A GLANCE at theAdvertiser of March25, 1961, reveals thetruth behind the oldsaying, the morethings change themore they stay thesame.

On the front page astory entitled Civic HallOr Cinema? bemoanedthe fact that NewtonAbbot was lacking acivic centre.

‘Urban councillors areconcerned about this,’we wrote.

They still are today, ofcourse, and one of theaims of the currentregeneration talks is tofind such a venue, per-haps by adapting thepannier market.

In 2011 there is alsothe desire to find a newlocation for the museumso it, too, can expand itsrole and become a muchgreater focus of commu-nity involvement.

The 1961 articleraised the idea of con-verting the AlexandraCinema, once thought ofas the ‘civic hall’ beforefilms were shown there.

‘There was nothing tostop the council termi-nating the cinema com-pany’s lease and gettingthe civic hall back again,’it read.

The public were large-ly in favour, if the opin-ions canvassed byAdvertiser reporterswere anything to go by.

Mr W Heath, of 8Quay Terrace, said: ‘Thecinemas are a thing ofthe past. I’m in fullfavour of a civic hall.Newton Abbot is a dyingtown, perhaps this willcheer it up.’

Heard that before?Mrs D I Johnson, of 3

Salisbury Road, said: ‘Ifthe civic hall is encour-aging the youngsters

then I’m in full favour ofit.

‘They either go to thepictures [there werethree cinemas at thetime] or the public hous-es, perhaps the new hallwould encourage themto attend new events.’

Events, perhaps, suchas those staged by theoperatic society andendorsed by Mrs R GGreen, of 16 TheAvenue, who seemed tobe unaware that the soci-ety had changed its nameto The Newton Abbotand District MusicalComedy Society somefour years earlier.

Down the road inKingsteignton anothertale familiar to us today,half a century on, wasbeing played out.

Need For Helpers AtKingsteignton ran theheadline on page nine,the story going on to sayhow chairman Mr R F VCritchley had called onram roast committeemembers to round upnew recruits.

We sure that today’schairman, John Stacey,would recognise the situ-ation only too well.

As will, no doubt, thechairman in 2061 whenthe imminent demise ofthe fair once againmakes the headlines.

One thing that haschanged over the years,though, is how we look.

An ad on page eightfor the fine tailoringoffered by the Co-opera-tive Society gave us anidea of ‘the latest stylesfor 1961’.

Make up your ownminds, but with aphysique like that, wasthe chap in the picture anearly example of geneticmodification?

M AB K DPwww.middevonadvertiser.co.uk

AdvertiserMID-DEVON

FROM THE FILES OF THE

MARCH 20, 1910WE hear that it is likely that a pack of foxhoundswill be kept in the immediate neighbourhood ofTeignmouth. A well-known gentleman is negotiat-ing in the matter.

NEWTON Abbot Board of Guardians is about thelargest in the kingdom. There are 79 elected mem-bers.

Down the DecadesCompiled by JOHN BALMENTjohnbalment@tindlenews.co.uk

SERIES

MARCH 25, 1961

MARCH 23, 2001

POLICE rescued three horses from a fire in stablesin Hopkins Lane, Newton Abbot, in the early hoursof Monday morning.

NEWTON Abbot Rural District Council onWednesday decided on an increase of 3d. in thegeneral district rate from 4s. 2d. to 4s. 5d. Of thisrate, 3s. 8d. in the £ is for county council purposes.

THE police were called in at a public meeting atShaldon on Monday, and eventually the proceed-ings broke up in disorder, stink bombs beingthrown. The meeting had been discussing theaccounts of the Silver Jubilee Committee and theallocation of the balance.

NEWTON Abbot Urban Council learned on Mon-day that the Minister of Agriculture had approvedthe acceptance of Messrs. John Lloyd’s tender forthe first stage of the modernisation of the cattlemarket. The clerk was authorised to make applica-tion to the Ministry for Loan Sanction in the sumof £12,018.

NEWTON Abbot has no civic centre. Urban coun-cillors are concerned about this, but at Monday’smeeting it was pointed out that the Alexandra Cin-ema used to be the ‘civic hall.’ It was not supportedand so it was let as a cinema.

MARCH 27, 1986PUPILS from Knowles Hill School, NewtonAbbot, took part in a charity clean-up of theDawlish Warren Nature Reserve and the beach.

A £1 MILLION plan to preserve St Augustine’sPriory, Abbotskerswell, by converting it to retire-ment apartments and cottages has been submittedto Teignbridge Council.

NEWTON Abbot swept the board in the DevonCounty Ladies Skittles Championships staged atthe Golden Court Holiday Camp, Mortehoe, NorthDevon, on Saturday. They beat Totnes 459-424 inthe final and skipper Ann Jones chalked up thehighest individual score of 74.

MRCH 28, 1936

NEWTON Abbot and District Musical ComedySociety is celebrating after getting its own homefor the first time since its formation 87 years ago.It has purchased the former Newton Abbot YMCAbuilding in Fisher Road for £65,000.

A GROUP of bowlers from Watts Blake BearneSocial Club, Kingsteignton, on a Spanish touringholiday, have had to switch hotels after BasqueSeparatists planted a car bomb outside the hotelwhere they were due to stay.

TEIGN Valley Action Group is intensifying its bat-tle to prevent the re-opening of Ryecroft Quarry.

THE Devon County Show, scheduled for the mid-dle of May, has been postponed until Augustbecause of the foot and mouth crisis.

THE Manor House Hotel, Moretonhampstead, wasvoted Best Restaurant In Devon by the DevonSocial Group at an awards ceremony.

Advertiser/Post, Friday, March 25, 2011 23

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