Fifty years ago this month - November 1969.

There are just a handful of great movies set in schools in Barnsley.

In fact, there's only one.

That film is Kes and, in November 1969, it hit the cinema screens of Britain. Who could fail to be gripped by the tale of a schoolboy who finds a sense of purpose through the adoption of a kestrel? And who could forget the scene in which Brian Glover plays a doltish sports teacher fantasising that he's Bobby Charlton, while flinging his weight around?

No one can.

And that's why I haven't.

But it wasn't the only thing making its debut that month because so did the legendary TV puppet show The Clangers which told the senses-shattering truth about life on other planets and, in its own way, helped make Soup Dragons of us all.

When it came to music, Pink Floyd released their album Ummagumma which I believe I've still never heard.

On the football field, Brazilian legend Pelé scored his 1,000th goal, in a game against Vasco de Gama.

In a rather grumpier mood, John Lennon returned his MBE, in protest at the British government's involvement in the Nigerian Civil War or its involvement in Biafra or its support for the Vietnam War or all three of those things or any combination of them, depending on which Wikipedia page you look at on the subject.

The Avengers take on the Justice League of America - or at least their vile simulacra - as the Grandmaster's game of chess with Kang kicks off.

But, hold on. What strange games do the gods play upon us?

In the same month that Ken Loach and Barry Hines give us that tale of a schoolboy finding purpose through his pet bird of prey, Marvel Comics gives us a man bashing up the Red Skull, with the aid of his pet bird of prey.

Why, now that I think about it, this comic is practically a remake of Kes, with the Red Skull as Brian Glover.

Any road up, Captain America and his brand new sidekick give the Red Skull the kicking he deserves, mostly thanks to Modok deciding to melt the Cosmic Cube, by remote control.

You do have to feel sorry for the Red Skull. Not many people would have the misfortune to have their Cosmic Cube melted.

Rev up your engines because the Stunt-Master makes his wheelie-popping debut.

I've a feeling there's something in this story about Karen Page launching her Hollywood career and leaving Matt Murdock behind, never to return but my recollections of this tale are a little fuzzy, so I could be completely wrong.

But here's a tale I'm definitely not fuzzy about, as the Thing finds himself on a Skrull planet and forced to fight in gladiatorial games - but not before meeting Torgo the robot.

It's one of my Hulk faves, as our anti-hero roams the swamps of Florida and encounters an escaped convict who's turned into another of those muck monsters which have proven so irresistible to comic book writers, over the years.

I really don't recall what happens in this one.

I gather, from Googling it, that this involves Tony Stark having a bad dream. Beyond that, I can say nothing.

It's non-stop peril for Spider-Man, as the wallcrawler finds himself up against the greatest menace of them all - a window cleaner.

Thor returns to Earth, fresh from discovering the origin of Galactus, only to find our planet under threat from the terror of the Thermal Man in a tale noticeably reminiscent of the one where he fought Replicus.

I do believe that Jack Kirby's original plan was for Thor and Galactus to team up to defeat the rampaging robot but Stan, wisely, I feel, vetoed the idea and left it to Thor and The Warriors Three to tackle the fiend, instead.

Sauron finds his way to the Savage Land where he teams up with Magneto and his current bunch of mutant allies.

Can the X-Men and Ka-Zar stop them all?

I suspect they can.