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Connie
Coppin the newsagent
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| .Newapaper round memories |
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.About sixties newspapers and magazines |
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Connie
Coppin operated a newsagents business from her bungalow on Sawtry
Way. Back in the sixties it had no mains electricity, but there
was a generator housed in a corrugated iron shed. The generator
would have only been capable of powering the lights I would think.
Connie
was an inveterate chain smoker, her favoured brand of cigarette
was Senior Service which she purchased wholesale. The empty transit
boxes then served as newspaper delivery baskets which fitted into
a rack mounted on the front of your bike
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The bungalow where Connie Coppin lived
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By
clicking on the next page button at the bottom of this page
you can see a small selection of some of the front page news stories
that were making the headlines in the 1960's. None of this content
relates directly to Wyton, but it does serve to illustrate something
of the background about the time in which we were growing up.There
are also some examples of the magazines that were published in the
sixties. It is interesting to see the how diverse was the range of
magazines aimed at women. Some of the featured publications survive
to this day while others have ceased publication, and are now in many
instances almost forgotten.
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The
first and last front page headlines of the decade
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A regular visitor to Connie's bungalow was J D Ward rector of Houghton and Wyton. "J D" (as he was universally known as) and Connie used to enjoy a bottle of stout or two together, J D was also a regular in the village pub. My paper round started at Connies bungalow and covered all of Houghton village, and J D was one of the people that I delivered newspapers to. In the intervening
years there have been many casualties due to circulation wars, and
changing readership habits. Many newspaper and magazine titles that
have disappeared or have been taken over and merged with other publications. |
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Feature magazines like JOHN BULL and TODAY eventually succumbed to the competition from from television, while well established conventional comics like EAGLE and GIRL were supplanted by teen publications that featured celebrity gossip and pop music stories There was however an exception, a new publication launched in the sixties bucked this trend: LOOK AND LEARN wich was hugely successful. Other comics like the BEANO and DANDY that predated world war two, survive to this day. |
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You were expected
to use your own bike and the rack was returned to Connie when you
ceased working for her.Connie's newspaper empire covered Houghton
and Wyton villages, and RAF Wyton. Connie lived with her husband Gordon,
and and old couple that I think was her mother and father. I never
knew either of their names but the old man was always known as "Bodger".
Gordon cycled to and from RAF Wyton in all weathers where he sold
newspapers and magazines to RAF personnel.
Below 1960's
Senior Service advertistment. The image depicted in this advertisment
is far removed from Connie's lifestyle.
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Paper round bike fitted with one of Connies racks |
How many of these
newspapers and magazines and the stories in them will you remember?
It was all a long time ago, but some of the events that are depicted
will seem almost as if they happened only yesterday. The Daily Sketch
has gone (merged with the Daily Mail), and The Daily Herald became
the Sun.
Pictured below
is what I bought with the money I earned from delivering papers
for Connie Coppin. A Raleigh Blue Streak racing bike. I once rode
from RAF Wyton to RAF Cardington on this bike, and I rode it to school
in St Neots a couple of times. I must have been mad! That hill on
the road out of St Neots is really steep.
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Senior
Service: Connie was never without one
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Connie's
car a Hillman just like the one illustrated above
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Raliegh
Blue Streak click on image to enlarge
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| A post script about J D Ward Rector of Houghton and Wyton in the 1960s |
Some
interesting information about Connie's pal the Revd. J D ward and his
church, St Mary's Church Houghton, has come to light from issue 14 of
the Huntingdon and District Ringers Rabble an on line bell ringers
magazine. This is what it has to say: "St. Mary's Houghton is located
by the river Great Ouse. It originates from the 13th century and was
founded by the monks of Ramsey.The bells became unringable in the early
1960's, and were dismantled in 1967. Restoration work was done by the
Whitechapel Bell Foundry and the bells plus a new treble were rehung
on a two-tier frame with 3 and 5 on the upper tier. Dedication of the
new bell and re-dedication of the old bells was preformed by Edward,
Bishop of Ely on 3rd June 1968.The new treble (3cwt 1qtr 13lbs in F)
was dedicated to the memory of Revd J. D. Ward who was rector of the
parish for 25 years, previously a Forces Chaplain. The inscription on
the treble is I WILL LIVE FOR THEE was taken from a scouting hymn written
by the Revd J. D. Ward, who was an enthusiastic member of the Scouting
Movement". |
Please choose