September 1967

As part of our 50th anniversary, we are looking back at the events of  1967 to see what the founders of our business would have been reading about and facing in their first year of trading. This month we look at the events of September 1967.

As if to echo our own news this month, there was the retirement of a grand lady in September 1967 as The Queen Mary left service. Unfortunately, that is where the similarity ends as we do not have an immediate replacement lined up for our grand lady in the way as the QE2 came into service in the same month to take the helm seamlessly at the pinnacle of the luxury cruise market.

Over in Sweden, it was switch over time as roads were quite literally flipped to drive on the right-hand side, having previously followed us Brits by driving on the left. Despite signs, plenty of education and preparation it was still hugely confusing with numerous accidents – perhaps that is what spawned the Swedish focus on vehicle/driver safety?

The micronation Principality of Sealand was claimed by a retired Army Major, Roy Bates. The anti-aircraft platform in the North Sea, that had not been used since World War II, lies outside British territorial waters and is still in existence today, although it remains unrecognized by any other nation.
Gibraltar reaffirmed its wish to remain a British Overseas Territory with a referendum. Unlike the narrow margin in our recent EU vote, the residents of Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly in favour of ‘remain’ with 12,138 in favour of staying, and only 44 opting for transfer to Spanish control.

The BBC remodelled its radio formats with the introduction of 4 new stations, Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4. And with the new format came legend Tony Blackburn, lead DJ on Radio 1.