Our stories of young people receiving their Duke of Edinburgh awards reminded one reader of an occasion when comedian Dickie Henderson took centre stage.

He took a break from the pantomime Humpty Dumpty at the New Theatre in Oxford to present gold, silver and bronze awards to more than 100 boys.

He is seen above in 1967 with some of the gold winners. Sadly, we have the names of only six of them - Alan Whittington, Andrew Mason, Dennis Lock, David Poulter, John Skipp and Robin Ridout.

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The TV and stage star took the opportunity to compare the efforts of the award winners with those of the hippy cult which was sweeping the country at that time.

He was scathing of the publicity given to pop groups like the Rolling Stones who, he said, encouraged such outrageous behaviour.

He told a packed audience of award winners, parents and friends in the assembly room at Oxford Town Hall: “The hippies of this world have haircuts like Tarzan and smell like a chimp. What the Rolling Stones and others stand for I hate.

“I hope that by coming here tonight I have done something to help. My own 16-year-old son is in this scheme at college and I think it is a good thing.”

The comedian was welcomed to the ceremony by the Chief Constable of Oxford, Clement Burrows, who was chairman of the Oxford awards committee.

There were 33 gold winners on this occasion, a record for the area, according to organiser Percy Bickerton.

The boys all came from schools in the city, including East Oxford, Cheney Mixed, Temple Cowley, Edmund Campion and Salesian College.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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