It's A Knockout 1976
British Domestic Series

Presenters:
Stuart Hall
Eddie Waring

Guest Presenters:
Charlie Chester (Heat 1 only)
MacDonald Hobley (Heat 1 only)

Referees:
Arthur Ellis
Gennaro Olivieri (Championship Knockout)
Mike Swann (Championship Knockout)

Scoregirls:
Hazel Lyons
Dinah May
Leena Skoog
Marie Worth

Production Credits:

Production Team: Alan Walsh, Alan Wright; Senior Stage Manager: Bryan Chapman; Engineering Manager: Geoff Lomas; Sound: John Drake; Games Arranger: Paul Trerise (also Co-Designer, Heats 1-7); Designer: Paul Montague; Producer: Cecil Korer; Director: Geoff Wilson

A BBC Manchester Production

Key: Domestic Heats ● = Qualified for International Series / ● = Heat Winner Championship Knockout Final ● = Radio Times Trophy Winner  ▲ = Promoted to Position / ▼ = Demoted to Position

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 1

Event Staged: Sunday 4th April 1976
Venue: West End Promenade, Morecambe, Lancashire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 21st May 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Special Guests: Charlie Chester and MacDonald Hobley

Teams: Blackpool v. Liverpool v. Morecambe

Team Members included:
Blackpool - Bob Battersby (Team Captain), Brian Bottomley, Bill Brown, Clive Burbank, Sharon Hull, Caroline Jenkins, Mike Lomas, Pete Manning, James Merridew, Deborah Riley, Julian Salanki, Janina Slusarski, Stuart Thompson, Cheryl Whitham, Ian Witton;
Liverpool - Vaughan Thomas (Team Coach), Ann Carney, Steve Gardiner, Dave Jones, Janine May, John Francis O'Brien, Karen Savage, Ian Stockton;
Morecambe - Ian Robson (Men’s Team Captain), Margaret Berry (Women's Team Captain), Maurice Albon, Brian Bonney, Michael Driscoll, Karen Evans, Mark Evans, David Holleley, Mark Milner, Peter Nolan, Alice Robinson, Alina Ross, Denise Shorrock, Phil Sutcliffe, Stuart Whiteley, Janice Wyatt.

Games: Wobbly Podium Catch, The Great Dress and Undress Game, The Drunken Sailor's Treasure, The Spinning Capstan, Pogo Stick Balloon Burst, Humpty Dumpty Netball, The Sack Race Skiers;
Marathon: seesaw Football / seesaw Balloon Burst.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 B • Blackpool ● ●
 M • Morecambe
 L • Liverpool

21
20
16

Blackpool qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Nîmes, France:
staged on Wednesday 2nd June 1976

The Host Town

Morecambe, Lancashire

Morecambe is situated on the coast of Morecambe Bay and incorporates the three historic settlements of Poulton-le-Sands, Bare and Torrisholme.

The town largely grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a seaside resort and by the middle of the latter it was the third most popular on the north-west coastline. Down the coast, Blackpool attracted much of its holiday makers from the mill towns of Lancashire whereas Morecambe attracted the Yorkshire holiday makers. This attraction was huge during the early to mid 20th century, with Morecambe becoming known as ‘Bradford by the Sea’ due to its direct rail link from the wool city of Bradford. Between 1956 and 1989 the town was the home of the Miss Great Britain beauty contest. Morecambe suffered from decline for a number of years after a series of incidents that affected its tourism and local economy.

The Venue

West End Promenade

The games in this heat were staged on the West End Promenade at Morecambe.

After the debacle of the previous hosting in 1966, when the tide came in and flooded the games’ area, the BBC took no chances and staged the programme on the resort’s promenade adjacent to the West End Pier. Sadly, in 1978 - just two years after It's A Knockout's second visit - the pier was washed away into the sea in a storm. For a seaside resort to lose one pier is tragic, but Morecambe has lost two, as the Central Pier, though struck by fire in 1933, was closed to the public at Easter 1986 after decking collapsed at the seaward end. A fire followed on 4th February 1987 which damaged the amusement arcade at the shoreward end. When the ballroom was destroyed by fire on Easter Sunday 1991, the pier’s fate was sealed and demolition began in March 1992.

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

Original It's A Knockout presenters MacDonald Hobley and Charlie Chester returned for this programme in a special one-off appearance to mark the 10th anniversary of the Domestic Series. The first two teams to appear in the original series - Blackpool and Morecambe - were invited back to compete (along with Liverpool) in this celebratory edition.

Radio Times magazine ran a feature to mark the anniversary, comprising interviews with Eddie Waring, Charlie Chester, David Vine, MacDonald Hobley and Stuart Hall.

Returning Teams and Competitors

Blackpool team captain Bob Battersby had previously participated in the series in 1971 as team manager of the Blackpool team.

Eighteen year old Liverpool team member John O'Brien would return to participate again twenty-three years later as a competitor, when the city participated in the revamped 1999 It's A Knockout series.

Additional Information

Despite the final score, this competition was much closer than it might appear. The team of Liverpool had been leading throughout most of the programme due to the fact that both Blackpool and Morecambe did not play their Jokers until the last game. After the Marathon points were allocated, Morecambe were leading with 16pts, and both Liverpool and Blackpool had 15pts each. This situation now meant that Liverpool could not stop either of the other teams from being victorious as both were playing their Jokers. The game itself proved to be very close with Blackpool crossing the line just ahead of Morecambe, and a place in Jeux Sans Frontières (as well as the new It’s A Championship Knockout) had been secured.

The team of Blackpool trained regularly at the Derby Baths for this event. Although this may not sound out of the ordinary, in 1981 it was to be the venue for the first-ever indoor British Domestic Heat, when Blackpool hosted the programme for a second time.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 2

Event Staged: Sunday 11th April 1976 at 5.15pm (delayed from 4.45pm)
Venue: The Bowling Green, Hanley Park, Shelton,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 28th May 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Teams: Stoke-on-Trent v. Birmingham v. Tamworth

Team Members included:
Stoke-on-Trent - Norman Harrison (Team Manager), Graham Kirk (Men’s Team Captain), Susan Massey (Women's Team Captain), Norma Ashcroft, Julie Baskeyfield, Paul Bilbie, Anthony Brindley, Angel Byatt, Ina Colclough, Gary Cooper, Jennifer Frost, Glen Gordon, David Gray, Ann Hawkins, Bill Jackson, Jack Jackson, Terence Jones, John Kelter, Pauline Kemp, Trudie McDonald, Lynne Meredith, Diane Morris, David Polaczek, Wendy Stubbs, Richard Tureman, Robert Wain, Geoffrey Ward, David Wells, John Wiggins;
Birmingham - Alec Anderson (Team Manager), John Ardern, Ian Bowland, Paul Bullock, Richard Butcher, Anne Butler, Dave Caro, Trevor Clarke, George Cookson, Susan Crewe, Janet Dale, Malcolm Everest, David Farmer, Peter Grimshaw, Hazel Humm, Mike Jarrett, Steve Johnson, Gary Langstone, Geoffrey Linnell, Christopher Mason, Roy Muller, Lesley Pallett, Margaret Pasquetti, Stephen Pearce, Mike Quick, Rita Rees, Paul Reynolds, Anne Scarff, Sally Sheard, Joanne Smallwood, Chris Stroud, Marilyn Walker, Gerald Whittle;
Tamworth - Geoff Beales (Men’s Team Captain), Barbara ‘Bunny’ Culclough (Women's Team Captain), Stanley Ashmore, Martin Barker, Denise Battersby, Keith Bowater, Nathalie Bullows, Susan Chappell, Wendy Chappell, Helen Dale, John Davis, Ralph Graham, Martin Heafield, Teresa Jones, Ann Lyth, Brian Mandry, Petra Morgan, Stephanie O'Neal, Michael Pointon, John Sedgwick, Dawn Sewell, Chris Shilton, Jenny Smale, Steven Walters, Robert Wesley, Sue Wileman.

Games (Official Titles): Flying Fish, Highball, Getting Hooked, Heavy Water, Bouncyclette, Throw 'n' Jump, Well Stacked;
Marathon: Heads Together / Bounce Around.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 T • Tamworth ● ●
 B • Birmingham
 S • Stoke-on-Trent

21
20
18

Tamworth qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Milano, Italy:
staged on Wednesday 16th June 1976

The Host Town

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Stoke-on-Trent (usually abbreviated to Stoke) is a city in Staffordshire in Middle England which has the motto Vis Unita Fortior (translated as United, Strength is Stronger).

It forms a linear conurbation which stretches for 12 miles (19km) and has an area of around 36mi² (93km²).The conurbation is classified as polycentric (based around several political, social or financial centres), having been formed by a federation of six separate towns in the early-20th century (Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton). Stoke-on-Trent is considered to be the home of the pottery industry and is commonly known as The Potteries. Companies such as Royal Doulton, Dudson, Spode, Wedgewood and Minton were all established and based there. The local abundance of coal and clay suitable for earthenware production led to the early development of the local pottery industry. The construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal enabled the import of china clay from Cornwall together with other materials and this helped facilitate the production of creamware and bone china. Methodical and highly-detailed research and experimentation, carried out over many years, nurtured the development of artistic talent throughout the local community and raised the profile of the Staffordshire Potteries. This was spearheaded by one man, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), and later by other local potters such as Thomas Whieldon (1719-1795), along with scientists and engineers. With the industry came a large number of notable ceramic artists including Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) and Charlotte Rhead (1885-1947). One of the legacies of the pottery industry was Stoke's own version of the Wakes Week. Although better known in industrial Lancashire, the Stoke week was known locally as the Potters' Holidays or Potters' Fortnight and occurred during the last week in June, the first week in July and another week in August. This gave what appeared to be strange school holidays, with the summer term having a two-week break at the end of June, then children returning to school for three weeks before taking a five-week summer holiday. This observance has disappeared from the local schools, due to decreased emphasis on traditional industries. In addition to the ceramics industry, the area was also main centres for the coal and steel industries, and in 1920 French tyre company, Michelin built their first UK plant in the town. In the 1980s there were nearly 9,000 workers employed at the plant, but with advances in technology this number had been reduced to just 1,200 in 2010!

The Venue

Hanley Park

The games were played on the bowling green of Stoke-on-Trent’s Hanley Park. The park itself was officially opened on H.M. Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Day, Sunday 20th June 1897 and occupies around 63 acres of land. The area on which it stands previously comprised a large waste ground called Stoke Fields and took five years to develop. 

Under the guidance of Thomas H Mawson of Windermere, it was completed at a cost to the ratepayers of £70,000. Mawson went on to be a designer of international repute, designing gardens throughout Britain, Europe and Canada. In 1908 he won a competition to lay out the Peace Palace gardens at the Hague. He also advised on the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in America. In 1929 he became the first president of the Institute of Landscape Architects. In addition to the bowling green, the park also consists of a basketball court, a football pitch, four separate children’s play areas and a bandstand. At the western end of the park, there is a small 12-acre area known as Cauldron Park.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - Flying Fish

3 Teams, 1 Heat. 1 male, 2 females. A man and girl are on roller skates, linked together at their ankles and each carry a catching net to receive flying fish (balls with streamers attached to them). The balls are thrown through the open mouth of a fish hanging above the ground, by a girl from the same team, limited in her run up distance by an elastic line. After either the man or girl have caught a ball, they must deposit it in a container at the end of their track. The winning team will be the one with the most balls caught in limit time.

Game 2 - Highball

Two Teams (Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent), 1 Heat. 1 male, 1 female. Advancing down a line of hoops, through which a football is passed, forward and back, a man and a girl carry a net between them on which a large ball is placed. If this ball falls off the net in course of negotiating the line of hoops they must return to the start, replace the ball and begin again. Having reached the end of the line of hoops the big ball on the net is bounced up and over a bar and has to be caught in the net on the other side. If missed, the ball is to be replaced for another try. The winning team will be the one that scores the highest number of catches.

Game 3 - Getting Hooked

Three Teams, 1 Heat. 4 males, 2 females. One girl and one man carry a girl seated on a carrying plank. Two men carry a man seated on a carrying plank. The man and girl on the planks hold walking sticks with hooked ends which face outwards, and advance towards each other. When they are close enough to link the ends of their hooked sticks the man then has to direct them all back through his starting hoop, while remaining hooked to the girl. The winners will be the first team, man and girl correctly hooked, through their hoop.

Game 4 - Heavy Water

Two Teams (Birmingham and Tamworth), 2 Heats. 1 male, 1 female. A man and a girl each carry a plank on their heads on which is placed a tub containing water. The inside ends of the planks are linked by a short line. The man and the girl negotiate, side by side, a course of obstacles, stepping stones, foam blocks, a low tape and a ramp. At the end of the course, they must empty the water they have carried into a clear perspex container. The teams can complete as many runs as they are able within the time limit. The winning team will be the one that has emptied the most water into their tub.

Game 5 - Bouncyclette

Three Teams, 3 Heats. 3 males, 2 females. Three men from the same team each ride a bicycle down an unevenly surfaced track. Between each cycle there are lines running between an attachment on the front of the frame. These must be kept reasonably taut, to retain a number of balls that are placed on them. If a ball falls off, a girl, one on each side of the three tracks, can throw a replacement onto the lines although this must be carefully judged as this action may endanger the stability of the balls already retained on the lines. At the end of the course, the balls must be placed in a square recepticle at ground level. The winning team will be the one that manages to transport the most balls down the course within the limit time.

Game 6 - Throw 'n' Jump

Two Teams (Stoke-on-Trent and Tamworth), 2 Heats. 1 male (playing), 2 females (playing), 2 opponent males (pushing). Two girls, one each side of the revolve, take a water-filled balloon from a storage area, throw it from behind a line to a male team mate who is strapped to an arm of the revolve. He must catch the balloon and throw it into a basket which is at the centre of the revolve. Two men from the opposing team operate the revolve. The winning team will be the one that manages to deposit the most balloons in the basket.

Marathon - Heads Together / Bounce Around

Round 1 - 1 Team, 3 Heats - 2 males, 2 females. Two men and one girl wear Humpty Dumpty costumes which prevent them seeing as they negotiate a course constantly keeping a large ball sitting between the heads of their costumes. They are directed through 'goals' by a girl from the same team who issues them with audible instructions. The number of goalposts that the ball has been carried through will be recorded at the end of each team's run.

Round 2 - 1 Team, 3 Heats - 2 males, 2 females. Two men and two girls each wear a Humpty Dumpty costume which have been adapted allowing the competitors to see out of them, although leg movement is restricted. They negotiate the same course of markers as used in Round 1, and must carry a large ball between their heads of their four costumes. The number of 'goals' passed through will be added to the Round 1 totals. Any markers that are knocked over are not counted towards the scoring.

Game 7 - Well Stacked

3 Teams, 1 Heat. 2 males, 2 females. Two girls load five barrels in a vertical stack onto a plank which is held by two male team members. Once the barrels are stacked, the men move up the course, bursting balloons with their feet, progressing towards the finishing line. If the stack of barrels collapses, it must be rebuilt before the men can continue down the course. The winners will be the team which reaches the finishing line first with an intact stack of five barrels, having burst all their balloons.

Additional Information

The start of this competition was delayed due to electrical failure of one of the BBC’s cameras. The actual start time of the recording was 30 minutes later than expected at 5.15 pm, and the programme finished just before 6.30 pm. Producer Cecil Korer had expressed his worries to the local press after the programme that there would not be enough light available for the final games. Fortunately, the sunny conditions had just held out long enough for the cameras to get acceptable pictures.

After the Tamworth team had won this heat, local coach firm Arnold’s was offering trips to Milan for £85. Leaving Tamworth on Sunday 13th June and returning to Tamworth on Saturday 19th June, the trip included five overnight stops and channel crossing by hovercraft!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 3

Event Staged: Sunday 18th April 1976 (Easter Sunday) at 4.45pm
Venue: Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 4th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Teams: Winchcombe v. Cirencester v. Newbury

Team Members:
Winchcombe - P. Hornby (Co-Team Coach), Barrie Lewis (Co-Team Coach), S. Baker, Pat Butler, V. Chapman, Keith Dancer, Helen Godfrey-Porton, P. Green, Lesley Hayden, N. Hobbs, D. Hunt, Edward Jones, T. Madley, Mary Morris, W. Moseley, Tom Mustoe, D. Owen, K. Parsons, Edward Sekulic, W. Slatter, R. Tyler, J. Wallis, Pam Webb;
Cirencester - Wyn Lloyd (Local Organiser), Walter Gray-Brown (Men’s Team Captain / Coach), June Lock (Women's Team Captain), Sarah Acres, Penny Allberry, Kenneth Anthony, Shaun Barron, Deborah Bates, Peter Britton, Eddie Butler, Ann Crane, Tony Crane, Barry Gardner, Patricia Harris, Andrew Hughes, Carolyn James, Kevin Magee, Andrew Myhill, Anita Newnham, Paul Perry, Michele Still, Sharon Townsend, Tony Weaven, David Williams, Joy Williams;
Newbury - John Norgate (Team Manager), Mike Hart (Team Coach / Men’s Team Captain), Sue Robertson (Women's Team Captain), John Bauer, Hilary Bowden, Timothy Cornish, Susan Grantham, Paul Heggis, Julian Hendy, Melvin Kastelnik, Rachel King, Mark Morris, Louise O’Neill, John Rice, Wenda Rice, Alisdair Ross, Douglas Smith, Richard Smith, Colin Street, Moyna Turner.

Games (Official Titles): Get the Sack, Hoopless, Knights of Favour, An Apple a Day, Hungry Henry, What a Knight and Crime Partners;
Marathon: Bursting to Win.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
2nd

 N • Newbury ● ●
 C • Cirencester
 W • Winchcombe

23
18
18

Newbury qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Caslano Malcantone, Switzerland:
staged on Wednesday 23rd June 1976

The Host Town and Venue

Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

This heat was held in the grounds of the Elizabethan Sudeley Castle. Dating back to the 10th century, the castle is noted for its gardens, and its chapel is the final resting place of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. The castle remains in use as a full-time residence and is only open on specific dates. The castle is said to be haunted by a tall woman wearing a green Tudor-styled dress. Local folklore states that the Lady in Green who looks out of a window and walks through the Queen's garden is thought to be the ghost of Catherine Parr.

With its historical setting, the games at this heat had a medieval theme with knights and armour.

Team Selection and Training

During training prior to the event, the Cirencester team changed their Women's Team Captain. Patricia Harris was originally intended to fill the position (and was credited as such in the souvenir programme for the event), but June Lock took over as Women's Team Captain on the day, while Patricia participated in the Marathon.

The Rehearsals

Newbury had finished in third place during the morning rehearsals, though the other teams were somewhat suspicious that the team may have been deliberately hiding their true potential.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - Get the Sack

One man is lifted on a wooden palette by two others. He takes sacks from the shelves and throws them to the girl who loads them onto a cart. When loaded the cart is pushed to the finish line.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Winchcombe (4pts awarded / Joker / 4pts total) 2nd Newbury (3pts / 3pts) 3rd Cirencester (1pt / 1pt)

Game 2 - Hoopless

Three men and three girls standing on a block have to throw quoits to a team-mate seated at the centre of a revolving platform with a catching pole in each hand. The platform is turned by the opposing team.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Newbury (2pts awarded / 5pts total) ▲ =2nd Cirencester (3pts / 4pts) ▲ =2nd Winchcombe (--- / 4pts) ▼

Game 3 - Knights of Favour

A girl at the end of the course holds out a favour on a pole. The knight, who is blindfolded, is directed down the course by his valet (a female team-mate), where he must knock four friars from the hemispherical platforms they are balancing upon. Once they have been toppled, he can pick up a favour from the end of the course and return - under vocal instruction from his female team-mate - to the start of the course, where the favour (a quoit with ribbons attached) is placed on a board by the valet. The knight can then repeat the course until limit time is up. The winner will be the knight that has collected the most favours and toppled the most friars.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Newbury (2pts awarded / 7pts total) =1st Winchcombe (3pts / 7pts) ▲ 3rd Cirencester (1pt / 5pts) ▼

Game 4 - An Apple a Day

One man and one girl stand on a large inflatable tube and must guard the nets on the three royal apple trees behind and above them with their shields. Their opponents, down the course behind a white line, must volley footballs over the guards and into the nets. The team scoring the greatest number of 'goals' within limit time will be declared the winner.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Cirencester (6pts awarded / Joker / 11pts total) ▲ 2nd Winchcombe (2pts / 9pts) ▼ 3rd Newbury (--- / 7pts) ▼

Game 5 - Hungry Henry

At the end of the course is a representation of voracious gourmant King Henry VIII, complete with a large mouth. Played over three heats, the game starts with a male and female team member running to a tub of balls from which they pick up tennis balls to throw at Henry's medallion. Once they have dislodged this adornment, Henry's large mouth opens and three other team members then join the first two in throwing balls, trying to get them down Henry's capacious gullet! This is not as easy as it appears as the mouth opens and closes, meaning that the aperture the team is aiming at is not always wide open. The team which throws the greatest number of balls into Henry's mouth will be declared the winner.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Cirencester (3pts awarded / 14pts total) 2nd Winchcombe (2pts / 11pts) 3rd Newbury (1pt / 8pts)

Game 6 - What a Knight

Two team-mates force open the castle doors with a battering ram and hold them open for a knight wearing a horse costume to pass through, carrying a large wooden stretcher behind him. Once through, he must discard the horse, move it to the front of the stretcher and then climb a greased slope to rescue a damsel. Together they escape down the slope, and then the damsel mounts the stretcher while the knight once again wriggles into the horse costume. He must then pull the stretcher - with the damsel on board - back through the castle doors and across the finishing line. The winner will be the team that completes the course in the fastest time.

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Cirencester (--- / 14pts total) =1st Newbury (6pts awarded / Joker / 14pts) ▲ 3rd Winchcombe (2pts / 13pts) ▼

Marathon - Bursting to Win

A man dressed in a Humpty Dumpty costume adorned with a giant Roundhead's helmet must burst balloons that are attached to five Cavaliers (in reality, cardboard standees). The man in the costume cannot see out of it, so he is directed towards the Cavaliers by a female team-mate, and he must burst the balloons with a series of tacks that are sticking out of the 'flaps' of his helmet. Each Cavalier sports six balloons, and all these have to be burst and the central starting disc returned to before the Roundhead can move onto the next balloons affixed to the next Cavalier. The team bursting the most balloons over the two Marathon rounds will win.

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Newbury (6pts awarded / 20pts total) 2nd Winchcombe (4pts / 17pts) ▲ 3rd Cirencester (2pts / 16pts) ▼

Comments: It was originally planned to have the second round of the Marathon vary from the first, with the Humptys negotiating a slalom course of Cavaliers covered in balloons, with the object being to burst as few balloons as possible. In the end it was decided to simply repeat the format of the first round.

Game 7 - Crime Partners

All three teams take part in this game simultaneously. A man and a girl from each team have to climb the keep walls to get inside the castle vaults. Once inside, they must grab as many bags of money as possible, stuff them down their elasticated trousers and return to the start of the course, where the female team member has to retrieve them from the man's trousers! The team with the greatest number of bags thieved will win.

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Newbury (3pts awarded / 23pts total) =2nd Cirencester (2pts / 18pts) ▲ =2nd Winchcombe (1pt / 18pts)

Team Personnel

Newbury team player Wenda Rice had been a member of local football team Newbury Ladies FC, and during a match against Southampton in December 1976, four members of the team including Wenda, were badly injured and they ended up in Reading Hospital. Wenda had been kicked in the stomach and had to be taken for X-rays to ensure that no serious injury had occurred.

In July 2011, Newbury team coach and captain Mike Hart celebrated 40 years of keeping his local residents fit and healthy. Mike, then 64 and still working as a physical education teacher at St. Bartholomew’s School, was at the centre of a special event for people, past and present, who had participated in his keep-fit classes over the years. Commenting on his classes which he started back in 1971 after working out to music, Mike said, "I liked the idea of bouncing around to music. I keep my keep-fit simple and basic. Some of the people here have been coming [to my classes] for 35 years, so I must be doing something right. I’ve still got another 15 years left in me."

Additional Information

Despite the suggestion that they were the team to beat, the Newbury team were still lying in last place after five games, some 6pts behind the leaders. But the team pulled out all the stops to win their Joker game and the Marathon, and incredibly had attained sufficient points to have secured victory before the final game, leading Winchcombe by 3pts!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 4

Event Staged: Sunday 2nd May 1976
Venue: Princess Mary Playing Fields, Littletown,
Liversedge, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 11th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Weather Conditions: Overcast with Heavy Rain Showers

Teams: Doncaster v. Kirklees v. Leeds

Team Members:

Doncaster (Full Squad) - Colin Glover (Team Captain and Men's Coach), David Allen, Joyce Anderson, Keith Brown, Sharon Buckley, Jeffrey Buxton, Andrew Camerson, David Corby, Dennis Crisp, David Etchell, Alan Gibbard, Alan Hallgate, John Hayes, Leslie Hayes, Pauline Hicks, Gillian Hughes, Franc Hughes, Adrian Hurst, Richard Hurst, Denis Ladd, Kevan Mellor, Michelle Mellor, Robert Mettham, Sandra Mills, James Moorhouse, Graham Morley, Trevor Parkinson, Graham Poole, Deryth Parnham, Carol Renney, Peter Wilson, Lee Stewart Worthington;

Kirklees (Full Squad) - Max Jones (Team Manager), Robert A. Blackshaw (Team Captain and Team Coach), Janet Fidler (Women's Team Captain), Julie Athey, Karen Athey, Eddie Berry, Kim Booth, Alan Conroy, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, Gillian Gaskin, Brian Hayhurst, Barry Hodgson, Ian Jowett, Barry Kenny, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Julie Mallalieu, Eileen Marchant, Dave Millman, Graham Overend, Lesley Rowell, Lynette Thompson, Janet Williams;
Leeds (Full Squad) - John Garner (Team Captain), Paul Brown, Jim Dolan, Nick Duckworth, Andy Gee, Andrew Hindle, David Jaques, John Keating, Sydney Larvin, Barry Lingard, Julia Mathews, Catherine McGreevy, Diane O'Mahoney, Chris Moores, Maeve O'Mahoney, Ian Stansfield, Lee Stevens, John Taylor, Linda Turrell, Robert West, Roger White, Jim Williamson, Bob Wilyman.

Games (Official Titles): In the Ring, Ottle Bottle, Goal Groping, Another Fine Mess, Brolley Ball, Brimfull and Getting High;
Marathon: Post the Ball / Give Me a Ring.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 K • Kirklees ● ●
 L • Leeds
 D • Doncaster

25
24
13

Kirklees qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Leeds, Great Britain:
staged on Wednesday 14th July 1976

The Host Town and Venue

Liversedge, West Yorkshire

This heat was held on the Princess Mary Playing Fields in Liversedge, south of Cleckheaton, adjacent to the field which was the scene of a pivotal event in 19th century British history with the Luddite rising. One of the most serious Luddite attacks took place at Rawfold’s Mill near Brighouse in Yorkshire. William Cartwright, the owner of Rawfold’s Mill, had been using cloth-finishing machinery since 1811. Local croppers began losing their jobs and after a meeting at Saint Crispin public house, they decided to try and destroy the cloth-finishing machinery at Rawfold’s Mill. Cartwright was suspecting trouble and arranged for the mill to be protected by armed guards. Led by George Mellor, a young cropper from Huddersfield, the attack on Rawfold’s Mill took place on 11th April, 1812. The Luddites failed in gaining entry and by the time they left, two of the croppers had been mortally wounded. Seven days later, the Luddites killed William Horsfall, another large mill-owner in the area. The authorities rounded up over a hundred suspects. Of these, sixty-four were indicted. Three men were executed for the murder of Horsfall and another fourteen were hung for the attack on Rawfold’s Mill.

Kirklees was created under the Local Government Act of 1972, and includes the towns of Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Holmfirth and Huddersfield.

Memories of It's A Knockout

When interviewed for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner in 2010, Kirklees team member, Eddie Berry, 60, recalled: "Leeds were favourite to win the first round held at Cleckheaton. The winner went through to the European heat to be held in Roundhay Park and we were sure that the BBC favoured Leeds to be the ‘home’ team. The Leeds team were made up from physical education students at Carnegie College and therefore were considered to suit this programme perfectly. However, the selection process of Kirklees meant that our team was a balance of members with a range of attributes in speed, strength, stamina and suppleness. In the rehearsals, we never set out to win – once we found the best way to do a particular competition the instructions were to mess it up so as not to give anything away. It was a lot of fun, but when it came to the competition, we took it very seriously."

Doncaster and Leeds took the lead at different stages but gradually Kirklees caught up. Their master-stroke was in playing the Kirklees Joker on the sixth game, which they won with ex-British gymnast and Huddersfield youth worker Brian Hayhurst first past the finish line. Before the final game - 'Carrying the Can' - Leeds were in the lead and Kirklees hopes again rested with Brian Hayhurst. After the Leeds team member fell off the cans, victory belonged to Brian and the Kirklees team.

Also interviewed were Dave Millman and Eileen Marchant. Dave, 60, then a Physical Education instructor at Huddersfield Sports Centre, recalled: "I think there were 200 people who applied and the trials went on for a week. After I won a place on the team I was in training at the Sports Centre three nights a week for the three weeks leading up to the programme. The BBC had sent us diagrams and explanations of the games we were to play at the Yorkshire heat in Cleckheaton. [At the end of the competition] it was very close, but we beat Leeds by just one point. They were devastated and they were asking for re-runs because Leeds was hosting the British International Heat. [The borough of Kirklees] hadn’t been going very long at that stage so it was sweet to beat Leeds".

Eileen, 65, an Almondbury magistrate said, "I remember it absolutely poured down from start to finish in Cleckheaton. There was one game which involved throwing flour bags over a net which was quite difficult in the rain."

Presenters, Officials and Production Team

When Stuart Hall introduced Eddie Waring he referred to him as the King Luddite - in reference to the Luddite Rising.

Additional Information

The Kirklees team were supported by a group of cheerleaders which included Jane Morton and Anita Steven, and the team's mascot was Kenny the Lamb. The event was reported as being attended by in excess of 4,000 spectators.

Amateur cine film of this event was shot by what was then called the Huddersfield Cine Club (now The Huddersfield Film Makers Club). Club treasurer Trevor Spencer was also interviewed by the Huddersfield Daily Examiner and commented: "On the day of the competition at Cleckheaton, everyone got very wet when halfway through it poured down. All the crew had to put on their waterproofs and they even had coats for the cameras. We were granted very good access to the competition, the only instructions being 'keep out of the way of the cameras and don't stray from the footboards'."

This amateur behind-the-scenes footage was included as part of a feature on the BBC regional programme Inside Out on Monday 12th December 2011. Forming one third of a half an hour programme the It's A Knockout item featured Stuart Hall returning to the scene of the 1976 IAK heat from Liversedge (Cleckheaton) and being reintroduced to former members of the Kirklees team. The item built up to an It's A Knockout competition between the Kirklees team members in the Liversedge swimming pool. Team members taking part in the feature were Team Coach/Captain Robert Blackshaw, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Eileen Marchant and Dave Millman. Sadly, team member Jonathan Crossland, who won the mini-It's A Knockout competition in the Inside Out programme, passed away before the feature was broadcast. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 5

Event Staged: Sunday 9th May 1976 from 4.45pm
Venue: Harlow Sportcentre, Harlow, Essex, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 18th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Weather Conditions: Sunny and Warm

Teams: Harlow v. Lee Valley Park v. Thurrock

Team Members included:
Harlow - Mike Orsbourn (Team Manager), Dave Patey (Team Coach), Ken Walton (Assistant Team Coach), John Beer, Carol Bull, Barry Burton, Veronica Cullen, Alan Dainton, Alan Green, Michael Hall, Alison Harkin, Colin Hendrie, John Jackson, Peter Jesse, Karen Larn, Sue Mapstone, Craig Mitchinson, John Rickards, Christopher Saunders, James Sullivan, Janet Unwin, Alison White and Stephen Wilson;

Lee Valley Park - Bob Dobson, David Gray, Ray Ledwith, David Marr, Linda Morrey, Barry McLellan, Jill Rawlings, Brian Roberts, Christine Smythe, Colin Stockley, Lorna Turnbull;
Thurrock - Malcolm Gow (Team Manager), Terry Lax (Team Captain), Jack Benton (Team Coach), Julie Bannister, Michael Brightwell, Costa Buller, Trevor Burge, Malcolm Burton, Geoffrey Cave, John Chapman, Colin Elsden, Andrea Eustace, Geraldine Gray, David Groom, Tony Hills, Alan Jousiffe, Susan Jousiffe, Susan Kane, Gloria Kemp, Michael ‘Doc’ Leckenby, Valerie McCormack, Kay Meiklejohn, Erica Morris, Ray ‘The Star’ Page, Jack Palmer, Colin Paxman, Ray Smallcombe, William Smith, Gary Telfer, Bob Williams.

Games (Official Titles): Stilted Walk, Steady Hands, Net-ball, Whoops, Dynamic Dumpties, Cushions and Stack-dem-sacks;
Marathon: It Takes Two / Cymbalists.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
=2nd
=2nd

 T • Thurrock ● ●
 H • Harlow
 L • Lee Valley Park

23
19
19

Thurrock qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Liège, Belgium:
staged on Wednesday 11th August 1976

The Host Town

Harlow, Essex

Harlow is located in the county of Essex and currently has a population of around 79,000. Although the market town of Harlow had been on the map for over 2,000 years, it was not until the mid-1940s that it came to prominence.

Following the end of World War II, there was a need to ease overcrowding in London and the surrounding areas due to the mass devastation and destruction caused by the bombing during the Blitz. Harlow was classified as a ‘Phase I’ new town along with others such as Basildon, Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage. These were designated as such following the New Town’s Act of 1946, with the master plan for Harlow drawn up the following year by Sir Frederick Gibberd (1908-84) who was an architect, town planner and landscape designer. The development of the area would incorporate the market town on Harlow (known today as Old Harlow) and the villages of Great Parndon, Latton, Tye Green, Potter Street, Churchgate Street, Little Parndon and Nettleswell (most of which survive today as neighbourhoods of the town itself). Harlow has one of the most extensive cycle track networks in the country which connects all parts of the town. Harlow is notable for being the location of Britain’s first-ever pedestrian precinct as well as the first modern-style residential tower-block, The Lawn, which consists of nine storeys arranged in a butterfly design on an area of open ground and surrounded by oak trees. It was constructed in 1951 and now stands as a Grade II listed building. Architect Gibberd’s pair of tromp-l’œil (translated as ‘deceive the eye’ and is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions) curved terraces facing a cricket green in Orchard Croft, won a British Housing Award in the same year. 

The Venue

Harlow, Sportcentre

This heat was staged at the Harlow Sportcentre, which was completed in 1960 on fields belonging to Parndon Hall Farm, part of the Parndon Hall Estate (the large house now in the grounds of Princess Alexander Hospital), and was to be the first-ever purpose built sports centre in the United Kingdom.

The 30-acres (12ha) of land were located between the town centre and Harlow Town railway station and was designed to house a stadium for football and athletics, a cricket pitch and an indoor sports hall for other sports such as squash and badminton. The voluntary project began in 1958 by the Harlow and District Sports Trust, a charity that was granted a £21,000 grant from the Isaac Wolfson Trust and a 99-year lease at a nominal rent for the site. A supporters’ club was formed and over the next few years raised an additional £20,000. The first things to be laid out were the athletics track and the cricket and football pitches. The next priority was the sports hall and more money was raised including a 'penny-a-week' scheme with thousands of Corporation tenants contributing. There were no professional fees involved with the architect, Frederick Gibberd (1908-1984) and the quantity surveyors, (Horace) Langdon and (Thomas) Every, giving their services for free and George Wimpey and Company constructing the building at cost price. Since that time, it earned a deserved reputation for its outstanding range of facilities, coaching programmes and school and community links. It also had its own all-weather ski-slope.

The track surrounding the football pitch of Harlow Town FC was in such a poor state of repair due to poor upkeep and funding, that after 1995 no further meetings were staged there. With usage numbers dwindling, a drive to replace the old sportcentre took off when the Harlow Sports Partnership launched their vision for Harlow ALIVE, a comprehensive vision for the future of sport and leisure in the town. This partnership was formed in 1997 and in-depth research took place. It was felt there was a need to update the facilities and offer the people of the town opportunities to improve their lives through sport in a complex that would house both wet and dry sports facilities and by the beginning of 2000, plans were on the table to build a new leisure centre in the town. This was to cumulate with the building of the Leisurezone.

Harlow Town FC continued to play their Isthmian League games at the centre and although promotion was achieved five times, including lifting the Division One and Division Two (North) titles, the club suffered four consecutive relegations and had to sit-out the 1992-93 season after severe financial problems threatened the club’s very existence. Despite all this, the club had made a name for itself during the 1979-80 season, with a terrific F.A. Cup run, which saw the club progress to the fourth round proper, having started out in the preliminary round. Wins against Lowestoft, Hornchurch, Bury Town, Harwich & Parkeston, Margate, Leytonstone-Ilford, Southend United and finally Leicester City, gave the club a fourth round tie away to Watford. The BBC’s Match of the Day cameras were at Vicarage Road as Harlow eventually bowed out of the competition, losing 4-3 to Graham Taylor’s side. The club got back on its feet following the problems of the early 1990’s and moved in September 2006 to a new ground at Barrows Farm, a mile and a half to the west of their old Sportcentre location, and after awaiting clearance from the Ryman League to start playing at the new Stadium played their first senior match in a Division 1 North fixture versus Ware on 18th October. After this, the old Sportcentre site closed its doors to the public for the last time. At the beginning of 2007, it was sold to property developers and has since been demolished and the land used for a new housing development.

Construction work began in 2009 on the new £25 million Leisurezone facility, located just 2,500ft (800m) south of the original centre at the junction of Velizy Avenue and Second Avenue. It includes a 25m eight-lane swimming pool and tennis and squash courts and finally opened in June 2010.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - Stilted Walk

The first game - ‘Stilted Walk’ - was played in unison and featured four competitors (three males and one female), with the three males walking on stilts, going in turn to collect a bunch of balloons from the end of the course, over which they had to negotiate various surfaces. As each male competitor returned As each male competitor returned, he was to hand the balloons to a female team mate to hold, passing over his stilts so that the next male could collect more balloons. The team collecting the most bunches of balloons within the time limits would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Lee Valley Park (3pts awarded / 3pts total) 2nd Thurrock (2pts / 2pts) 3rd Harlow (1pt / 1pt)

Marathon 1, Round 1 - It Takes Two

The next game - ‘It Takes Two’ - was the first of two Marathon games, with each team playing once in each part and the Harlow team going first. The game featured two competitors (one male, one female) with a net slung between them as they had to walk along two raised horizontal poles which grew wider apart the further the competitors traversed the course. A series of balls and bobbins were arranged along the course, and the male competitor, walking backward behind the female, had to pick up the balls and throw them over his head and into the net that she held before her. The bobbins had to remain standing or penalties would be applied to the time. The team collecting the greater number of balls in the fastest time after penalties would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Marathon Standings: 1st Harlow (15 balls)

Comments: This game was adapted late in the day, so that instead of both players walking forwards with the net between them, the female was walking forwards and the male backwards, the competitors were tethered to each other at the ankles, and the net was held in front of the female. It is likely that the game was tried in its initial conception and was considered too easy to complete.

Game 2 - Steady Hands

The second game - ‘Steady Hands’ - was played individually over two heats by two of the three teams (with Thurrock not participating) and witnessed Harlow presenting their Joker for play. It featured two competitors (one male, one female) from each team, standing on the centre of a revolve, which was operated by two male members of the opposing team. The object of the game was to take buckets of water from an adjacent stand and pour their contents into a container, down a sluice channel, whilst the opposing team members attempt to make the operation difficult for them by spinning the revolve and in doing so affecting their balance. The team with the higher measure of water collected within the time allowed would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Harlow (6pts awarded / Joker / 7pts total) ▲ 2nd Lee Valley Park (2pts / 5pts) ▼ 3rd Thurrock (--- / 2pts) ▼

Marathon 1, Round 2 - It Takes Two

The second and penultimate heat of the first Marathon saw the next team trying to emulate the target set by their rivals.

Running Marathon Standings: 1st Harlow (15 balls) 2nd Lee Valley Park (14)

Game 3 - Net-ball

The third game - ‘Net-ball’ - was played in unison and witnessed Thurrock presenting their Joker for play. The game featured three competitors (two males and one female) from each team, with the two males equipped with poles which they used to push a ball off a high net, after which they had to scramble with them through two tubes. After negotiating the first tube, they had to climb out and sound a horn before entering the second tube. Once they had emerged from this second tube, they had to hand the ball to a female team mate who would place it in a container at the end of the course. This process was repeated until limit time was reached. The team that collected the greater number of balls within the time limit would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Harlow (2pts awarded / 9pts total) 2nd Thurrock (6pts / Joker / 8pts) ▲ 3rd Lee Valley Park (2pts / 7pts) ▼

Marathon 1, Round 3 - It Takes Two

The third and final heat of the first Marathon saw the remaining team trying to emulate the totals achieved earlier by their rivals.

Running Marathon Standings: 1st Harlow (15 balls) =2nd Lee Valley Park (14) =2nd Thurrock (14)

Game 4 - Whoops

The fourth game - ‘Whoops’ - was played individually over two heats by two of the three teams (with Lee Valley Park not participating) and featured eight competitors (five males and three females) from each team, with two male team members from the opposing team again operating the revolve. One male and one female competitor stood at the centre of the revolve, throwing hoops towards balls on top of sticks held by team mates on podia arranged equidistantly around the revolve, the object being to displace the balls. Once the balls have been displaced, the sticks were used to catch the hoops. The team with the greater number of hoops collected correctly within the time limit would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: =1st Harlow (2pts awarded / 11pts total) =1st Thurrock (3pts / 11pts) ▲ 3rd Lee Valley Park (--- / 7pts)

Marathon 2, Round 1 - Cymbalists

The next game was the first heat of the second Marathon - 'Cymbalists' - which was played individually over three heats by two competitors (one male, one female) from each team. The game involved a female team member, armed with a pair of wooden cymbals with a series of small nails protruding from their insides, and she had to catch and burst water-filled balloons thrown to her by a male team mate walking along a pair of raised, horizontal, parallel poles between which the balloons were placed. The winning team would be the one that burst the greater number of balloons within the time limit. The points would be added to those scored by each team in the first part of the Marathon.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Marathon Standings: 1st Harlow (15 balls + 17 = 32) 2nd Lee Valley Park (14) 3rd Thurrock (14)

Game 5 - Dynamic Dumptys

The fifth game - ‘Dynamic Dumptys’ - was played individually and featured one male competitor from each team walking along a course wearing a Humpty Dumpty costume in which only one arm is free. He first had to burst balloons on stands with a fly swatter and then use his feet to jump on another series of balloons at the end of the course. The final act of the game, after all the balloons had been burst, was for the competitor to sound a hooter just beyond the last of the balloons. The team completing the course in the faster time would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Thurrock (3pts awarded / 14pts total) 2nd Harlow (1pt / 12pts) ▼ 3rd Lee Valley Park (2pts / 9pts)

Marathon 2, Round 2 - Cymbalists

The second and penultimate heat of the second Marathon saw the next team making one last effort to improve on their total.

Running Marathon Standings: 1st Harlow (15 balls + 17 = 32) 2nd Lee Valley Park (14 + 13 = 27) 3rd Thurrock (14)

Game 6 - Cushions

The sixth and penultimate game - ‘Cushions’ - was played in unison and witnessed Lee Valley Park presenting their Joker for play. The game featured one male competitor from each team, standing on a podium, who had to take cushions from a pile and stack them on a palette using a long handled lifting shovel to transfer them. The team that has collected and stacked the greater number of cushions on their palette within limit time would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Thurrock (2pts awarded / 16pts total) 2nd Lee Valley Park (6pts / Joker / 15pts) ▲ 3rd Harlow (--- / 12pts) ▼

Marathon 2, Round 3 - Cymbalists

The third and final round of the second Marathon saw the remaining team making one last effort to improve on their total.

At the end of this round, both teams had incredibly collected the same number of discs and the game ended in a draw.

Final Marathon Standings: 1st Thurrock (14 balls + 19 balloons = 33) ▲ 2nd Harlow (15 + 17 = 32) ▼ 3rd Lee Valley Park (14 + 13 = 27) ▼

Running Scores and Positions: 1st Thurrock (6pts awarded / 22pts total) 2nd Lee Valley Park (2pts / 17pts) 3rd Harlow (4pts / 16pts)

Comments: After winning the Marathon, Thurrock had accumulated sufficient points to secure overall victory.

Game 7 - Stack-dem-sacks

The seventh and final game - ‘Stack-dem-sacks’ - was played in unison featured five competitors (three males and two females) from each team. One of the females had to take sacks up to two male team mates on roller skates, who then transport them up the course to two further team mates (one male, one female). These team members are standing on an air tube on which they endeavour to build as high a stack of sacks as possible. The team constructing the higher stack of sacks within the time permitted would be declared the winners.

Image © BBC, 1976

Final Scores and Positions: 1st Thurrock (1pt awarded / 23pts total) =2nd Harlow (3pts / 19pts) ▲ =2nd Lee Valley Park (2pts / 19pts)

Additional Information

Starting this year and until 1981, the BBC scheduled a Domestic heat as close to London as possible around the first or second Saturday in May. The reason for this was that It’s A Knockout commentator Eddie Waring would be in London on commentary duties at the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final (held on one of the aforementioned Saturdays) and as he had now reached the age of 66, the BBC assisted in reducing his travelling commitments.

Lee Valley (Regional) Park is a 26 mile (42 km) long area, running through the North East of London from the River Thames to Ware in Hertfordshire, through areas such as Hackney, Camden, Tottenham, Enfield, Cheshunt, Broxbourne and Hoddesdon.

Thurrock was created under the Local Government Act of 1972, and includes the towns of Gray’s Thurrock and Tilbury.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 6

Event Staged: Sunday 16th May 1976
Venue: Seafront Boating Lake, Redcar, Cleveland, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 25th June 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Teams: Redcar v. Carlisle v. Durham

Team Members (Full Squads):
Redcar - Fred Procter (Men’s Team Captain), Denise Appleby (Women's Team Captain), Corinne Appleton, David Bennett, Clive Birkbeck, Marion Calvert, Jack Foster, Julie Frown, Ian Hayton, Edward Holder, Peter Howe, Alexandra Miller, David Monroe, Alan Russell, Frank Towning, Anne Vickers, Jeff Wright; Reserves: Linda Hirst and Ian Scott;
Carlisle - Steve Rogerson (Men's Team Captain), Julia Lamb (Women's Team Captain), Richard Bell, Joy Calver, Barbara Davidson, Phillipa Dodd, Judith Harrison, Alan Howarth, David Hughes, Peter Kelley, Norman Leighton, George Nicholson, Peter Reay, Alan Shepherd, Joe Smith, Olive Smith, John Willis; Reserves: Valerie Carrick and Kevin Yates;
Durham - George Wardle (Mens' Team Captain), Barbara Power (Women's Team Captain), Shirley Armstrong, Geoff Bell, Janet Bowman, Linda Brown, Cliff Featherstone, Stanley Gelson, Bill Hofman, Geoff Kershaw, Jackie King, Fred Lowes, Dave Ritchie, Ernest Sarsfield, Malcolm Thomas, Alan Walton, Janis Wilton; Reserves: Andrea Riddell and Michael Roberts.

Games (Official Titles): When My Tub Comes In, Hello Sailor, Frog Marching, Light Work, Gravy Boats, They’re Flagging and Board Walk;
Marathon: Hammer Horror (Round 1), Hammer Horrors (Round 2).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 R • Redcar ● ●
 D • Durham
 C • Carlisle

25
19
15

Redcar qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Bad Mergentheim, West Germany:
staged on Wednesday 25th August 1976

The Host Town

Redcar, Cleveland

Redcar is a seaside town in the North East of England named after the Redcar rocks, which were petrified giant redwood trees millions of years ago. It is located on the North Sea coast in the north-east corner of the county of North Yorkshire, 217 miles (349km) north of London and 33½ miles (54km) south-east of Newcastle -upon-Tyne.

It originated as a fishing town in the early 14th century, trading with the larger adjacent town of Coatham. It was not until the mid-19th century, with the opening of the Middlesbrough to Redcar Railway in 1846 that the town emerged as a seaside tourist destination. Every year people from North Yorkshire, Leeds and Scotland would visit the town for their holidays. From the 1800s to the present day, Redcar has had its traditional donkey rides, owned for over a hundred years by the Burniston family. Diversifying into antique and jewellery dealing, scrap-metal merchants, car body-shop owners and even wool shops, the family also ran other businesses in the town, and still owns the rights to the donkey rides to this day. Although the town has had two piers, neither of them survives today. Plans for Redcar Pier were drawn up in 1866, but work was not started until 1871, by which time building a pier at Coatham had already been suggested. Misfortune however struck both piers very early in their lives. Coatham Pier was wrecked before it could be completed when two sailing ships were driven through it in a storm. It had to be shortened because of the cost of repairs and was reopened with two kiosks, a roller-skating rink and a bandstand. In October 1898, the barque Birger almost completely wrecked the pier, and afterwards the pier was allowed to disintegrate. A glass house for concerts was added to the remains of the pier, and this was replaced by the New Pavilion Theatre in 1928, which then became the Regent cinema in the early 1960s. An anchor from the Birger can be seen on the seafront pavement opposite the Zetland lifeboat museum. Like its Coatham counterpart, Redcar Pier also had a sad history following its construction. In October 1880 it was struck by the brig Luna causing over £1,000 worth of damage (a considerable amount for the time). On New Year’s Eve 1885, the SS Cochrane demolished the pier’s landing stage, whilst the schooner Amarant went through the pier in 1897. If this was not enough, the following year the pier head burnt down. Despite all this, the Victorians were not disheartened and repaired the pier and in 1907 a pavilion ballroom was built on it behind the entrance kiosks. With growing interest and popularity, the pavilion was extended in 1928. The pavilion continued in use after the Second World War despite the deliberate breaching (sectioning) of the pier (to prevent it being used by enemy invasion forces) and structural weakening caused by a nearby mine explosion. Damage to the pier by subsequent storms finally led to its demolition in 1981.

Although small in terms of area, Redcar has its own racecourse which was built in 1875 and boasts of the only straight mile in England. The Redcar Clock was built in 1911 in honour of King Edward VII (1841-1910) who was a regular visitor to Redcar.

The Venue

Seafront Boating Lake

The games at this heat were staged on the town’s boating lake which was originally part of the Coatham Enclosure built in the year 1930 at the western end of the town. It was in the open air, and contained gardens, lawns, with wooden seating around a boating lake.

The enclosure/boating lake itself was very popular, and had an island in the centre accessed by a stone bridge. The steps up to the bridge were illuminated with electric lighting. On the island was another wooden Edwardian circular shelter, complete with seating, and a tiled roof. These structures matched the entrance shelters, and those along the sea front. The boating lake shelter was eventually taken away, and a fountain replaced it. An open air swimming pool was situated nearby. Sadly in the decades following this programme, fell into somewhat of a dilapidated state with the boating lake becoming unused and the swimming baths removed. However, a major £700,000 refurbishment programme of the boating lake itself was originally planned to begin in 2008 which involved draining the lake and excavating the whole area. This work was put on hold until early 2009 due to council elections and bad weather. Finally completed, the boating lake was re-opened on Friday 23rd October 2009 and included a large circular mosaic depicting the Rt. Hon. Marjorie 'Mo' Mowlam (1949-2005), who was the Member of Parliament for Redcar for almost 14 years (1987-2001), in the centre.

Her mosaic depiction is surrounded by images including the beach where she used to walk, racehorses to depict Redcar Racecourse where she celebrated her wedding, the steelworks, the Zetland lifeboat, hands clasped for peace and doves to depict the Northern Ireland peace process (for which she instigated and saw through the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998) and the Houses of Parliament.

At the time of transmission, Redcar was part of the small county of Cleveland which had been created in 1974. However, in a parliamentary reorganisation in 1996, Cleveland was abolished and the town became part of the new borough of Redcar and Cleveland and returned to its original county of North Yorkshire.

The Games in Detail

Game 1 - When My Tub Comes In

The first game - ‘When My Tub Comes In’ - was played by four competitors (one male and three females) from each team. At the whistle, one girl went from a float to stand on her section of air tube, whilst one man from her team rowed his tub to collect her and return to his starting point. Whilst they returned in the tub, the second girl from the team stood on the air tube awaiting collection in the same way, and so on, until all three girls had been moved from the air tube to the finishing point. The first team to have moved all three girls correctly to the finishing point would be declared the winners.

Game 2 - Hello Sailor

The second game - ‘Hello Sailor’ - was played by two male and two female competitors. Two girls stood on water skis whilst two men from the same team in a paddle boat pulled them across the pool to pick up a sailor from a float which they have to circle around. When the sailor had been picked up, they had to return with him to the finish. The winning team would be the first one back to the finish with the sailor.

Game 3 - Frog Marching

The third game - ‘Frog Marching’ - was played by two members of each team (one male, one female). One man in suitable headgear was required to walk across the pool on stilts, picking up a number of frogs on his way, by lifting up a ringed float with the beak on his costume, then returning with them to the shore where a girl from his team had to remove the frogs and place them in a basket for scoring. The team with the most frogs caught within the time limit would be declared the winner.

Game 4 - Light Work

The fourth game - ‘Light Work’ - was played by two male and three female competitors from each team. All four team members move a lighthouse from a float it was on, across the pool to another float on which they had to re-erect the lighthouse with the help of a third girl waiting for them. The winning team would be the one that finished first having moved and rebuilt the lighthouse correctly.

Game 5 - Gravy Boats

The fifth game - ‘Gravy Boats’ - was played by a single male team member from each team. One man in a gravy boat had to paddle across the pool, picking up floats to haul in a number of sacks, loading them in his boat to continues to the finish. The first team with all sacks aboard their gravy boat would be declared the winner.

Game 6 - They're Flagging

The sixth and penultimate game - ‘They're Flagging’ - was played by four male competitors from each team, two of whom were reserves only to be brought into the game if one or both of the first two failed in their objective. Two men on a Viking ship had to circumnavigate three floats. One the men was to row whilst the other stood on the back of the craft, collecting a single flag from each of the floats passed. As the two ships involved in the game passed each other, the man collecting the flags was permitted to try to push the opposing team collector off his ship using his 'aggro pole'. If a collector was successfully pushed off his ship, one of the two reserve collectors could then paddle out from the shore to continue collecting flags. The team with the most flags collected within limit time would be declared the winner.

Marathon - Hammer Horror / Hammer Horrors

The Marathon was played out by each team consecutively in between regular games. For the first three heats - entitled 'Hammer Horror' - one female team member had to stepp on a float to burst a number of balloons on a floating plank as quickly as possible, using a long-handled hammer. The quickest team to burst all balloons and return to shore won. For the second set of three heats - entitled 'Hammer Horrors' - one man had to step on a float to burst a number of balloons on floating planks either side of him, using a long-handled hammer. Again, the quickest team to burst all balloons and return to shore won.

Game 7 - Board Walk

The seventh and final game - ‘Board Walk’ - was played by nine competitors from each team (six men and three women). All competitors had to walked from their respective start float, across the pool on floating planks, without falling off, to their finish float. Any person falling off the plank had to return to their start float before trying again. The first team to have all their team on their finish float would be declared the winner.

Additional Information

The opening shots of this heat show presenter Stuart Hall wearing a waterproof suit aboard a small craft on the boating lake, and as he is introducing the programme buckets of water are continuously thrown at him to give the illusion of being at sea in rough weather. However, it did not take much to give the illusion, as the weather had changed drastically to those days leading up to the contest!

The resort had enjoyed two days of glorious warm weather leading up to the day of the contest, but the conditions changed dramatically on the day of competition. A westerly gale force wind blew in from the North Sea and as the games were all held inside or on the water, it caused havoc for the teams. The winds were so strong that the BBC had to change the format for the games throughout the filming so as not to disadvantage any teams. After the recording, series producer Cecil Korer stated, “The weather has certainly caused us [the BBC] some problems today. We had to play each game by ear, because we did not want any of these wonderful teams to feel that their opponents had been treated advantageously. This resulted in changing many of the original game ideas right up to the last minute, because as most of the games were played on the water’s surface, the wind could have disadvantaged some more than others”.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Knockout 1976

Heat 7

Event Staged: Sunday 23rd May 1976
Venue: King's Park, Stirling, Central Scotland, Scotland

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Friday 2nd July 1976, 8.00-9.00pm

Weather Conditions: Sunny and Warm

Teams: Stirling v. Edinburgh v. Linlithgow

Team Members included:
Stirling - June Gillies (Team Captain), James Benny, Christine Bewick, Kim Bricker, Stuart Brown, George Dougall, Bill Ferguson, Paul Machin, Tracy McKew, Alistair Miller, Charlotte Neilson, Dave Piggott, Ian Whitelaw;
Edinburgh - John Brittain, Richie Dixon, Norman Donkey, Richard Dunn, Christine Fowler, Andy Irvine, Charlie Jackson, Ronnie Jefferies, Susan Mackenzie, Gerry McManus, Anna Munroe, Ray Pointing, Jenny Smith, Ronnie Smith, Ruth Watt;
Linlithgow - Douglas Forman (Team Manager), Douglas Ball (Co-Team Coach), Donald Ford (Co-Team Coach), Jackie McFadyen (Co-Team Coach), Graeme Harvey (Men’s Team Captain), Rosemary French (Women's Team Captain), Ronald Bamberry, Linda Braithwaite, Dale Couper, Norman Cummings, John Forgan, Diana Gilmore, Bill Henderson, Robert Hogg, Derek Isles, Gerard Keating, Glen McFee, Susan McMaster, Derek Marshall, Kathleen Pedie, Michael Tierney.

Games: Wheelbarrow Balance, Posting the Letters, Beat the Goalie, Balloon Bounce, Tethered Trifle Transfer, Goals Over the Humps, The Castle Turrets;
Marathon: Diving into the Hoops / Up Through the Hoops.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd

 E • Edinburgh ● ●
 S • Stirling

 L • Linlithgow
 

22
19
18

Edinburgh qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières at Groningen, Netherlands:
staged on Wednesday 8th September 1976

The Host Town

Stirling, Central Scotland

Stirling is a university city in central Scotland, located in a triangle between Glasgow (26 miles (41.8km) to the south-west), Edinburgh (37 miles (59.5km) to the south-east) and Perth (27miles (43.4km) to the north-east).

It has around 33,000 inhabitants and is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old town on the River Forth, and although it was once the capital of Scotland, it was not granted official city status until 2002, as part of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. Historically, it was strategically important as the ‘Gateway to the Highlands’, with its position near the boundary between the Scottish Lowlands and the Highlands, and has been described as the brooch which clasps the Highlands and the Lowlands together. The city’s symbol is the wolf, which it shares with Rome. According to legend, when Stirling was under attack from Viking invaders, a wolf howled, alerting the townspeople in time to save the town. The University of Stirling, which was opened in 1967 was built on a green-field site outside the town. Currently there are around 12,000 students studying at the university.

The Venue

King's Park

The games at this heat were staged in King’s Park which was once a royal hunting forest for the Royal Court at Stirling and is the city’s biggest and most popular green space. 

There are two gardens within the castle surrounds, the southern one including a bowling green. Below the castle's west wall is the King's Knot, a 16th century formal garden, now only visible as earthworks, but once including hedges and knot-patterned parterres. The gardens were built on the site of a medieval jousting arena known as the Round Table, in imitation of the legendary court of King Arthur. The park offers many amenities and leisure activities and during the summer months (and particularly when there is good weather), the park is usually heaving with locals relaxing and spending time with their families. Amongst these amenities can be found Crazy Golf, a putting green, a giant draught and chess board with similar-sized playing pieces, tennis courts, climbing frames, trampolines and there is even a permanent helter-skelter. In more recent times, an additional ‘wheelie park’ has been added, catering for all things on wheels i.e. skateboards, skates and BMX bikes. The Council provided funding of £180,000 and an online petition with 713 signatures helped secure additional funding of £100,000 from SportScotland to make the changes. Whilst there is plenty of space to run around and to explore, the park’s proximity to the golf course means that visitors still have to look out for low flying golf balls!

Media Attention

The Stirling Observer newspaper, reflecting upon this event in June 2016, noted that it was still surrounded by controversy, forty years on. Stirling team members felt that the BBC production team were keen for the Edinburgh to win the event as this would guarantee higher ratings for the Domestic Final. Additionally, drawing on a report by Jack Haggerty in a May 1976 edition of the newspaper, it revealed that "11,000 had paid 25p to watch the event but... the same number again sneaked into the park without paying. It was no surprise then that many of those attending complained they couldn't see what was happening and left in disgust." Rose Shaddick, who took along her nine-year-old son George, was quote by Haggerty as saying that, "George had been looking forward to this for ages but he didn't get to see a thing. It was an absolute shambles. We came away shortly after it started." Apparently, Bob Crawford, then the recreation officer for Stirling Council, apologised but said they had no way of predicting how many people would turn up.

Additional Information

The venue for this heat had caused some stirrings by Linlithgow MP, Tam Dalyell (later to become Father of the House). Ever since the team had been chosen as one of the three teams, he had campaigned tirelessly to get the BBC to change its mind and hold the heat in Linlithgow. His wish was to have had it staged on Linlithgow Peel, a small green area located next to Linlithgow Palace which stands overlooking the shore of Linlithgow Loch. The BBC remained adamant that the venue in the grounds of Stirling Castle (in fact it was to be the main car park outside the castle) was not going to be changed. However, just three weeks before the actual event, the BBC switched venues and announced that the event would take place in King's Park, albeit still in Stirling!

Interestingly, the competing teams’ local newspapers had contrasting scores of the final result. The Stirling Gazette published the final result ending Edinburgh 21 pts, Stirling 17 pts and Linlithgow 12 pts. The Linlithgow Courier showed the town’s down-hearted team captain, Graeme Harvey standing in front of the final scoreboard with the correct scores of those shown above.

The Stirling team mascot was Humperdinck, an Arabian camel from the Blair Drummond Safari Park, which is located about 5 miles north-east of Stirling city centre.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

GB

It's A Championship Knockout 1976

Domestic Final

Event Staged: Sunday 27th June 1976
Venue: Arena North, Park Hall, Charnock Richard, Lancashire, England

Transmission:
BBC1 (GB): Wednesday 4th August 1976, 7.15-8.30pm

Radio Times Trophy presented by: John Inman of Are You Being Served?

Weather Conditions: Sunny and Hot

Teams: Blackpool v. Edinburgh v. Kirklees v. Newbury v. Redcar v. Tamworth v. Thurrock

Team Members included:
Blackpool - Bob Battersby (Team Captain), Brian Bottomley, Bill Brown, Clive Burbank, Sharon Hull, Caroline Jenkins, Mike Lomas, Pete Manning, James Merridew, Deborah Riley, Julian Salanki, Janina Slusarski, Stuart Thompson, Cheryl Whitham, Ian Witton;
Edinburgh - John Brittain, Richie Dixon, Norman Donkey, Richard Dunn, Christine Fowler, Andy Irvine, Charlie Jackson, Ronnie Jefferies, Susan Mackenzie, Gerry McManus, Anna Munroe, Ray Pointing, Jenny Smith, Ronnie Smith, Ruth Watt;
Kirklees - Rob Blackshaw (Team Coach and Captain), Karen Athey, Julie Athey, Eddie Berry, Kim Booth, Alan Conrey, Jonathan Crossland, Paul Dallas, Janet Fidler, Gillian Gaskin, Brian Hayhurst, Barry Hodgson, Ian Jowett, Barry Kenny, David Laverick, Tony Lees, Julie Mallalieu, Eileen Marchant, Dave Millman, Graham Overend, Lesley Rowell, Lynette Thompson and Janet Williams;
Newbury - John Norgate (Team Manager), Mike Hart (Team Coach & Men’s Team Captain), Sue Robertson (Women's Team Captain), John Bauer, Hilary Bowden, Timothy Cornish, Susan Grantham, Paul Heggis, Julian Hendy, Melvin Kastelnik, Rachel King, Mark Morris, Louise O’Neill, John Rice, Linda Rice, Alisdair Ross, Douglas Smith, Richard Smith, Colin Street, Moyna Turner;
Redcar - Fred Procter (Men’s Team Captain), Denise Appleby (Women's Team Captain), Corinne Appleton, David Bennett, Clive Birkbeck, Marion Calvert, Jack Foster, Julie Frown, Ian Hayton, Edward Holder, Peter Howe, Alexandra Miller, David Monroe, Alan Russell, Frank Towning, Anne Vickers, Jeff Wright; Reserves: Linda Hirst and Ian Scott
Tamworth - Geoff Beales (Men’s Team Captain), Barbara ‘Bunny’ Culclough (Women's Team Captain), Stanley Ashmore, Martin Barker, Denise Battersby, Keith Bowater, Nathalie Bullows, Susan Chappell, Wendy Chappell, Helen Dale, John Davis, Ralph Graham, Martin Heafield, Teresa Jones, Ann Lyth, Brian Mandry, Petra Morgan, Stephanie O'Neal, Michael Pointon, John Sedgwick, Dawn Sewell, Chris Shilton, Jenny Smale, Steven Walters, Robert Wesley, Sue Wileman;
Thurrock - Malcolm Gow (Team Manager), Terry Lax (Team Captain), Julie Bannister, Jack Benton, Michael Brightwell, Costa Buller, Trevor Burge, Malcolm Burton, Geoffrey Cave, John Chapman, Colin Elsden, Andrea Eustace, Geraldine Gray, David Groom, Tony Hills, Alan Jousiffe, Susan Jousiffe, Susan Kane, Gloria Kemp, Michael ‘Doc’ Leckenby, Valerie McCormack, Kay Meiklejohn, Erica Morris, Ray ‘The Star’ Page, Jack Palmer, Colin Paxman, Ray Smallcombe, William Smith, Gary Telfer, Bob Williams.

Games: The Chinese Puzzle, Brolly Ball, Heading Up the Ramp, Posting the Letters, Wheelbarrow Balance, Bags of Gold, Ballista and Flour Bags, Sack Race;
Marathon: Balloons Over the Pool.

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd
3rd
3rd
5th
6th
7th

 B • Blackpool ● ●
 E • Edinburgh
 TA • Tamworth
 TH • Thurrock
 K • Kirklees
 N • Newbury
 R • Redcar

41
40
38
38
31
29
26

Looks Familiar?

Game 3 - 'Heading Up the Ramp' - had previously been played at the 1976 It's A Cup Final Knockout match between the supporters' clubs of Manchester United and Southampton.

Additional Information

Previously awarded to the team scoring the highest number of points in the domestic heats, the Radio Times Knockout Trophy was, from 1976-1982, awarded to the winner of a massive head-to-head between all the winners from the year's domestic heats.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

JSFnetGB Series Guide pages researched by
Alan Hayes, David Hamilton, Neil Storer, Christos Moustakas, Philippe Minet,
Sébastien Dias, Ischa Bijl, Paul Leaver and JSFnet Websites