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50 years ago

1957 - January

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January 30, 1957

"Reach for the sky! Your money or your life!" Mr A. H. Rivers, NSPCC inspector, fell to his knees when he was challenged by a cowboy and a pirate on Friday. But Christine McQue, a demure Victorian lady, was there to beg for mercy.

John Eason and Terence Boothby, the cowboy and the pirate, were among the guests at Newark League of Pity's party in the Savoy Café.

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Residents near Newark Town Hall met on Monday night to discuss the nuisance caused by pigeons.
They formed a committee to approach the Town Clerk, with a view to co-operating with the Corporation in finding a solution to the problem.

At Grantham Mr L. E. Parr, an accountant was last week granted a cut of £8 in the rateable value of his premises at 14a, Market Place, Grantham.

He told the valuation panel: "At one time I have counted 150 pigeons on the roof." He contended that the birds blocked gutterings, laid eggs on the fascia, and involved extra cleaning.

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Newark Agricultural Show will definitely take place at Winthorpe Airfield on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4.

This decision "to give a lead to other shows" was made unanimously at a meeting of the show council in the Clifton Arms Hotel, Newark, on Monday evening.

The important item on the agenda was "to discuss the effect the petrol rationing situation may have upon the show."

After several members had spoken and the problems of getting animals to the show had been discussed, Mr R. D. K. Bradley proposed that Newark should give a lead, as it had done in the past, by carrying on with the show.

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January 23, 1957

Just four days short of its 21st birthday, the Fellowship of Marriage attached to Newark Parish Church has been disbanded.

When the Fellowship Of Marriage was formed an alternative title was Young Wives' Group. Now, more than 20 years later, the 30 members are the first to admit that they are no longer very young wives, so they are transferring to the Mothers’ Union.

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A reign of terror which had lasted for more than 65 hours ended at Newark on Monday when two dangerous men, escaped from Rampton State Mental Institution, were overpowered and arrested.

The arrests called off a massive manhunt by 70 police officers, special constables and police tracker dogs.

An hour or two later, troops were due to be called in to intensify the hunt and seal off all roads.

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People living in The Arcade, Newark, did not hear the crash of a smash-and-grab raid on an Arcade tobacconist's shop late on Friday night, but it was heard by other people living on the far side of Newark Market Place.

A hole was smashed in one of the two small windows of A. L. Start Ltd, one of the shops owned by Lees And Sons - it is thought with an empty bottle.

A musical cigarette box, several petrol lighters and some cigarette cases were stolen to the total value of about £30.

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January 16, 1957

The organ of St Leonard’s Church, Newark, was taken to Nottingham on Friday.

The organ has not been overhauled for more than 25 years. Now it is being rebuilt, and certain additions will be made. The work will cost £2,000.

It is hoped the organ will be installed again by Easter. In the meantime, organist Mr Charles McNichol will use a piano.

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An oil pipeline two miles long is to be laid from the new oilfield at Egmanton to Tuxford Central railway sidings, to carry crude oil. Work will begin on it next month.

Extensive drilling operations are being carried out in the Weston-Tuxford area of the Egmanton oilfield. The new pipeline will be part of the permanent installation for the collection and discharge of oil.

It is understood that eight more boreholes are to be sunk at the Egmanton oilfield, bringing the total there to 28. Eventually there will be about 50.

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Southwell and District Show and Sports Society decided at their annual meeting to find a new site for their annual show.

For three years the show has been held on the War Memorial Recreation Ground where no charge can be made for admission.

The society felt that if a new site could be found where admission charges could be made, this would greatly help their financial position.

Last year the show made a loss of £2 and a charge would more than compensate for this.

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January 9, 1957

There were so many children at Worthington Simpson’s annual new year party in Newark Town Hall that the ballroom was unable to accommodate them all for tea.

Altogether there were 231 children, and the overflow of about 30 were served tea in the adjoining council chamber.

There was a Punch and Judy show, films, community singing and games. The children received sweets and presents.

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An increase in local telephone calls to a minimum of four pence, effective from New Year’s Day, provided no headache for Newark telephone engineers.

None of the kiosk telephones in Newark borough and nearby villages needed attention because they are of the non-dial type and switchboard operators can hear the required number of coins being inserted.

The balancing mechanisms in coin boxes on automatic exchanges at places, such as Collingham, East Stoke and Sutton-on-Trent were adjusted by the scheduled date of increase.

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Thieves who failed to break open the back door of a Newark newsagent’s shop at the weekend managed to get in anyway by knocking a large hole in the brick wall. They got away with between £300 and £400 worth of cigarettes.

They knocked out more than a dozen bricks to make a hole large enough for a man to scramble through.

It was the second time in six years that the corner shop of W. Hickman, Cartergate, had suffered a major raid.
 

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January 2, 1957

Lt-Col G. H. Vere-Laurie, acting joint master of the South Notts hounds, received a silver salver engraved with the hunt button from Mr Robert Hanson, joint master of the Grove and Rufford Hunt, in recognition of his services as Grove and Rufford secretary for the last eight years.

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Newark police have been investigating the setting adrift of a 70-ton crane barge from its Trent moorings at Newark.

The barge drifted 1/2-a-mile downstream and was eventually headed into the bank by two petrol barges when it was only 100 yards above Nether Lock.

Bargemen boarded it and later returned it to its moorings. There was nobody aboard.

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For the first time in Newark's history, every man, woman and child in the borough starts the new year owing a debt of £100.

It is a debt of which he is probably unaware - money borrowed by the Corporation to maintain and extend its services.
The Advertiser can reveal the huge extent to which the debt is growing.

The Corporation has been borrowing for generations but in less than five years it has more than doubled its debt. The total debt is now rapidly approaching £3m.