This week's stories include the worst thunderstorm in the history of St Helens, details of the new Savoy Super-Cinema in Bridge Street, the police "pounce" on obscene postcards in a Liverpool Road shop, Saints hold their annual meeting and George Formby performs at the Hippodrome Theatre. We begin on the 28th when the share prospectus for the new "Savoy Super-Cinema" appeared in the St Helens Reporter.

A new company had been created called 'Savoy Picture Houses (St. Helens & Ashton-in-Makerfield) Limited'.

They were taking over the existing Picturedrome in Bridge Street and the Palace cinema in Ashton.

The new super-cinema would be built next to the Picturedrome, which would be extended and continue in business.

The new building would incorporate a café and eight shops and cost £40,000 (around £2 million in today's money).

It was stated in the prospectus that the Picturedrome had been the first cinema in Lancashire to have a pipe organ specially built for a picture house.

An even larger organ would be installed in the new super-cinema and another special feature would be a shelter for people waiting for the doors to open so they won't get wet.

The prospectus said the new cinema would not only be "the finest in St. Helens, but will rank amongst the best in the country."

Also in the Reporter was a notice from Oldfields, who were a large jewellers and silversmith in Liverpool that also made a lot of their own stock.

They wanted to alert the people of St Helens to the fact that they would be closed on Saturday May 29th as they were going on their "annual staff pic-nic".

"Police Pounce On Obscene Postcards" was the headline to an article in the Reporter, which described a court case this week.

It concerned James Robinson who ran a general dealer's shop in Liverpool Road.

PC Hughes had been in the shop purchasing some postcards when he noticed one that he felt was obscene.

In what way was not stated by the Reporter but I doubt it would have been what we call pornographic.

However the officer – who appeared to have been in plain clothes – drew the attention of the female assistant to the card and she advised him not to send it through the post.

The police obtained a warrant to search the premises and on the following day raided the shop and removed more offending cards.

James Robinson claimed that he had had them for about 30 years and had never sold any until PC Hughes bought one.

The police sought an order to destroy the cards, which the magistrates granted.

The annual meeting of Saints was held in the Town Hall during the evening of the 28th and the old guard of officials received a shock.

The longstanding chairman and all members of the committee except two were voted out of office, as the supporters felt the club should be steered in a new direction. It was the benefit season of long serving player Tom Barton (pictured above)who was presented with a cheque for the huge amount of £364.

The bricklayer from Charles Street played over 200 times for the club as a winger or full back, scoring 95 tries and kicking 118 goals.

Dave Dooley of Saints Heritage Society describes Tom Barton as "a superstar of his time". George Formby (pictured above) was another superstar and he was appearing at the Hippodrome Theatre from the 31st.

No, not the one with the daft, toothy grin that strummed a ukulele and said: "Turned out nice again!"

A century ago it was his dad of the same name who was the comedy sensation capable of earning huge fees in music halls.

George Formby Snr. made his first stage appearance in the 1890s at the People's Palace music hall in St Helens for just 25 shillings a week.

He was so poor that he persuaded the theatre – which was rebuilt as the Empire before changing its name to the Hippodrome – to pay his train fare from Wigan.

Now he was rolling in it, which is why the strapline in the Hippo's advert in the Reporter said: "Most expensive and starring engagement of Lancashire's foremost comedian".

In a court case in 1917 it was revealed that George Formby had been contracted for £175 to play a week-long engagement in Southport. That's around £15 - 20,000 in today's money.

There are a number of comedy songs by Formby Senior on YouTube in which he sounds very similar to his son.

George Junior was born George Hoy Booth but he took his Dad's stage surname and his voice! Formby's support acts at the Hippo were:

The Avolos ("The only artistes in the world throwing double somersaults from perpendicular poles); Jess Graham ("The phenomenal Scottish vocalist"); The Musical Astleys ("In a bright instrumental entertainment"); Bert Maple & Billy May ("The fellows with the goat"); Pro-pella ("The mimetic airman") and Tom P. Broderick ("Versatile entertainer").

Comedians Bert Maple and Billy May took a goat on stage with them and it became their trademark.

A review of their act from May 1920 said "they kept the audience in a constant ripple of laughter". It must have been very smelly backstage though!

A double tragedy occurred at Bold Colliery at quarter to five in the morning on May 31st when two men from Burtonwood were killed.

They were Thomas McNicholas from Fairclough Street and John Mullin from Mercer Street.

Both men were working underground alongside Patrick Burns installing a supporting prop to the pit roof.

Suddenly without warning the roof gave way, trapping Burns under debris for ten minutes.

He suffered injuries to his right leg but got off lightly as McNicholas and Mullin were instantly killed.

Their bodies were taken to the Clock Face Hotel, where most inquests in the district were held.

What was claimed at the time to be the worst thunderstorm in the history of St Helens, took place during the afternoon of the 29th.

It led to many flooded homes, especially in the Watery Lane district of Sutton.

The water levels in houses in Moss Nook and Parr were reported to have reached the ceilings of kitchens.

Peasley Cross Road was flooded to a depth of five feet, with the road, as the Lancashire Evening Post put it:

"…turned into a swirling river for a distance of more than a quarter of a mile….the thunder was unceasing, and it was impossible to see more than a few yards in any direction, so dense was the rain.

"Vivid lightning lit up the town, which was overhung by exceptionally heavy clouds, and the thunder rolled again and again in a terrifying fashion, shaking the houses and frightening the people."

The St Helens Reporter described the flooding in the town as "phenomenal".

Water got into the gas pipes and Sutton was plunged into darkness for the remainder of the evening and cut off from the rest of St Helens.

Cars and buses became trapped on the flooded roads and their passengers had to wade waist deep through the water to escape.

The trams on the Sutton side of the flood had to remain where they were, with drivers and conductors having to walk miles out of their way to get home.

That was until a wooden trestle bridge could be erected over the flood. The wall surrounding the sanatorium / fever hospital in Peasley Cross (pictured above) was struck by lightning and levelled to the ground for over 30 yards.

A nearby brook burst its banks and poured into the grounds of the sanatorium creating a lake, with the water entering the admin blocks.

The floodwater took some time to recede and by the following day it was still four feet high at Peasley Cross Bridge and much deeper in other parts of the road.

Although the storm and flooding led to considerable damage, there doesn’t appear to have been any injuries.

Despite the weather 300 ex-soldiers managed to make their way to the Town Hall during that evening for what was thought likely to have been the last of the "welcome homes".

During the 18-month period since peace had been declared, there had been many receptions for the soldiers that had returned home to St Helens.

These had been organised by churches, local councils, organisations and trade bodies.

Their members tended to come back to Blighty in dribs and drabs during 1919, which delayed the holding of many such event.

It was the bottlemaker soldiers of the town that were entertained in the Assembly Room of the Town Hall with the Mayor saying he extended a "hearty welcome" back to them all.

Cllr. Joseph Turner told the men that the town appreciated the great service that they had all rendered to their country.

The townspeople, he added, extended their sympathy to the men that had come home, "perhaps maimed and bruised and battered through their first experiences of war." For some it sadly wouldn't be their last.

Next week's stories will include the bigamist of Park Road, the scandal of flooding at Sutton Moss, the man having a fit in Church Street who'd drunk 15 pints and the 16-year-old boy from Central Street who cut his throat after losing his job.