BEING a young teenager in early 1960s Brighton was great fun and every year was different.

I was still at school and 1962 was a fabulous year - it started off white all over with thick snow. January 1 wasn’t a bank holiday then.

Cliff Richard had his biggest hit record, The Young Ones, which was also a popular film. Mr Acker Bilk had a number two in the charts with Stranger On The Shore and this had a series of the same title and was set in Brighton. It was about a French girl and it was popular with the teenagers.

The Shadows had a huge hit with Wonderful Land and there were lots of popular songs like Susan Maughan's Bobby's Girl and Carol King’s It Might As Well Rain Until September. The biggest chart hit of the year was Frank Ifield's I Remember You.

In July the Americans launched the first communication satellite called Telstar. It showed a live broadcast from Maine in the USA to Cornwall and so they saw they could transmit sound and pictures across the sea by satellite. Today it's done all the time and we don’t even notice it.

In October of 1962 the United States and Soviet Union nearly went to war over the Soviets' attempt to put nuclear weapons into Cuba and the Americans didn’t like it as it is only 90 miles from Florida. They put a naval blockade round Cuba and had it had been crossed the Americans would have blown the Soviets out of the sea. Fortunately the Soviets backed down.

The Tornados had a big hit with Telstar and Elvis ended the year with his number one Return To Sender. On Boxing Night it started to snow and we didn’t see our garden until March.

Ian Steedman

St George’s Road

Worthing