FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (8th - 14th AUGUST 1972)
This week's stories include the new Westfield Street / Ormskirk Street one-way traffic system, the Islands Brow improvement scheme, the Pilkington Gala takes place, more concern in Sutton over Leathers chemicals plant and the Saints player refusing to play for the club because of the abuse he received from fans last season.
We begin with a fire at Clegg's laundry in Prescot, which caused £40,000 worth of damage. It was their third fire in four years and around 100 customers had their wash destroyed – including that of the Mayor of St Helens, Allan Lycett. His favourite cotton sheets went up in smoke and his wife Wynne said he'd have to make do with nylon sheets, which the Liberal mayor did not like. "He's very conservative", she joked.
It was announced this week that Islands Brow was to get a facelift. The scheme costing £83,000 (about £1¼m in today's money) would involve the widening and straightening of the road for a quarter to half-a-mile. The improvement would involve filling in potholes and addressing many of the complaints of flooding by raising the level of part of the road and installing two new sewers – one to take surface water and the other to receive effluent that ran down from the hills. Ditches at the sides would also be tidied up and grass verges created and a wall built against one of the smaller hills of industrial waste to prevent people from climbing on them. The project should start in about a month and would take up to a year to complete.
The Pilkington Gala began on the 11th with a performance by Redgate Boys Silver Band. The main events were held on the following day with around 25,000 in attendance. As well as the usual procession from the Prescot Road head office to Ruskin Drive, there was also a Wild West show, wrestling, rugby league sevens, concerts, dancing and a fireworks display. This year's Gala Girl was Sheila Thomas who was crowned by Lord Pilkington during the afternoon.
Clinkard's "Better Than Ever" sale started on the 11th. The firm began selling shoes in Westfield Street in 1953, sometimes under the name of its owner W. H. Clinkard.
The residents of Princess Avenue in Dentons Green were complaining in the Reporter on the 11th about the trees that lined both sides of their road. When in leaf the 55 mainly elms and sycamores were blocking light to their homes and – according to the Reporter – "making their front rooms dark and dismal". Samuel Helsby told the paper: "It's so dark in my front room that we have to put the light on if we want to read." The 56-year-old demanded drastic pruning of two offending trees, adding: "If something isn't done about it then I'll climb up there and do it myself."
The Reporter also described how news of a production switch by the Leathers Chemicals Company (pictured above) had led to another petition being launched in Sutton. The controversial plant was blamed for much pollution and residents were concerned that the firm's closure of its Bradford base would mean an expansion in Lancots Lane. It had been reported that Bradford's Medical Officer of Health had been concerned that Leathers' works in the Yorkshire town had been damaging its environment.
So Ken Griffiths, chairman of the Marshalls Cross Action Group, told the paper: "Now we are going to get the pollution that the Bradford Medical Officer is glad to get rid of." However, Alfred Keeling, the works manager at Leathers in Sutton, said: "There is no intention at present to increase the size of our plant. St. Helens is already working flat out and there are no plans to extend the premises."
Saints rugby league player Alan Whittle made the front page of the Reporter, instead of the usual back page, after staging what the paper dubbed a one-man strike. The 25-year-old utility player was refusing to turn up for training at Knowsley Road because of the barrage of abuse he'd suffered from home fans last season.
"A lot of it you couldn't repeat," said Alan. "At times you feel like jumping over the wall to get to them. It got so that I preferred to play away from home." Alan was doubly on strike, as he was also a bricklayer – and he and his workmates had downed trowels as part of the national building workers dispute. The article revealed that playing rugby for Saints last season, Alan had earned just over £1,000, which is around £15,000 in today's money.
Jack Barnes was advertising a "gigantic sale" at his Bridge Street store. A "vast selection" of jeans was available from 25p, shirts from 75p, trousers "flares patterned and plain" from £2 and "Tee Shirts" from 80p. The light suede jacket known as a ”Budgie jacket" after being worn by Adam Faith in the 'Budgie' TV series was the most expensive item in the list, priced from £4.
There was another story in the Reporter about homebuyers complaining of being gazumped. That term came into use from 1971. However, it then usually referred to a price hike by the developers of newly built estates who had accepted an order for a house before it was built – and then upped the price upon completion. In a very sympathetic piece, the Reporter described the effect of gazumping on five-year-old Neil Whitling:
"Years before his time, Neil was plunged into a world of misery and mortgages when his parents faced a price rise that left them homeless", wrote the paper. Instead of moving into a new semi-detached house in Woolacombe Avenue in Sutton Leach, the family were now living in one room in an old house in Cooper Street without bath, toilet or cooker. "For Neil it meant the end of his big birthday party hopes – and a life without friends," continued the report. "There is no garden in which to put up his birthday-present wigwam. Only a back-yard playground with a drain opening into a sewer."
The price of the house had suddenly been raised from the £5,199 that the family had been quoted in January, to £6,399. However, the house builders ND Holdings blamed Neil's father, Terry, saying it was Mr Whitling's own fault because he had hesitated over land registration. Their sales manager said: "He was told that he could sign the contract immediately, and no matter what increases we suffered he would get it [the house] for the fixed price. It was explained that if he didn't, he might face a price increase." The firm blamed the £1,200 hike on a rise in their building costs.
It sounds like Billinge Hospital might have had a job for Fred Dibnah. Their 145ft-tall concrete chimney could no longer cope with the intense heat of the hospital's oil-fired heating system and was crumbling. Three smaller chimneys had now taken over the job of puffing out the smoke and the Reporter described how the hospital authorities had a problem. They wanted to demolish the redundant chimney but could not risk the use of explosives because of the danger to hospital buildings.
A spokesman said: "Tenders have been invited for the demolition of the chimney. It's going to be a difficult job because of the buildings nearby. I suppose it will have to be taken down piece by piece." Not if Fred Dibnah had anything to do with it! He, of course, was the destruction expert who didn't use explosives, preferring a combination of wooden props, fire and gravity to undertake the task. Alternatively, steeplejack Harry Davies from Blackbrook might be hired, as he sometimes demolished tall towers on his tod, brick-by-brick. It took him about 7 weeks!
'Mary, Queen of Scots' starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson began a 7-day run at the ABC Savoy from the 13th. Meanwhile at the Capitol, a double-header of 'Monte Carlo Or Bust!' – starring Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry Thomas – and 'The Italian Job' – featuring Michael Caine and Noel Coward – was being screened.
The second phase of St Helens' new one-way traffic system came into operation at 8am on the 13th. Two weeks earlier the first phase had meant Greenfield Road being used exclusively for in-bound traffic and Dentons Green Lane for traffic travelling out of town towards the East Lancs. The second phase meant Westfield Street became one-way only from the roundabout on the Inner Ring Road to Ormskirk Street. Ormskirk Street also became one-way from Sefton Place to Bridge Street and Bridge Street one-way from Ormskirk Street to the roundabout on the Ring Road. A special lane was created in Ormskirk Street to allow buses to travel both ways.
And finally on the 14th, 350 men employed in the building trade by St Helens Corporation joined 750 employees of private contractors who had been on strike since last week, as part of the national construction workers' pay dispute. Peter Lenahan, chairman of St Helens Building Workers Action Committee, predicted that the men would stay out until their claim was met. "Eighty per cent of our union are collecting a take home pay of £16 a week from a basic of £20," stated Mr Lenahan. "Labourers take home £14." The builders were seeking a basic wage of £30 for a 35-hour week. While recently attending a union meeting, Mr Lenahan claimed that his wife had received a threatening telephone call at their home in Carr Mill, which he believed was connected to the dispute.
Next week's stories will include criticism of the shape of St Helens girls legs, a 'Back to School' feature is in the Reporter, the Chain Lane flues dispute rolls on and Leathers are accused of destroying women's tights through an acid fall-out.
We begin with a fire at Clegg's laundry in Prescot, which caused £40,000 worth of damage. It was their third fire in four years and around 100 customers had their wash destroyed – including that of the Mayor of St Helens, Allan Lycett. His favourite cotton sheets went up in smoke and his wife Wynne said he'd have to make do with nylon sheets, which the Liberal mayor did not like. "He's very conservative", she joked.
It was announced this week that Islands Brow was to get a facelift. The scheme costing £83,000 (about £1¼m in today's money) would involve the widening and straightening of the road for a quarter to half-a-mile. The improvement would involve filling in potholes and addressing many of the complaints of flooding by raising the level of part of the road and installing two new sewers – one to take surface water and the other to receive effluent that ran down from the hills. Ditches at the sides would also be tidied up and grass verges created and a wall built against one of the smaller hills of industrial waste to prevent people from climbing on them. The project should start in about a month and would take up to a year to complete.
The Pilkington Gala began on the 11th with a performance by Redgate Boys Silver Band. The main events were held on the following day with around 25,000 in attendance. As well as the usual procession from the Prescot Road head office to Ruskin Drive, there was also a Wild West show, wrestling, rugby league sevens, concerts, dancing and a fireworks display. This year's Gala Girl was Sheila Thomas who was crowned by Lord Pilkington during the afternoon.
Clinkard's "Better Than Ever" sale started on the 11th. The firm began selling shoes in Westfield Street in 1953, sometimes under the name of its owner W. H. Clinkard.
The residents of Princess Avenue in Dentons Green were complaining in the Reporter on the 11th about the trees that lined both sides of their road. When in leaf the 55 mainly elms and sycamores were blocking light to their homes and – according to the Reporter – "making their front rooms dark and dismal". Samuel Helsby told the paper: "It's so dark in my front room that we have to put the light on if we want to read." The 56-year-old demanded drastic pruning of two offending trees, adding: "If something isn't done about it then I'll climb up there and do it myself."
So Ken Griffiths, chairman of the Marshalls Cross Action Group, told the paper: "Now we are going to get the pollution that the Bradford Medical Officer is glad to get rid of." However, Alfred Keeling, the works manager at Leathers in Sutton, said: "There is no intention at present to increase the size of our plant. St. Helens is already working flat out and there are no plans to extend the premises."
Saints rugby league player Alan Whittle made the front page of the Reporter, instead of the usual back page, after staging what the paper dubbed a one-man strike. The 25-year-old utility player was refusing to turn up for training at Knowsley Road because of the barrage of abuse he'd suffered from home fans last season.
"A lot of it you couldn't repeat," said Alan. "At times you feel like jumping over the wall to get to them. It got so that I preferred to play away from home." Alan was doubly on strike, as he was also a bricklayer – and he and his workmates had downed trowels as part of the national building workers dispute. The article revealed that playing rugby for Saints last season, Alan had earned just over £1,000, which is around £15,000 in today's money.
Jack Barnes was advertising a "gigantic sale" at his Bridge Street store. A "vast selection" of jeans was available from 25p, shirts from 75p, trousers "flares patterned and plain" from £2 and "Tee Shirts" from 80p. The light suede jacket known as a ”Budgie jacket" after being worn by Adam Faith in the 'Budgie' TV series was the most expensive item in the list, priced from £4.
There was another story in the Reporter about homebuyers complaining of being gazumped. That term came into use from 1971. However, it then usually referred to a price hike by the developers of newly built estates who had accepted an order for a house before it was built – and then upped the price upon completion. In a very sympathetic piece, the Reporter described the effect of gazumping on five-year-old Neil Whitling:
"Years before his time, Neil was plunged into a world of misery and mortgages when his parents faced a price rise that left them homeless", wrote the paper. Instead of moving into a new semi-detached house in Woolacombe Avenue in Sutton Leach, the family were now living in one room in an old house in Cooper Street without bath, toilet or cooker. "For Neil it meant the end of his big birthday party hopes – and a life without friends," continued the report. "There is no garden in which to put up his birthday-present wigwam. Only a back-yard playground with a drain opening into a sewer."
The price of the house had suddenly been raised from the £5,199 that the family had been quoted in January, to £6,399. However, the house builders ND Holdings blamed Neil's father, Terry, saying it was Mr Whitling's own fault because he had hesitated over land registration. Their sales manager said: "He was told that he could sign the contract immediately, and no matter what increases we suffered he would get it [the house] for the fixed price. It was explained that if he didn't, he might face a price increase." The firm blamed the £1,200 hike on a rise in their building costs.
It sounds like Billinge Hospital might have had a job for Fred Dibnah. Their 145ft-tall concrete chimney could no longer cope with the intense heat of the hospital's oil-fired heating system and was crumbling. Three smaller chimneys had now taken over the job of puffing out the smoke and the Reporter described how the hospital authorities had a problem. They wanted to demolish the redundant chimney but could not risk the use of explosives because of the danger to hospital buildings.
A spokesman said: "Tenders have been invited for the demolition of the chimney. It's going to be a difficult job because of the buildings nearby. I suppose it will have to be taken down piece by piece." Not if Fred Dibnah had anything to do with it! He, of course, was the destruction expert who didn't use explosives, preferring a combination of wooden props, fire and gravity to undertake the task. Alternatively, steeplejack Harry Davies from Blackbrook might be hired, as he sometimes demolished tall towers on his tod, brick-by-brick. It took him about 7 weeks!
'Mary, Queen of Scots' starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson began a 7-day run at the ABC Savoy from the 13th. Meanwhile at the Capitol, a double-header of 'Monte Carlo Or Bust!' – starring Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry Thomas – and 'The Italian Job' – featuring Michael Caine and Noel Coward – was being screened.
The second phase of St Helens' new one-way traffic system came into operation at 8am on the 13th. Two weeks earlier the first phase had meant Greenfield Road being used exclusively for in-bound traffic and Dentons Green Lane for traffic travelling out of town towards the East Lancs. The second phase meant Westfield Street became one-way only from the roundabout on the Inner Ring Road to Ormskirk Street. Ormskirk Street also became one-way from Sefton Place to Bridge Street and Bridge Street one-way from Ormskirk Street to the roundabout on the Ring Road. A special lane was created in Ormskirk Street to allow buses to travel both ways.
And finally on the 14th, 350 men employed in the building trade by St Helens Corporation joined 750 employees of private contractors who had been on strike since last week, as part of the national construction workers' pay dispute. Peter Lenahan, chairman of St Helens Building Workers Action Committee, predicted that the men would stay out until their claim was met. "Eighty per cent of our union are collecting a take home pay of £16 a week from a basic of £20," stated Mr Lenahan. "Labourers take home £14." The builders were seeking a basic wage of £30 for a 35-hour week. While recently attending a union meeting, Mr Lenahan claimed that his wife had received a threatening telephone call at their home in Carr Mill, which he believed was connected to the dispute.
Next week's stories will include criticism of the shape of St Helens girls legs, a 'Back to School' feature is in the Reporter, the Chain Lane flues dispute rolls on and Leathers are accused of destroying women's tights through an acid fall-out.
This week's stories include the new Westfield Street / Ormskirk Street one-way traffic system, the Islands Brow improvement scheme, the Pilkington Gala takes place, more concern in Sutton over Leathers chemicals plant and the Saints player refusing to play for the club because of the abuse he received from fans last season.
We begin with a fire at Clegg's laundry in Prescot, which caused £40,000 worth of damage.
It was their third fire in four years and around 100 customers had their wash destroyed – including that of the Mayor of St Helens, Allan Lycett.
His favourite cotton sheets went up in smoke and his wife Wynne said he'd have to make do with nylon sheets, which the Liberal mayor did not like. "He's very conservative", she joked.
It was announced this week that Islands Brow was to get a facelift. The scheme costing £83,000 (about £1¼m in today's money) would involve the widening and straightening of the road for a quarter to half-a-mile.
The improvement would involve filling in potholes and addressing many of the complaints of flooding by raising the level of part of the road and installing two new sewers – one to take surface water and the other to receive effluent that ran down from the hills.
Ditches at the sides would also be tidied up and grass verges created and a wall built against one of the smaller hills of industrial waste to prevent people from climbing on them.
The project should start in about a month and would take up to a year to complete.
The Pilkington Gala began on the 11th with a performance by Redgate Boys Silver Band.
The main events were held on the following day with around 25,000 in attendance.
As well as the usual procession from the Prescot Road head office to Ruskin Drive, there was also a Wild West show, wrestling, rugby league sevens, concerts, dancing and a fireworks display.
This year's Gala Girl was Sheila Thomas who was crowned by Lord Pilkington during the afternoon.
Clinkard's "Better Than Ever" sale started on the 11th. The firm began selling shoes in Westfield Street in 1953, sometimes under the name of its owner W. H. Clinkard.
The residents of Princess Avenue in Dentons Green were complaining in the Reporter on the 11th about the trees that lined both sides of their road.
When in leaf the 55 mainly elms and sycamores were blocking light to their homes and – according to the Reporter – "making their front rooms dark and dismal".
Samuel Helsby told the paper: "It's so dark in my front room that we have to put the light on if we want to read."
The 56-year-old demanded drastic pruning of two offending trees, adding: "If something isn't done about it then I'll climb up there and do it myself."
The Reporter also described how news of a production switch by the Leathers Chemicals Company (pictured above) had led to another petition being launched in Sutton.
The controversial plant was blamed for much pollution and residents were concerned that the firm's closure of its Bradford base would mean an expansion in Lancots Lane.
It had been reported that Bradford's Medical Officer of Health had been concerned that Leathers' works in the Yorkshire town had been damaging its environment.
So Ken Griffiths, chairman of the Marshalls Cross Action Group, told the paper: "Now we are going to get the pollution that the Bradford Medical Officer is glad to get rid of."
However, Alfred Keeling, the works manager at Leathers in Sutton, said:
"There is no intention at present to increase the size of our plant. St. Helens is already working flat out and there are no plans to extend the premises."
Saints rugby league player Alan Whittle made the front page of the Reporter, instead of the usual back page, after staging what the paper dubbed a one-man strike.
The 25-year-old utility player was refusing to turn up for training at Knowsley Road because of the barrage of abuse he'd suffered from home fans last season.
"A lot of it you couldn't repeat," said Alan. "At times you feel like jumping over the wall to get to them. It got so that I preferred to play away from home."
Alan was doubly on strike, as he was also a bricklayer – and he and his workmates had downed trowels as part of the national building workers dispute.
The article revealed that playing rugby for Saints last season, Alan had earned just over £1,000, which is around £15,000 in today's money.
Jack Barnes was advertising a "gigantic sale" at his Bridge Street store. A "vast selection" of jeans was available from 25p, shirts from 75p, trousers "flares patterned and plain" from £2 and "Tee Shirts" from 80p.
The light suede jacket known as a ”Budgie jacket" after being worn by Adam Faith in the 'Budgie' TV series was the most expensive item in the list, priced from £4.
There was another story in the Reporter about homebuyers complaining of being gazumped.
That term came into use from 1971. However, it then usually referred to a price hike by the developers of newly built estates who had accepted an order for a house before it was built – and then upped the price upon completion.
In a very sympathetic piece, the Reporter described the effect of gazumping on five-year-old Neil Whitling:
"Years before his time, Neil was plunged into a world of misery and mortgages when his parents faced a price rise that left them homeless", wrote the paper.
Instead of moving into a new semi-detached house in Woolacombe Avenue in Sutton Leach, the family were now living in one room in an old house in Cooper Street without bath, toilet or cooker.
"For Neil it meant the end of his big birthday party hopes – and a life without friends," continued the report. "There is no garden in which to put up his birthday-present wigwam. Only a back-yard playground with a drain opening into a sewer."
The price of the house had suddenly been raised from the £5,199 that the family had been quoted in January, to £6,399.
However, the house builders ND Holdings blamed Neil's father, Terry, saying it was Mr Whitling's own fault because he had hesitated over land registration. Their sales manager said:
"He was told that he could sign the contract immediately, and no matter what increases we suffered he would get it [the house] for the fixed price. It was explained that if he didn't, he might face a price increase."
The firm blamed the £1,200 hike on a rise in their building costs.
It sounds like Billinge Hospital might have had a job for Fred Dibnah. Their 145ft-tall concrete chimney could no longer cope with the intense heat of the hospital's oil-fired heating system and was crumbling.
Three smaller chimneys had now taken over the job of puffing out the smoke and the Reporter described how the hospital authorities had a problem.
They wanted to demolish the redundant chimney but could not risk the use of explosives because of the danger to hospital buildings.
A spokesman said: "Tenders have been invited for the demolition of the chimney. It's going to be a difficult job because of the buildings nearby. I suppose it will have to be taken down piece by piece."
Not if Fred Dibnah had anything to do with it! He, of course, was the destruction expert who didn't use explosives, preferring a combination of wooden props, fire and gravity to undertake the task.
Alternatively, steeplejack Harry Davies from Blackbrook might be hired, as he sometimes demolished tall towers on his tod, brick-by-brick. It took him about 7 weeks!
'Mary, Queen of Scots' starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson began a 7-day run at the ABC Savoy from the 13th.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, a double-header of 'Monte Carlo Or Bust!' – starring Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry Thomas – and 'The Italian Job' – featuring Michael Caine and Noel Coward – was being screened.
The second phase of St Helens' new one-way traffic system came into operation at 8am on the 13th.
Two weeks earlier the first phase had meant Greenfield Road being used exclusively for in-bound traffic and Dentons Green Lane for traffic travelling out of town towards the East Lancs.
The second phase meant Westfield Street became one-way only from the roundabout on the Inner Ring Road to Ormskirk Street.
Ormskirk Street also became one-way from Sefton Place to Bridge Street and Bridge Street one-way from Ormskirk Street to the roundabout on the Ring Road.
A special lane was created in Ormskirk Street to allow buses to travel both ways.
And finally on the 14th, 350 men employed in the building trade by St Helens Corporation joined 750 employees of private contractors who had been on strike since last week, as part of the national construction workers' pay dispute.
Peter Lenahan, chairman of St Helens Building Workers Action Committee, predicted that the men would stay out until their claim was met.
"Eighty per cent of our union are collecting a take home pay of £16 a week from a basic of £20," stated Mr Lenahan. "Labourers take home £14." The builders were seeking a basic wage of £30 for a 35-hour week.
While recently attending a union meeting, Mr Lenahan claimed that his wife had received a threatening telephone call at their home in Carr Mill, which he believed was connected to the dispute.
Next week's stories will include criticism of the shape of St Helens girls legs, a 'Back to School' feature is in the Reporter, the Chain Lane flues dispute rolls on and Leathers are accused of destroying women's tights through an acid fall-out.
We begin with a fire at Clegg's laundry in Prescot, which caused £40,000 worth of damage.
It was their third fire in four years and around 100 customers had their wash destroyed – including that of the Mayor of St Helens, Allan Lycett.
His favourite cotton sheets went up in smoke and his wife Wynne said he'd have to make do with nylon sheets, which the Liberal mayor did not like. "He's very conservative", she joked.
It was announced this week that Islands Brow was to get a facelift. The scheme costing £83,000 (about £1¼m in today's money) would involve the widening and straightening of the road for a quarter to half-a-mile.
The improvement would involve filling in potholes and addressing many of the complaints of flooding by raising the level of part of the road and installing two new sewers – one to take surface water and the other to receive effluent that ran down from the hills.
Ditches at the sides would also be tidied up and grass verges created and a wall built against one of the smaller hills of industrial waste to prevent people from climbing on them.
The project should start in about a month and would take up to a year to complete.
The Pilkington Gala began on the 11th with a performance by Redgate Boys Silver Band.
The main events were held on the following day with around 25,000 in attendance.
As well as the usual procession from the Prescot Road head office to Ruskin Drive, there was also a Wild West show, wrestling, rugby league sevens, concerts, dancing and a fireworks display.
This year's Gala Girl was Sheila Thomas who was crowned by Lord Pilkington during the afternoon.
Clinkard's "Better Than Ever" sale started on the 11th. The firm began selling shoes in Westfield Street in 1953, sometimes under the name of its owner W. H. Clinkard.
The residents of Princess Avenue in Dentons Green were complaining in the Reporter on the 11th about the trees that lined both sides of their road.
When in leaf the 55 mainly elms and sycamores were blocking light to their homes and – according to the Reporter – "making their front rooms dark and dismal".
Samuel Helsby told the paper: "It's so dark in my front room that we have to put the light on if we want to read."
The 56-year-old demanded drastic pruning of two offending trees, adding: "If something isn't done about it then I'll climb up there and do it myself."
The controversial plant was blamed for much pollution and residents were concerned that the firm's closure of its Bradford base would mean an expansion in Lancots Lane.
It had been reported that Bradford's Medical Officer of Health had been concerned that Leathers' works in the Yorkshire town had been damaging its environment.
So Ken Griffiths, chairman of the Marshalls Cross Action Group, told the paper: "Now we are going to get the pollution that the Bradford Medical Officer is glad to get rid of."
However, Alfred Keeling, the works manager at Leathers in Sutton, said:
"There is no intention at present to increase the size of our plant. St. Helens is already working flat out and there are no plans to extend the premises."
Saints rugby league player Alan Whittle made the front page of the Reporter, instead of the usual back page, after staging what the paper dubbed a one-man strike.
The 25-year-old utility player was refusing to turn up for training at Knowsley Road because of the barrage of abuse he'd suffered from home fans last season.
"A lot of it you couldn't repeat," said Alan. "At times you feel like jumping over the wall to get to them. It got so that I preferred to play away from home."
Alan was doubly on strike, as he was also a bricklayer – and he and his workmates had downed trowels as part of the national building workers dispute.
The article revealed that playing rugby for Saints last season, Alan had earned just over £1,000, which is around £15,000 in today's money.
Jack Barnes was advertising a "gigantic sale" at his Bridge Street store. A "vast selection" of jeans was available from 25p, shirts from 75p, trousers "flares patterned and plain" from £2 and "Tee Shirts" from 80p.
The light suede jacket known as a ”Budgie jacket" after being worn by Adam Faith in the 'Budgie' TV series was the most expensive item in the list, priced from £4.
There was another story in the Reporter about homebuyers complaining of being gazumped.
That term came into use from 1971. However, it then usually referred to a price hike by the developers of newly built estates who had accepted an order for a house before it was built – and then upped the price upon completion.
In a very sympathetic piece, the Reporter described the effect of gazumping on five-year-old Neil Whitling:
"Years before his time, Neil was plunged into a world of misery and mortgages when his parents faced a price rise that left them homeless", wrote the paper.
Instead of moving into a new semi-detached house in Woolacombe Avenue in Sutton Leach, the family were now living in one room in an old house in Cooper Street without bath, toilet or cooker.
"For Neil it meant the end of his big birthday party hopes – and a life without friends," continued the report. "There is no garden in which to put up his birthday-present wigwam. Only a back-yard playground with a drain opening into a sewer."
The price of the house had suddenly been raised from the £5,199 that the family had been quoted in January, to £6,399.
However, the house builders ND Holdings blamed Neil's father, Terry, saying it was Mr Whitling's own fault because he had hesitated over land registration. Their sales manager said:
"He was told that he could sign the contract immediately, and no matter what increases we suffered he would get it [the house] for the fixed price. It was explained that if he didn't, he might face a price increase."
The firm blamed the £1,200 hike on a rise in their building costs.
It sounds like Billinge Hospital might have had a job for Fred Dibnah. Their 145ft-tall concrete chimney could no longer cope with the intense heat of the hospital's oil-fired heating system and was crumbling.
Three smaller chimneys had now taken over the job of puffing out the smoke and the Reporter described how the hospital authorities had a problem.
They wanted to demolish the redundant chimney but could not risk the use of explosives because of the danger to hospital buildings.
A spokesman said: "Tenders have been invited for the demolition of the chimney. It's going to be a difficult job because of the buildings nearby. I suppose it will have to be taken down piece by piece."
Not if Fred Dibnah had anything to do with it! He, of course, was the destruction expert who didn't use explosives, preferring a combination of wooden props, fire and gravity to undertake the task.
Alternatively, steeplejack Harry Davies from Blackbrook might be hired, as he sometimes demolished tall towers on his tod, brick-by-brick. It took him about 7 weeks!
'Mary, Queen of Scots' starring Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson began a 7-day run at the ABC Savoy from the 13th.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, a double-header of 'Monte Carlo Or Bust!' – starring Tony Curtis, Susan Hampshire and Terry Thomas – and 'The Italian Job' – featuring Michael Caine and Noel Coward – was being screened.
The second phase of St Helens' new one-way traffic system came into operation at 8am on the 13th.
Two weeks earlier the first phase had meant Greenfield Road being used exclusively for in-bound traffic and Dentons Green Lane for traffic travelling out of town towards the East Lancs.
The second phase meant Westfield Street became one-way only from the roundabout on the Inner Ring Road to Ormskirk Street.
Ormskirk Street also became one-way from Sefton Place to Bridge Street and Bridge Street one-way from Ormskirk Street to the roundabout on the Ring Road.
A special lane was created in Ormskirk Street to allow buses to travel both ways.
And finally on the 14th, 350 men employed in the building trade by St Helens Corporation joined 750 employees of private contractors who had been on strike since last week, as part of the national construction workers' pay dispute.
Peter Lenahan, chairman of St Helens Building Workers Action Committee, predicted that the men would stay out until their claim was met.
"Eighty per cent of our union are collecting a take home pay of £16 a week from a basic of £20," stated Mr Lenahan. "Labourers take home £14." The builders were seeking a basic wage of £30 for a 35-hour week.
While recently attending a union meeting, Mr Lenahan claimed that his wife had received a threatening telephone call at their home in Carr Mill, which he believed was connected to the dispute.
Next week's stories will include criticism of the shape of St Helens girls legs, a 'Back to School' feature is in the Reporter, the Chain Lane flues dispute rolls on and Leathers are accused of destroying women's tights through an acid fall-out.