May 1962

Isle of Wight Times

May 3rd 1962: NATIONAL AWARD – OSBOURNE’s, the tailors of Ryde and Newport, have won three major awards in a tailoring competition organised by the magazine “Tailor and Cutter,” with a light weight dinner suit made by three of their employees, Mr. L. BIFIELD, Miss G. PRICE and Mr. S. IBBOTSON.

May 3rd 1962: TRUNK DIALLING – Grace will favour Ryde’s telephone subscribers (Group Routing and Charging Equipment)—comes into force at Ryde this month to provide the Island’s first subscriber trunk dialling system, thus favouring phone users with direct dialling to long distance numbers. For trunk calls up to 35 miles, 2d. buys 30 seconds.

May 3rd 1962: ARCHERY – In pouring rain Mr. R. GARDNER, of Ryde Archery Club, won the award for the best novice at the recent Shanklin Archery Tournament, with a score of 372.

May 3rd 1962: FLAMINGO CLUB – Mr. J. G. WATKINS, of The Flamingo Club, Union-street, was on Monday granted certificates extending permitted hours and music-and-dancing until 1 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays and until midnight on Saturdays.

May 3rd 1962: STRAWBERRIES – The newly-formed Isle of Wight Strawberry Growers Association Ltd. marketed its first consignment of strawberries on Monday. Twenty punnets of berries, fully ripened in unheated greenhouses, are forerunners of a steadily increasing flow of Island strawberries that will build up during the next few weeks.

May 3rd 1962: SCALA CINEMA – HOPE and CROSBY continue along “Road To Hong Kong” this week; getting involved with Joan COLLINS, Peter SELLERS and a mysterious spy ring. The old magic is still there as Bing and Bob clown and sing their way through impossible situations.

May 3rd 1962: ON THE BEACH – A male skeleton found on the beach by police to the west of Quarr Abbey, Binstead on Thursday, is thought to have come from the old graveyard nearby, now covered by sand. The skeleton, centuries old, was first seen between Fishbourne Ferry and Ryde Pier by a Havant woman on holiday.

May 10th 1962: ABBEY FIRE – Fifty seven year old Mr. Alfred HAYDEN and 17 year old Keith WAY risked their lives on Tuesday morning to rescue an unconscious French Nun from a blazing dormitory at St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Appley Rise, Ryde. The two men saw the fire on their way to work and raised the alarm, and while they struggled through the flames, the nuns stood nearby, praying for them.

May 10th 1962: BIGGEST RALLY – The Island’s largest gathering of people interested in spiritualism took place at Ryde Town Hall on Tuesday, when over 300 attended a public meeting organised by a combined committee of the Island’s three spiritualist churches—those at Ryde, Cowes and Ventnor.

May 10th 1962: THE EASY WAY – Keen angler and a member of the Vectis Boating and Fishing Club, George PHILBRICK was walking along the beach at low tide last week near Ryde Pier when he found a 14 lb. turbot in a pool of water.

May 10th 1962: ROUGH START – In spite of extremely rough conditions Ryde Rowing Club began their season on Sunday morning when four crews took to the water for the first fortnightly race. Over a mile-and-a-quarter course the race, in galleys, was won convincingly by the crew coxed by C. SALSBURY: R. TERRY, T. ROWE, R. KEY, and W. PIKE (stroke).