FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 8 - 14 JANUARY 1974
This week's many stories include the blockade of mud-splattering lorries in Burtonhead Road, how the three-day working week was affecting St Helens' businesses, Leathers demand to be able to dump their waste into public sewers, the plans to turn Birchley Hall in Billinge into a medieval village, the motor vehicle prosecutions under the Trades Descriptions Act and the remarkable Rainhill letter collection from a bygone age.
We begin on the 8th with St Helens Education Committee's advert in the Liverpool Echo for a part-time cello teacher. It went: "There is an immediate vacancy for a Teacher of the Cello in the Peripatetic Instrumental Teaching Service in this Authority to teach the equivalent of five half days per week." Presumably that meant someone's job was to go round St Helens' schools teaching the kids to play the cello?
Leathers Chemicals (pictured above) were informed this week that they had been refused permission to dump waste from their plant into public sewers. The St Helens Works Committee had rejected the Lancots Lane firm's scheme on the advice of George James, the Borough Engineer. Mr James had tested samples of the waste and detected traces of acid through pipes on the factory site leaking, as well as other issues. Leathers said they would be fixing the problems and resubmitting their application.
In November police had been so concerned by a build up of mud on the ring road that they'd summoned the fire brigade to swill it away in case vehicles began skidding about. Inspector Bill Lawrenson said: "We believe that this problem was caused by wagons belonging to Pickavance. They are having to travel along Burtonhead Road, which is axle deep in mud and, therefore, spreading it throughout the area."
However, a spokesman for Pickavance said the council had insisted on their wagons using Burtonhead Road while implementing a contract to remove the Kimmicks chemical waste heap off Jackson Street. He put the blame for the mud spreading on a firm called Waste Clearance, saying:
"They have a tip in Burtonhead Road but no equipment for washing the wheels of their wagons. Therefore, they bring the mud onto the road and our vehicles have to drive through it. It is unfortunate that the muck is being spread about but there is nothing we can do about it."
On the 9th matters came to a head when 50 workers from small engineering firms in Burtonhead Road, tired of getting splattered with mud, set up a barricade and squared up to Pickavance's lorry drivers. One of the demonstrators said things had "looked ugly". Queues of heavy lorries formed behind the road block until the police arrived and ordered its removal. Eddie Moran, a director of Northern Pipes and Instruments Ltd of Burtonhead Road, declared:
"We are just fed-up with it being in this state. Twenty-ton wagons race down here at the rate of at least one a minute – and 99% of them are Pickavances. They churn up the surface and even make potholes about two feet deep. There's about 200 people employed in the road and they're sick of putting up with it. We have to put Wellingtons on to go to the toilet, and mud gets carried back into the workshops.
"But it's not only Pickavance's lorries. Wagons from Waste Clearance and Pre-Mix Concrete also use the road. It's been bad for some time but it's got worse since Pickavance's got the contract to level the chemical tip in Jackson Street. The waste is being dumped on a tip just off Burtonhead Road, so there's a lot more lorries now."
This week William Adamson, the Chief Inspector of St Helens Corporation's Weights and Measures Department, issued his annual report for the year ending last March. It revealed that the motor trade had been the worst offender under the Trades Descriptions Act. Out of 87 prosecutions made during the 12 month-period, 21 concerned motor vehicle or accessory sales, nearly twice as many as any other type of business. Complaints included milometers having been turned back and unroadworthy cars being put up for sale.
Food and drink vendors came second in the list of shame with a dozen prosecutions, followed by household appliances. The Act was still fairly new having only been passed in 1968 and Mr Adamson said it went: "…a long way towards removing false or misleading statements – written or oral. Numerous inquiries for advice and assistance have been made and it would appear the services offered by the department are becoming more widely known."
The St Helens Reporter explained on the 11th how Vincent Street was going to become one-way only to northbound traffic from the Town Hall. Originally the road was to be pedestrianised but that scheme had fallen through.
The Reporter also described how businesses in St Helens were adapting to the three-day week. That had come into force last week because of the power crisis – and some firms were managing better than others. Crosby Spring Interiors made spring seating for the motor industry at their Fleet Lane plant. They described their first experience of three-day production as "disastrous" but were hoping to have generators in operation soon that would enable 60% of their employees to work a normal five-day week.
Some firms were able to compensate for lost production through undertaking overtime during their allocated three days. But Parr clothing manufacturer Northgate said they had a high number of married women with families among their 850 workers and overtime was not an option for them. Lantor was also on the Parr Industrial Estate and had lost 50% of its usual output. The electric blanket maker undertook 24-hour shifts and so couldn't cram any more production into their allotted three days.
Some large firms were exempt from the restrictions, such as Pilkingtons who had been deemed to be in continuous production. But Pilks were still affected but had now agreed to extend their wages and jobs guarantee until January 26th, meaning there would be no lay offs or reduced pay packets until at least then. However, many small firms had to pay their staff less or were making lay-offs and the number of those registering at the St Helens Employment Exchange had been boosted to 4,700.
But hairdressers within the St Helens district were celebrating after being allocated an extra seven hours of opening time a week. That was after their protest, supported by Widnes MP Gordon Oakes, had led to the government relaxing the rules. Council house building had so far been largely unaffected through only being permitted to use electricity for three days of the week. St Helens Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, told the council's Building Committee this week: "We are getting by without the use of power tools and site offices are being lit by other means."
The Reporter also described how the Rev. Frank Ebbitt, the Vicar of Rainhill for the past eight years, was transferring to a parish in Berkshire. And how hotelier Harold Nelson – the new owner of Birchley Hall in Billinge – had received planning permission to transform the 16th century building into a "medieval village".
Mr Nelson said he would be targeting American tourists with a passion for history that might like to spend a night at the hall: "The Americans love this kind of thing and I'm sure it would really go down well. I'm hoping we will be able to arrange for parties to visit us."
Audrey Gornall was featured in the Reporter as the owner of a remarkable collection of correspondence that had originally belonged to one of her ancestors. The "housewife" from Warrington Road in Rainhill had possession of over 200 letters from famous politicians that had been sent to Sir Edward Evans of Liverpool. They included correspondence with prime ministers Gladstone, Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill.
One letter dated 1840 was from the Duke of Wellington trying to find a place in a home for a retired soldier. Some of the correspondence revealed political infighting in Victorian times with one discussing how to remove a Cabinet minister from office. Mrs Gornall told the Reporter: "The letters are fascinating – it's like looking into a bygone age. The politicians used to divert trains near their houses when it suited them."
About ten years earlier when moving house from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Mrs Gornall had thrown 24 of the letters onto the fire. "I wish I hadn't done it now", she admitted. "I never thought that they would be that valuable. I've never thought of throwing the others away since – but sometimes the kids have taken them to school. Now I shall seriously consider selling the letters."
John Lamb from Rosehill Avenue in Bold had his own letter published in the Reporter complaining about the price of bread. Mr Lamb had paid 12½p for a loaf at a Sutton corner shop which he called "plain profiteering".
And finally, from the 13th Bruce Lee's 'Enter The Dragon' began a week's run at the ABC Savoy with a live-action/animated comedy drama film called 'Heavy Traffic' shown at the Capitol, along with 'Fritz The Cat'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an armed robbery at McLean and Appleton's garage, the fishing for tropical fish at the Hotties, the claim that Middlehurst Avenue in Windle was being turned into a strip joint and why it was the end of an era in Sutton.
We begin on the 8th with St Helens Education Committee's advert in the Liverpool Echo for a part-time cello teacher. It went: "There is an immediate vacancy for a Teacher of the Cello in the Peripatetic Instrumental Teaching Service in this Authority to teach the equivalent of five half days per week." Presumably that meant someone's job was to go round St Helens' schools teaching the kids to play the cello?
In November police had been so concerned by a build up of mud on the ring road that they'd summoned the fire brigade to swill it away in case vehicles began skidding about. Inspector Bill Lawrenson said: "We believe that this problem was caused by wagons belonging to Pickavance. They are having to travel along Burtonhead Road, which is axle deep in mud and, therefore, spreading it throughout the area."
However, a spokesman for Pickavance said the council had insisted on their wagons using Burtonhead Road while implementing a contract to remove the Kimmicks chemical waste heap off Jackson Street. He put the blame for the mud spreading on a firm called Waste Clearance, saying:
"They have a tip in Burtonhead Road but no equipment for washing the wheels of their wagons. Therefore, they bring the mud onto the road and our vehicles have to drive through it. It is unfortunate that the muck is being spread about but there is nothing we can do about it."
On the 9th matters came to a head when 50 workers from small engineering firms in Burtonhead Road, tired of getting splattered with mud, set up a barricade and squared up to Pickavance's lorry drivers. One of the demonstrators said things had "looked ugly". Queues of heavy lorries formed behind the road block until the police arrived and ordered its removal. Eddie Moran, a director of Northern Pipes and Instruments Ltd of Burtonhead Road, declared:
"We are just fed-up with it being in this state. Twenty-ton wagons race down here at the rate of at least one a minute – and 99% of them are Pickavances. They churn up the surface and even make potholes about two feet deep. There's about 200 people employed in the road and they're sick of putting up with it. We have to put Wellingtons on to go to the toilet, and mud gets carried back into the workshops.
"But it's not only Pickavance's lorries. Wagons from Waste Clearance and Pre-Mix Concrete also use the road. It's been bad for some time but it's got worse since Pickavance's got the contract to level the chemical tip in Jackson Street. The waste is being dumped on a tip just off Burtonhead Road, so there's a lot more lorries now."
This week William Adamson, the Chief Inspector of St Helens Corporation's Weights and Measures Department, issued his annual report for the year ending last March. It revealed that the motor trade had been the worst offender under the Trades Descriptions Act. Out of 87 prosecutions made during the 12 month-period, 21 concerned motor vehicle or accessory sales, nearly twice as many as any other type of business. Complaints included milometers having been turned back and unroadworthy cars being put up for sale.
Food and drink vendors came second in the list of shame with a dozen prosecutions, followed by household appliances. The Act was still fairly new having only been passed in 1968 and Mr Adamson said it went: "…a long way towards removing false or misleading statements – written or oral. Numerous inquiries for advice and assistance have been made and it would appear the services offered by the department are becoming more widely known."
The St Helens Reporter explained on the 11th how Vincent Street was going to become one-way only to northbound traffic from the Town Hall. Originally the road was to be pedestrianised but that scheme had fallen through.
The Reporter also described how businesses in St Helens were adapting to the three-day week. That had come into force last week because of the power crisis – and some firms were managing better than others. Crosby Spring Interiors made spring seating for the motor industry at their Fleet Lane plant. They described their first experience of three-day production as "disastrous" but were hoping to have generators in operation soon that would enable 60% of their employees to work a normal five-day week.
Some firms were able to compensate for lost production through undertaking overtime during their allocated three days. But Parr clothing manufacturer Northgate said they had a high number of married women with families among their 850 workers and overtime was not an option for them. Lantor was also on the Parr Industrial Estate and had lost 50% of its usual output. The electric blanket maker undertook 24-hour shifts and so couldn't cram any more production into their allotted three days.
Some large firms were exempt from the restrictions, such as Pilkingtons who had been deemed to be in continuous production. But Pilks were still affected but had now agreed to extend their wages and jobs guarantee until January 26th, meaning there would be no lay offs or reduced pay packets until at least then. However, many small firms had to pay their staff less or were making lay-offs and the number of those registering at the St Helens Employment Exchange had been boosted to 4,700.
But hairdressers within the St Helens district were celebrating after being allocated an extra seven hours of opening time a week. That was after their protest, supported by Widnes MP Gordon Oakes, had led to the government relaxing the rules. Council house building had so far been largely unaffected through only being permitted to use electricity for three days of the week. St Helens Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, told the council's Building Committee this week: "We are getting by without the use of power tools and site offices are being lit by other means."
The Reporter also described how the Rev. Frank Ebbitt, the Vicar of Rainhill for the past eight years, was transferring to a parish in Berkshire. And how hotelier Harold Nelson – the new owner of Birchley Hall in Billinge – had received planning permission to transform the 16th century building into a "medieval village".
Mr Nelson said he would be targeting American tourists with a passion for history that might like to spend a night at the hall: "The Americans love this kind of thing and I'm sure it would really go down well. I'm hoping we will be able to arrange for parties to visit us."
Audrey Gornall was featured in the Reporter as the owner of a remarkable collection of correspondence that had originally belonged to one of her ancestors. The "housewife" from Warrington Road in Rainhill had possession of over 200 letters from famous politicians that had been sent to Sir Edward Evans of Liverpool. They included correspondence with prime ministers Gladstone, Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill.
One letter dated 1840 was from the Duke of Wellington trying to find a place in a home for a retired soldier. Some of the correspondence revealed political infighting in Victorian times with one discussing how to remove a Cabinet minister from office. Mrs Gornall told the Reporter: "The letters are fascinating – it's like looking into a bygone age. The politicians used to divert trains near their houses when it suited them."
About ten years earlier when moving house from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Mrs Gornall had thrown 24 of the letters onto the fire. "I wish I hadn't done it now", she admitted. "I never thought that they would be that valuable. I've never thought of throwing the others away since – but sometimes the kids have taken them to school. Now I shall seriously consider selling the letters."
John Lamb from Rosehill Avenue in Bold had his own letter published in the Reporter complaining about the price of bread. Mr Lamb had paid 12½p for a loaf at a Sutton corner shop which he called "plain profiteering".
And finally, from the 13th Bruce Lee's 'Enter The Dragon' began a week's run at the ABC Savoy with a live-action/animated comedy drama film called 'Heavy Traffic' shown at the Capitol, along with 'Fritz The Cat'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an armed robbery at McLean and Appleton's garage, the fishing for tropical fish at the Hotties, the claim that Middlehurst Avenue in Windle was being turned into a strip joint and why it was the end of an era in Sutton.
This week's many stories include the blockade of mud-splattering lorries in Burtonhead Road, how the 3-day working week was affecting St Helens' businesses, Leathers demand to be able to dump their waste into public sewers, the plans to turn Birchley Hall in Billinge into a medieval village, the motor vehicle prosecutions under the Trades Descriptions Act and the remarkable Rainhill letter collection from a bygone age.
We begin on the 8th with St Helens Education Committee's advert in the Liverpool Echo for a part-time cello teacher. It went:
"There is an immediate vacancy for a Teacher of the Cello in the Peripatetic Instrumental Teaching Service in this Authority to teach the equivalent of five half days per week."
Presumably that meant someone's job was to go round St Helens' schools teaching the kids to play the cello?
Leathers Chemicals (pictured above) were informed this week that they had been refused permission to dump waste from their plant into public sewers.
The St Helens Works Committee had rejected the Lancots Lane firm's scheme on the advice of George James, the Borough Engineer.
Mr James had tested samples of the waste and detected traces of acid through pipes on the factory site leaking, as well as other issues.
Leathers said they would be fixing the problems and resubmitting their application.
In November police had been so concerned by a build up of mud on the ring road that they'd summoned the fire brigade to swill it away in case vehicles began skidding about.
Inspector Bill Lawrenson said: "We believe that this problem was caused by wagons belonging to Pickavance. They are having to travel along Burtonhead Road, which is axle deep in mud and, therefore, spreading it throughout the area."
However, a spokesman for Pickavance said the council had insisted on their wagons using Burtonhead Road while implementing a contract to remove the Kimmicks chemical waste heap off Jackson Street. He put the blame for the mud spreading on a firm called Waste Clearance, saying:
"They have a tip in Burtonhead Road but no equipment for washing the wheels of their wagons. Therefore, they bring the mud onto the road and our vehicles have to drive through it. It is unfortunate that the muck is being spread about but there is nothing we can do about it."
On the 9th matters came to a head when 50 workers from small engineering firms in Burtonhead Road, tired of getting splattered with mud, set up a barricade and squared up to Pickavance's lorry drivers. One of the demonstrators said things had "looked ugly".
Queues of heavy lorries formed behind the road block until the police arrived and ordered its removal. Eddie Moran, a director of Northern Pipes and Instruments Ltd of Burtonhead Road, declared:
"We are just fed-up with it being in this state. Twenty-ton wagons race down here at the rate of at least one a minute – and 99% of them are Pickavances. They churn up the surface and even make potholes about two feet deep.
"There's about 200 people employed in the road and they're sick of putting up with it.
"We have to put Wellingtons on to go to the toilet, and mud gets carried back into the workshops.
"But it's not only Pickavance's lorries. Wagons from Waste Clearance and Pre-Mix Concrete also use the road.
"It's been bad for some time but it's got worse since Pickavance's got the contract to level the chemical tip in Jackson Street. The waste is being dumped on a tip just off Burtonhead Road, so there's a lot more lorries now."
This week William Adamson, the Chief Inspector of St Helens Corporation's Weights and Measures Department, issued his annual report for the year ending last March.
It revealed that the motor trade had been the worst offender under the Trades Descriptions Act.
Out of 87 prosecutions made during the 12 month-period, 21 concerned motor vehicle or accessory sales, nearly twice as many as any other type of business.
Complaints included milometers having been turned back and unroadworthy cars being put up for sale.
Food and drink vendors came second in the list of shame with a dozen prosecutions, followed by household appliances.
The Act was still fairly new having only been passed in 1968 and Mr Adamson said it went:
"…a long way towards removing false or misleading statements – written or oral. Numerous inquiries for advice and assistance have been made and it would appear the services offered by the department are becoming more widely known."
The St Helens Reporter explained on the 11th how Vincent Street was going to become one-way only to northbound traffic from the Town Hall. Originally the road was to be pedestrianised but that scheme had fallen through.
The Reporter also described how businesses in St Helens were adapting to the three-day week.
That had come into force last week because of the power crisis – and some firms were managing better than others.
Crosby Spring Interiors made spring seating for the motor industry at their Fleet Lane plant.
They described their first experience of three-day production as "disastrous" but were hoping to have generators in operation soon that would enable 60% of their employees to work a normal five-day week.
Some firms were able to compensate for lost production through undertaking overtime during their allocated three days.
But Parr clothing manufacturer Northgate said they had a high number of married women with families among their 850 workers and overtime was not an option for them.
Lantor was also on the Parr Industrial Estate and had lost 50% of its usual output. The electric blanket maker undertook 24-hour shifts and so couldn't cram any more production into their allotted three days.
Some large firms were exempt from the restrictions, such as Pilkingtons who had been deemed to be in continuous production.
But Pilks were still affected but had now agreed to extend their wages and jobs guarantee until January 26th, meaning there would be no lay offs or reduced pay packets until at least then.
However, many small firms had to pay their staff less or were making lay-offs and the number of those registering at the St Helens Employment Exchange had been boosted to 4,700.
But hairdressers within the St Helens district were celebrating after being allocated an extra seven hours of opening time a week.
That was after their protest, supported by Widnes MP Gordon Oakes, had led to the government relaxing the rules.
Council house building had so far been largely unaffected through only being permitted to use electricity for three days of the week.
St Helens Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, told the council's Building Committee this week:
"We are getting by without the use of power tools and site offices are being lit by other means."
The Reporter also described how the Rev. Frank Ebbitt, the Vicar of Rainhill for the past eight years, was transferring to a parish in Berkshire.
And how hotelier Harold Nelson – the new owner of Birchley Hall in Billinge – had received planning permission to transform the 16th century building into a "medieval village".
Mr Nelson said he would be targeting American tourists with a passion for history that might like to spend a night at the hall:
"The Americans love this kind of thing and I'm sure it would really go down well. I'm hoping we will be able to arrange for parties to visit us."
Audrey Gornall was featured in the Reporter as the owner of a remarkable collection of correspondence that had originally belonged to one of her ancestors.
The "housewife" from Warrington Road in Rainhill had possession of over 200 letters from famous politicians that had been sent to Sir Edward Evans of Liverpool.
They included correspondence with prime ministers Gladstone, Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill.
One letter dated 1840 was from the Duke of Wellington trying to find a place in a home for a retired soldier.
Some of the correspondence revealed political infighting in Victorian times with one discussing how to remove a Cabinet minister from office. Mrs Gornall told the Reporter:
"The letters are fascinating – it's like looking into a bygone age. The politicians used to divert trains near their houses when it suited them."
About ten years earlier when moving house from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Mrs Gornall had thrown 24 of the letters onto the fire.
"I wish I hadn't done it now", she admitted. "I never thought that they would be that valuable. I've never thought of throwing the others away since – but sometimes the kids have taken them to school. Now I shall seriously consider selling the letters."
John Lamb from Rosehill Avenue in Bold had his own letter published in the Reporter complaining about the price of bread.
Mr Lamb had paid 12½p for a loaf at a Sutton corner shop which he called "plain profiteering".
And finally, from the 13th Bruce Lee's 'Enter The Dragon' began a week's run at the ABC Savoy with a live-action/animated comedy drama film called 'Heavy Traffic' shown at the Capitol, along with 'Fritz The Cat'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an armed robbery at McLean and Appleton's garage, the fishing for tropical fish at the Hotties, the claim that Middlehurst Avenue in Windle was being turned into a strip joint and why it was the end of an era in Sutton.
We begin on the 8th with St Helens Education Committee's advert in the Liverpool Echo for a part-time cello teacher. It went:
"There is an immediate vacancy for a Teacher of the Cello in the Peripatetic Instrumental Teaching Service in this Authority to teach the equivalent of five half days per week."
Presumably that meant someone's job was to go round St Helens' schools teaching the kids to play the cello?
The St Helens Works Committee had rejected the Lancots Lane firm's scheme on the advice of George James, the Borough Engineer.
Mr James had tested samples of the waste and detected traces of acid through pipes on the factory site leaking, as well as other issues.
Leathers said they would be fixing the problems and resubmitting their application.
In November police had been so concerned by a build up of mud on the ring road that they'd summoned the fire brigade to swill it away in case vehicles began skidding about.
Inspector Bill Lawrenson said: "We believe that this problem was caused by wagons belonging to Pickavance. They are having to travel along Burtonhead Road, which is axle deep in mud and, therefore, spreading it throughout the area."
However, a spokesman for Pickavance said the council had insisted on their wagons using Burtonhead Road while implementing a contract to remove the Kimmicks chemical waste heap off Jackson Street. He put the blame for the mud spreading on a firm called Waste Clearance, saying:
"They have a tip in Burtonhead Road but no equipment for washing the wheels of their wagons. Therefore, they bring the mud onto the road and our vehicles have to drive through it. It is unfortunate that the muck is being spread about but there is nothing we can do about it."
On the 9th matters came to a head when 50 workers from small engineering firms in Burtonhead Road, tired of getting splattered with mud, set up a barricade and squared up to Pickavance's lorry drivers. One of the demonstrators said things had "looked ugly".
Queues of heavy lorries formed behind the road block until the police arrived and ordered its removal. Eddie Moran, a director of Northern Pipes and Instruments Ltd of Burtonhead Road, declared:
"We are just fed-up with it being in this state. Twenty-ton wagons race down here at the rate of at least one a minute – and 99% of them are Pickavances. They churn up the surface and even make potholes about two feet deep.
"There's about 200 people employed in the road and they're sick of putting up with it.
"We have to put Wellingtons on to go to the toilet, and mud gets carried back into the workshops.
"But it's not only Pickavance's lorries. Wagons from Waste Clearance and Pre-Mix Concrete also use the road.
"It's been bad for some time but it's got worse since Pickavance's got the contract to level the chemical tip in Jackson Street. The waste is being dumped on a tip just off Burtonhead Road, so there's a lot more lorries now."
This week William Adamson, the Chief Inspector of St Helens Corporation's Weights and Measures Department, issued his annual report for the year ending last March.
It revealed that the motor trade had been the worst offender under the Trades Descriptions Act.
Out of 87 prosecutions made during the 12 month-period, 21 concerned motor vehicle or accessory sales, nearly twice as many as any other type of business.
Complaints included milometers having been turned back and unroadworthy cars being put up for sale.
Food and drink vendors came second in the list of shame with a dozen prosecutions, followed by household appliances.
The Act was still fairly new having only been passed in 1968 and Mr Adamson said it went:
"…a long way towards removing false or misleading statements – written or oral. Numerous inquiries for advice and assistance have been made and it would appear the services offered by the department are becoming more widely known."
The St Helens Reporter explained on the 11th how Vincent Street was going to become one-way only to northbound traffic from the Town Hall. Originally the road was to be pedestrianised but that scheme had fallen through.
The Reporter also described how businesses in St Helens were adapting to the three-day week.
That had come into force last week because of the power crisis – and some firms were managing better than others.
Crosby Spring Interiors made spring seating for the motor industry at their Fleet Lane plant.
They described their first experience of three-day production as "disastrous" but were hoping to have generators in operation soon that would enable 60% of their employees to work a normal five-day week.
Some firms were able to compensate for lost production through undertaking overtime during their allocated three days.
But Parr clothing manufacturer Northgate said they had a high number of married women with families among their 850 workers and overtime was not an option for them.
Lantor was also on the Parr Industrial Estate and had lost 50% of its usual output. The electric blanket maker undertook 24-hour shifts and so couldn't cram any more production into their allotted three days.
Some large firms were exempt from the restrictions, such as Pilkingtons who had been deemed to be in continuous production.
But Pilks were still affected but had now agreed to extend their wages and jobs guarantee until January 26th, meaning there would be no lay offs or reduced pay packets until at least then.
However, many small firms had to pay their staff less or were making lay-offs and the number of those registering at the St Helens Employment Exchange had been boosted to 4,700.
But hairdressers within the St Helens district were celebrating after being allocated an extra seven hours of opening time a week.
That was after their protest, supported by Widnes MP Gordon Oakes, had led to the government relaxing the rules.
Council house building had so far been largely unaffected through only being permitted to use electricity for three days of the week.
St Helens Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, told the council's Building Committee this week:
"We are getting by without the use of power tools and site offices are being lit by other means."
The Reporter also described how the Rev. Frank Ebbitt, the Vicar of Rainhill for the past eight years, was transferring to a parish in Berkshire.
And how hotelier Harold Nelson – the new owner of Birchley Hall in Billinge – had received planning permission to transform the 16th century building into a "medieval village".
Mr Nelson said he would be targeting American tourists with a passion for history that might like to spend a night at the hall:
"The Americans love this kind of thing and I'm sure it would really go down well. I'm hoping we will be able to arrange for parties to visit us."
Audrey Gornall was featured in the Reporter as the owner of a remarkable collection of correspondence that had originally belonged to one of her ancestors.
The "housewife" from Warrington Road in Rainhill had possession of over 200 letters from famous politicians that had been sent to Sir Edward Evans of Liverpool.
They included correspondence with prime ministers Gladstone, Asquith, Lloyd George and Churchill.
One letter dated 1840 was from the Duke of Wellington trying to find a place in a home for a retired soldier.
Some of the correspondence revealed political infighting in Victorian times with one discussing how to remove a Cabinet minister from office. Mrs Gornall told the Reporter:
"The letters are fascinating – it's like looking into a bygone age. The politicians used to divert trains near their houses when it suited them."
About ten years earlier when moving house from Ashton-in-Makerfield, Mrs Gornall had thrown 24 of the letters onto the fire.
"I wish I hadn't done it now", she admitted. "I never thought that they would be that valuable. I've never thought of throwing the others away since – but sometimes the kids have taken them to school. Now I shall seriously consider selling the letters."
John Lamb from Rosehill Avenue in Bold had his own letter published in the Reporter complaining about the price of bread.
Mr Lamb had paid 12½p for a loaf at a Sutton corner shop which he called "plain profiteering".
And finally, from the 13th Bruce Lee's 'Enter The Dragon' began a week's run at the ABC Savoy with a live-action/animated comedy drama film called 'Heavy Traffic' shown at the Capitol, along with 'Fritz The Cat'.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include an armed robbery at McLean and Appleton's garage, the fishing for tropical fish at the Hotties, the claim that Middlehurst Avenue in Windle was being turned into a strip joint and why it was the end of an era in Sutton.