The purpose of this column is to reflect on the Hit Parade (singles charts these days), Potpourri of Pop and also local news bits from yesteryear. This week – 1976.

January
The Mayor of Gloucester’s limousine was fitted with an illuminated sign bearing the city’s crest at a cost of £60.
The Gloucester Operatic and Dramatic Society (THE GODS) performed Music Hall at the Olympus Theatre from 1st to 10th January. Roger Payne was the master of ceremonies.
The Museum of Gloucester’s Excavation Unit conducted excavations at St. Oswald’s Priory, making important discoveries related to a Saxon minster. The “Saxon minster” in Gloucester is the site of St Oswald’s Priory, a religious complex founded around AD 900 by Aethelflaed and her husband Aethelred. It was originally dedicated to St. Peter, but was rededicated to St. Oswald after his relics were brought there in 909 AD. Today, it is a preserved ruin located in a park near the cathedral. 

February
The Gloucester Rugby Football Club had a match against Sale on February 13th and a social evening on the 25th. Other local events included rugby matches in Cheltenham on February 9th and February 13th.
The wider world saw the assassination of Nigeria’s General Murtala Mohammed on February 13th and the withdrawal of Spanish Armed Forces from Western Sahara on February 26th.
Back in the 70s, any tune and all tunes would make it into the UK singles chart if the sales were enough. The big surprise was The Glen Millier Orchestra peaking at No.13 with Moonlight Serenade and Little Brown Jug. A few years later, I interviewed Glenn Miller’s brother Herb at Gloucester Leisure Centre.
The Brotherhood of Man’s single Save Your Kisses For Me was released and peaked at No.1 in March 1976. On 3rd April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed their song, dressed in red, white and black, with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. Save Your Kisses for Me took the title with an overwhelming victory of 164 points.

March
The Museum of Gloucester’s Excavation Unit was actively digging at St. Oswald’s Priory, and new finds from the site were being discovered.
The Royal British Legion Gloucester City Branch held its annual event on 11th March to commemorate the end of the Dhofar Rebellion. If you’re interested in the history of the rebellion, visit wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhofar_rebellion.
The Duchess of Gloucester visited the Olympia London for the Ideal Home Exhibition on 15th March.
The “Roundabout” pub (now Pets at Home) featured performances by Desmond Dekker on Saturday 27th March, and the Detroit Emeralds on Friday 28th March. I was resident DJ there for six months – fun days!

April
The mortgage rate was lowered from 11% to 10.05%.
Christine Mayall of Matson Gloucester was pictured preparing her old English Sheep Dog “Shep” for the Brockworth Scouts Group Dog Show. Unfortunately, Shep and Christine went home without a trophy. The judges must have been barking mad!
On 12th April, Police Constable Jefferies arrived at the scene of a serious road accident and took prompt action to stem a young lady’s haemorrhage, undoubtedly saving her life. He was later commended for his quick thinking.
The annual Gloucester-Cheltenham-Gloucester 18-mile road race was held on Sunday 11th April.
EMI Records re-released The Beatles back catalogue with at least 10 of them sitting pretty in the UK Top 40.
The final single released by American rock band The Doors peaked at No. 22 in the UK charts – Riders On The Storm.
23-year-old Julia Orry was crowned Miss Debenhams Beauty Queen. Julia worked for Gloucester Debenhams as a switchboard operator or, as they began to be called, Telephonists.
Miss Diane Lane of Longlevens and Stephen Pill of Upton St. Leonards received their Duke of Edinburgh awards from Prince Phillip at Buckingham Palace.

May
Gloucester, like much of the UK, was experiencing a very dry and warm late spring, a precursor to the famous 1976 heatwave and severe drought that summer.
The Gloucestershire rugby team was on a tour in South Africa, with matches scheduled against Rhodesia.
The demolition of the administrative offices at Gloucester Eastgate station was set to commence in the summer of 1976 to make way for an Asda supermarket.
On the 24th, Concorde made its first flight to the USA with paying passengers, an event of local interest due to Dowty equipment being used on board (Sir George Dowty, a local aviation pioneer, had died the previous December).
There was a parliamentary debate on 28th May regarding the possible cost of re-equipping and modernising a government building in Barnwood, for the DHSS.
Current Archaeology magazine’s issue for May 1976 focused on the early medieval town (not a City at that time) of Gloucester.
The UK singles chart had a few comedy singles in there, including The Wurzels’ Combine Harvester, Laurie Lingo and the Dipsticks’ (who were Radio DJs Dave Lee Travis and Paul Burnette) Convoy GB – a send up of the American song Convoy by singer and actor CW McCall – and Hank Mizell’s Jungle Rock.

June
June marked the onset of one of the most severe droughts in UK history. The weather was exceptionally hot and dry, leading to water shortages, hosepipe bans, and warnings that sports facilities and public gardens should not be watered. This was part of a record-breaking period of sustained high temperatures that lasted for 16 consecutive days above 30°C in some areas, including Gloucestershire (where the maximum temperature of 35.9°C was recorded).
The City Museum Excavation Unit’s lease on the old Llanthony Inn, which they were using as a base for archaeological work, was set to expire at the end of June.
Discovered this month – Matson was not mentioned in the Domesday Book. It appears to have been a part of Kings Barton at the time of the survey. The origins of the name are unclear but early versions recorded include Matesknolle, Mattesdune and Matesden. It is likely that the names refer to Robinswood Hill, a large hill which lay entirely within the ancient parish of Matson, on the flanks of which the village lies.

July
The Severn Trent water authority issued a hosepipe ban because of the current water shortage due to the heatwave and Severn Trent suggested we all “bath with a friend”.
Dennis Howell MP became Britain’s first ever Drought Minister.
Youths and children bathed in the fountains adorning King’s Square in a bid to cool down.
Gloucester parking rates increased by 13%.
The Golden Vale Garden Centre on the Shurdington Road (A46) opened on the 9th July.
My old mate Dick Shepheard (Gloucester’s stunt driver) was trapped in a burning car after a stunt went wrong. Dick got out unharmed, as he did on many occasions. He did a few stunts in the 80s for Noel Edmunds House Party.
16-year-old Cheryl Hunt of Eastcombe was crowned The Stroud How Queen.
Poet Pam Ayres was signing her book Some Of My Poetry at W.H. Smiths in the City.
The local Unilever factory (Walls Ice Cream) marked a significant milestone as it began producing The Cornetto ice cream in July.
ABBA released their 7th UK single Dancing Queen, eventually peaking at No. 1 in September and sitting there for six weeks. This was replaced by American country band Pussycat with Mississippi.

August
In mid-August, two men from Gloucester, aged 31 (now 80) and 26 (now 75), were jailed for seven and eight years respectively for their involvement in smuggling a £1 million consignment of heroin, one of the largest ever found by customs in Britain at the time.
An incident occurred on 13th August in which a Cheltenham bank messenger, Mr. Simmons, bravely pursued and apprehended an unarmed bank robber who had implied he had a gun. This act later earned him a bravery award.
Pupils attending local schools were informed about The 19th century inventions in Gloucester, with several notable creations including the vacuum cleaner, the Concertina, the Ferris wheel and the ‘Wheatstone’ Bridge to name just a few.
Saturday night TV – BBC 1 aired The Duchess of Duke Street, The Two Ronnies and Starsky and Hutch, while ITV aired Candid Camera, Within These Walls and Police Woman.

September
Russell Williams and his pal Andrew Robinson were pictured fishing in the canal near Hempstead Bridge.
The Severn Bridge celebrated its 10th birthday. What does one buy a bridge for a present?!
Welsh funny man Max Boyce appeared for one night only at the Gloucester Leisure Centre.
We could learn to Ski at the Gloucester Ski Centre on Matson Lane for just £1. In the 80s, Eddie The Eagle Edwards did most of his training there.
The end of the Great Drought brought heavy thunderstorms and very wet weather, which effectively ended one of the most severe droughts in British history. August 1976 had seen some areas go 45 days without rain, leading to water rationing and extensive heath and forest fires across Southern England.
The 1st Battalion presented its old colours in Gloucester Park, as they had served for nearly a quarter of a century.

October
Over 200 Guides and Brownies participated in an “Autumn Allsorts” competition in Thornbury.
The Wurzels were back in the UK singles chart with I Am A Cider Drinker
Disco classics dominated the Top 40 – ABBA Dancing Queen, Tavares Don’t Take Away The Music, The Real Thing Can’t Get By Without You, Tina Charles Dance Little Lady Dance and James Brown Get Up Off That Thing.
The Gloucester City Council was conducting a review of its works department, a process that ran from May 1976 to October 1977.

November
A fatal accident occurred during the “Speech House” special stage of the Lombard RAC Rally in the Forest of Dean. A Porsche 911SC driven by Heinz-Walter Schewe went off the road and rolled into a crowd that had previously been moved to the spot after an earlier incident.
The local Gloucester rugby teams were active, with matches including Gloucester v. Bridgend (3rd Nov), Gloucester v. Leicester (6th Nov), Gloucester v. Cambridge University (10th Nov), Gloucestershire v. Somerset (13th Nov), Gloucester v International XV (14th Nov), Gloucester v. Aberavon (23rd Nov), and Gloucestershire v. Oxfordshire (27th Nov).
Singles released included: Boney M’s second UK single Sunny, Romeo’s Mr Big, Mary MacGregor’s Torn Between Two Lovers and David Soul’s Going In With My Eyes Open.

December
Journalists’ Strike: A strike at the Gloucester Citizen newspaper had reached its fourth week. Some journalists began to defy strike leaders and return to work, feeling the strike was proving to be longer than initially anticipated.
The Pantomime Aladdin was on at the Gloucester Leisure Centre, starring Stephen Lewis (Blakey on TV’s On The Buses.I interviewed him for radio whilst he was in town.
Hatherley Road School held their Pantomime – Dick Whittington
Jet Harris Revival show was on at The Bristol Hotel Gloucester. Tickets were £1.


Christmas Trivia
Christmas Day babies: Susan Watkins of Coleford, born at 5am.
Angela Sandford of Tredworth, born at 6am.
Brenda King of Matson, born at 4pm.
Christmas Day was on a Saturday.
Christmas alcohol prices: Vodka £3.99, Martini £1.39, Whisky £3.39, Gin £3.39p.

Christmas Day Top Ten
1. Johnny Mathis – When A Child Is Born
2. Showaddywaddy – Under The Moon Of Love
3. ABBA – Money Money Money
4. Queen – SomebodyTo Love
5. Mike Oldfield – Portsmouth
6. Electric Light Orchestra – Livin’ Thing
7. Yvonne Elliman – Love Me
8. Tina Charles – Dr Love
9. Smokie – Living Next Door To Alice
10. Chris Hill – Bionic Santa

Listen to one of my radio shows on Dean Radio (via Google). Tuesdays at 7pm – The 60s in 60 Minutes. Sundays at 10am – Open For Business. Sundays at Midday – Melodic Journey.