Unlike the first game all those eons ago, the lads won through to the next round against lower division opposition. Good enough for me.

I indulged myself yesterday with a walk round the Toon and a trip through the ruins of my memory to compare that day 40 years ago with today. I can rememeber when it was aaall fields - or was it? Perhaps it was Carboniferous forests. I can remember when I had a memory.

The day began with a bus trip to the Haymarket - from Kenton Bar not Seghill this time. The price of £25 for entrance to SJP was a tad higher than the 7.5p I paid that day. (An increase of 33,300% even accounting for my attaining my majority since then is a hefty price rise).

The football was nothing to write home about ("Dear Mam - just watched a football match") - no change there then. The trip to the Strawberry was a new item on the agenda and it was good to share a laugh with the Strawberry clique, one or two of whom were not born when I first visited the hallowed stadium.

A run through my diary of 1962 provides more insight into the times - it goes like this:-

Jan 4 - Got up. Brushed my teeth. Not much happened.
Jan5 - Got up. Brushed my teeth. Not much happened.
Jan 6 - Got up. Brushed my teeth. Went to see Newcastle play. Not much happened.

So what else was happening in 1962 apart from Newcastle exiting the FA Cup at the hands of 4th Division Peterbro'? A time capsule has recently been unearthed:-

NEWS

James Hanratty hanged for A6 murder
Nelson Mandela imprisoned for trying to organise a general strike
First issue of Private Eye magazine
Adolph Eichmann hanged in Israel
Rwanda Burundi and Algeria gain independence
Martin Luthor King jailed for one month for illegal march
Telstar TV satellite launched
The Sunday Times launches Britain's first colour supplement.
Kennedy blockades Cuba - Krushchev backs down over Cuban missile crisis
Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose.

POP

Decca turns down The Beatles
Pete Best sacked by The Beatles
Twist craze comes to the UK
Rolling Stones play their first gig at the Marquee club.

SINGLES :-
Acker Bilk -Stranger on the Shore
Neil Sedaka - Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen; Breaking up is Hard to Do
Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again
Elvis Presley - Rock a hula baby/Can't Help Falling in Love With You; Good Luck Charm; She's Not You; Return to Sender
Everly Brothers - Crying in the Rain
Roy Orbison - Dream Baby
Bruce Chanel - Hey Baby (NO CHANGE THER THEN!)
Del Shannon - Hey Little girl
B. Bumble and the Stingers - Nut Rocker
Cliff Richard - Do You Wanna Dance/I'm Looking out the Window; The Next Time
Mike Sarne (with Wendy Richard) - Come Outside (That's EASTENDERS WENDY RICHARD)
Jimmie Rogers - English Country Garden
Duane Eddy - Deep in the Heart of Texas; Guitar Man
Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You
Frank Ifield - I remember you; Lovesick Blues
Pat Boone - Speedy Gonzales
Brenda Lee - Here comes that Feeling
Bobby Darin - Things
The Tornados - Telstar
Little Eva - The Locomotion
Jerry Lee Lewis - Sweet little Sixteen
Carole King - It Might as Well Rain Until September
Mark Wynter - Venus in Blue Jeans
Chris Montez - Let's Dance
Susan Maughan - Bobby's Girl
Rolf Harris - Sun Arise
Sherry - The Four Seasons
Beatles - Love Me Do
The Shadows - Dance On
Burl Ives - A Little Bitty Tear
Bernard Cribbins - Hole in the Ground
Norman Vaughn - Swinging in the Rain
Springfields - Island of Dreams


TV

Z cars
Steptoe and Son
Dr Finlay's casebook
That Was the Week That Was
On the Braden Beat
The Saint
The Rag Trade
Animal Magic
Compact

You will be relieved to know that the Time Capsule has been immediately reburied - deeper this time.

The main difference for me is that this time, 40 years on, there was, very sadly, no mam to check that my vest was tucked in before leaving the house, indeed there was no vest either. No word of advice from me Grandma as I ventured forth - "Trust in the Lord and keep your bowels open" was one of her favourites. Me mam's faith in vests and keeping warm in general was remarkable. I swear that if you had been struck down by malaria, bubonic plague or leprousy me mam's first comment would have been - "You see - you weren't wearing your vest yesterday". Are these remarkable protectors of well-being still available I ask myself? Is the scourge of AIDS directly attributabe to the demise of this garment? I think we should be told.

Well gang, here's looking forward to the next 40 years as a Toon fan. A first domestic trophy or several would be nice. Years on? Should be yearns on I guess ....

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Answers

Lovely piece of nostalgia Jonno - or is it neuralgia? Apparently you get neuralgia if you don't wear a tucked-in vest!

So, it was you who opened their bowels in the Strawberry. Had me suspicions, leyk!

Here's to the next 40 years, bonny lad - for both of us!

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Worrying. I can remember ALL those songs and nearly all the TV progs!

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

jonno marra, Nelson Mandela was tried for treason and acquitted, subsequently he was imprisoned (1962-1990) because he advocated (and committed) sabotage, which he openly admits in his autobiography.

I trust with your 7.5p reference you have converted from 1s 6d for "Boys and OAP" which used to be stencilled at the gate to the Leazes. I initially read it as "Boys and CAP", so I wore my school cap for my first few matches = nerd deluxe!

Great piece of nostalgia there mate :-)

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Jonno marra.... ye best be gettin doon to the docs fer a check meson...ye're havin the "life is flashin before yer eyes" thing... ye could very well be pushin up daisies come spring!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Pedantic Bud indeed!! Mandela was actually arrested for the first time on 5 August 1962 and was charged with incitement to strike and leaving the country without a passport. He was not charged with sabotage at that stage.

Following the raid on the Rivonia Farm headquarters of Umkonte we Sizwe in 1963 he was put on trial for sabotage. Documents found at the farm incriminated him and he was brought out of prison to become the first accused in the Rivonia trials.

So Jonno was right you see! And I am even more pedantic than you!!!!

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Bud - I'm sure you're right re Nelson Mandela. I just lifted these headlines from a convenient website and cannot vouch for their accuracy. In those days - much as now - I only ever looked at the back pages of the paper anyway and was reasonably oblivious about most everything else. :-)

Re those records - who can remember Mike Sarne's "Come Outside" as he tries to chat up some bird with Wendy Richards supplying the put-down lines. Very amusing and quite evocative of the times. I don't think sex had been invented in 1962. (The poet Larkin dates it as 1963 I believe). Surely even Shakespeare would have envied the couplet :-
Lets have a bit of slap and tickle (Sarne)
I'll slap and tickle you in a minute (Richards)

They don't write them like that any more! :-)

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

And what about the Likely Lads episode Wendy Richard was in ? Don't ask which cos I ain't got a clue, other than they were 'trying to get fixed up with a couple of birds'. It was among the re-runs they've been showing lately.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Oh $h!t, what have I started:

"...Mandela was arrested in 1955 and was acquitted of treason in 1961. ...He was arrested AGAIN on August 5, 1962 and charged with inciting people to strike and with leaving South Africa without a passport. He was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government..."

blah, blah, blah...

Come on Softie, you were there too (Robben Island), have your Rand's worth (1 GBP = 17.4809 ZAR today, it was 1.60 when I moved there in 1984!)

:-)

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Jonno brilliant mate, the list of singles brings back memories to me especially your top one, feb 16th 1963 , venue Crown Hotel,Newcastle (opp St Mary`s Cathedral), Bilk performed a impromtu rendition of Stranger on the Shore for my new bride and myself, magic moment.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Sorry Bud - should have kept me gob shut I know!

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Happy New Year, Jonno! Makes me recall my first year at Ruddy Coll. in 1941. We were taught the school song "40 Years On" ( borrowed I believe from some famous Public School down south). I can bring to mind only mere snatches of it...

Forty years on when afar and assunder Games to play out (lost it here) When we look back and forgetfully wonder What we were like in our work and our play

I never did learn the da**ed song back then. I believe it has umpteen verses. One thing I thought at the time was that 40 years on was an unbelievably ( nye on inconceivably) long time to contemplate. Well, my 40 years arrived in 1981. Now that is something I find hard to digest. Anyone know of a song "Sixty years on?" Best regards, Jonno. Keep your vest tucked in and your bowels appropriately controlled :-)) phoenix

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2002

Hi Phoenix. The famous public school down south is Harrow. I attach the words here and I notice that they do have a "60 years on" bit that has also been written. The phrase first came to my attention when I saw a play by Alan Bennet of the same title about a public school. Anyway this should bring back some memories for you :-

Forty years on, when afar and asunder
Parted are those who are singing today,
When you look back, and forgetfully wonder
What you were like in your work and your play,
Then, it may be, there will often come o'er you,
Glimpses of notes like the catch of a song -
Visions of boyhood shall float them before you,
Echoes of dreamland shall bear them along,

Chorus
Follow up! Follow up! Follow up! Follow up! Follow up!
Till the field ring again and again,
With the tramp of the twenty-two men.
Follow up! Follow up!

Routs and discomfitures, rushes and rallies,
Bases attempted, and rescued, and won,
Strife without anger, and art without malice, -
How will it seem to you, forty years on?
Then, you will say, not a feverish minute
Strained the weak heart and the wavering knee,
Never the battle raged hottest, but in it,
Neither the last nor the faintest, were we!

Chorus

O the great days, in the distance enchanted,
Days of fresh air, in the rain and the sun,
How we rejoiced as we struggled and panted -
Hardly believable, forty years on!
How we discoursed of them, one with another,
Auguring triumph, or balancing fate,
Loved the ally with the heart of a brother,
Hated the foe with a playing at hate!

Chorus

Forty years on, growing older and older,
Shorter in wind, as in memory long,
Feeble of foot, and rheumatic of shoulder,
What will it help you that once you were strong?
God give us bases to guard or beleaguer,
Games to play out, whether earnest or fun;
Fights for the fearless, and goals for the eager,
Twenty, and thirty, and forty years on!

Chorus
(written for sir Winston Churchill's ninetieth birthday and first sung 28th November 1964)

Blazoned in honour! For each generation
You kindled courage to stand and to stay;
You led our fathers to fight for the nation,
Called "Follow up" and yourself showed the way.
We who were born in the calm after thunder
Cherish our freedom to think and to do;
If in our turn we forgetfully wonder,
Yet we'll remember we owe it to you.


Special Verses and Variants:
(Written for Sir Winston Churchill, 12th November 1954.)

Sixty years on - though in time growing older,
Younger at heart you return to the Hill:
You, who in days of defeat ever bolder,
Led us to Victory, serve Britain still.
Still there are bases to guard or beleaguer,
Still must the battle for Freedom be won:
Long may you fight, Sir, who fearless and eager
Look back to-day more than sixty years on.
E. V. C. Plumptre


(Written for the School's quatercentenary, 19th February 1971.)

Four hundred years in the story of Harrow
Draw to a close, while the School marches on,
Strong at its heart, yet in range never narrow,
Guarding the Hill where its glory first shone!
Still must the game be played out till it's ended,
Still must the bases be rescued or won;
Often old hopes with new faith must be mended
Following up what the past has begun.

E. M. Malan

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

Hi again, Jonno! Thanks very much for your herculean effort in producing the original song in original and extended versions. Looking at its length, it's no wonder I never committed it to memory. I recognise many of the lines however, and one or two conditioned-emotional responses welled-up. So we pinched it from Harrow, eh! Guess our school founders had lots of pretensions. So may you and yours enjoy the new year, and may "The United" of the coaly-tyne finish in the money this year. ttfn phoenix

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

Sixty years on, and greyness and ache pains
A shiny bald pate where once sat your hair;
Some handsome young memories of lasses in late teens
Do make your pants tighten (from M&S Easy Care);
Repeats of Heartbeat and Corrie fill your dreams
For pension collection and tartan shopping trollies
Brim full of 'day pads' are the ends to your means.
Yet young salute th'witnesses of the Fairs Cup team....s.

In honour of our stirling troops ;-) yes I know I'll be old one day...

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002

Thanks Bobby. Have I ever asked you if you are related to the late Sheffield Wednesday prolific goalscorer Derek Dooley? phoenix

-- Anonymous, January 07, 2002