Flashback: Were you sitting comfortably for these 60s stories?

Do you remember being tucked up in bed and excitedly waiting for a bedtime story from Tufty the squirrel?

If so, you were more than likely a child of the 60s or 70s who spent their early years growing up in Hull.

It was during these decades that KCOM, then known as Hull Council’s Telephone Department, ran its bedtime story phone lines where youngsters could call up and listen to Tufty’s adventures before climbing the stairs to the Land of Nod. 

The story line first ran in December 1960 and were one of several services run by the Phone Department including the tele-recipe line, the tele-disc music line, a Ken Dodd joke line and even a pigeon fanciers’ line.

These pictures from the KCOM archives show a young girl listening to the first ‘Where is Mouse?’ story in 1960 before Tufty – the popular squirrel that offered road safety advice-  took over in the 1970s.

KCOM has recently launched a new version of its bedtime story fit for the 21^st Century, allowing youngsters to both listen to and watch an exciting new tale online.

To mark its partnership with The Big Malarkey children’s literature festival, KCOM commissioned a story by award-winning writer Tom Palmer which is now available in five, three-minute, episodes online.

Tom, who has also been chosen to write the relaunched Roy of the Rovers books, created a story called Ghost Ship on the Humber, featuring Hull mascots Airlie Bird and Rufus the Robin in an adventure to save Hull from a crew of scary Vikings. The story has been illustrated by Hull artist Lindy Norton.

The Jackanory-style chapters are read by five Hull celebrities and sporting stars including Milkshake’s Amy Thompson, Radio Humberside’s Lizzie Rose, Andy ‘Gold Man’ Train and rugby players Robbie Mulhern and Mickey Paea.

You can watch the full story here.

KCOM supports The Big Malarkey Festival which runs from 20 June to 24 June. For more details click here