Oliver Tomkins, who had earlier protested at the death sentence, visited the condemned man in his cells shortly before the hanging. He emerged, pale-faced and weary, at the prison gates. 'Wearing his robes, the Bishop asked the 70 people keeping the silent vigil outside the grim prison walls to pray for the condemned man.

'The demonstrators, who had kept up a day-and-night protest vigil since Saturday, bared their heads as the prison chapel clock chimed eight. 'At the same time Dennis John Whitty (22) was hanged at Winchester Prison for the same murder. 'Pascoe was visited last night by his wife and mother. 'Mr George Gummer, a Bristol accountant and local secretary of the National Campaign for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, said the Bishop had told them Pascoe was a changed man in the past three weeks—and one who had found pure Christian faith.

'Mr Anthony Wedgwood Benn, MP for Bristol South East, who was outside the prison last night, thinks this will be the last execution in Bristol. 'He said: 'I am sure that in 1964 the death penalty will be abolished'. 'The last execution in Bristol was 10 years ago when John Owen Greenway of Swindon was hanged for murdering his landlady.

The last in this country was in November last year at Strangeways, Manchester. 'Pascoe and Whitty, who had been living with three young women in a caravan near Truro, were sentenced to death at Cornwall Assizes for the murder of 64-year-old farmer William Rowe in the furtherance of theft. 'Their appeals were dismissed and on Saturday the Home Office announced that The Home Secretary had found no grounds to recommend a reprieve.

'The demonstrators at Horfield, who included university students and lecturers and a contingent who arrived from 'Cornwall last night, began to disperse shortly after 8 a.m. 'But one bearded youth shouted: Sickening. The people of Bristol should have torn the gates down instead of just standing around'. 'They left banners propped up against the prison gates. One read: 'Let the Law of kindness Know No Limits'. 'Outside the prison, the campaign for the Abolition of Capital Punishment ;started a fund for the relatives of the dead farmer and the two men who murdered him.

'The Bishop of Bristol later issued this :statement: 'Under the care of the prison chaplain, Russell Pascoe asked for baptism and confirmation in the prison. 'So at the request of the governor and chaplain, I saw him on various occasions to offer my ministry and give him both his first and his last communion. 'I would have wished this, the normal ministry of God to His children in need, to be no more remarked upon than if he had been dying in hospital.

'But since it has become public, it will be of comfort to his fellow Christians to know that sin and shame were overcome. 'This victory no more justifies hanging than the fact that war may evoke heroism is a justification of war. 'But it is a reminder that no one is beyond God's reach.'

'A practical joker risked his life last night to tip a packet of flour over the Beatles from the 50 ft high ceiling of the Colston Hall. 'The screaming audience went wild with delight as a great white cloud fell from the roof and covered John, Paul, Ringo and George with flour. 'With brilliant timing, it struck from above just as the Beatles hit the last chord of their greatest number, 'If I Fell'. 'The Beatles collapsed in fits of laughter, pointing at each other and dancing around the stage in stitches. 'There was flour in their hair, on their suits, in their guitars and all over Ringo's drums. 'Ringo turned his tom-tom upside down and shook it in a vain attempt to shake off the flour.

'Paul, bent double with laughter, grabbed the mike and shouted: 'It's the last night of the tour, you see' and broke into giggles again. 'The audience just sat roaring and aking with laughter until the Beatles severed enough to sing 'I Wanna Be Your Man'. 'But backstage, panic ensued. The mystery joker had broken the 'foolproof' surity system of the hall. 'Tour manager Mr John Clapton said: they are knocked out by the flour joke. they thought it was hilarious. ' 'I suppose it could have been another the boys on the tour who did it but I have no idea who.?''

1965 Wednesday April 14th - road-crazy Bristol

It should have been a day for motorists to celebrate in road-crazy Bristol. After all, the city's leaders were demolishing Georgian relics on the edge of Broadmead as fast as they could to clear the way for the Bond Street dual carriage-way. Old Market was being dismembered for the great slice of underpass and bridgework to make Temple Way a swifter journey for the motorist.

There were firm plans to send a four-lane a motorway charging through inner suburbs like Totterdown, Clifton and Cotham. And Bristol's proudest achievement, its very own spaghetti junction to make life easier for the commuters pouring in from the new satellite towns of Nailsea, Portishead and Clevedon, was being opened by Transport Minister Mr Tom Fraser. Mr Fraser, however, wasn't in cel bratory mood. . .he sounded more like a prophet of gloom.

'Transport Minister Mr Tom Fraser warned motorists that he is considering a congestion tax' to beat city jams. 'He is planning further steps to discourage people from using cars in and around city centres. 'Parking controls, loading and unloading and no waiting restrictions have to be used more strongly in the future, he said.

'Ships sirens hooted down the Avon Gorge as he opened the huge Cumberland Basin scheme this afternoon. 'Crowds cheered and motorists queued as Mr Fraser pressed the button to swing the bridge in favour of the vehicles. 'Then, at 12.30, precisely, the first car passed on to the concrete ramparts of this £2,650,000 road system. 'Motorists had been queuing back on to the Weston-super-Mare road and circulating around blocks in the Hotwells area, waiting for the barriers to be dropped so that they could be among the first to drive over the new swing bridge.

'Despite steady rain, scores of pedestrians swarmed across the bridge, which enables a new view to be enjoyed of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.'

The New Entertainments Centre wasn't just big, it was enormous and it was what 60s leisure and fun-time were all about, Mecca promised. Here, slap bang in the middle of Bristol, the company was creating the largest entertainment centre in the whole of Europe. A dozen licensed bars, an ice rink, bowling lanes, a casino, a night club, a grand cinema, asumptuous ballroom and, naturally, a multi-storey car park to accommodate all those Zephyr Zodiacs, Anglias, Westminsters, Minis, Victors and Imps etc which would come pouring into town bringing the 5,000 or so customers who would flock to the centre every day.

London might have its famous West End. Bristol had its Frogmore Street palace of fun and the opening night of the biggest attraction of all, the Locarno Ballroom, on May 19th was the Night To Crown All First Nights, the Post proudly announced. Sparkling lights, plastic palm trees in shadily-lit bars, a revolving stage, dolly birds in fishnet tights and grass skirts . . . this was glamour a la mid-60s and Bristol loved it.

Everyone wanted to be there'on Night One but the guest list was limited. It was, the Post reported the next day: '... a date to remember last night for 800 Bristol and West Country VIPs who saw the splendour of Mecca's new Locarno ballroom.

'At the New Bristol Centre were the mayors, the business chiefs and the top socialites of the city and neighbouring counties. 'Mecca, having spent £2 million on building, spared no expense in making the opening of the ballroom one of the gayest nights of the year. 'There was a gift of a commemmorative Churchill crown for every guest, including the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Aid. and Mrs Tom Martin. 'Aid. Wally Jenkins, chairman of the Public Works and Planning Committee, gave the ballroom Bristol's blessing in declaring the premises well and truly launched.

'When Mecca selected Bristol for their centre, they did not just do it with a pin, he said. 'They knew that Bristol deserved and appreciated the best. Mecca had shown a swashbuckling and adventurous enterprise in providing it and Bristol would support it. 'To tell the guests last night all they wanted to know about Mecca, there were half a dozen hostesses, including winners of the West Country heat of the Miss Great Britain contest—in plumes, fishnet tights and bikinis. 'There were girls in grass skirts who brought on the pineapple confection for the buffet supper. 'There was Sidney Jones and his Orchestra playing conventional ballroom music and Wilf Ray and his Orchestra— including an ex-member of the Cadillacs, one of the West's top beat groups—playing superbly competent swing.

'There was glitter and glow of myriad lights. 'There was an atmosphere of rich opulent intimacy warming the place in a way not to be expected in a ballroom capable of holding more than 2,000 people. 'Guests were served drinks in the South Seas climate of the Bali Hai bar, in the swish Le Club bar and by check-waist- coated, bowler hatted barmen in the Victorian bar'.

That was just for starters. In mid- November the Lord Mayor was there to open the magnificent £100,000 ABC Cinema at the centre. A week later Miss World, a beautiful Indian medical student, Reita Faria, came to town to open the Craywood Club, the new casino. Bristol—Sixties entertainment capital of the West.

1968 Wednesday July 10th - worst rainstorm in living memory

The rain began falling in the morning. At first it seemed like no more than a sudden summer storm. Cracks of thunder echoed across the Bristol region as the deluge continued . . . and continued. By midday the rain was so persistent and severe that people sheltering from what they thought was a cloudburst had to abandon shelter and make a run for it, only to be soaked within seconds of stepping into the open. By early afternoon it was becoming clear that this was something extraordinary.

Post reporters were already filing tales of slight damage by the time that day's Three Star edition was being prepared. There were already clear signs of flood damage to be seen across the city. Manhole covers were thrown into mid-air as drains failed to cope with millions of gallons of water from a downpour which went on and on and on. That warm July evening brought no respite as the rain continued to pour down in the worst rainstorm the West Country had suffered for generations. There seemed to be no end to this storm.

Low-lying areas near the River Avon were particularly vulnerable despite recent efforts to prevent flooding. In otherplaces the sheer volume of the water made a mockery of any drainage schemes.

Reporter Peter Thompson was sent to Brislington after an alert of potential tragedy. In the following day's Post he reported: 'At five past midnight I watched as two powered boats, one a fire service craft, the other private, rescued 18 people from the top deck of the No 339 Bristol-Bath bus. 'Around them in Brislington village square were cars which had disappeared beneath the swirling flood waters.

'The depth of the water was such that the 16 passengers, driver and conductor had no difficulty in stepping from the top deck emergency door into the boats. 'The problem had come in getting the driver on to the top deck. Eventually the conductor kicked in the front window to permit him to climb in. 'I met one of the boats on Brislington Hill as it brought ashore the conductor and six of the passengers. 'The conductor, Mr T. Gregory of Worcester Villas, Bath told me they had left Bristol at 10.05, arrived at Brislington at 10.25 and turned straight back to the depot for instructions. The orders given them were to attempt to get through. 'In a room of the White Hart Hotel a passenger, MrM.C. Hill of Keynsham told me how as they entered the square, he had seen water up to the level of a dart board in one of the public houses. 'We knew we were in trouble' he said.'

Five inches of rain—a month's average for a wet July—fell in little more than a day. Bedminster was flooded, Cheddar Gorge was transformed into a raging torrent and Keynsham and Pensford were torn apart by avalanches of floodwater. Three people died when their car was washed away at Keynsham. In Hartcliffe a Bristol man died as he tried to save two young women trapped in deep water. The final death toll was eight and the cost of repairs to damaged buildings, ruined homes and broken bridges ran into many millions.

Concorde 002, the Bristol aviation industry's great white hope, was about to fly for the first time. The development of the world's first supersonic airliner, built jointly in Bristol and Toulouse, had been dogged by political controversy, rising costs and fears for its future in a world that seemed to want hefty wide-bodied jumbo planes that carried lots of passengers rather than the slimline chic Concorde for the few.

But all those doubts were set aside shortly after 2 p.m. when test pilot Brian Trubshaw started up the ear-splitting shriek of the Olympus engines that powered the world's most exciting jet. The ghostly, delta-winged plane slowly taxied to the Gloucester Road end of the Filton runway and then paused for the final checks. The take-off at 2.24p.rn. was deafeningly noisy but smooth, with 002 rearing into the air and then gaining height to bank over the Severn before heading for RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire where it was to undergo lengthy tests.

There were hundreds of TV and press crews at both ends of the short maiden flight. The Evening Post, which had backed the Concorde project from the start, was there in force.

The Post's man reporting the final moments of the historic event from Fairford wrote: 'About 200 press and cameramen who were at the end of the runway chased Concorde back to the silencing units in coaches. 'Then the gangway was wheeled to the Concorde door and there was a wait for the crew to emerge. 'Jubilant BAC officials joined several hundred pressmen in a celebratory toast of champagne.

The crowd, estimated at 10,000 watched the aircraft land from the perimeter of the airfield. 'Brian Trubshaw walked down the steps from 002 and said: 'It was wizard'. 'Sir George Edwards, 'father' of the project, commented: 'It was a jolly good moment to look back on'. 'And co-pilot Mr John Cochrane said: 'It was marvellous. We enjoyed every minute of it although it was a bit hot and sticky. ' 'We could not have been luckier in the weather. We were very fortunate in having such a nice day as this'. And in a front page editorial, the Comment column pronounced:

'Concorde may have given us the runaround over the years, smitten us with fits of panic, temperament, wrath and fear, but 002's first take-off into the blue today makes all men love her. 'It is a matchless debut, reached through almost incredible tenacity of purpose and in the teeth of quite remarkable hostility. There will be unbounded joy and relief at Filton. 'Congratulations and thanks seem small words to offer to all who made her and to Brian Trubshaw who flew her.

But they come with feeling from many thousands of hearts. 'Now, of course, Concorde has to prove that she is more than just a pretty airframe. She must be given every encouragement, from every quarter, to do so.'

Site Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z