IOO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 10 - 16 JUNE 1924
This week's many stories include the St Helens Recs star's rescue of a 6-year-old boy in Queen's Park, the tram scratching by a lorry driver at suicide corner, how a wet Whit weekend was marked in St Helens, the Windle Smithies motorbike crash, the philosophy of a Liverpool Road pugilist and the Duchess of Atholl – the woman who was against females getting the vote and then became an MP – gives a talk in St Helens.
We begin on the 10th when an application was made to the St Helens Bench for permission for the Clock Face Hotel and the Colliery Recreation Club to remain open all day when a band contest was taking place. The event scheduled for the end of the month was expected to draw in visitors from some distance and it was stated that there were no cafes in Clock Face to provide them with refreshments. The police offered no objection and so the application was granted.
The growing number of motorcycles on St Helens roads was, inevitably, leading to an increase in accidents involving bikes. Just after six o’clock on the 10th an elderly man called Parr from Clipsley Lane in Haydock met with serious injuries at what was then known as Windle Smithies. Mr Parr was an insurance agent and he was using a motorcycle to get round his clients and had been attempting to avoid a horse and trap emerging out of Crank Road into Rainford Road.
His motorbike skidded and pitched him off it headfirst and Mr Parr injured his collarbone, hands and head. These days anyone involved in a motor accident would, of course, be whizzed off to hospital for treatment. But old habits die hard and Mr Parr followed the old fashioned course before hospitals were introduced into St Helens. He was taken first into an adjacent house and a doctor was summoned and later a motor car took him home where he, no doubt, would have received further medical treatment.
On the 11th at a meeting of the St Helens Health Committee, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Frank Hauxwell, described how the measles outbreak in the district had yet to subside with some more deaths recently occurring.
On the 12th the St Helens Town Hall played host to what was described as a "Conservative demonstration". These days it would just be called a meeting but it had a star speaker in the Duchess of Atholl. Otherwise known as Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, she had been an ardent opponent of women having the vote and had even been vice-president of the Dundee branch of the Anti-Suffrage League.
But last December the Duchess had become an MP herself and later would become one of the first female Cabinet ministers. The St Helens Reporter said the Town Hall had been crowded and the speeches were of a "high order".
John Ryan of Market Street in St Helens appeared in court this week after being caught fighting with another man in Liverpool Road. A constable explained how he had parted the two pugilists but they had immediately resumed thumping each other. Ryan gave the court some of his philosophy of life, saying:
"If a man hits me I am going to hit him back. The other man came and hit me, and naturally, I got stuck into him. If a man hits me I am going to hit him back, whether I am taken to the police court or not." Ryan was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 13th described how the 1st Troop of St Helens YMCA Scouts had been presented with what was described as a trek cart. That, presumably, was used to carry their possessions while going on hikes. During the presentation at the YMCA's gymnasium it was claimed that the St Helens troop had been the second one to have been created in the country.
The paper also reported on the most unusual court case of the week when Robert Hunt of Grove Place in St Helens declared to the magistrates, "I am guilty of scratching the tramcar". But it had not been an act of vandalism that the lorry driver was confessing to committing but allowing timber on his vehicle to come into contact with a tram.
The incident had occurred at the notorious junction of Westfield Street, Cotham Street and Baldwin Street by the Sefton Arms (pictured above), which was dubbed "suicide corner". A constable who had been on point duty explained to the court how Hunt's motor lorry had been travelling up Westfield Street and signalled that it wanted to turn left into Baldwin Street.
He waved the lorry on but noticed a long length of timber projecting over its side, which scratched the paint of a stationary tramcar. Mr Hunt said he had been driving thirteen years and this had been his first accident and the case against him was dismissed upon payment of costs – although the defendant was warned to be more careful in future.
The motor revolution and introduction of cheap railway excursion tickets had greatly expanded transport options for St Helens folk on bank holidays. And for those who chose to stay at home during the Whit weekend there were plenty of events being held. However, as usual, no one could do anything about the weather, as the Reporter described:
"Cheerless weather and drab skies were the prevailing conditions during Whitsuntide. The merciless downpour of rain that set in on Saturday afternoon had its effect on the annual Recs' sports – an event that is always eagerly looked forward to by the sporting and athletic fraternity – the attendance on this occasion numbering probably less than two thousand.
"On Sunday evening bands discoursed music in the Queen's Recreation ground and the Victoria Park, and Dr. Siddall's Glee Club gave an open air concert on the Knowsley-road ground on behalf of the St. Helens Rugby Football Club. On Monday the weather clerk was a little kinder, and although the skies remained leaden, scarcely any rain fell locally.
"The public, however, made the best of a bad job, and took matters philosophically. In spite of the threatening condition, large crowds assembled at the various church festivals in the town. Although the popularity of tennis has increased by leaps and bounds, under the circumstances it did not claim as many adherents as usual.
"Nor did cricket, but on the other hand, there were many who decided to risk the elements in pursuit of the joys of the open road by way of motor, ‘bus, motor cycle and “push bike,” the poor man's motor, viz., the motor coach, being particularly in evidence. Although the town did not seem to be denuded of a great proportion of its population, the Liverpool and Southport trains were well patronised, as also were those to Blackpool, where the carnival opens this week.
"The Carr Mill pleasure grounds were a sort of ‘Appy ‘Ampstead ‘Eath for those whose purse perhaps did not permit of a visit to the seaside, and boating was also much enjoyed on the Taylor Park lake, which at present is looking its best embowered in rich foliage and surrounded by bright patches of rhododendrons."
On the 14th John Dufficy from Pigot Street in St Helens played the final of the English Draughts Championship in London but was beaten by three games to two by his 18-year-old rival. Mr Dufficy was a 47-year-old coal miner at Clock Face Colliery and had been playing competitive draughts for 25 years.
And finally, on the 16th William Mulvanney saved a 6-year-old boy from drowning in a swollen brook near the Queens Park Recreation Ground. Mulvanney played for St Helens Recs rugby team and after his rescue discovered that the lad was the nephew of his club mate, the international scrumhalf Johnny Greenall and the son of Harry Greenall, a former Saints player.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the un-neighbourly fight in Thatto Heath, the Sutton Manor miner accused of falsely claiming compensation, the frightened horse in a Liverpool Road shop and the solution to the decapitating double-decker trams.
We begin on the 10th when an application was made to the St Helens Bench for permission for the Clock Face Hotel and the Colliery Recreation Club to remain open all day when a band contest was taking place. The event scheduled for the end of the month was expected to draw in visitors from some distance and it was stated that there were no cafes in Clock Face to provide them with refreshments. The police offered no objection and so the application was granted.
The growing number of motorcycles on St Helens roads was, inevitably, leading to an increase in accidents involving bikes. Just after six o’clock on the 10th an elderly man called Parr from Clipsley Lane in Haydock met with serious injuries at what was then known as Windle Smithies. Mr Parr was an insurance agent and he was using a motorcycle to get round his clients and had been attempting to avoid a horse and trap emerging out of Crank Road into Rainford Road.
His motorbike skidded and pitched him off it headfirst and Mr Parr injured his collarbone, hands and head. These days anyone involved in a motor accident would, of course, be whizzed off to hospital for treatment. But old habits die hard and Mr Parr followed the old fashioned course before hospitals were introduced into St Helens. He was taken first into an adjacent house and a doctor was summoned and later a motor car took him home where he, no doubt, would have received further medical treatment.
On the 11th at a meeting of the St Helens Health Committee, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Frank Hauxwell, described how the measles outbreak in the district had yet to subside with some more deaths recently occurring.
On the 12th the St Helens Town Hall played host to what was described as a "Conservative demonstration". These days it would just be called a meeting but it had a star speaker in the Duchess of Atholl. Otherwise known as Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, she had been an ardent opponent of women having the vote and had even been vice-president of the Dundee branch of the Anti-Suffrage League.
But last December the Duchess had become an MP herself and later would become one of the first female Cabinet ministers. The St Helens Reporter said the Town Hall had been crowded and the speeches were of a "high order".
John Ryan of Market Street in St Helens appeared in court this week after being caught fighting with another man in Liverpool Road. A constable explained how he had parted the two pugilists but they had immediately resumed thumping each other. Ryan gave the court some of his philosophy of life, saying:
"If a man hits me I am going to hit him back. The other man came and hit me, and naturally, I got stuck into him. If a man hits me I am going to hit him back, whether I am taken to the police court or not." Ryan was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 13th described how the 1st Troop of St Helens YMCA Scouts had been presented with what was described as a trek cart. That, presumably, was used to carry their possessions while going on hikes. During the presentation at the YMCA's gymnasium it was claimed that the St Helens troop had been the second one to have been created in the country.
The paper also reported on the most unusual court case of the week when Robert Hunt of Grove Place in St Helens declared to the magistrates, "I am guilty of scratching the tramcar". But it had not been an act of vandalism that the lorry driver was confessing to committing but allowing timber on his vehicle to come into contact with a tram.
He waved the lorry on but noticed a long length of timber projecting over its side, which scratched the paint of a stationary tramcar. Mr Hunt said he had been driving thirteen years and this had been his first accident and the case against him was dismissed upon payment of costs – although the defendant was warned to be more careful in future.
The motor revolution and introduction of cheap railway excursion tickets had greatly expanded transport options for St Helens folk on bank holidays. And for those who chose to stay at home during the Whit weekend there were plenty of events being held. However, as usual, no one could do anything about the weather, as the Reporter described:
"Cheerless weather and drab skies were the prevailing conditions during Whitsuntide. The merciless downpour of rain that set in on Saturday afternoon had its effect on the annual Recs' sports – an event that is always eagerly looked forward to by the sporting and athletic fraternity – the attendance on this occasion numbering probably less than two thousand.
"On Sunday evening bands discoursed music in the Queen's Recreation ground and the Victoria Park, and Dr. Siddall's Glee Club gave an open air concert on the Knowsley-road ground on behalf of the St. Helens Rugby Football Club. On Monday the weather clerk was a little kinder, and although the skies remained leaden, scarcely any rain fell locally.
"The public, however, made the best of a bad job, and took matters philosophically. In spite of the threatening condition, large crowds assembled at the various church festivals in the town. Although the popularity of tennis has increased by leaps and bounds, under the circumstances it did not claim as many adherents as usual.
"Nor did cricket, but on the other hand, there were many who decided to risk the elements in pursuit of the joys of the open road by way of motor, ‘bus, motor cycle and “push bike,” the poor man's motor, viz., the motor coach, being particularly in evidence. Although the town did not seem to be denuded of a great proportion of its population, the Liverpool and Southport trains were well patronised, as also were those to Blackpool, where the carnival opens this week.
"The Carr Mill pleasure grounds were a sort of ‘Appy ‘Ampstead ‘Eath for those whose purse perhaps did not permit of a visit to the seaside, and boating was also much enjoyed on the Taylor Park lake, which at present is looking its best embowered in rich foliage and surrounded by bright patches of rhododendrons."
On the 14th John Dufficy from Pigot Street in St Helens played the final of the English Draughts Championship in London but was beaten by three games to two by his 18-year-old rival. Mr Dufficy was a 47-year-old coal miner at Clock Face Colliery and had been playing competitive draughts for 25 years.
And finally, on the 16th William Mulvanney saved a 6-year-old boy from drowning in a swollen brook near the Queens Park Recreation Ground. Mulvanney played for St Helens Recs rugby team and after his rescue discovered that the lad was the nephew of his club mate, the international scrumhalf Johnny Greenall and the son of Harry Greenall, a former Saints player.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the un-neighbourly fight in Thatto Heath, the Sutton Manor miner accused of falsely claiming compensation, the frightened horse in a Liverpool Road shop and the solution to the decapitating double-decker trams.
This week's many stories include the St Helens Recs star's rescue of a 6-year-old boy in Queen's Park, the tram scratching by a lorry driver at suicide corner, how a wet Whit weekend was marked in St Helens, the Windle Smithies motorbike crash, the philosophy of a Liverpool Road pugilist and the Duchess of Atholl – the woman who was against females getting the vote and then became an MP – gives a talk in St Helens.
We begin on the 10th when an application was made to the St Helens Bench for permission for the Clock Face Hotel and the Colliery Recreation Club to remain open all day when a band contest was taking place.
The event scheduled for the end of the month was expected to draw in visitors from some distance and it was stated that there were no cafes in Clock Face to provide them with refreshments.
The police offered no objection and so the application was granted.
The growing number of motorcycles on St Helens roads was, inevitably, leading to an increase in accidents involving bikes.
Just after six o’clock on the 10th an elderly man called Parr from Clipsley Lane in Haydock met with serious injuries at what was then known as Windle Smithies.
Mr Parr was an insurance agent and he was using a motorcycle to get round his clients and had been attempting to avoid a horse and trap emerging out of Crank Road into Rainford Road.
His motorbike skidded and pitched him off it headfirst and Mr Parr injured his collarbone, hands and head.
These days anyone involved in a motor accident would, of course, be whizzed off to hospital for treatment.
But old habits die hard and Mr Parr followed the old fashioned course before hospitals were introduced into St Helens.
He was taken first into an adjacent house and a doctor was summoned and later a motor car took him home where he, no doubt, would have received further medical treatment.
On the 11th at a meeting of the St Helens Health Committee, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Frank Hauxwell, described how the measles outbreak in the district had yet to subside with some more deaths recently occurring.
On the 12th the St Helens Town Hall played host to what was described as a "Conservative demonstration".
These days it would just be called a meeting but it had a star speaker in the Duchess of Atholl.
Otherwise known as Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, she had been an ardent opponent of women having the vote and had even been vice-president of the Dundee branch of the Anti-Suffrage League.
But last December the Duchess had become an MP herself and later would become one of the first female Cabinet ministers.
The St Helens Reporter said the Town Hall had been crowded and the speeches were of a "high order".
John Ryan of Market Street in St Helens appeared in court this week after being caught fighting with another man in Liverpool Road.
A constable explained how he had parted the two pugilists but they had immediately resumed thumping each other. Ryan gave the court some of his philosophy of life, saying:
"If a man hits me I am going to hit him back. The other man came and hit me, and naturally, I got stuck into him. If a man hits me I am going to hit him back, whether I am taken to the police court or not."
Ryan was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 13th described how the 1st Troop of St Helens YMCA Scouts had been presented with what was described as a trek cart. That, presumably, was used to carry their possessions while going on hikes.
During the presentation at the YMCA's gymnasium it was claimed that the St Helens troop had been the second one to have been created in the country.
The paper also reported on the most unusual court case of the week when Robert Hunt of Grove Place in St Helens declared to the magistrates, "I am guilty of scratching the tramcar".
But it had not been an act of vandalism that the lorry driver was confessing to committing but allowing timber on his vehicle to come into contact with a tram.
The incident had occurred at the notorious junction of Westfield Street, Cotham Street and Baldwin Street by the Sefton Arms (pictured above), which was dubbed "suicide corner".
A constable who had been on point duty explained to the court how Hunt's motor lorry had been travelling up Westfield Street and signalled that it wanted to turn left into Baldwin Street.
He waved the lorry on but noticed a long length of timber projecting over its side, which scratched the paint of a stationary tramcar.
Mr Hunt said he had been driving thirteen years and this had been his first accident and the case against him was dismissed upon payment of costs – although the defendant was warned to be more careful in future.
The motor revolution and introduction of cheap railway excursion tickets had greatly expanded transport options for St Helens folk on bank holidays.
And for those who chose to stay at home during the Whit weekend there were plenty of events being held.
However, as usual, no one could do anything about the weather, as the Reporter described:
"Cheerless weather and drab skies were the prevailing conditions during Whitsuntide.
"The merciless downpour of rain that set in on Saturday afternoon had its effect on the annual Recs' sports – an event that is always eagerly looked forward to by the sporting and athletic fraternity – the attendance on this occasion numbering probably less than two thousand.
"On Sunday evening bands discoursed music in the Queen's Recreation ground and the Victoria Park, and Dr. Siddall's Glee Club gave an open air concert on the Knowsley-road ground on behalf of the St. Helens Rugby Football Club.
"On Monday the weather clerk was a little kinder, and although the skies remained leaden, scarcely any rain fell locally.
"The public, however, made the best of a bad job, and took matters philosophically. In spite of the threatening condition, large crowds assembled at the various church festivals in the town.
"Although the popularity of tennis has increased by leaps and bounds, under the circumstances it did not claim as many adherents as usual.
"Nor did cricket, but on the other hand, there were many who decided to risk the elements in pursuit of the joys of the open road by way of motor, ‘bus, motor cycle and “push bike,” the poor man's motor, viz., the motor coach, being particularly in evidence.
"Although the town did not seem to be denuded of a great proportion of its population, the Liverpool and Southport trains were well patronised, as also were those to Blackpool, where the carnival opens this week.
"The Carr Mill pleasure grounds were a sort of ‘Appy ‘Ampstead ‘Eath for those whose purse perhaps did not permit of a visit to the seaside, and boating was also much enjoyed on the Taylor Park lake, which at present is looking its best embowered in rich foliage and surrounded by bright patches of rhododendrons."
On the 14th John Dufficy from Pigot Street in St Helens played the final of the English Draughts Championship in London but was beaten by three games to two by his 18-year-old rival.
Mr Dufficy was a 47-year-old coal miner at Clock Face Colliery and had been playing competitive draughts for 25 years.
And finally, on the 16th William Mulvanney saved a 6-year-old boy from drowning in a swollen brook near the Queens Park Recreation Ground.
Mulvanney played for St Helens Recs rugby team and after his rescue discovered that the lad was the nephew of his club mate, the international scrumhalf Johnny Greenall and the son of Harry Greenall, a former Saints player.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the un-neighbourly fight in Thatto Heath, the Sutton Manor miner accused of falsely claiming compensation, the frightened horse in a Liverpool Road shop and the solution to the decapitating double-decker trams.
We begin on the 10th when an application was made to the St Helens Bench for permission for the Clock Face Hotel and the Colliery Recreation Club to remain open all day when a band contest was taking place.
The event scheduled for the end of the month was expected to draw in visitors from some distance and it was stated that there were no cafes in Clock Face to provide them with refreshments.
The police offered no objection and so the application was granted.
The growing number of motorcycles on St Helens roads was, inevitably, leading to an increase in accidents involving bikes.
Just after six o’clock on the 10th an elderly man called Parr from Clipsley Lane in Haydock met with serious injuries at what was then known as Windle Smithies.
Mr Parr was an insurance agent and he was using a motorcycle to get round his clients and had been attempting to avoid a horse and trap emerging out of Crank Road into Rainford Road.
His motorbike skidded and pitched him off it headfirst and Mr Parr injured his collarbone, hands and head.
These days anyone involved in a motor accident would, of course, be whizzed off to hospital for treatment.
But old habits die hard and Mr Parr followed the old fashioned course before hospitals were introduced into St Helens.
He was taken first into an adjacent house and a doctor was summoned and later a motor car took him home where he, no doubt, would have received further medical treatment.
On the 11th at a meeting of the St Helens Health Committee, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Dr Frank Hauxwell, described how the measles outbreak in the district had yet to subside with some more deaths recently occurring.
On the 12th the St Helens Town Hall played host to what was described as a "Conservative demonstration".
These days it would just be called a meeting but it had a star speaker in the Duchess of Atholl.
Otherwise known as Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, she had been an ardent opponent of women having the vote and had even been vice-president of the Dundee branch of the Anti-Suffrage League.
But last December the Duchess had become an MP herself and later would become one of the first female Cabinet ministers.
The St Helens Reporter said the Town Hall had been crowded and the speeches were of a "high order".
John Ryan of Market Street in St Helens appeared in court this week after being caught fighting with another man in Liverpool Road.
A constable explained how he had parted the two pugilists but they had immediately resumed thumping each other. Ryan gave the court some of his philosophy of life, saying:
"If a man hits me I am going to hit him back. The other man came and hit me, and naturally, I got stuck into him. If a man hits me I am going to hit him back, whether I am taken to the police court or not."
Ryan was bound over to keep the peace for six months.
The St Helens Reporter on the 13th described how the 1st Troop of St Helens YMCA Scouts had been presented with what was described as a trek cart. That, presumably, was used to carry their possessions while going on hikes.
During the presentation at the YMCA's gymnasium it was claimed that the St Helens troop had been the second one to have been created in the country.
The paper also reported on the most unusual court case of the week when Robert Hunt of Grove Place in St Helens declared to the magistrates, "I am guilty of scratching the tramcar".
But it had not been an act of vandalism that the lorry driver was confessing to committing but allowing timber on his vehicle to come into contact with a tram.
A constable who had been on point duty explained to the court how Hunt's motor lorry had been travelling up Westfield Street and signalled that it wanted to turn left into Baldwin Street.
He waved the lorry on but noticed a long length of timber projecting over its side, which scratched the paint of a stationary tramcar.
Mr Hunt said he had been driving thirteen years and this had been his first accident and the case against him was dismissed upon payment of costs – although the defendant was warned to be more careful in future.
The motor revolution and introduction of cheap railway excursion tickets had greatly expanded transport options for St Helens folk on bank holidays.
And for those who chose to stay at home during the Whit weekend there were plenty of events being held.
However, as usual, no one could do anything about the weather, as the Reporter described:
"Cheerless weather and drab skies were the prevailing conditions during Whitsuntide.
"The merciless downpour of rain that set in on Saturday afternoon had its effect on the annual Recs' sports – an event that is always eagerly looked forward to by the sporting and athletic fraternity – the attendance on this occasion numbering probably less than two thousand.
"On Sunday evening bands discoursed music in the Queen's Recreation ground and the Victoria Park, and Dr. Siddall's Glee Club gave an open air concert on the Knowsley-road ground on behalf of the St. Helens Rugby Football Club.
"On Monday the weather clerk was a little kinder, and although the skies remained leaden, scarcely any rain fell locally.
"The public, however, made the best of a bad job, and took matters philosophically. In spite of the threatening condition, large crowds assembled at the various church festivals in the town.
"Although the popularity of tennis has increased by leaps and bounds, under the circumstances it did not claim as many adherents as usual.
"Nor did cricket, but on the other hand, there were many who decided to risk the elements in pursuit of the joys of the open road by way of motor, ‘bus, motor cycle and “push bike,” the poor man's motor, viz., the motor coach, being particularly in evidence.
"Although the town did not seem to be denuded of a great proportion of its population, the Liverpool and Southport trains were well patronised, as also were those to Blackpool, where the carnival opens this week.
"The Carr Mill pleasure grounds were a sort of ‘Appy ‘Ampstead ‘Eath for those whose purse perhaps did not permit of a visit to the seaside, and boating was also much enjoyed on the Taylor Park lake, which at present is looking its best embowered in rich foliage and surrounded by bright patches of rhododendrons."
On the 14th John Dufficy from Pigot Street in St Helens played the final of the English Draughts Championship in London but was beaten by three games to two by his 18-year-old rival.
Mr Dufficy was a 47-year-old coal miner at Clock Face Colliery and had been playing competitive draughts for 25 years.
And finally, on the 16th William Mulvanney saved a 6-year-old boy from drowning in a swollen brook near the Queens Park Recreation Ground.
Mulvanney played for St Helens Recs rugby team and after his rescue discovered that the lad was the nephew of his club mate, the international scrumhalf Johnny Greenall and the son of Harry Greenall, a former Saints player.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the un-neighbourly fight in Thatto Heath, the Sutton Manor miner accused of falsely claiming compensation, the frightened horse in a Liverpool Road shop and the solution to the decapitating double-decker trams.