First ladies of television
QUESTION Was Nan Winton the first female TV presenter?
NaN WINTON was the first female BBC news anchor, but she wasn’t the first female presenter.
There were a number of female announcers from the earliest days of the BBC. Barbara Mandell presented the news on ITN in 1955, five years before Nan.
Preparations for the launch of BBC TV began in 1935 when Gerald Cock was appointed director of television. His tenure was notable for his strikingly populist vision.
In place of aloof radio announcers, he envisioned TV announcers with ‘a pleasant personality and informed manner’. among 600 applicants for the role, three were chosen — two women and one man: Jasmine Bligh, Elizabeth Cowell and Leslie Mitchell.
The service began regular transmission on November 2, 1936, from alexandra Palace, and each programme was introduced by the announcer.
The hiring of the two women proved to be inspired. Cowell and Bligh exuded a natural charm and generated a lot of publicity, particularly about their glamorous wardrobes — for announcements after 6pm, they wore evening dress.
Bligh provided British TV with one of its most memorable moments.
She proclaimed the recommencement of TV broadcasting in June 1946 after the long ‘break’ of World War II by smiling into the cameras on the terrace of alexandra Palace in London as she said: ‘Hello, remember me?’
In 1946, two new female announcers appeared on TV: Sylvia Peters, who would be the continuity announcer for the Coronation in 1953, and Mary Malcolm.
Iona Myles, Lincoln. BarBara MaNDELL was Britain’s first female newsreader. She presented the Midday News on Independent Television when it was launched in 1955.
Independent Television News (ITN) set itself apart from the rival BBC with news bulletins read by onscreen presenters instead of news footage with a voiceover. Mandell was selected from 150 candidates along with robin Day and the former Olympic runner Chris Chataway.
She also worked as a reporter on ITN with (the future novelist) Lynne reid Banks, and pioneered short interviews with members of the public, known as vox pops.
Nancy ‘Nan’ Winton (1925-2019) was a continuity announcer on BBC TV from 1958 to 1961. She also worked on Panorama and Town and around, a news magazine show for South-East England.
She was given the job of reading the 6pm news and weekend bulletins on Sunday evenings in 1960.
Many viewers objected, with one complaining: ‘Women are too frivolous to be bearers of grave news.’
Nan’s contract was cancelled in 1961 and it wasn’t until 1975 that the BBC hired another female newsreader, angela rippon.
Francis Carter, Chelmsford, Essex.
QUESTION What are the origins of the phrase ‘Gott mit uns’, which is prominent in German heraldry?
THE phrase Gott mit uns, which means ‘God is with us’, was incorporated into heraldry in the days of the Prussians and dates from 1701. It later became part of wider German culture and was painted on the helmets of soldiers during World War I and engraved on army belt buckles in World War II.
Its origins date back to the late roman Empire with the battle cry Nobiscum
Deus, which has the same meaning. The phrase Got mi tuns was used by the Swedes during the 30 Years War. The first use of the Germanic version was by knights of the Teutonic Order as a watchword, providing a means of recognition between soldiers on the same side.
In 1701, Frederick I of Prussia changed his coat of arms as Elector of Brandenburg and the phrase was incorporated into a scroll beneath the new arms.
By the time of the unification of Germany in 1871, the phrase was in use on the Imperial standard and coins.
The phrase Gott mit uns ceased to be used on the belt buckles of the Bundeswehr (post-war German army) in 1962 and was replaced by Einigkeit und Recht und
Freiheit, meaning ‘Unity and Justice and Freedom’, taken from the third verse of the German national anthem.
Bob Dillon, Edinburgh.
QUESTION Is the runaway lorry gravel trap at the bottom of Wrotham Hill in Kent one of a kind?
FUrTHEr to earlier answers, halfway down Whitfield Hill, Dover, is an escape lane on the right-hand bend. It replaced a concrete apron that had been a favourite spot to park a caravan and brew a cuppa on your little gas stove.
There are two escape lanes on Jubilee Way, Dover, which leads into the Ferry Terminal. The first is at the top of the viaduct and the second is at the bottom, near the entrance to the docks.
When I was a local policeman, I was passing the escape lane at the dock entrance one night when I was flagged down by a gentleman who had accidentally driven his four-wheel-drive range rover into it. He had failed to notice it in the dark, despite numerous illuminated signs.
He insisted I tow him out, but eventually saw how futile that would be with my little Ford Escort patrol car.
John Green, Dover, Kent.
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