Augustus Jeremiah Honeybun, or Gus Honeybun for short, was the station mascot for Westward Television and then Television South West (TSW) from 1961 until 1992. Gus at this point interjected to remind her that 1961 was a long time before she came on the scene and that he had been there for many years prior. According to legend, Gus was found under a gorse bush on Dartmoor. However, a more credible legend is that he was devised to fill unsold advertising slots during children's TV broadcasts. Across the South West, he’s bunny hopped and helped a whole generation (or two) celebrate their birthday in style.

Gus Honeybun would send coded messages to the LGBT+ community

Both puppets, along with a large collection of film and tape assets, were transferred to the South West Film and Television Archive (now part of The Box) from TSW when it lost the franchise in 1992. Gus Honeybun attracted a cult following and it was not unknown for adults to write in requesting "bunny hops" etc. 12 was the official age limit for having a birthday read out on air, so people of 40 were presented as being 4 and so on. [3] As we skip ahead to 1861, the death penalty was subsequently abolished for acts of sodomy, and instead 'offenders' were given a minimum of 10 years imprisonment. We are all very proud of his brilliant career and everything he achieved but it was his family and his partner who were most important to him. His four children and seven grandchildren will find it very difficult to get used to the absence of his larger-than-life presence, as will Margaret, his partner of 36 years." According to The British Library, the first time male homosexuality was directly targeted in the UK was 1533, when the Buggery Act was passed during the reign of Henry VIII. Convictions of sodomy were punishable by death.

But Dr Butler explains he was also iconic in other ways: "Gus became a means of LGBT people in Plymouth being able to communicate with each other. It was the day commercial television came to the South West in the form of Westward Television. Television in Devon and Cornwall was still very much in its infancy - BBC South West launched only nine days earlier and televisions were something that many couldn’t yet access or afford. It had been quite a long wait - London had got ITV thanks to Associated-Rediffusion in 1955.

Gus Honeybun reveals all about his South West television

A laughing Judi added: “Of course, everyone outside was just hysterical, the phones lit up with people saying ‘you can’t do that!’ We told them he was alright; he was fine. There was all those sorts of things that used to go on, and then you get people asking him to come out during parties with me too.” The couple’s daughter Karen was born in 1961 and their son Guy in 1967. As a family they often accompanied Roger to fete openings and various other events which was “great fun for all” they say. They closed the studios, moved out to Langage Farm and they threw the rabbit out with the bath water. It was a very silly decision,” Judi said. Female homosexuality was never explicitly targeted by any legislation. Although discussed for the first time in Parliament in 1921, this ultimately failed when both the House of Commons and House of Lords rejected it due to the fear a law would draw attention and encourage women to explore homosexuality. The three out-of-control teens - of whom was the son of a top lawyer - inflicted injuries so bad on their victims that The Herald has always chosen not to report the full details.a b Henry, Georgina; Wainwright, Martin (24 June 1991). "Media: Civilised shoot-out in the West - Week 3 of the Guardian/BFI ITV franchise debates". The Guardian. p.27. To support Hospiscare’s month of coffee mornings, invite Judi and Gus along, or to find out more, visit hospiscare.co.uk or call 01392 688020. Family flowers only and if anyone would like to make a donation in Paul’s memory please consider donating to the Royal College of Nursing Strike Fund www.bit.ly/RCNStrikeFund