A HAPPY Easter to you all – that was the message from these folk, who joined in an Easter Gala.

The picture was taken at Rose Hill community centre in Oxford in 1965 – and there was no doubt what festival they were celebrating.

The Oxford Mail reported: “The centre, which had been decorated by members, was completely transformed.

“Guests arriving glimpsed the party scene beyond through the gaping mouth of a large cardboard Easter egg in two halves that adorned the entrance.

“The stage was wreathed with Easter bows and silver Easter eggs.”

Entertainment included dancing to the music of the Double Dees, a pop group, cabaret and a tombola.

The event appears to have been not only a celebration of Easter, but part of an attempt to recruit new members.

Chairman Mr T McCulloch said: “We’re having an all-out drive to get more people interested in the community association, especially the adults.”

They attracted plenty of people to the gala, as the picture shows, but how many signed up as members?

Easter in Oxfordshire that year was dominated by road safety concerns.

In 1964, there had been 25 accidents over the Easter period in Oxford, resulting in nine injuries, while in Oxfordshire, there had been eight accidents, with three people seriously hurt and eight slightly hurt.

In an Easter message to drivers, Superintendent V E Brown, of Abingdon police, said: “When you are driving, you are in control of a vehicle with the potential destructive power of a small bomb.

“Regard every other driver as a potential imbecile, and take the appropriate precautions.

“The good driver is not one who covers the longest distance in the shortest time.”

Police identified Cumnor Hill as a potential danger spot and warned that officers would be patrolling all main roads in Oxford, concentrating particularly on the A40.

Alderman R F Knight, chairman of the City of Oxford Road Safety Organisation, recalled that in 1964, the national road toll was 7,820 people killed – 21 for every day of the year – and 95,460 seriously injured – an average of 261 daily.

Mr H J Wall, Oxford City Road Safety Officer, asked motorists to remember the three ‘Cs’ of motoring – care, courtesy and consideration.

Police were expecting the roads to be busy over Easter in 1965. Sir Winston Churchill had been buried in the churchyard at Bladon three months earlier and huge numbers of visitors were flocking to the village every day to see his grave.

How many of those in the picture above can we recognise? Write and let me know at: Memory Lane, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0EJ or email memory.lane@oxfordmail.co.uk