FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 14 - 20 JULY 1975
This week's many stories include the retirement of the Town Hall Keeper, Dana opens Rumbelows new superstore in Church Street, the new phenomenon of wellie throwing comes to the St Helens Show, there's news about Pilkington's proposed float glass plant at Greengate and M & S cause trouble for Northgate on the Parr Industrial Estate.
We begin on the 14th when torrential rain fell in the St Helens district. In Rainford lightning hit an overhead power cable and blacked out the village for about an hour. And some householders in Silkstone Street in St Helens said the deluge ruined their carpets and furniture with almost a foot of water getting inside their homes. As a result they were planning to present a petition to the council protesting that their drains were insufficient.
Dana was in St Helens on the 15th to open the new Rumbelows "super store" at 28 - 30 Church Street. It was the firm's third store in St Helens with others in Baldwin Street and Ormskirk Street after taking over Rothery Radio.
Top 50 single records were available to buy for 50p – although I can recall when they were 6d 8d as you could get three for a pound! Rumbelows were keen to promote the "spaciousness" of their new store, although an illustration in their St Helens Reporter advert had customers queuing out of the door.
It was the end of term at St Helens' schools on the 18th and it was also the end of a long teaching career for James Anderton. The 65-year-old had spent 23 years in charge of Sutton C of E Junior School and before that he had been a headmaster in Billinge. His successor at Sutton was going to be 34-year-old Eric Draper from Skelmersdale.
Jack Chesworth was profiled in the Reporter on the 18th. Not to be confused with his namesake that used to run the Exchange Vaults pub, the council's Jack Chesworth had held the position of Town Hall Keeper since 1958 but was now retiring. It was an extremely time-consuming job, as apart from being the keeper (aka caretaker) of the Town Hall, Jack had been mace bearer, the Mayor's attendant, official toast master and council security officer.
In those 27 years, and as attendant to 17 Mayors, Jack reckoned he had walked up and down the Town Hall steps over 50,000 times. "I am on duty nearly every day of the week, and one function I was at went on until 7 a.m., after I had already put in a day's work. It certainly means a lot of effort but it has been a very rewarding job," said Jack.
One of his most memorable experiences as the Mayor's attendant was when they were on their way to watch Saints play Workington in a Rugby League cup-tie. "The Daimler's engine overheated and we rolled in to Workington like a steam train. We got a bigger cheer from the fans than the Saints did during the match."
The printing firm of Wood Westworth and Co who employed 40 people were celebrating their centenary this year and were profiled in the Reporter. During the last six years the Park Road firm had quadrupled their turnover as they were specialising in the production of book jackets and paperback covers and undertook printing work for more than 50 London publishers.
And Joe McGrath, the former head of the Music Department at Robins Lane Secondary School, was featured in the paper after making an LP record. Now the co-owner of a music shop in Thatto Heath, Joe played the organ on Sunday lunchtimes at the Green Dragon in Sutton Manor and the recording featured live performances of classics like Bridge Over Troubled Water and Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The latter number featured landlord Bill Marshall ringing the bell and saying "Time, gentlemen, please".
In May 1973 the Liverpool Echo reported that the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Corporation Street – one of St Helens' most well-known landmarks – would soon be demolished. The report said the last church service would take place on May 27th and eventually a new building would be constructed on the same site. This week the Reporter stated that the new Methodist church would open on September 27th 1975 as part of a five-storey office block.
It was the 3-day St Helens Show next week and the Reporter said a "new phenomenon" would be taking place in Sherdley Park. And that was "wellie throwing"! Those who wanted to chuck a boot needed to pay 10p for each throw, with the money going to charity. Sessions would be held across all three days, with the eight longest chuckers taking part in a final on the Saturday in which the winner would be proclaimed the St Helens Champion and be presented with a trophy.
Surprisingly, the footwear was not being provided, with each person taking part expected to obtain a Dunlop size 8 men's Wellington boot weighing between 34 and 37 ounces and at least 36 centimetres high. The reason for the specifics was that the competitors would be attempting to beat the world record for gumboot hurling which was currently 138 feet 5 inches and they needed to use a precise weight of boot.
I should imagine that having to buy boots that probably would not fit you would have greatly reduced the number of those entering. It seems a lot simpler for the organisers to have bought ones for people to throw.
The Reporter said Rainford Sports Council had obtained a £500 tennis court grant from the Parish Council. The courts on the church field were now in a decrepit state but the money would allow for a group of volunteers to renovate them.
I find it a little hard to remember what the rear of Westfield Street used to be like in the mid-‘70s when the land was essentially derelict. Demolished houses under the town centre redevelopment scheme had allowed free car parking for some but at this week's meeting of the council's Housing and Building Committee plans were made to inject new life into the area. A sub-committee was formed to consider proposals for new housing for what was just under 5 acres of land.
Plans for Pilkingtons new float glass plant at Greengate also moved forward this week with the news that the firm had bought a large chunk of their chosen site. Pilks paid £474,000 to purchase a firm called Barlevale, which owned 75 acres of derelict land, most of it on the Greengate site that already had planning consent to build what was being called UK5. The buyout meant that the glass giant had now acquired about two-thirds of the land that they needed to build their new factory on.
In a separate Pilkingtons story its chairman, Sir Alastair Pilkington, told shareholders this week that the glass industry had witnessed the worst plunge in trade in living memory. In the financial year that ended on March 31st, Pilkingtons gross profits were down from £23½ million to £7½ million.
The recession and high inflation was affecting many firms in St Helens, including the Northgate Group on the Parr Industrial Estate. The clothing firm announced this week that there had been a steep drop in demand from their main customer, Marks and Spencer. Northgate were the leading manufacturer of St Michael garments, the brand that M & S used between 1927 and 2000.
As a result of the reduced demand, they had been forced to axe what was known as their "housewives' shift" from 5 pm to 9:30 pm and lay off 750 full-time workers for 4 days. But the business that was originally known as J. & P. Jacobs was confident that the cutback was only temporary, with the drop in trade not expected to last longer than three or four months.
Whether Northgate would ever return to the boom days of 1972 when they employed around 800 sewing machinists was, however, another matter. They were then seeking to recruit more workers and had a curious advert in the Reporter in which next to a satanic illustration, were the words "Ladies Can I Tempt You To A DEVIL Of A Good Job At Northgate".
And finally, the Capitol Cinema replaced its double feature of the 'French Connection' and 'The Poseidon Adventure' on the 20th with a one-off showing of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 'Pictures At An Exhibition'. On the following day 'Mary Poppins' popped back on to their screen for six days "by popular demand". Does that mean people were standing in Duke Street screaming, "I want Mary Poppins, I want Mary Poppins"?
And the ABC Savoy on the 20th decided that three weeks of 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was quite enough and the Bridge Street cinema began 7 days of screenings of 'The Four Musketeers', starring Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the backbreaking suit of armour at the St Helens Show, TV comic Stevie Faye entertains kids at the St Helens YMCA, the golfers that were causing a nuisance in Eccleston and the public inquiry in Thatto Heath.
We begin on the 14th when torrential rain fell in the St Helens district. In Rainford lightning hit an overhead power cable and blacked out the village for about an hour. And some householders in Silkstone Street in St Helens said the deluge ruined their carpets and furniture with almost a foot of water getting inside their homes. As a result they were planning to present a petition to the council protesting that their drains were insufficient.
Top 50 single records were available to buy for 50p – although I can recall when they were 6d 8d as you could get three for a pound! Rumbelows were keen to promote the "spaciousness" of their new store, although an illustration in their St Helens Reporter advert had customers queuing out of the door.
It was the end of term at St Helens' schools on the 18th and it was also the end of a long teaching career for James Anderton. The 65-year-old had spent 23 years in charge of Sutton C of E Junior School and before that he had been a headmaster in Billinge. His successor at Sutton was going to be 34-year-old Eric Draper from Skelmersdale.
Jack Chesworth was profiled in the Reporter on the 18th. Not to be confused with his namesake that used to run the Exchange Vaults pub, the council's Jack Chesworth had held the position of Town Hall Keeper since 1958 but was now retiring. It was an extremely time-consuming job, as apart from being the keeper (aka caretaker) of the Town Hall, Jack had been mace bearer, the Mayor's attendant, official toast master and council security officer.
In those 27 years, and as attendant to 17 Mayors, Jack reckoned he had walked up and down the Town Hall steps over 50,000 times. "I am on duty nearly every day of the week, and one function I was at went on until 7 a.m., after I had already put in a day's work. It certainly means a lot of effort but it has been a very rewarding job," said Jack.
One of his most memorable experiences as the Mayor's attendant was when they were on their way to watch Saints play Workington in a Rugby League cup-tie. "The Daimler's engine overheated and we rolled in to Workington like a steam train. We got a bigger cheer from the fans than the Saints did during the match."
The printing firm of Wood Westworth and Co who employed 40 people were celebrating their centenary this year and were profiled in the Reporter. During the last six years the Park Road firm had quadrupled their turnover as they were specialising in the production of book jackets and paperback covers and undertook printing work for more than 50 London publishers.
And Joe McGrath, the former head of the Music Department at Robins Lane Secondary School, was featured in the paper after making an LP record. Now the co-owner of a music shop in Thatto Heath, Joe played the organ on Sunday lunchtimes at the Green Dragon in Sutton Manor and the recording featured live performances of classics like Bridge Over Troubled Water and Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The latter number featured landlord Bill Marshall ringing the bell and saying "Time, gentlemen, please".
In May 1973 the Liverpool Echo reported that the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Corporation Street – one of St Helens' most well-known landmarks – would soon be demolished. The report said the last church service would take place on May 27th and eventually a new building would be constructed on the same site. This week the Reporter stated that the new Methodist church would open on September 27th 1975 as part of a five-storey office block.
It was the 3-day St Helens Show next week and the Reporter said a "new phenomenon" would be taking place in Sherdley Park. And that was "wellie throwing"! Those who wanted to chuck a boot needed to pay 10p for each throw, with the money going to charity. Sessions would be held across all three days, with the eight longest chuckers taking part in a final on the Saturday in which the winner would be proclaimed the St Helens Champion and be presented with a trophy.
Surprisingly, the footwear was not being provided, with each person taking part expected to obtain a Dunlop size 8 men's Wellington boot weighing between 34 and 37 ounces and at least 36 centimetres high. The reason for the specifics was that the competitors would be attempting to beat the world record for gumboot hurling which was currently 138 feet 5 inches and they needed to use a precise weight of boot.
I should imagine that having to buy boots that probably would not fit you would have greatly reduced the number of those entering. It seems a lot simpler for the organisers to have bought ones for people to throw.
The Reporter said Rainford Sports Council had obtained a £500 tennis court grant from the Parish Council. The courts on the church field were now in a decrepit state but the money would allow for a group of volunteers to renovate them.
I find it a little hard to remember what the rear of Westfield Street used to be like in the mid-‘70s when the land was essentially derelict. Demolished houses under the town centre redevelopment scheme had allowed free car parking for some but at this week's meeting of the council's Housing and Building Committee plans were made to inject new life into the area. A sub-committee was formed to consider proposals for new housing for what was just under 5 acres of land.
Plans for Pilkingtons new float glass plant at Greengate also moved forward this week with the news that the firm had bought a large chunk of their chosen site. Pilks paid £474,000 to purchase a firm called Barlevale, which owned 75 acres of derelict land, most of it on the Greengate site that already had planning consent to build what was being called UK5. The buyout meant that the glass giant had now acquired about two-thirds of the land that they needed to build their new factory on.
In a separate Pilkingtons story its chairman, Sir Alastair Pilkington, told shareholders this week that the glass industry had witnessed the worst plunge in trade in living memory. In the financial year that ended on March 31st, Pilkingtons gross profits were down from £23½ million to £7½ million.
The recession and high inflation was affecting many firms in St Helens, including the Northgate Group on the Parr Industrial Estate. The clothing firm announced this week that there had been a steep drop in demand from their main customer, Marks and Spencer. Northgate were the leading manufacturer of St Michael garments, the brand that M & S used between 1927 and 2000.
As a result of the reduced demand, they had been forced to axe what was known as their "housewives' shift" from 5 pm to 9:30 pm and lay off 750 full-time workers for 4 days. But the business that was originally known as J. & P. Jacobs was confident that the cutback was only temporary, with the drop in trade not expected to last longer than three or four months.
Whether Northgate would ever return to the boom days of 1972 when they employed around 800 sewing machinists was, however, another matter. They were then seeking to recruit more workers and had a curious advert in the Reporter in which next to a satanic illustration, were the words "Ladies Can I Tempt You To A DEVIL Of A Good Job At Northgate".
And finally, the Capitol Cinema replaced its double feature of the 'French Connection' and 'The Poseidon Adventure' on the 20th with a one-off showing of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 'Pictures At An Exhibition'. On the following day 'Mary Poppins' popped back on to their screen for six days "by popular demand". Does that mean people were standing in Duke Street screaming, "I want Mary Poppins, I want Mary Poppins"?
And the ABC Savoy on the 20th decided that three weeks of 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was quite enough and the Bridge Street cinema began 7 days of screenings of 'The Four Musketeers', starring Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the backbreaking suit of armour at the St Helens Show, TV comic Stevie Faye entertains kids at the St Helens YMCA, the golfers that were causing a nuisance in Eccleston and the public inquiry in Thatto Heath.
This week's many stories include the retirement of the Town Hall Keeper, Dana opens Rumbelows new superstore in Church Street, the new phenomenon of wellie throwing comes to the St Helens Show, there's news about Pilkington's proposed float glass plant at Greengate and M & S cause trouble for Northgate on the Parr Industrial Estate.
We begin on the 14th when torrential rain fell in the St Helens district. In Rainford lightning hit an overhead power cable and blacked out the village for about an hour.
And some householders in Silkstone Street in St Helens said the deluge ruined their carpets and furniture with almost a foot of water getting inside their homes.
As a result they were planning to present a petition to the council protesting that their drains were insufficient.
Dana was in St Helens on the 15th to open the new Rumbelows "super store" at 28 - 30 Church Street.
It was the firm's third store in St Helens with others in Baldwin Street and Ormskirk Street after taking over Rothery Radio.
Top 50 single records were available to buy for 50p – although I can recall when they were 6d 8d as you could get three for a pound!
Rumbelows were keen to promote the "spaciousness" of their new store, although an illustration in their St Helens Reporter advert had customers queuing out of the door.
It was the end of term at St Helens' schools on the 18th and it was also the end of a long teaching career for James Anderton.
The 65-year-old had spent 23 years in charge of Sutton C of E Junior School and before that he had been a headmaster in Billinge.
His successor at Sutton was going to be 34-year-old Eric Draper from Skelmersdale.
Jack Chesworth was profiled in the Reporter on the 18th. Not to be confused with his namesake that used to run the Exchange Vaults pub, the council's Jack Chesworth had held the position of Town Hall Keeper since 1958 but was now retiring.
It was an extremely time-consuming job, as apart from being the keeper (aka caretaker) of the Town Hall, Jack had been mace bearer, the Mayor's attendant, official toast master and council security officer.
In those 27 years, and as attendant to 17 Mayors, Jack reckoned he had walked up and down the Town Hall steps over 50,000 times.
"I am on duty nearly every day of the week, and one function I was at went on until 7 a.m., after I had already put in a day's work. It certainly means a lot of effort but it has been a very rewarding job," said Jack.
One of his most memorable experiences as the Mayor's attendant was when they were on their way to watch Saints play Workington in a Rugby League cup-tie.
"The Daimler's engine overheated and we rolled in to Workington like a steam train. We got a bigger cheer from the fans than the Saints did during the match."
The printing firm of Wood Westworth and Co who employed 40 people were celebrating their centenary this year and were profiled in the Reporter.
During the last six years the Park Road firm had quadrupled their turnover as they were specialising in the production of book jackets and paperback covers and undertook printing work for more than 50 London publishers.
And Joe McGrath, the former head of the Music Department at Robins Lane Secondary School, was featured in the paper after making an LP record.
Now the co-owner of a music shop in Thatto Heath, Joe played the organ on Sunday lunchtimes at the Green Dragon in Sutton Manor and the recording featured live performances of classics like Bridge Over Troubled Water and Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
The latter number featured landlord Bill Marshall ringing the bell and saying "Time, gentlemen, please".
In May 1973 the Liverpool Echo reported that the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Corporation Street – one of St Helens' most well-known landmarks – would soon be demolished.
The report said the last church service would take place on May 27th and eventually a new building would be constructed on the same site.
This week the Reporter stated that the new Methodist church would open on September 27th 1975 as part of a five-storey office block.
It was the 3-day St Helens Show next week and the Reporter said a "new phenomenon" would be taking place in Sherdley Park. And that was "wellie throwing"!
Those who wanted to chuck a boot needed to pay 10p for each throw, with the money going to charity.
Sessions would be held across all three days, with the eight longest chuckers taking part in a final on the Saturday in which the winner would be proclaimed the St Helens Champion and be presented with a trophy.
Surprisingly, the footwear was not being provided, with each person taking part expected to obtain a Dunlop size 8 men's Wellington boot weighing between 34 and 37 ounces and at least 36 centimetres high.
The reason for the specifics was that the competitors would be attempting to beat the world record for gumboot hurling which was currently 138 feet 5 inches and they needed to use a precise weight of boot.
I should imagine that having to buy boots that probably would not fit you would have greatly reduced the number of those entering.
It seems a lot simpler for the organisers to have bought ones for people to throw.
The Reporter said Rainford Sports Council had obtained a £500 tennis court grant from the Parish Council.
The courts on the church field were now in a decrepit state but the money would allow for a group of volunteers to renovate them.
I find it a little hard to remember what the rear of Westfield Street used to be like in the mid-‘70s when the land was essentially derelict.
Demolished houses under the town centre redevelopment scheme had allowed free car parking for some but at this week's meeting of the council's Housing and Building Committee plans were made to inject new life into the area.
A sub-committee was formed to consider proposals for new housing for what was just under 5 acres of land.
Plans for Pilkingtons new float glass plant at Greengate also moved forward this week with the news that the firm had bought a large chunk of their chosen site.
Pilks paid £474,000 to purchase a firm called Barlevale, which owned 75 acres of derelict land, most of it on the Greengate site that already had planning consent to build what was being called UK5.
The buyout meant that the glass giant had now acquired about two-thirds of the land that they needed to build their new factory on.
In a separate Pilkingtons story its chairman, Sir Alastair Pilkington, told shareholders this week that the glass industry had witnessed the worst plunge in trade in living memory.
In the financial year that ended on March 31st, Pilkingtons gross profits were down from £23½ million to £7½ million.
The recession and high inflation was affecting many firms in St Helens, including the Northgate Group on the Parr Industrial Estate.
The clothing firm announced this week that there had been a steep drop in demand from their main customer, Marks and Spencer.
Northgate were the leading manufacturer of St Michael garments, the brand that M & S used between 1927 and 2000.
As a result of the reduced demand, they had been forced to axe what was known as their "housewives' shift" from 5 pm to 9:30 pm and lay off 750 full-time workers for 4 days.
But the business that was originally known as J. & P. Jacobs was confident that the cutback was only temporary, with the drop in trade not expected to last longer than three or four months.
Whether Northgate would ever return to the boom days of 1972 when they employed around 800 sewing machinists was, however, another matter.
They were then seeking to recruit more workers and had a curious advert in the Reporter in which next to a satanic illustration, were the words "Ladies Can I Tempt You To A DEVIL Of A Good Job At Northgate".
And finally, the Capitol Cinema replaced its double feature of the 'French Connection' and 'The Poseidon Adventure' on the 20th with a one-off showing of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 'Pictures At An Exhibition'.
On the following day 'Mary Poppins' popped back on to their screen for six days "by popular demand".
Does that mean people were standing in Duke Street screaming, "I want Mary Poppins, I want Mary Poppins"?
And the ABC Savoy on the 20th decided that three weeks of 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was quite enough and the Bridge Street cinema began 7 days of screenings of 'The Four Musketeers', starring Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the backbreaking suit of armour at the St Helens Show, TV comic Stevie Faye entertains kids at the St Helens YMCA, the golfers that were causing a nuisance in Eccleston and the public inquiry in Thatto Heath.
We begin on the 14th when torrential rain fell in the St Helens district. In Rainford lightning hit an overhead power cable and blacked out the village for about an hour.
And some householders in Silkstone Street in St Helens said the deluge ruined their carpets and furniture with almost a foot of water getting inside their homes.
As a result they were planning to present a petition to the council protesting that their drains were insufficient.
It was the firm's third store in St Helens with others in Baldwin Street and Ormskirk Street after taking over Rothery Radio.
Top 50 single records were available to buy for 50p – although I can recall when they were 6d 8d as you could get three for a pound!
Rumbelows were keen to promote the "spaciousness" of their new store, although an illustration in their St Helens Reporter advert had customers queuing out of the door.
It was the end of term at St Helens' schools on the 18th and it was also the end of a long teaching career for James Anderton.
The 65-year-old had spent 23 years in charge of Sutton C of E Junior School and before that he had been a headmaster in Billinge.
His successor at Sutton was going to be 34-year-old Eric Draper from Skelmersdale.
Jack Chesworth was profiled in the Reporter on the 18th. Not to be confused with his namesake that used to run the Exchange Vaults pub, the council's Jack Chesworth had held the position of Town Hall Keeper since 1958 but was now retiring.
It was an extremely time-consuming job, as apart from being the keeper (aka caretaker) of the Town Hall, Jack had been mace bearer, the Mayor's attendant, official toast master and council security officer.
In those 27 years, and as attendant to 17 Mayors, Jack reckoned he had walked up and down the Town Hall steps over 50,000 times.
"I am on duty nearly every day of the week, and one function I was at went on until 7 a.m., after I had already put in a day's work. It certainly means a lot of effort but it has been a very rewarding job," said Jack.
One of his most memorable experiences as the Mayor's attendant was when they were on their way to watch Saints play Workington in a Rugby League cup-tie.
"The Daimler's engine overheated and we rolled in to Workington like a steam train. We got a bigger cheer from the fans than the Saints did during the match."
The printing firm of Wood Westworth and Co who employed 40 people were celebrating their centenary this year and were profiled in the Reporter.
During the last six years the Park Road firm had quadrupled their turnover as they were specialising in the production of book jackets and paperback covers and undertook printing work for more than 50 London publishers.
And Joe McGrath, the former head of the Music Department at Robins Lane Secondary School, was featured in the paper after making an LP record.
Now the co-owner of a music shop in Thatto Heath, Joe played the organ on Sunday lunchtimes at the Green Dragon in Sutton Manor and the recording featured live performances of classics like Bridge Over Troubled Water and Chattanooga Choo-Choo.
The latter number featured landlord Bill Marshall ringing the bell and saying "Time, gentlemen, please".
In May 1973 the Liverpool Echo reported that the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Corporation Street – one of St Helens' most well-known landmarks – would soon be demolished.
The report said the last church service would take place on May 27th and eventually a new building would be constructed on the same site.
This week the Reporter stated that the new Methodist church would open on September 27th 1975 as part of a five-storey office block.
It was the 3-day St Helens Show next week and the Reporter said a "new phenomenon" would be taking place in Sherdley Park. And that was "wellie throwing"!
Those who wanted to chuck a boot needed to pay 10p for each throw, with the money going to charity.
Sessions would be held across all three days, with the eight longest chuckers taking part in a final on the Saturday in which the winner would be proclaimed the St Helens Champion and be presented with a trophy.
Surprisingly, the footwear was not being provided, with each person taking part expected to obtain a Dunlop size 8 men's Wellington boot weighing between 34 and 37 ounces and at least 36 centimetres high.
The reason for the specifics was that the competitors would be attempting to beat the world record for gumboot hurling which was currently 138 feet 5 inches and they needed to use a precise weight of boot.
I should imagine that having to buy boots that probably would not fit you would have greatly reduced the number of those entering.
It seems a lot simpler for the organisers to have bought ones for people to throw.
The Reporter said Rainford Sports Council had obtained a £500 tennis court grant from the Parish Council.
The courts on the church field were now in a decrepit state but the money would allow for a group of volunteers to renovate them.
I find it a little hard to remember what the rear of Westfield Street used to be like in the mid-‘70s when the land was essentially derelict.
Demolished houses under the town centre redevelopment scheme had allowed free car parking for some but at this week's meeting of the council's Housing and Building Committee plans were made to inject new life into the area.
A sub-committee was formed to consider proposals for new housing for what was just under 5 acres of land.
Plans for Pilkingtons new float glass plant at Greengate also moved forward this week with the news that the firm had bought a large chunk of their chosen site.
Pilks paid £474,000 to purchase a firm called Barlevale, which owned 75 acres of derelict land, most of it on the Greengate site that already had planning consent to build what was being called UK5.
The buyout meant that the glass giant had now acquired about two-thirds of the land that they needed to build their new factory on.
In a separate Pilkingtons story its chairman, Sir Alastair Pilkington, told shareholders this week that the glass industry had witnessed the worst plunge in trade in living memory.
In the financial year that ended on March 31st, Pilkingtons gross profits were down from £23½ million to £7½ million.
The recession and high inflation was affecting many firms in St Helens, including the Northgate Group on the Parr Industrial Estate.
The clothing firm announced this week that there had been a steep drop in demand from their main customer, Marks and Spencer.
Northgate were the leading manufacturer of St Michael garments, the brand that M & S used between 1927 and 2000.
As a result of the reduced demand, they had been forced to axe what was known as their "housewives' shift" from 5 pm to 9:30 pm and lay off 750 full-time workers for 4 days.
But the business that was originally known as J. & P. Jacobs was confident that the cutback was only temporary, with the drop in trade not expected to last longer than three or four months.
Whether Northgate would ever return to the boom days of 1972 when they employed around 800 sewing machinists was, however, another matter.
They were then seeking to recruit more workers and had a curious advert in the Reporter in which next to a satanic illustration, were the words "Ladies Can I Tempt You To A DEVIL Of A Good Job At Northgate".
And finally, the Capitol Cinema replaced its double feature of the 'French Connection' and 'The Poseidon Adventure' on the 20th with a one-off showing of Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 'Pictures At An Exhibition'.
On the following day 'Mary Poppins' popped back on to their screen for six days "by popular demand".
Does that mean people were standing in Duke Street screaming, "I want Mary Poppins, I want Mary Poppins"?
And the ABC Savoy on the 20th decided that three weeks of 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was quite enough and the Bridge Street cinema began 7 days of screenings of 'The Four Musketeers', starring Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the backbreaking suit of armour at the St Helens Show, TV comic Stevie Faye entertains kids at the St Helens YMCA, the golfers that were causing a nuisance in Eccleston and the public inquiry in Thatto Heath.