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GUS HONEYBUN |
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Gus Honeybun first appeared on TV screens in the Westcountry in 1961, when Westward Television was launched. He was the station's mascot, and children were able to write in if they had a birthday and one of Gus' Uncles or Aunties would read the birthdays out on TV. Children could ask Gus to wink or do Bunny Hops counting out the Child's age, and also do "Magic Buttons" where Gus would make patterns appear on the screen, this later changed to background drawings on TSW which included a Space scene, a Western Saloon, a Sweet Factory and a Flower scene. Early on Westward Gus was looked after by Uncle's Roger Shaw and Stuart Hutchison and by Auntie Sheila Kennedy. There was some worry about whether Gus would make the transfer from Westward to TSW when the later took over in 1982, but he did and went on for another 10 years. Sadly, Gus did not make the switch to Westcountry in 1993, and was returned back to the wild and his parents by David Fitzgerald and Ruth Langsford. He was however offered a job at the Flambards Theme Park at Helston in Cornwall, and that's the last I heard of him. In total Gus has appeared with many presenters, Sally Meen, Ruth Langsford, Ian Sterling, David Fitzgerald, Judi Spiers and others. Gus was also used to promote safety issues to Children, like being careful with Fireworks, not talking to strangers etc. You can see some Realvideo of Gus by clicking on the thumbnail pictures of Gus on the left hand side of this page. You will need the Realplayer software, you can get it by clicking on the button below. |
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