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A Rink played by members of The Alexandra Palace Bowling Club.

The history of the game of bowls, which is one of the oldest of outdoor pastimes, has been a curiously irregular one. Although the game first became popular in the twelfth or thirteenth century, it was dealt with in several enactments in 1511, in which Henry VIII caused it to be declared illegal. From 1541 to 1845 a law was enforced prohibiting the working classes from playing bowls save at Christmas, and then only in the houses and the presence of their masters. Nevertheless, Henry VIII had bowling alleys constructed for his own amusement at Whitehall Palace! Biased bowls came into use in the sixteenth century. Today bowling has an extremely wide following in England, Scotland, Australia, the United States, and many other countries.

The Garden Scene from Gounod's Opera
This is the first of a series of popular opera excerpts which have been planned for viewers. They will form a feature of a number of future Saturday programmes.

Contributors

Musicians:
The BBC Television Orchestra
Leader:
Boris Pecker
Producer:
Hyam Greenbaum
Producer:
Stephen Thomas

The recent drive to make the British public increasingly 'milk conscious' gives a topical interest to Marcel Boulestin's latest decrees. However, what he has to say today will not be connected with milk drinks, but with the methods of using milk in the ordinary course of daily cooking. One of the two recipes to be dealt with today is a soup which can be made with any sort of spring vegetables.
M. Boulestin points out that the efforts made to increase the general use of milk in England will not force it up to an unnatural degree, but will only bring it level with the quantity that generally comes into one's diet in France, where at every meal throughout the day the proportion of milk consumed is considerably higher than in this country.

Contributors

Speaker:
Marcel Boulestin
Presented by:
Mary Adams

with Nina Mae McKinney and Leslie Thompson
Nina Mae McKinney will need no introduction to viewers, for she has already appeared successfully at Alexandra Palace; but Leslie Thompson, the trumpet player, who makes his debut in this coloured revue, will be a new name to many. Born in Jamaica in 1908, he commenced his musical career playing the euphonium in a school military band. During his youth he also studied the cello and many other instruments, as well as arranging, and in 1917 he came to England to augment his musical education at Kneller Hall. Returning to Jamaica, he became musical director at a Kingston cinema until 1929, when the advent of talking pictures cost him his position. He then tried his luck in England again, and recorded on trumpet and trombone with Spike Hughes's Orchestra. He has been in the pit bands of many London revues. His latest undertaking is the formation of an all-British coloured dance orchestra.

Contributors

Singer:
Nina Mae McKinney
Trumpeter:
Leslie Thompson

BBC Television

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About this data

This data is drawn from the Radio Times magazine between 1923 and 2009. It shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was subject to change and may not be accurate. More