FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 3 - 9 MARCH 1975
This week's many stories include the human misery, loneliness and anger of Beth Avenue residents, the postman that was robbed in Eccleston, the rebel Thatto Heath landlord throws in the towel, the complaints from the stallholders in the new Tontine Market, the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball and the first community centre in St Helens opens in Chester Lane.
We begin on March 3rd when Mary Newcombe of Bank Street died at the grand old age of 100. Last November she had become the first Pilkington pensioner to reach a century. On her special day Mrs Newcombe had received 72 birthday cards, a telegram from Buckingham Palace, 14 bouquets and a huge bottle of champagne from her doctor.
I recently described how Terry Coleman, the licensee of the Alexandra Hotel in Crossley Road, had successfully won a court battle to prevent his licence being transferred to James Cowley of Rainford. That was after Greenall Whitley wanted Terry out of his Thatto Heath hostelry, with the brewery making some extraordinary allegations about his behaviour.
These included a claim that the landlord had poured a glass of beer over a female customer's head. That was something that Terry denied and 200 of his regulars had signed a petition demanding that he remain at the pub. But the court case was only the first of two hearings and the second one took place on the 3rd. That involved Terry's application to renew his licence which the police were opposing because they felt his premises were being conducted in a disorderly manner.
Another lengthy hearing was expected but in the event it only lasted 10 minutes. Both the police and Greenall's had talked to Terry and his solicitor before the case and he had decided not to oppose the loss of his licence. His wife Audrey explained that the stress had been proving unbearable on the family. What had not been previously reported was that Terry had at the beginning of the year been offered £8,000 and a rented house in Vincent Street as an ex-gratia payment to leave the Alexandra. Terry said he was still considering whether to accept the offer but hoped to return to the licensing trade at some point.
On the 4th a public meeting was held to discuss the state of Beth Avenue in Sutton, which journalist Alan Whalley had in March 1972 dubbed "Downtown Morocco". The St Helens Reporter said a "catalogue unfolded of human misery, loneliness and anger" and described how for two hours people had "poured out their despair over the estate without a heart." Stretching from New Street to Gerards Lane, the new estate contained 700 homes that housed 3,000 residents.
One woman said she had lived on the estate for 14 months and did not "know a soul". There were no public telephones, no shops, no chemists, no pubs or anywhere for residents go and it was claimed that the estate was being reduced to a slum. Claims of neglect and poor planning were hurled at St Helens Council during the meeting and Dr Paul Fiske, a curate for Sutton, who lived on the estate, said: "People on estates like Beth Avenue are being turned into animals."
Its street lighting was described at the meeting as "scandalous and a disgrace" and packs of dogs were said to be roaming about frightening children and pensioners. At the meeting a 25-strong community council was formed and later in the week St Helens Council announced that a community centre would be built in Beth Avenue. Costing over £300,000 the complex would include a pub, hall, arts centre, library, coffee bar and disco.
Coincidentally, what was described as the first community centre in St Helens was opened this week on the Four Acre estate in Chester Lane. Plans for a permanent building had to be abandoned through a shortage of cash and so a specially built temporary building had been installed and was being called Centre 75. The temporary structure had cost just over £9,000 and it was expected that a permanent replacement would be on site in three years' time at around £100,000. Playgroups, pensioner, mother and baby groups and luncheon clubs now had a permanent base rather than having to use church halls or the library.
It had been expected that when the first stallholders moved into the new Tontine Market in January that trade would take time to build up. But in the St Helens Newspaper on the 4th it was disclosed that seven out of nine fruit and vegetable stallholders on the first floor of the Tontine had hit what was described as a "rock-bottom profit margin".
Business was so bad that the cash they were making did not even cover their weekly rents, with stallholders having to make up their payments from savings. The council were currently allowing the stallholders to only pay 75% of their rent but from April the full rent of between £26.50 and £164 a week would have to be paid. The Newspaper said that the retailers were also complaining that the market had been badly planned.
They said the food stalls – especially those selling fruit and vegetables – should be on the ground floor instead of the first, so that shoppers did not have to hump heavy bags about. There were two lifts but the traders said they were rarely in working order because of vandalism. One unnamed stallholder said:
"Many people will not walk upstairs and carry heavy goods around. Pensioners stay away. And there are frequent accidents on the stairs. The steps are not wide enough, and are slippery. Trade is going to the supermarkets, where all the food is on the same floor." As a consequence perishable food was being thrown out with one man claiming he had lost £100 worth of goods.
The stallholders said that when they complained they were warned that if they wanted to leave there were other traders who could take their places immediately. The council response was to say that the market had not been open for long and the development was not yet completed.
The Newspaper also described how "snatch and grab" raiders had robbed postman Donald Kilshaw of two of his postbags before fleeing in a stolen car. The 48-year-old had finished two-thirds of his morning deliveries when he reached Lowther Crescent just before 9 am. Suddenly two men attacked him and while one grabbed the postbags from Mr Kilshaw's shoulder, the other held him back so he could not attempt to retrieve them. Then the men leapt into a car and a third man drove them away.
Mr Kilshaw was uninjured and next day he was back on his Eccleston Hill round that he had walked for 12 years. The stolen car was found abandoned on Scholes Lane with the thieves believed to be have been targeting Giro orders. It was the second such robbery in five months when another postman was attacked and robbed in Howard Street.
On the 6th St Helens' councillors agreed, subject to confirmation, to increase the domestic rate in the town by just under 22%. The cost of local authority reorganisation and rampant inflation were the drivers behind the big increase.
The St Helens Reporter revealed on the 7th that St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs' plea for government help for a new primary school at Moss Bank had failed. The present building at the top of Moss Bank Hill was 130 years old and lacked a gym, a hall, dining room, staff room and staff toilets and inside boys' toilets. Lack of proper accommodation meant a wooden hut with a leaky roof was being used as a dining hall and as additional classrooms.
The Reporter also described how a 50-year-old man from Sutton Manor who wished to remain anonymous, had won £4,000 (around £50,000 in today's money) after placing a 10p stake on three winning horses.
Around February each year my '150 Years Ago This Week' articles describe the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball. The annual event to raise funds for the Catholic schools in the district was held in the Volunteer Hall and it was always a glitzy affair. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and in 1870 the St Helens Newspaper in a preview of the ball wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
To my surprise I find that the event was still taking place in 1975, with the 126th Catholic Ball held on the 7th. But there were a few changes from the 19th century. The venue was now Reeve Hall at Rainhill Hospital and Providence Hospital was the beneficiary. And, of course, ticket prices had risen from what had been 4 or 5 shillings and they now cost £5. That same evening comic Frank Carson appeared at the Rainhill Ex-Services Club in Warrington Road. Tickets cost 60p.
And finally, on the 9th 'Airport 1975' starring Charlton Heston and George Kennedy replaced 'Man About The House' at the ABC Savoy. And the Capitol replaced 'Chinatown' with the sex film 'Eskimo Nell'.
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a tour of the red brick and concrete jungle of Beth Avenue, St Helens Council votes to close down Leathers, the pioneering fostering scheme and the kind-hearted Triplex workers install a kidney machine.
We begin on March 3rd when Mary Newcombe of Bank Street died at the grand old age of 100. Last November she had become the first Pilkington pensioner to reach a century. On her special day Mrs Newcombe had received 72 birthday cards, a telegram from Buckingham Palace, 14 bouquets and a huge bottle of champagne from her doctor.
I recently described how Terry Coleman, the licensee of the Alexandra Hotel in Crossley Road, had successfully won a court battle to prevent his licence being transferred to James Cowley of Rainford. That was after Greenall Whitley wanted Terry out of his Thatto Heath hostelry, with the brewery making some extraordinary allegations about his behaviour.
These included a claim that the landlord had poured a glass of beer over a female customer's head. That was something that Terry denied and 200 of his regulars had signed a petition demanding that he remain at the pub. But the court case was only the first of two hearings and the second one took place on the 3rd. That involved Terry's application to renew his licence which the police were opposing because they felt his premises were being conducted in a disorderly manner.
Another lengthy hearing was expected but in the event it only lasted 10 minutes. Both the police and Greenall's had talked to Terry and his solicitor before the case and he had decided not to oppose the loss of his licence. His wife Audrey explained that the stress had been proving unbearable on the family. What had not been previously reported was that Terry had at the beginning of the year been offered £8,000 and a rented house in Vincent Street as an ex-gratia payment to leave the Alexandra. Terry said he was still considering whether to accept the offer but hoped to return to the licensing trade at some point.
One woman said she had lived on the estate for 14 months and did not "know a soul". There were no public telephones, no shops, no chemists, no pubs or anywhere for residents go and it was claimed that the estate was being reduced to a slum. Claims of neglect and poor planning were hurled at St Helens Council during the meeting and Dr Paul Fiske, a curate for Sutton, who lived on the estate, said: "People on estates like Beth Avenue are being turned into animals."
Its street lighting was described at the meeting as "scandalous and a disgrace" and packs of dogs were said to be roaming about frightening children and pensioners. At the meeting a 25-strong community council was formed and later in the week St Helens Council announced that a community centre would be built in Beth Avenue. Costing over £300,000 the complex would include a pub, hall, arts centre, library, coffee bar and disco.
Coincidentally, what was described as the first community centre in St Helens was opened this week on the Four Acre estate in Chester Lane. Plans for a permanent building had to be abandoned through a shortage of cash and so a specially built temporary building had been installed and was being called Centre 75. The temporary structure had cost just over £9,000 and it was expected that a permanent replacement would be on site in three years' time at around £100,000. Playgroups, pensioner, mother and baby groups and luncheon clubs now had a permanent base rather than having to use church halls or the library.
It had been expected that when the first stallholders moved into the new Tontine Market in January that trade would take time to build up. But in the St Helens Newspaper on the 4th it was disclosed that seven out of nine fruit and vegetable stallholders on the first floor of the Tontine had hit what was described as a "rock-bottom profit margin".
Business was so bad that the cash they were making did not even cover their weekly rents, with stallholders having to make up their payments from savings. The council were currently allowing the stallholders to only pay 75% of their rent but from April the full rent of between £26.50 and £164 a week would have to be paid. The Newspaper said that the retailers were also complaining that the market had been badly planned.
They said the food stalls – especially those selling fruit and vegetables – should be on the ground floor instead of the first, so that shoppers did not have to hump heavy bags about. There were two lifts but the traders said they were rarely in working order because of vandalism. One unnamed stallholder said:
"Many people will not walk upstairs and carry heavy goods around. Pensioners stay away. And there are frequent accidents on the stairs. The steps are not wide enough, and are slippery. Trade is going to the supermarkets, where all the food is on the same floor." As a consequence perishable food was being thrown out with one man claiming he had lost £100 worth of goods.
The stallholders said that when they complained they were warned that if they wanted to leave there were other traders who could take their places immediately. The council response was to say that the market had not been open for long and the development was not yet completed.
The Newspaper also described how "snatch and grab" raiders had robbed postman Donald Kilshaw of two of his postbags before fleeing in a stolen car. The 48-year-old had finished two-thirds of his morning deliveries when he reached Lowther Crescent just before 9 am. Suddenly two men attacked him and while one grabbed the postbags from Mr Kilshaw's shoulder, the other held him back so he could not attempt to retrieve them. Then the men leapt into a car and a third man drove them away.
Mr Kilshaw was uninjured and next day he was back on his Eccleston Hill round that he had walked for 12 years. The stolen car was found abandoned on Scholes Lane with the thieves believed to be have been targeting Giro orders. It was the second such robbery in five months when another postman was attacked and robbed in Howard Street.
On the 6th St Helens' councillors agreed, subject to confirmation, to increase the domestic rate in the town by just under 22%. The cost of local authority reorganisation and rampant inflation were the drivers behind the big increase.
The St Helens Reporter revealed on the 7th that St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs' plea for government help for a new primary school at Moss Bank had failed. The present building at the top of Moss Bank Hill was 130 years old and lacked a gym, a hall, dining room, staff room and staff toilets and inside boys' toilets. Lack of proper accommodation meant a wooden hut with a leaky roof was being used as a dining hall and as additional classrooms.
The Reporter also described how a 50-year-old man from Sutton Manor who wished to remain anonymous, had won £4,000 (around £50,000 in today's money) after placing a 10p stake on three winning horses.
Around February each year my '150 Years Ago This Week' articles describe the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball. The annual event to raise funds for the Catholic schools in the district was held in the Volunteer Hall and it was always a glitzy affair. A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and in 1870 the St Helens Newspaper in a preview of the ball wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
To my surprise I find that the event was still taking place in 1975, with the 126th Catholic Ball held on the 7th. But there were a few changes from the 19th century. The venue was now Reeve Hall at Rainhill Hospital and Providence Hospital was the beneficiary. And, of course, ticket prices had risen from what had been 4 or 5 shillings and they now cost £5. That same evening comic Frank Carson appeared at the Rainhill Ex-Services Club in Warrington Road. Tickets cost 60p.
And finally, on the 9th 'Airport 1975' starring Charlton Heston and George Kennedy replaced 'Man About The House' at the ABC Savoy. And the Capitol replaced 'Chinatown' with the sex film 'Eskimo Nell'.
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a tour of the red brick and concrete jungle of Beth Avenue, St Helens Council votes to close down Leathers, the pioneering fostering scheme and the kind-hearted Triplex workers install a kidney machine.
This week's many stories include the human misery, loneliness and anger of Beth Avenue residents, the postman that was robbed in Eccleston, the rebel Thatto Heath landlord throws in the towel, the complaints from the stallholders in the new Tontine Market, the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball and the first community centre in St Helens opens in Chester Lane.
We begin on March 3rd when Mary Newcombe of Bank Street died at the grand old age of 100. Last November she had become the first Pilkington pensioner to reach a century.
On her special day Mrs Newcombe had received 72 birthday cards, a telegram from Buckingham Palace, 14 bouquets and a huge bottle of champagne from her doctor.
I recently described how Terry Coleman, the licensee of the Alexandra Hotel in Crossley Road, had successfully won a court battle to prevent his licence being transferred to James Cowley of Rainford.
That was after Greenall Whitley wanted Terry out of his Thatto Heath hostelry, with the brewery making some extraordinary allegations about his behaviour.
These included a claim that the landlord had poured a glass of beer over a female customer's head.
That was something that Terry denied and 200 of his regulars had signed a petition demanding that he remain at the pub.
But the court case was only the first of two hearings and the second one took place on the 3rd.
That involved Terry's application to renew his licence which the police were opposing because they felt his premises were being conducted in a disorderly manner.
Another lengthy hearing was expected but in the event it only lasted 10 minutes.
Both the police and Greenall's had talked to Terry and his solicitor before the case and he had decided not to oppose the loss of his licence.
His wife Audrey explained that the stress had been proving unbearable on the family.
What had not been previously reported was that Terry had at the beginning of the year been offered £8,000 and a rented house in Vincent Street as an ex-gratia payment to leave the Alexandra.
Terry said he was still considering whether to accept the offer but hoped to return to the licensing trade at some point.
On the 4th a public meeting was held to discuss the state of Beth Avenue in Sutton, which journalist Alan Whalley had in March 1972 dubbed "Downtown Morocco".
The St Helens Reporter said a "catalogue unfolded of human misery, loneliness and anger" and described how for two hours people had "poured out their despair over the estate without a heart."
Stretching from New Street to Gerards Lane, the new estate contained 700 homes that housed 3,000 residents.
One woman said she had lived on the estate for 14 months and did not "know a soul".
There were no public telephones, no shops, no chemists, no pubs or anywhere for residents go and it was claimed that the estate was being reduced to a slum.
Claims of neglect and poor planning were hurled at St Helens Council during the meeting and Dr Paul Fiske, a curate for Sutton, who lived on the estate, said:
"People on estates like Beth Avenue are being turned into animals."
Its street lighting was described at the meeting as "scandalous and a disgrace" and packs of dogs were said to be roaming about frightening children and pensioners.
At the meeting a 25-strong community council was formed and later in the week St Helens Council announced that a community centre would be built in Beth Avenue.
Costing over £300,000 the complex would include a pub, hall, arts centre, library, coffee bar and disco.
Coincidentally, what was described as the first community centre in St Helens was opened this week on the Four Acre estate in Chester Lane.
Plans for a permanent building had to be abandoned through a shortage of cash and so a specially built temporary building had been installed and was being called Centre 75.
The temporary structure had cost just over £9,000 and it was expected that a permanent replacement would be on site in three years' time at around £100,000.
Playgroups, pensioner, mother and baby groups and luncheon clubs now had a permanent base rather than having to use church halls or the library.
It had been expected that when the first stallholders moved into the new Tontine Market in January that trade would take time to build up.
But in the St Helens Newspaper on the 4th it was disclosed that seven out of nine fruit and vegetable stallholders on the first floor of the Tontine had hit what was described as a "rock-bottom profit margin".
Business was so bad that the cash they were making did not even cover their weekly rents, with stallholders having to make up their payments from savings.
The council were currently allowing the stallholders to only pay 75% of their rent but from April the full rent of between £26.50 and £164 a week would have to be paid.
The Newspaper said that the retailers were also complaining that the market had been badly planned.
They said the food stalls – especially those selling fruit and vegetables – should be on the ground floor instead of the first, so that shoppers did not have to hump heavy bags about.
There were two lifts but the traders said they were rarely in working order because of vandalism. One unnamed stallholder said:
"Many people will not walk upstairs and carry heavy goods around. Pensioners stay away. And there are frequent accidents on the stairs. The steps are not wide enough, and are slippery. Trade is going to the supermarkets, where all the food is on the same floor."
As a consequence perishable food was being thrown out with one man claiming he had lost £100 worth of goods.
The stallholders said that when they complained they were warned that if they wanted to leave there were other traders who could take their places immediately.
The council response was to say that the market had not been open for long and the development was not yet completed.
The Newspaper also described how "snatch and grab" raiders had robbed postman Donald Kilshaw of two of his postbags before fleeing in a stolen car.
The 48-year-old had finished two-thirds of his morning deliveries when he reached Lowther Crescent just before 9 am.
Suddenly two men attacked him and while one grabbed the postbags from Mr Kilshaw's shoulder, the other held him back so he could not attempt to retrieve them. Then the men leapt into a car and a third man drove them away.
Mr Kilshaw was uninjured and next day he was back on his Eccleston Hill round that he had walked for 12 years.
The stolen car was found abandoned on Scholes Lane with the thieves believed to be have been targeting Giro orders.
It was the second such robbery in five months when another postman was attacked and robbed in Howard Street.
On the 6th St Helens' councillors agreed, subject to confirmation, to increase the domestic rate in the town by just under 22%.
The cost of local authority reorganisation and rampant inflation were the drivers behind the big increase.
The St Helens Reporter revealed on the 7th that St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs' plea for government help for a new primary school at Moss Bank had failed.
The present building at the top of Moss Bank Hill was 130 years old and lacked a gym, a hall, dining room, staff room and staff toilets and inside boys' toilets.
Lack of proper accommodation meant a wooden hut with a leaky roof was being used as a dining hall and as additional classrooms.
The Reporter also described how a 50-year-old man from Sutton Manor who wished to remain anonymous, had won £4,000 (around £50,000 in today's money) after placing a 10p stake on three winning horses.
Around February each year my '150 Years Ago This Week' articles describe the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball.
The annual event to raise funds for the Catholic schools in the district was held in the Volunteer Hall and it was always a glitzy affair.
A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and in 1870 the St Helens Newspaper in a preview of the ball wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
To my surprise I find that the event was still taking place in 1975, with the 126th Catholic Ball held on the 7th. But there were a few changes from the 19th century.
The venue was now Reeve Hall at Rainhill Hospital and Providence Hospital was the beneficiary.
And, of course, ticket prices had risen from what had been 4 or 5 shillings and they now cost £5.
That same evening comic Frank Carson appeared at the Rainhill Ex-Services Club in Warrington Road. Tickets cost 60p.
And finally, on the 9th 'Airport 1975' starring Charlton Heston and George Kennedy replaced 'Man About The House' at the ABC Savoy. And the Capitol replaced 'Chinatown' with the sex film 'Eskimo Nell'.
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a tour of the red brick and concrete jungle of Beth Avenue, St Helens Council votes to close down Leathers, the pioneering fostering scheme and the kind-hearted Triplex workers install a kidney machine.
We begin on March 3rd when Mary Newcombe of Bank Street died at the grand old age of 100. Last November she had become the first Pilkington pensioner to reach a century.
On her special day Mrs Newcombe had received 72 birthday cards, a telegram from Buckingham Palace, 14 bouquets and a huge bottle of champagne from her doctor.
I recently described how Terry Coleman, the licensee of the Alexandra Hotel in Crossley Road, had successfully won a court battle to prevent his licence being transferred to James Cowley of Rainford.
That was after Greenall Whitley wanted Terry out of his Thatto Heath hostelry, with the brewery making some extraordinary allegations about his behaviour.
These included a claim that the landlord had poured a glass of beer over a female customer's head.
That was something that Terry denied and 200 of his regulars had signed a petition demanding that he remain at the pub.
But the court case was only the first of two hearings and the second one took place on the 3rd.
That involved Terry's application to renew his licence which the police were opposing because they felt his premises were being conducted in a disorderly manner.
Another lengthy hearing was expected but in the event it only lasted 10 minutes.
Both the police and Greenall's had talked to Terry and his solicitor before the case and he had decided not to oppose the loss of his licence.
His wife Audrey explained that the stress had been proving unbearable on the family.
What had not been previously reported was that Terry had at the beginning of the year been offered £8,000 and a rented house in Vincent Street as an ex-gratia payment to leave the Alexandra.
Terry said he was still considering whether to accept the offer but hoped to return to the licensing trade at some point.
The St Helens Reporter said a "catalogue unfolded of human misery, loneliness and anger" and described how for two hours people had "poured out their despair over the estate without a heart."
Stretching from New Street to Gerards Lane, the new estate contained 700 homes that housed 3,000 residents.
One woman said she had lived on the estate for 14 months and did not "know a soul".
There were no public telephones, no shops, no chemists, no pubs or anywhere for residents go and it was claimed that the estate was being reduced to a slum.
Claims of neglect and poor planning were hurled at St Helens Council during the meeting and Dr Paul Fiske, a curate for Sutton, who lived on the estate, said:
"People on estates like Beth Avenue are being turned into animals."
Its street lighting was described at the meeting as "scandalous and a disgrace" and packs of dogs were said to be roaming about frightening children and pensioners.
At the meeting a 25-strong community council was formed and later in the week St Helens Council announced that a community centre would be built in Beth Avenue.
Costing over £300,000 the complex would include a pub, hall, arts centre, library, coffee bar and disco.
Coincidentally, what was described as the first community centre in St Helens was opened this week on the Four Acre estate in Chester Lane.
Plans for a permanent building had to be abandoned through a shortage of cash and so a specially built temporary building had been installed and was being called Centre 75.
The temporary structure had cost just over £9,000 and it was expected that a permanent replacement would be on site in three years' time at around £100,000.
Playgroups, pensioner, mother and baby groups and luncheon clubs now had a permanent base rather than having to use church halls or the library.
It had been expected that when the first stallholders moved into the new Tontine Market in January that trade would take time to build up.
But in the St Helens Newspaper on the 4th it was disclosed that seven out of nine fruit and vegetable stallholders on the first floor of the Tontine had hit what was described as a "rock-bottom profit margin".
Business was so bad that the cash they were making did not even cover their weekly rents, with stallholders having to make up their payments from savings.
The council were currently allowing the stallholders to only pay 75% of their rent but from April the full rent of between £26.50 and £164 a week would have to be paid.
The Newspaper said that the retailers were also complaining that the market had been badly planned.
They said the food stalls – especially those selling fruit and vegetables – should be on the ground floor instead of the first, so that shoppers did not have to hump heavy bags about.
There were two lifts but the traders said they were rarely in working order because of vandalism. One unnamed stallholder said:
"Many people will not walk upstairs and carry heavy goods around. Pensioners stay away. And there are frequent accidents on the stairs. The steps are not wide enough, and are slippery. Trade is going to the supermarkets, where all the food is on the same floor."
As a consequence perishable food was being thrown out with one man claiming he had lost £100 worth of goods.
The stallholders said that when they complained they were warned that if they wanted to leave there were other traders who could take their places immediately.
The council response was to say that the market had not been open for long and the development was not yet completed.
The Newspaper also described how "snatch and grab" raiders had robbed postman Donald Kilshaw of two of his postbags before fleeing in a stolen car.
The 48-year-old had finished two-thirds of his morning deliveries when he reached Lowther Crescent just before 9 am.
Suddenly two men attacked him and while one grabbed the postbags from Mr Kilshaw's shoulder, the other held him back so he could not attempt to retrieve them. Then the men leapt into a car and a third man drove them away.
Mr Kilshaw was uninjured and next day he was back on his Eccleston Hill round that he had walked for 12 years.
The stolen car was found abandoned on Scholes Lane with the thieves believed to be have been targeting Giro orders.
It was the second such robbery in five months when another postman was attacked and robbed in Howard Street.
On the 6th St Helens' councillors agreed, subject to confirmation, to increase the domestic rate in the town by just under 22%.
The cost of local authority reorganisation and rampant inflation were the drivers behind the big increase.
The St Helens Reporter revealed on the 7th that St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs' plea for government help for a new primary school at Moss Bank had failed.
The present building at the top of Moss Bank Hill was 130 years old and lacked a gym, a hall, dining room, staff room and staff toilets and inside boys' toilets.
Lack of proper accommodation meant a wooden hut with a leaky roof was being used as a dining hall and as additional classrooms.
The Reporter also described how a 50-year-old man from Sutton Manor who wished to remain anonymous, had won £4,000 (around £50,000 in today's money) after placing a 10p stake on three winning horses.
Around February each year my '150 Years Ago This Week' articles describe the St Helens Catholic Charity Ball.
The annual event to raise funds for the Catholic schools in the district was held in the Volunteer Hall and it was always a glitzy affair.
A lot of effort always went into decorating such halls and in 1870 the St Helens Newspaper in a preview of the ball wrote:
"The room will present a beautiful appearance, with growing plants and flowering exotics, kindly lent for the occasion, from the greenhouses and conservatories of gentlemen in the neighbourhood. We have reason to believe that the company present will be the most distinguished that has assembled in St. Helens, under similar circumstances, for a great number of years."
To my surprise I find that the event was still taking place in 1975, with the 126th Catholic Ball held on the 7th. But there were a few changes from the 19th century.
The venue was now Reeve Hall at Rainhill Hospital and Providence Hospital was the beneficiary.
And, of course, ticket prices had risen from what had been 4 or 5 shillings and they now cost £5.
That same evening comic Frank Carson appeared at the Rainhill Ex-Services Club in Warrington Road. Tickets cost 60p.
And finally, on the 9th 'Airport 1975' starring Charlton Heston and George Kennedy replaced 'Man About The House' at the ABC Savoy. And the Capitol replaced 'Chinatown' with the sex film 'Eskimo Nell'.
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a tour of the red brick and concrete jungle of Beth Avenue, St Helens Council votes to close down Leathers, the pioneering fostering scheme and the kind-hearted Triplex workers install a kidney machine.