Mid 60s TV at Mirfield Revisited – By Frank McGinnis
I watched a BBC music show the other night. The Monkees were featured & it brought back memories of the Saturday early evening shows we were allowed to watch. I’m sure those who were at Mirfield at the time can name all four Monkees (no cheating). I also recall seeing a show, sure it was presented by Bob Monkhouse, compiled of old silent movies (keystone cops etc). I still like that stuff. (Nostalgia’s not what it used to be).
I may be wrong but I think we also endured a comedy show called ‘I love Lucy’. She must have been 102 but pranced around like a 92 year old. Oh….. shivers. The show that really stands out though is the one with a wee crinkly, wrinkly old man who played a schoolboy. Jimmy Clitheroe ? That was totally weird. Like the Krankies on crack. Have I missed any other shows ?
The holy fathers (for our sins) also let us watch Englands first match in the 1966 World cup. Against Uruguay, a boring draw. I don’t remember how that competition panned out. Like everyone else in Scotland I was washing my hair that summer. 🙂 Frank McGinnis
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I rememebr that. There was the whiskery headmaster who I think was called Edwards (was it Jimmy?). Jimmy Clitheroe never reached puberty. He had a long term female companion but committed suicide when he was in his fifties and they reckoned it was caused by depression about his not growing up properly. One of England’s World Cup winenrs,
Alan Ball, had a high pitched voice. In the match in 1967 when Scotland beat World Champions England 3-2 at Wembley, the Scotland captain, Billy Bremner, kept referring to him as ‘Jimmy Clitheroe’ when he was within earshot.
By the way, keep these memories and comments up everybody. I’m not writing any more articles so the high Google reankings we have achieved will fall away if there is not regular new content. If everone put forward an article every so often that would keep the rankings high.
The Clitheroe Kid – that’s what the show was called – and it was Jimmy Edwards, the whiskery headmaster. I remember one time Fr Wade allowed us to see a programme on Essay Writing – when Eleanor Rigby came on to our delight.
I certainly remember Jimmy Clitheroe and Jimmy Edwards and also ‘I love Lucy’ but I’m not sure at all if it was at Mirfield I saw them. I was at Mirfield in the mid 60s so I suppose it’s likely that I did see them there. The tv program I remember most clearly was ‘The World at War’ and I’m almost certain we watched Dr, Who as well.
The only other tv program I remember watching, and this is just a very vague memory, was a French language education program. I hated it. French and Latin were my worse subjects, I dreaded both of them, I remember Fr Cerea giving me extra work to do during the summer holidays because I had failed Latin, I resat the exam after returning and I just scraped through. That may sound rather depressing but it’s a good feeling to begin remembering some of what I would call the ‘ordinary things’. Not just the ordinary things but the happy times that had disappeared from my memory under the weight of the memories of the bad things that had happened.
Yes, I think we did get to see Dr Who at times. These recollections would maybe have people think that watching telly was all we ever did. Yet it was only about an hour on a Saturday. Totally agree that ‘tuning-in’ to one’s memories of the happier events is very positive. There were many good experiences & they would also have played a part in shaping us all. Be great to see more of them on the blog, before the dementia takes hold.
Jimmy Clitheroe, suicide. Life is so very strange. A flaw so useful for a while & then you pay the price.
Does anyone remember listening to the Radio One Top Twenty during study on Sunday evenings that was played through the classroom loudspeakers?