FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th APRIL 1972)
This week's 15 stories include the Nutgrove boy who saved two dumped pups from drowning, St Helens Park Rangers are set to receive Alsatians to deter vandals, the bus joke in Kings Moss, the sudden drop in the St Helens birth rate, the Duke Street shopkeeper forced to retire after five break-ins and the novel fundraising to send a Cowley rugby team to Argentina.
We begin during the afternoon of the 12th, when a daring robbery took place at the Higher Parr Street post office. £500 was stolen when a thief reached over the counter and brazenly stole a bag containing the cash. Four men were inside the new, wooden prefabricated building at the time and a greetings card display was knocked over. It was unclear whether that act had been committed as a distraction – or had occurred accidentally during the theft.
At a Health Committee meeting this week in St Helens, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Julian Baines, called a sudden drop in the birth-rate in St Helens a "freak". New-born babies registered over the previous three months had totalled 316, compared with 492 during the same period last year. "The explanation escapes me", commented Dr. Baines. "It's a mystery as to what exactly is going on." However, Edna Brown, secretary of St Helens Family Planning Clinic, offered a clue. She said they had recorded a considerable increase in the number of patients attending their clinics over the past year.
On the 14th St Helens Council announced plans for a new community centre in New Street in Sutton. The St Helens Borough Engineer, George James, described the scheme as "the most integrated and comprehensive development of its type in the town." Later in the week, the St Helens Reporter predicted that "bored dolly birds and boys, and lonely senior citizens", would all be making a bee-line for the new centre!
A plaque in memory of Sir Thomas Beecham (pictured above) was installed inside St Helens Town Hall this week. The St Helens Society for Music and the Arts had commissioned the Westmorland slate memorial that had gold lettering inscribed with the words: "Sir Thomas Beecham, C. H., born, St. Helens, 1879, conducted his first public concert in this Town Hall."
Last week the Reporter revealed that the RSPCA put down 300 dogs a week in St Helens. The newspaper wrote a stinging front-page editorial on the scandal that ended with the words "Why don't we give a damn about dogs?" RSPCA Inspector Pat Colgan told the Reporter that St Helens had the worst record for stray dogs that he had encountered in 17 years.
This week the paper described a shocking incident in which a middle-aged man had attempted to drown three pups in Brown Edge Pit in Nutgrove after fastening them inside a shopping bag. However, 12-year-old Paul Carville of Nutgrove Road waded into the water and was able to save two of the pups. Now the rescued dogs had been given the names of Lassie and Skippy and were being cared for by Paul's friends – Stuart Hodson, 9, and Andrew Bonney, 8, both of Norton Grove, Nutgrove.
Another doggy story in the Reporter bore the headline "Guard Dog Patrols In Parks" and began: "Park Rangers are to get Alsatian guard dogs in a bid to fight vandalism. The go-ahead to buy three dogs – costing £50 each – was given by St. Helens Amenities Committee this week. The dogs, which will be used at Victoria, Sherdley and Taylor parks, were asked for by the park rangers' union.
"Mr. Sid Adamson, Parks Director, said: “Last year, vandalism cost us £3,000 and these three parks have been particularly hard hit. It is not fair to ask a park ranger to tackle gangs of teenage louts on his own, and we feel the dogs will prove a big success in cutting out vandalism.”" In today's money, £3,000 is equivalent to almost half a million pounds.
Ken Dodd was pictured in the Reporter at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works helping to pick the winner of the United Voluntary Organisation's twice-yearly draw. Doddy was shown with winner Kathleen Hill and Lady Pilkington.
The Reporter described how St Helens Corporation had told its departmental heads that when recruiting staff, they should prioritise applicants from the Labour Exchange over college students. Surprisingly, the Students Union at St Helens "Tech” was broadly supportive of the move. David Napier of the union was quoted as saying: "Most of us think jobs should go to unemployed married men."
Bill Innes, the landlord of the Colliers Arms in Kings Moss, told the Reporter of the latest village joke – one-man buses! Recently, a red single-decker had backed into a shelter and another had got bogged down in a farmer's field. "It's given us some laughs", admitted Mr Innes. "The bus wrecked the shelter and had to be towed out of the field."
The recently introduced single-deck buses were longer than the double-deckers previously used on the route – and so on country roads were more difficult for drivers to turn round. Instead of the terminus being at the Colliers, it was decided that the buses would be reversed from Crank Road into Pimbo Road. "Since then they seem to have had nothing but trouble," added Mr. Innes. "It's quite a village joke."
The Reporter also described a novel fundraising campaign at Cowley boys' school. £5,500 had been required to send 23 rugby players and four teachers on a month-long tour of Argentina. The total had been reached through collecting and selling 200 tons of waste paper, producing and selling 10,000 copies of a sports booklet, making and selling many Christmas gifts and selling 10,000 raffle tickets, 4,000 dance tickets and 2,500 ball-point pens.
The Reporter was particularly intrigued that the lads had also eaten 22,000 packets of potato crisps. These contained tokens that were exchanged for raffle prizes. In undertaking the trip in July, Cowley would become the first British school rugby union side to tour South America. Ray French was one of the organisers and the rugby star and Cowley master told the paper: "The lads going on the tour have done the bulk of the work. But the whole school, parents and old boys have helped."
Maud McCully from Bleak Hill Road was also featured in the Reporter. The 79-year-old had decided to close her tiny, lock-up corner shop in Duke Street because of five recent break-ins. "I've loved running the shop, meeting people and making friends," said Mrs McCully. "But now I'm glad to see the back of it. Thieves have made my life a misery. It's only in the last year that I've had any trouble, and I've been opening six times a week for 34 years. I couldn't stand it any longer. A few months ago I was even threatened by a youth brandishing a knife in the shop. I've been cleaned out a couple of times and haven't got any money back."
A fortnight ago police had caught a man on the roof of Maud's Duke Street shop. He admitted breaking into the premises on five occasions and was sentenced to six months in prison. However, for some reason, the magistrates rejected Mrs McCully's claim for £99.47 compensation.
It was the silver jubilee of West Park RUFC and there was a special advertising feature in the Reporter. The club had been founded in 1946/7 to cater for the old boys of what was then called St Helens Catholic Grammar School.
Advertisers included Mercers For Pies, Higher Parr Street ("They “score” every time"), Kerr's Minerals, Barrow Street ("Suppliers to West Park R.U.F.C. – our best wishes for your continued prosperity"); Fitzgerald Shoes, Parr Stocks Road ("High class fashion shoes"); A. Laithwaite & Son, College Street ("Largest selection of timber in St. Helens"), Blackbrook Tyre Service, Opposite Ship Inn ("Offers 35% off British made Lee tyres") and Dot and Ken Walker, Shaw Street ("General groceries – suppliers of light refreshments to West Park R.F.C.").
Almost every week during the ‘70s, the Reporter featured residents somewhere within the St Helens district who were complaining about their houses or streets, often with considerable justification. The problems could be because the houses were old, or, surprisingly, because they were new. This week's offering was from people living on the new Springfield estate in Rainford who were experiencing drainage issues.
Every time it rained, pools of water up to 6 inches deep would form outside their homes and it would take hours for the water to subside. Resident Audrey Fairclough told the paper: "Up to now the water hasn't got over the front step, but if we get a heavy rainfall it could get into the house." Neighbour Linda Mercer added: "You can't let children play in the yard because it's flooded. I’ve written to the Council but they don't seem to care." However, Rainford Council said they were aware of the problem and were taking action to address the flooding.
Last October the Theatre Royal in St Helens had attracted much praise for what it described as its first international concert series. The events featuring Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, John Ogdon, Alberto Remedios and the Halle Orchestra had sold out weeks before their scheduled dates. So the Corporation Street venue was selling tickets for this October's second international concert series well in advance.
The artistes listed in their Reporter advert this week included violinist Yehudi Menuhin, the English Chamber Orchestra and pianist Moura Lympany. However, the tickets might not sell as easily as last year as their prices had been raised – and some seats now cost as much as £8. To put that into context, it was rare in the 1970s for a Theatre Royal ticket to cost more than twenty shillings.
And finally, Lord and Lady Pilkington's gardens at their Windle Hall home (pictured above) were opened to the public on the 16th. Admission was 10p, with the proceeds from the annual event going to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Next week's stories will include the skinhead trouble in Thatto Heath, the St Helens Fire Brigade's white fire engines, Sparky the parrot gets the bird from West Sutton Labour Club and the bar staff at St Joseph's social club all get the sack.
We begin during the afternoon of the 12th, when a daring robbery took place at the Higher Parr Street post office. £500 was stolen when a thief reached over the counter and brazenly stole a bag containing the cash. Four men were inside the new, wooden prefabricated building at the time and a greetings card display was knocked over. It was unclear whether that act had been committed as a distraction – or had occurred accidentally during the theft.
At a Health Committee meeting this week in St Helens, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Julian Baines, called a sudden drop in the birth-rate in St Helens a "freak". New-born babies registered over the previous three months had totalled 316, compared with 492 during the same period last year. "The explanation escapes me", commented Dr. Baines. "It's a mystery as to what exactly is going on." However, Edna Brown, secretary of St Helens Family Planning Clinic, offered a clue. She said they had recorded a considerable increase in the number of patients attending their clinics over the past year.
A plaque in memory of Sir Thomas Beecham (pictured above) was installed inside St Helens Town Hall this week. The St Helens Society for Music and the Arts had commissioned the Westmorland slate memorial that had gold lettering inscribed with the words: "Sir Thomas Beecham, C. H., born, St. Helens, 1879, conducted his first public concert in this Town Hall."
Last week the Reporter revealed that the RSPCA put down 300 dogs a week in St Helens. The newspaper wrote a stinging front-page editorial on the scandal that ended with the words "Why don't we give a damn about dogs?" RSPCA Inspector Pat Colgan told the Reporter that St Helens had the worst record for stray dogs that he had encountered in 17 years.
This week the paper described a shocking incident in which a middle-aged man had attempted to drown three pups in Brown Edge Pit in Nutgrove after fastening them inside a shopping bag. However, 12-year-old Paul Carville of Nutgrove Road waded into the water and was able to save two of the pups. Now the rescued dogs had been given the names of Lassie and Skippy and were being cared for by Paul's friends – Stuart Hodson, 9, and Andrew Bonney, 8, both of Norton Grove, Nutgrove.
Another doggy story in the Reporter bore the headline "Guard Dog Patrols In Parks" and began: "Park Rangers are to get Alsatian guard dogs in a bid to fight vandalism. The go-ahead to buy three dogs – costing £50 each – was given by St. Helens Amenities Committee this week. The dogs, which will be used at Victoria, Sherdley and Taylor parks, were asked for by the park rangers' union.
"Mr. Sid Adamson, Parks Director, said: “Last year, vandalism cost us £3,000 and these three parks have been particularly hard hit. It is not fair to ask a park ranger to tackle gangs of teenage louts on his own, and we feel the dogs will prove a big success in cutting out vandalism.”" In today's money, £3,000 is equivalent to almost half a million pounds.
Ken Dodd was pictured in the Reporter at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works helping to pick the winner of the United Voluntary Organisation's twice-yearly draw. Doddy was shown with winner Kathleen Hill and Lady Pilkington.
The Reporter described how St Helens Corporation had told its departmental heads that when recruiting staff, they should prioritise applicants from the Labour Exchange over college students. Surprisingly, the Students Union at St Helens "Tech” was broadly supportive of the move. David Napier of the union was quoted as saying: "Most of us think jobs should go to unemployed married men."
Bill Innes, the landlord of the Colliers Arms in Kings Moss, told the Reporter of the latest village joke – one-man buses! Recently, a red single-decker had backed into a shelter and another had got bogged down in a farmer's field. "It's given us some laughs", admitted Mr Innes. "The bus wrecked the shelter and had to be towed out of the field."
The recently introduced single-deck buses were longer than the double-deckers previously used on the route – and so on country roads were more difficult for drivers to turn round. Instead of the terminus being at the Colliers, it was decided that the buses would be reversed from Crank Road into Pimbo Road. "Since then they seem to have had nothing but trouble," added Mr. Innes. "It's quite a village joke."
The Reporter also described a novel fundraising campaign at Cowley boys' school. £5,500 had been required to send 23 rugby players and four teachers on a month-long tour of Argentina. The total had been reached through collecting and selling 200 tons of waste paper, producing and selling 10,000 copies of a sports booklet, making and selling many Christmas gifts and selling 10,000 raffle tickets, 4,000 dance tickets and 2,500 ball-point pens.
The Reporter was particularly intrigued that the lads had also eaten 22,000 packets of potato crisps. These contained tokens that were exchanged for raffle prizes. In undertaking the trip in July, Cowley would become the first British school rugby union side to tour South America. Ray French was one of the organisers and the rugby star and Cowley master told the paper: "The lads going on the tour have done the bulk of the work. But the whole school, parents and old boys have helped."
Maud McCully from Bleak Hill Road was also featured in the Reporter. The 79-year-old had decided to close her tiny, lock-up corner shop in Duke Street because of five recent break-ins. "I've loved running the shop, meeting people and making friends," said Mrs McCully. "But now I'm glad to see the back of it. Thieves have made my life a misery. It's only in the last year that I've had any trouble, and I've been opening six times a week for 34 years. I couldn't stand it any longer. A few months ago I was even threatened by a youth brandishing a knife in the shop. I've been cleaned out a couple of times and haven't got any money back."
A fortnight ago police had caught a man on the roof of Maud's Duke Street shop. He admitted breaking into the premises on five occasions and was sentenced to six months in prison. However, for some reason, the magistrates rejected Mrs McCully's claim for £99.47 compensation.
It was the silver jubilee of West Park RUFC and there was a special advertising feature in the Reporter. The club had been founded in 1946/7 to cater for the old boys of what was then called St Helens Catholic Grammar School.
Advertisers included Mercers For Pies, Higher Parr Street ("They “score” every time"), Kerr's Minerals, Barrow Street ("Suppliers to West Park R.U.F.C. – our best wishes for your continued prosperity"); Fitzgerald Shoes, Parr Stocks Road ("High class fashion shoes"); A. Laithwaite & Son, College Street ("Largest selection of timber in St. Helens"), Blackbrook Tyre Service, Opposite Ship Inn ("Offers 35% off British made Lee tyres") and Dot and Ken Walker, Shaw Street ("General groceries – suppliers of light refreshments to West Park R.F.C.").
Almost every week during the ‘70s, the Reporter featured residents somewhere within the St Helens district who were complaining about their houses or streets, often with considerable justification. The problems could be because the houses were old, or, surprisingly, because they were new. This week's offering was from people living on the new Springfield estate in Rainford who were experiencing drainage issues.
Every time it rained, pools of water up to 6 inches deep would form outside their homes and it would take hours for the water to subside. Resident Audrey Fairclough told the paper: "Up to now the water hasn't got over the front step, but if we get a heavy rainfall it could get into the house." Neighbour Linda Mercer added: "You can't let children play in the yard because it's flooded. I’ve written to the Council but they don't seem to care." However, Rainford Council said they were aware of the problem and were taking action to address the flooding.
Last October the Theatre Royal in St Helens had attracted much praise for what it described as its first international concert series. The events featuring Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, John Ogdon, Alberto Remedios and the Halle Orchestra had sold out weeks before their scheduled dates. So the Corporation Street venue was selling tickets for this October's second international concert series well in advance.
The artistes listed in their Reporter advert this week included violinist Yehudi Menuhin, the English Chamber Orchestra and pianist Moura Lympany. However, the tickets might not sell as easily as last year as their prices had been raised – and some seats now cost as much as £8. To put that into context, it was rare in the 1970s for a Theatre Royal ticket to cost more than twenty shillings.
Next week's stories will include the skinhead trouble in Thatto Heath, the St Helens Fire Brigade's white fire engines, Sparky the parrot gets the bird from West Sutton Labour Club and the bar staff at St Joseph's social club all get the sack.
This week's 15 stories include the Nutgrove boy who saved two dumped pups from drowning, St Helens Park Rangers are set to receive Alsatians to deter vandals, the bus joke in Kings Moss, the sudden drop in the St Helens birth rate, the Duke Street shopkeeper forced to retire after five break-ins and the novel fundraising to send a Cowley rugby team to Argentina.
We begin during the afternoon of the 12th, when a daring robbery took place at the Higher Parr Street post office.
£500 was stolen when a thief reached over the counter and brazenly stole a bag containing the cash.
Four men were inside the new, wooden prefabricated building at the time and a greetings card display was knocked over.
It was unclear whether that act had been committed as a distraction – or had occurred accidentally during the theft.
At a Health Committee meeting this week in St Helens, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Julian Baines, called a sudden drop in the birth-rate in St Helens a "freak".
New-born babies registered over the previous three months had totalled 316, compared with 492 during the same period last year.
"The explanation escapes me", commented Dr. Baines. "It's a mystery as to what exactly is going on."
However, Edna Brown, secretary of St Helens Family Planning Clinic, offered a clue. She said they had recorded a considerable increase in the number of patients attending their clinics over the past year.
On the 14th St Helens Council announced plans for a new community centre in New Street in Sutton.
The St Helens Borough Engineer, George James, described the scheme as "the most integrated and comprehensive development of its type in the town."
Later in the week, the St Helens Reporter predicted that "bored dolly birds and boys, and lonely senior citizens", would all be making a bee-line for the new centre!
A plaque in memory of Sir Thomas Beecham (pictured above) was installed inside St Helens Town Hall this week.
The St Helens Society for Music and the Arts had commissioned the Westmorland slate memorial that had gold lettering inscribed with the words:
"Sir Thomas Beecham, C. H., born, St. Helens, 1879, conducted his first public concert in this Town Hall."
Last week the Reporter revealed that the RSPCA put down 300 dogs a week in St Helens.
The newspaper wrote a stinging front-page editorial on the scandal that ended with the words "Why don't we give a damn about dogs?"
RSPCA Inspector Pat Colgan told the Reporter that St Helens had the worst record for stray dogs that he had encountered in 17 years.
This week the paper described a shocking incident in which a middle-aged man had attempted to drown three pups in Brown Edge Pit in Nutgrove after fastening them inside a shopping bag.
However, 12-year-old Paul Carville of Nutgrove Road waded into the water and was able to save two of the pups.
Now the rescued dogs had been given the names of Lassie and Skippy and were being cared for by Paul's friends – Stuart Hodson, 9, and Andrew Bonney, 8, both of Norton Grove, Nutgrove.
Another doggy story in the Reporter bore the headline "Guard Dog Patrols In Parks" and began:
"Park Rangers are to get Alsatian guard dogs in a bid to fight vandalism. The go-ahead to buy three dogs – costing £50 each – was given by St. Helens Amenities Committee this week.
"The dogs, which will be used at Victoria, Sherdley and Taylor parks, were asked for by the park rangers' union.
"Mr. Sid Adamson, Parks Director, said: “Last year, vandalism cost us £3,000 and these three parks have been particularly hard hit. It is not fair to ask a park ranger to tackle gangs of teenage louts on his own, and we feel the dogs will prove a big success in cutting out vandalism.”"
In today's money, £3,000 is equivalent to almost half a million pounds.
Ken Dodd was pictured in the Reporter at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works helping to pick the winner of the United Voluntary Organisation's twice-yearly draw. Doddy was shown with winner Kathleen Hill and Lady Pilkington.
The Reporter described how St Helens Corporation had told its departmental heads that when recruiting staff, they should prioritise applicants from the Labour Exchange over college students.
Surprisingly, the Students Union at St Helens "Tech” was broadly supportive of the move. David Napier of the union was quoted as saying: "Most of us think jobs should go to unemployed married men."
Bill Innes, the landlord of the Colliers Arms in Kings Moss, told the Reporter of the latest village joke – one-man buses!
Recently, a red single-decker had backed into a shelter and another had got bogged down in a farmer's field.
"It's given us some laughs", admitted Mr Innes. "The bus wrecked the shelter and had to be towed out of the field."
The recently introduced single-deck buses were longer than the double-deckers previously used on the route – and so on country roads were more difficult for drivers to turn round.
Instead of the terminus being at the Colliers, it was decided that the buses would be reversed from Crank Road into Pimbo Road.
"Since then they seem to have had nothing but trouble," added Mr. Innes. "It's quite a village joke."
The Reporter also described a novel fundraising campaign at Cowley boys' school. £5,500 had been required to send 23 rugby players and four teachers on a month-long tour of Argentina.
The total had been reached through collecting and selling 200 tons of waste paper, producing and selling 10,000 copies of a sports booklet, making and selling many Christmas gifts and selling 10,000 raffle tickets, 4,000 dance tickets and 2,500 ball-point pens.
The Reporter was particularly intrigued that the lads had also eaten 22,000 packets of potato crisps. These contained tokens that were exchanged for raffle prizes.
In undertaking the trip in July, Cowley would become the first British school rugby union side to tour South America.
Ray French was one of the organisers and the rugby star and Cowley master told the paper:
"The lads going on the tour have done the bulk of the work. But the whole school, parents and old boys have helped."
Maud McCully from Bleak Hill Road was also featured in the Reporter.
The 79-year-old had decided to close her tiny, lock-up corner shop in Duke Street because of five recent break-ins.
"I've loved running the shop, meeting people and making friends," said Mrs McCully.
"But now I'm glad to see the back of it. Thieves have made my life a misery. It's only in the last year that I've had any trouble, and I've been opening six times a week for 34 years.
"I couldn't stand it any longer. A few months ago I was even threatened by a youth brandishing a knife in the shop. I've been cleaned out a couple of times and haven't got any money back."
A fortnight ago police had caught a man on the roof of Maud's Duke Street shop. He admitted breaking into the premises on five occasions and was sentenced to six months in prison.
However, for some reason, the magistrates rejected Mrs McCully's claim for £99.47 compensation.
It was the silver jubilee of West Park RUFC and there was a special advertising feature in the Reporter.
The club had been founded in 1946/7 to cater for the old boys of what was then called St Helens Catholic Grammar School.
Advertisers included Mercers For Pies, Higher Parr Street ("They “score” every time"), Kerr's Minerals, Barrow Street ("Suppliers to West Park R.U.F.C. – our best wishes for your continued prosperity"); Fitzgerald Shoes, Parr Stocks Road ("High class fashion shoes"); A. Laithwaite & Son, College Street ("Largest selection of timber in St. Helens"), Blackbrook Tyre Service, Opposite Ship Inn ("Offers 35% off British made Lee tyres") and Dot and Ken Walker, Shaw Street ("General groceries – suppliers of light refreshments to West Park R.F.C.").
Almost every week during the ‘70s, the Reporter featured residents somewhere within the St Helens district who were complaining about their houses or streets, often with considerable justification.
The problems could be because the houses were old, or, surprisingly, because they were new.
This week's offering was from people living on the new Springfield estate in Rainford who were experiencing drainage issues.
Every time it rained, pools of water up to 6 inches deep would form outside their homes and it would take hours for the water to subside.
Resident Audrey Fairclough told the paper: "Up to now the water hasn't got over the front step, but if we get a heavy rainfall it could get into the house."
Neighbour Linda Mercer added: "You can't let children play in the yard because it's flooded. I’ve written to the Council but they don't seem to care."
However, Rainford Council said they were aware of the problem and were taking action to address the flooding.
Last October the Theatre Royal in St Helens had attracted much praise for what it described as its first international concert series.
The events featuring Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, John Ogdon, Alberto Remedios and the Halle Orchestra had sold out weeks before their scheduled dates.
So the Corporation Street venue was selling tickets for this October's second international concert series well in advance.
The artistes listed in their Reporter advert this week included violinist Yehudi Menuhin, the English Chamber Orchestra and pianist Moura Lympany.
However, the tickets might not sell as easily as last year as their prices had been raised – and some seats now cost as much as £8.
To put that into context, it was rare in the 1970s for a Theatre Royal ticket to cost more than twenty shillings.
And finally, Lord and Lady Pilkington's gardens at their Windle Hall home (pictured above) were opened to the public on the 16th.
Admission was 10p, with the proceeds from the annual event going to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Next Week's stories will include the skinhead trouble in Thatto Heath, the St Helens Fire Brigade's white fire engines, Sparky the parrot gets the bird from West Sutton Labour Club and the bar staff at St Joseph's social club all get the sack.
We begin during the afternoon of the 12th, when a daring robbery took place at the Higher Parr Street post office.
£500 was stolen when a thief reached over the counter and brazenly stole a bag containing the cash.
Four men were inside the new, wooden prefabricated building at the time and a greetings card display was knocked over.
It was unclear whether that act had been committed as a distraction – or had occurred accidentally during the theft.
At a Health Committee meeting this week in St Helens, the town's Medical Officer of Health, Julian Baines, called a sudden drop in the birth-rate in St Helens a "freak".
New-born babies registered over the previous three months had totalled 316, compared with 492 during the same period last year.
"The explanation escapes me", commented Dr. Baines. "It's a mystery as to what exactly is going on."
However, Edna Brown, secretary of St Helens Family Planning Clinic, offered a clue. She said they had recorded a considerable increase in the number of patients attending their clinics over the past year.
On the 14th St Helens Council announced plans for a new community centre in New Street in Sutton.
The St Helens Borough Engineer, George James, described the scheme as "the most integrated and comprehensive development of its type in the town."
Later in the week, the St Helens Reporter predicted that "bored dolly birds and boys, and lonely senior citizens", would all be making a bee-line for the new centre!
The St Helens Society for Music and the Arts had commissioned the Westmorland slate memorial that had gold lettering inscribed with the words:
"Sir Thomas Beecham, C. H., born, St. Helens, 1879, conducted his first public concert in this Town Hall."
Last week the Reporter revealed that the RSPCA put down 300 dogs a week in St Helens.
The newspaper wrote a stinging front-page editorial on the scandal that ended with the words "Why don't we give a damn about dogs?"
RSPCA Inspector Pat Colgan told the Reporter that St Helens had the worst record for stray dogs that he had encountered in 17 years.
This week the paper described a shocking incident in which a middle-aged man had attempted to drown three pups in Brown Edge Pit in Nutgrove after fastening them inside a shopping bag.
However, 12-year-old Paul Carville of Nutgrove Road waded into the water and was able to save two of the pups.
Now the rescued dogs had been given the names of Lassie and Skippy and were being cared for by Paul's friends – Stuart Hodson, 9, and Andrew Bonney, 8, both of Norton Grove, Nutgrove.
Another doggy story in the Reporter bore the headline "Guard Dog Patrols In Parks" and began:
"Park Rangers are to get Alsatian guard dogs in a bid to fight vandalism. The go-ahead to buy three dogs – costing £50 each – was given by St. Helens Amenities Committee this week.
"The dogs, which will be used at Victoria, Sherdley and Taylor parks, were asked for by the park rangers' union.
"Mr. Sid Adamson, Parks Director, said: “Last year, vandalism cost us £3,000 and these three parks have been particularly hard hit. It is not fair to ask a park ranger to tackle gangs of teenage louts on his own, and we feel the dogs will prove a big success in cutting out vandalism.”"
In today's money, £3,000 is equivalent to almost half a million pounds.
Ken Dodd was pictured in the Reporter at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works helping to pick the winner of the United Voluntary Organisation's twice-yearly draw. Doddy was shown with winner Kathleen Hill and Lady Pilkington.
The Reporter described how St Helens Corporation had told its departmental heads that when recruiting staff, they should prioritise applicants from the Labour Exchange over college students.
Surprisingly, the Students Union at St Helens "Tech” was broadly supportive of the move. David Napier of the union was quoted as saying: "Most of us think jobs should go to unemployed married men."
Bill Innes, the landlord of the Colliers Arms in Kings Moss, told the Reporter of the latest village joke – one-man buses!
Recently, a red single-decker had backed into a shelter and another had got bogged down in a farmer's field.
"It's given us some laughs", admitted Mr Innes. "The bus wrecked the shelter and had to be towed out of the field."
The recently introduced single-deck buses were longer than the double-deckers previously used on the route – and so on country roads were more difficult for drivers to turn round.
Instead of the terminus being at the Colliers, it was decided that the buses would be reversed from Crank Road into Pimbo Road.
"Since then they seem to have had nothing but trouble," added Mr. Innes. "It's quite a village joke."
The Reporter also described a novel fundraising campaign at Cowley boys' school. £5,500 had been required to send 23 rugby players and four teachers on a month-long tour of Argentina.
The total had been reached through collecting and selling 200 tons of waste paper, producing and selling 10,000 copies of a sports booklet, making and selling many Christmas gifts and selling 10,000 raffle tickets, 4,000 dance tickets and 2,500 ball-point pens.
The Reporter was particularly intrigued that the lads had also eaten 22,000 packets of potato crisps. These contained tokens that were exchanged for raffle prizes.
In undertaking the trip in July, Cowley would become the first British school rugby union side to tour South America.
Ray French was one of the organisers and the rugby star and Cowley master told the paper:
"The lads going on the tour have done the bulk of the work. But the whole school, parents and old boys have helped."
Maud McCully from Bleak Hill Road was also featured in the Reporter.
The 79-year-old had decided to close her tiny, lock-up corner shop in Duke Street because of five recent break-ins.
"I've loved running the shop, meeting people and making friends," said Mrs McCully.
"But now I'm glad to see the back of it. Thieves have made my life a misery. It's only in the last year that I've had any trouble, and I've been opening six times a week for 34 years.
"I couldn't stand it any longer. A few months ago I was even threatened by a youth brandishing a knife in the shop. I've been cleaned out a couple of times and haven't got any money back."
A fortnight ago police had caught a man on the roof of Maud's Duke Street shop. He admitted breaking into the premises on five occasions and was sentenced to six months in prison.
However, for some reason, the magistrates rejected Mrs McCully's claim for £99.47 compensation.
It was the silver jubilee of West Park RUFC and there was a special advertising feature in the Reporter.
The club had been founded in 1946/7 to cater for the old boys of what was then called St Helens Catholic Grammar School.
Advertisers included Mercers For Pies, Higher Parr Street ("They “score” every time"), Kerr's Minerals, Barrow Street ("Suppliers to West Park R.U.F.C. – our best wishes for your continued prosperity"); Fitzgerald Shoes, Parr Stocks Road ("High class fashion shoes"); A. Laithwaite & Son, College Street ("Largest selection of timber in St. Helens"), Blackbrook Tyre Service, Opposite Ship Inn ("Offers 35% off British made Lee tyres") and Dot and Ken Walker, Shaw Street ("General groceries – suppliers of light refreshments to West Park R.F.C.").
Almost every week during the ‘70s, the Reporter featured residents somewhere within the St Helens district who were complaining about their houses or streets, often with considerable justification.
The problems could be because the houses were old, or, surprisingly, because they were new.
This week's offering was from people living on the new Springfield estate in Rainford who were experiencing drainage issues.
Every time it rained, pools of water up to 6 inches deep would form outside their homes and it would take hours for the water to subside.
Resident Audrey Fairclough told the paper: "Up to now the water hasn't got over the front step, but if we get a heavy rainfall it could get into the house."
Neighbour Linda Mercer added: "You can't let children play in the yard because it's flooded. I’ve written to the Council but they don't seem to care."
However, Rainford Council said they were aware of the problem and were taking action to address the flooding.
Last October the Theatre Royal in St Helens had attracted much praise for what it described as its first international concert series.
The events featuring Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, John Ogdon, Alberto Remedios and the Halle Orchestra had sold out weeks before their scheduled dates.
So the Corporation Street venue was selling tickets for this October's second international concert series well in advance.
The artistes listed in their Reporter advert this week included violinist Yehudi Menuhin, the English Chamber Orchestra and pianist Moura Lympany.
However, the tickets might not sell as easily as last year as their prices had been raised – and some seats now cost as much as £8.
To put that into context, it was rare in the 1970s for a Theatre Royal ticket to cost more than twenty shillings.
Admission was 10p, with the proceeds from the annual event going to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Next Week's stories will include the skinhead trouble in Thatto Heath, the St Helens Fire Brigade's white fire engines, Sparky the parrot gets the bird from West Sutton Labour Club and the bar staff at St Joseph's social club all get the sack.