From The Observer Magazine 22 July 1997

Skinhead paperback

Peter Bridges, aka ‘Plaistow Pete’, proprietor of Boots & Braces

I’ve been a skinhead since 1969. I was nine years old and my older brother gave me a pair of skinny braces. The boots were more of a problem. I bought the smallest pair of cherry red Doctor Martens that you could get, but I still had to wear three pairs of thick socks to walk in them!

I opened Boots & Braces in 1981, and many of the original skinheads still drop in – some of them don’t need to use clippers any more!

Customers come from all over these days: Italians, Americans, Japanese – liquorice allsorts. A lot of people think being a skinhead is about politics and all that rubbish. Leave it out. Skinhead is a way of life. A skinhead is a skinhead, end of.

The shop sells fanzines, books and CDs but it’s first and foremost about being smart and looking the business. I sell everything from vintage Ben Sherman shirts and Levi’s Sta-Prest strides through to tonik suits, Crombie coats and penny loafers.

It was difficult to choose just one item, but in the end I’ve gone for Skinhead, the first book in the series published by New English Library. It says ‘Richard Allen’ on the cover, but it was actually written by an old Canadian geezer, name of James Moffatt. We didn’t know that at the time though, and the main character, Joe Hawkins, was such an authentic East End boy that everyone reckoned it was written by a real skinhead.

Original copies of his books are collectors’ items, and I’ve got first editions indoors. But this particular copy isn’t one of them – I’ve chosen it because there’s an interesting story behind it.

When Skinhead came out it was so popular that it was reprinted many times. Then the politicians started sticking their oar in, complaining about the violence. Setting a bad example and all that.

Apparently the Queen was very interested in the controversy and requested a copy. Straight up.

I’ve no idea what she thought, but I do know the Queen Mum was well into it, and ordered some of the others: Trouble for Skinhead, Skinhead Escapes, Skinhead Girls, Suedehead.

This copy of Skinhead is the actual one that started her off – it’s got ‘THE QUEEN’S BOOK’ rubber-stamped on the first page, which proves it’s from her personal library. I acquired it at a royal charity auction that I read about in Majesty magazine.

There was a lot of competition from other skinheads, but luckily I was successful. If I hadn’t won, then it would have cost the winner an arm and a leg – literally!  Only joking, we’re all mates really.

Anyway, it cost me a packet but it was all for a good cause. Something about wildlife I think it was, which is quite appropriate when you think about it.

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As voted by readers of stickybackplastic.com

1. Cilla Black singing Liverpool Lullaby, while Valerie Singleton plays the beleaguered mother, John Noakes the ‘snotty kid’ and Peter Purves the boozing father (with red nose and beer bottle). There were complaints that the song was unsuitable for children.

2. Val meeting Princess Anne, and being ticked off by a lady-in-waiting for curtseying incorrectly. The incident occurred in 1971, when she accompanied the princess on a trip to Kenya with Save The Children, which was filmed for the Blue Peter Royal Safari documentary.

3. Bill Bowls, the Labour politician better known as ‘Today’s Voice of the North End Road’, singing My Grandfather’s Clock Was Too Big For The Shelf and mispronouncing the word ‘clock’.

4. The tug-of-war team from Colfe’s Grammar School wearing T-shirts saying: I STILL SUPPORT THE SPRINGBOKS.

5. Tony Blair’s first appearance. In 1963 a group of children from the Chorister School in Durham came to the studio, including the young Blair. The excitement proved too much for one of the boys, whereupon Blair put his hand up and said: ‘Please, Miss Singleton, Denvers has wet himself again.’

6. Tony Bair’s second appearance, this time as Leader of the Opposition, in which he played his guitar, answered questions from an audience of children, and was shown the film of his previous appearance.

7. Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton dancing with patients at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital ward while The Hollies performed their current hit I’m Alive.

8. Eight-year-old William Hague presenting 2,000 cotton reels for the Blue Peter Appeal for Africa in 1969. (See 12 October.)

9. The live broadcast from a Catford street party during the Queen’s silver jubilee. When Lesley Judd asked 10-year-old Lee Spencer what he would do if he met the Queen, he replied: ‘Kill her.’

10. Petra the Blue Peter dog being sick after eating a piece of  ‘savoury sardine cake’ made by John Noakes.

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Letter to the Daily Telegraph, October 2000

Although I am not a Tory supporter, I feel that William Hague has had some unfair publicity of late. First there was scepticism about his claim to have drunk 14 pints of beer a day as a teenager while delivering pop for his family’s soft drinks firm. Now people are ridiculing him for his role in the 1969 Blue Peter appeal for Africa.

It’s true that most children sent silver foil, as requested by Valerie, John and Peter. But Mr Hague’s donation of cotton reels was not as daft as it sounds.

I grew up in the same village as Mr Hague, and attended the local primary school. In those days, most children did not receive pocket money – they were given cotton reels instead. I don’t know how or why this practice began, but all my friends were ‘paid’ in cotton reels for household chores and so on. We used to collect them and swap them with one another, and because we couldn’t spend them in the shops, it encouraged us to get into the habit of saving.

I clearly remember William asking for cotton reels for the appeal, and we all dug deep. The total was about two thousand in all – a credit to Yorkshire thrift and big-heartedness!

Annette Middleton,

Bottomley, North Yorkshire

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Mayfair, Volume 16, Number 11

I’m sure I speak for very red-blooded male when I say that the BBC newsreader Moira Stuart is a real breath of fresh air. With her dusky good looks and fabulous body she is number one in the lady charts. Her demure manner doesn’t fool me for one minute – I know it merely covers the furnace of passion within! I wonder if she wears stockings? I hope so – tights are such a turn-off and far too common for a classy lady like Moira. I expect she favours the most elegant silk underwear, probably from the finest emporia in Paris and Milan. Only the best for Moira! She sits so elegantly when reading the news, but sometimes she moves slightly, as though crossing and uncrossing her stockinged legs. I can picture her now, with her legs crossed and a stiletto-heeled slipper dangling from her toes. At times like this I would love to be her chair!

I have a proposition to put to you. Why not ask Moira to pose for Mayfair? You could do a “Newsreader Special” with Sue Lawley, Jan Leeming and Anna Ford. (I’m sure these delectable dames would welcome the opportunity to let their hair down and show their “fun side”.) It would all be done in a dignified and tasteful manner of course – no hint of a hirsute mons veneris or anything that might damage the reputation of the BBC. If this photographic feast can be arranged, then I would be willing to make a sizeable contribution to a charity of the ladies’ choice, in return for signed pictures and the lingerie worn for the “sessions”.

L.C., Maidstone, Kent

The Editor replies: Thank you Mr. L.C., and the hundreds of others who have written in a similar vein. We invited Miss Stuart to pose for our Christmas issue, but have thus far received no word.

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It was a disused military base, and facilities were basic, but the accommodation wasn’t much different to the holiday camps of the time. Meals were free, with good portions, and we had a terrific time. The only downside was the fact that you were there to catch a cold – although that could happen on any holiday.

One night at the Unit we were talking to a couple we knew well, and they asked if we had heard about ‘Claplins’. Seeing our puzzled expressions, they explained that this was the nickname of another summer camp, run by the Venereal Disease Research Centre. The idea was the same as the Cold Unit, except that you contracted gonorrhoea instead of the common cold. Everyone was looked after very well, and antibiotics were readily available, so there was no real inconvenience.

We went for four consecutive years from 1955 to 1959, and I still have my ‘Claplins’ badge. I used to joke that it was the only time a fellow could come back from holiday with a dose and not get an earful from the wife!

I would love to hear from any other ‘Old Clappers’ who remember me and my wife Grace, who is sadly no longer with us.

Fred Regis, Southampton

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From the Guardian, July 1967

Hundreds of listeners complained to the BBC yesterday after a ‘live’ radio report went disastrously wrong.

The report, for the People and Places programme, was billed as ‘a candid investigation into the world of the homosexual’, and featured a visit by the MP Jonathan Marlowe to a private party in West London.

From the start it was apparent that drink had been taken in liberal quantities, and a debate about social attitudes soon turned into a frank discussion of personal habits.

One man said that Mr Marlowe was not qualified to pass judgement on something that he had not himself experienced, and jokingly challenged him to ‘give it a go’. This was a clear reference to the infamous occasion on which the MP smoked cannabis in a similar spirit of inquiry.

‘Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it,’ cried another voice, to general laughter. To everyone’s surprise, Marlowe agreed, whereupon a BBC sound engineer was heard to ask if he was serious. ‘Yes, perfectly serious,’ came the reply.

There then followed the first sexual act ever to be performed on air in the United Kingdom.

With customary professionalism, Marlowe kept up a running commentary throughout, although at times he struggled to achieve his usual fluency.

‘I am now being buggered vigorously by a dark-haired man of medium height,’ he announced at one point, adding that ‘the experience is not wholly unpleasant’. He spoke later of ‘an enormous feeling of wellbeing’.

The programme was heard by a relatively small audience, and is unlikely to be repeated, yet it has already achieved widespread notoriety. Mrs Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association declared herself ‘sickened and defiled’ and has requested a tape and full transcript. Mr Marlowe’s constituency party will meet later this week to discuss his future.

Marlowe told journalists that he had not set out to participate in any sexual activity, but insisted that he had no regrets. When asked if he intended to continue his investigations, he replied that he had no plans to do so, and admitted that he couldn’t explain his behaviour.

‘I don’t know what came over me,’ he said.

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