FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 15 - 21 SEPTEMBER 1975
This week's many stories include the Billinge man who blamed chest medicine for his indecent assault of a child, the axing of the Pilkington Gala, the delayed creation of a top management college, the recession finally catches up with Rockware Glass, the Vicar of Sutton supports the ordination of women priests, a campaign to save Carr Mill Dam and Saints appoint a commercial manager to tackle their runaway losses.
We begin with Pilkington's announcement that they were ending their biennial Gala, mainly because of the damage caused by the event to their ground at Ruskin Drive. Gala Committee Chairman David Wood said: "We were compelled to take a new look at the gala when the Recreation Executive Maintenance Committee reported that gala damage to Ruskin Drive was rapidly reaching the stage where it could not be remedied by conventional means."
A number of the galas had been affected by bad weather and that had not done the ground at Ruskin Drive any favours when crowds were tramping over it. Many of the attractions that used to be in the Gala were now available at the St Helens Show, which had not been in existence when the Gala began. Falling attendances were another factor, with the 1974 Gala costing almost 12 times as much as the 1965 show, which had more people in attendance. The Pilkington Gala had ten years earlier replaced the popular Recreation Club Open Weekend, which would now be revived at Ruskin Drive.
In a report this week it was disclosed that St Helens Council was building more houses and clearing more slums than any other local authority in the Merseyside area, except Liverpool. But construction figures for the private sector were among the lowest in the country. The report released by the Department of the Environment covered the first quarter of 1975 and revealed that 118 council homes had been built in St Helens, with Liverpool constructing 277. Sefton was the lowest ranked authority with just 13.
The longstanding St Helens name of J. Ashall and Son (Engineers) Ltd in City Road was this week replaced by signs bearing the name Skipper. But the firm insisted that there had been no change as far as the public was concerned as Ashall's had been part of the Skipper group of Ford main dealers for the past six years.
On the 17th Tony Christie performed at the Theatre Royal and, no doubt, sang his biggest hit 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'. His support was Stu Francis, Les Peters and The Dooley Family. In 1972 the latter had appeared at the St Helens Town Social Club in Hoghton Road. The group was still two years away from having their first hit record under their shortened name of the Dooleys. On the following evening, The Hillsiders made yet another appearance in Corporation Street.
On the 19th a 58-year-old man from Oakley Avenue in Billinge received a two-year conditional discharge after admitting indecently assaulting a five-year-old girl in a shed on two occasions within an hour. And the condition under which the discharge was made was that the man claimed he had consumed too much medicine for his chest complaint. This is what he told St Helens Magistrates Court:
"It was very warm weather and my chest was troubling me so I took more of the tablets prescribed for me than I should have done and I drank a glass of whisky to see if that would help my chest. I didn't realise what I was doing. I know the little girl very well and have always treated her like a grandchild. I was disgusted with myself when I realised what had happened. It was as if I had had a black-out and in a trance. I am shocked that it should have happened." These days most charges of indecent assault made during the 1970s, would be classified as a sexual assault.
Also on the 19th, the St Thomas Scout Group celebrated their diamond jubilee at their headquarters in Barton Street, with the Mayor, Councillor Peggy McNamara, in attendance.
The St Helens Reporter was published on that day and wrote: "A million pound-plus super dream has been wrecked by the local authority spending crisis. For St. Helens education boss, Councillor Tom Harvey, has revealed that a prestige plan to build a top management college in the town will not be going ahead, for the time being at least."
It was a reference to the proposed £1½ million business college to be built at Hollin Hey in Carr Mill. For several years St Helens and Liverpool had vied to have the college located in their area, with St Helens winning the contest, although the school's management would be shared with Liverpool.
Speedboats had been on Carr Mill Dam since 1930 but as they had been getting more powerful there were regular complaints about the noise. And recently a powerboat had cut a swan to pieces and there had been another complaint about the Lancashire Power Boat Club deliberately causing a huge explosion and killing many fish.
Now the Reporter was describing how Councillor Pat Ashton was planning to set up an appeal fund to save Carr Mill Dam from private development. The Moss Bank councillor had also written a letter to the council's Leisure and Recreation Committee drawing attention to what he called the "continued nuisance of power boats", and calling for measures to be taken "towards the cessation of such hostilities".
Planning permission had been granted for a five-storey hotel on the site and although the Lancashire Power Boat Club had the rights to use the water, the rest of the Carr Mill site belonged to the council. "We must retain this beauty spot for the public," insisted Cllr Ashton.
Two weeks ago the Rector of Sutton, the Rev Paul Conder, had announced that he would be leaving the parish at the end of the year. But what might be seen as his parting shot before relocating to Surrey was to give a ringing endorsement to the ordination of women priests – which was still 17 years away from being enacted. Rev Conder wrote in the Reporter:
"The ordination of women would bring many practical, social and psychological difficulties to many faithful and sincere people. No doubt many of the objections stem from nothing other than prejudice. But if a thing is right in principle can it be right to delay carrying it out at the earliest opportunity?"
The Reporter also described how Saints had appointed a commercial manager to "tackle their runaway losses". Ken Healey began working at Knowsley Road this week with his work focused on the financial interests of the club off the field. Last year the club lost £33,000 but this figure was halved through the profit from Saints Cabaret Lounge, bars and restaurant.
It was hoped that by appointing a commercial manager to concentrate on the financial side, this trend could be reversed. Mr Healey said: "Commercial managers are nothing new, almost every Rugby League club has someone working in this capacity. In these days of falling attendances and lost revenue through the turnstiles, most clubs are having to rely heavily on the income brought in by lotteries and social amenities." Mr Healey would be responsible for running Saints weekly pools lottery, which had waned a little of late.
The recession and financial crisis had been affecting many St Helens firms, including Rockware Glass (pictured above). Earlier in the year a decline in orders had led to the Pocket Nook firm slashing production by 30%. But, instead of laying off workers, they had deployed them onto other jobs, such as cleaning and painting the factory, for which they had earned rare praise from unions.
In August Rockware had announced a drive to sell soft drinks bottles to Arab countries and they then sounded optimistic about their future. But this week the firm stated that 130 staff were being made redundant, with large stocks of unsold glass having accumulated in their factory and expected improvements in their sales during August and September not coming to fruition.
And finally, the Dubliners performed at the Theatre Royal on the 20th. Relations had improved since 1971 when the Irish folk band was controversially "banned" from Corporation Street. Then the theatre's manager, James Lovelace, had asked the Dubliners not to perform any Irish rebel songs. However, the group refused to bow to what they saw as censorship and two sold-out gigs had to be cancelled.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the coach operator who blacklisted Saints rugby league ground, criticism of the St Helens Show, the police parking blitz on Saints fans and the family who accidentally drank half a bottle of pest killer.
We begin with Pilkington's announcement that they were ending their biennial Gala, mainly because of the damage caused by the event to their ground at Ruskin Drive. Gala Committee Chairman David Wood said: "We were compelled to take a new look at the gala when the Recreation Executive Maintenance Committee reported that gala damage to Ruskin Drive was rapidly reaching the stage where it could not be remedied by conventional means."
A number of the galas had been affected by bad weather and that had not done the ground at Ruskin Drive any favours when crowds were tramping over it. Many of the attractions that used to be in the Gala were now available at the St Helens Show, which had not been in existence when the Gala began. Falling attendances were another factor, with the 1974 Gala costing almost 12 times as much as the 1965 show, which had more people in attendance. The Pilkington Gala had ten years earlier replaced the popular Recreation Club Open Weekend, which would now be revived at Ruskin Drive.
In a report this week it was disclosed that St Helens Council was building more houses and clearing more slums than any other local authority in the Merseyside area, except Liverpool. But construction figures for the private sector were among the lowest in the country. The report released by the Department of the Environment covered the first quarter of 1975 and revealed that 118 council homes had been built in St Helens, with Liverpool constructing 277. Sefton was the lowest ranked authority with just 13.
The longstanding St Helens name of J. Ashall and Son (Engineers) Ltd in City Road was this week replaced by signs bearing the name Skipper. But the firm insisted that there had been no change as far as the public was concerned as Ashall's had been part of the Skipper group of Ford main dealers for the past six years.
On the 17th Tony Christie performed at the Theatre Royal and, no doubt, sang his biggest hit 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'. His support was Stu Francis, Les Peters and The Dooley Family. In 1972 the latter had appeared at the St Helens Town Social Club in Hoghton Road. The group was still two years away from having their first hit record under their shortened name of the Dooleys. On the following evening, The Hillsiders made yet another appearance in Corporation Street.
On the 19th a 58-year-old man from Oakley Avenue in Billinge received a two-year conditional discharge after admitting indecently assaulting a five-year-old girl in a shed on two occasions within an hour. And the condition under which the discharge was made was that the man claimed he had consumed too much medicine for his chest complaint. This is what he told St Helens Magistrates Court:
"It was very warm weather and my chest was troubling me so I took more of the tablets prescribed for me than I should have done and I drank a glass of whisky to see if that would help my chest. I didn't realise what I was doing. I know the little girl very well and have always treated her like a grandchild. I was disgusted with myself when I realised what had happened. It was as if I had had a black-out and in a trance. I am shocked that it should have happened." These days most charges of indecent assault made during the 1970s, would be classified as a sexual assault.
Also on the 19th, the St Thomas Scout Group celebrated their diamond jubilee at their headquarters in Barton Street, with the Mayor, Councillor Peggy McNamara, in attendance.
The St Helens Reporter was published on that day and wrote: "A million pound-plus super dream has been wrecked by the local authority spending crisis. For St. Helens education boss, Councillor Tom Harvey, has revealed that a prestige plan to build a top management college in the town will not be going ahead, for the time being at least."
It was a reference to the proposed £1½ million business college to be built at Hollin Hey in Carr Mill. For several years St Helens and Liverpool had vied to have the college located in their area, with St Helens winning the contest, although the school's management would be shared with Liverpool.
Speedboats had been on Carr Mill Dam since 1930 but as they had been getting more powerful there were regular complaints about the noise. And recently a powerboat had cut a swan to pieces and there had been another complaint about the Lancashire Power Boat Club deliberately causing a huge explosion and killing many fish.
Now the Reporter was describing how Councillor Pat Ashton was planning to set up an appeal fund to save Carr Mill Dam from private development. The Moss Bank councillor had also written a letter to the council's Leisure and Recreation Committee drawing attention to what he called the "continued nuisance of power boats", and calling for measures to be taken "towards the cessation of such hostilities".
Planning permission had been granted for a five-storey hotel on the site and although the Lancashire Power Boat Club had the rights to use the water, the rest of the Carr Mill site belonged to the council. "We must retain this beauty spot for the public," insisted Cllr Ashton.
Two weeks ago the Rector of Sutton, the Rev Paul Conder, had announced that he would be leaving the parish at the end of the year. But what might be seen as his parting shot before relocating to Surrey was to give a ringing endorsement to the ordination of women priests – which was still 17 years away from being enacted. Rev Conder wrote in the Reporter:
"The ordination of women would bring many practical, social and psychological difficulties to many faithful and sincere people. No doubt many of the objections stem from nothing other than prejudice. But if a thing is right in principle can it be right to delay carrying it out at the earliest opportunity?"
The Reporter also described how Saints had appointed a commercial manager to "tackle their runaway losses". Ken Healey began working at Knowsley Road this week with his work focused on the financial interests of the club off the field. Last year the club lost £33,000 but this figure was halved through the profit from Saints Cabaret Lounge, bars and restaurant.
It was hoped that by appointing a commercial manager to concentrate on the financial side, this trend could be reversed. Mr Healey said: "Commercial managers are nothing new, almost every Rugby League club has someone working in this capacity. In these days of falling attendances and lost revenue through the turnstiles, most clubs are having to rely heavily on the income brought in by lotteries and social amenities." Mr Healey would be responsible for running Saints weekly pools lottery, which had waned a little of late.
In August Rockware had announced a drive to sell soft drinks bottles to Arab countries and they then sounded optimistic about their future. But this week the firm stated that 130 staff were being made redundant, with large stocks of unsold glass having accumulated in their factory and expected improvements in their sales during August and September not coming to fruition.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the coach operator who blacklisted Saints rugby league ground, criticism of the St Helens Show, the police parking blitz on Saints fans and the family who accidentally drank half a bottle of pest killer.
This week's many stories include the Billinge man who blamed chest medicine for his indecent assault of a child, the axing of the Pilkington Gala, the delayed creation of a top management college, the recession finally catches up with Rockware Glass, the Vicar of Sutton supports the ordination of women priests, a campaign to save Carr Mill Dam and Saints appoint a commercial manager to tackle their runaway losses.
We begin with Pilkington's announcement that they were ending their biennial Gala, mainly because of the damage caused by the event to their ground at Ruskin Drive. Gala Committee Chairman David Wood said:
"We were compelled to take a new look at the gala when the Recreation Executive Maintenance Committee reported that gala damage to Ruskin Drive was rapidly reaching the stage where it could not be remedied by conventional means."
A number of the galas had been affected by bad weather and that had not done the ground at Ruskin Drive any favours when crowds were tramping over it.
Many of the attractions that used to be in the Gala were now available at the St Helens Show, which had not been in existence when the Gala began.
Falling attendances were another factor, with the 1974 Gala costing almost 12 times as much as the 1965 show, which had more people in attendance.
The Pilkington Gala had ten years earlier replaced the popular Recreation Club Open Weekend, which would now be revived at Ruskin Drive.
In a report this week it was disclosed that St Helens Council was building more houses and clearing more slums than any other local authority in the Merseyside area, except Liverpool.
But construction figures for the private sector were among the lowest in the country.
The report released by the Department of the Environment covered the first quarter of 1975 and revealed that 118 council homes had been built in St Helens, with Liverpool constructing 277. Sefton was the lowest ranked authority with just 13.
The longstanding St Helens name of J. Ashall and Son (Engineers) Ltd in City Road was this week replaced by signs bearing the name Skipper.
But the firm insisted that there had been no change as far as the public was concerned as Ashall's had been part of the Skipper group of Ford main dealers for the past six years.
On the 17th Tony Christie performed at the Theatre Royal and, no doubt, sang his biggest hit 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'.
His support was Stu Francis, Les Peters and The Dooley Family. In 1972 the latter had appeared at the St Helens Town Social Club in Hoghton Road.
The group was still two years away from having their first hit record under their shortened name of the Dooleys.
On the following evening, The Hillsiders made yet another appearance in Corporation Street.
On the 19th a 58-year-old man from Oakley Avenue in Billinge received a two-year conditional discharge after admitting indecently assaulting a five-year-old girl in a shed on two occasions within an hour.
And the condition under which the discharge was made was that the man claimed he had consumed too much medicine for his chest complaint. This is what he told St Helens Magistrates Court:
"It was very warm weather and my chest was troubling me so I took more of the tablets prescribed for me than I should have done and I drank a glass of whisky to see if that would help my chest.
"I didn't realise what I was doing. I know the little girl very well and have always treated her like a grandchild. I was disgusted with myself when I realised what had happened. It was as if I had had a black-out and in a trance. I am shocked that it should have happened."
These days most charges of indecent assault made during the 1970s, would be classified as a sexual assault.
Also on the 19th, the St Thomas Scout Group celebrated their diamond jubilee at their headquarters in Barton Street, with the Mayor, Councillor Peggy McNamara, in attendance.
The St Helens Reporter was published on that day and wrote: "A million pound-plus super dream has been wrecked by the local authority spending crisis.
"For St. Helens education boss, Councillor Tom Harvey, has revealed that a prestige plan to build a top management college in the town will not be going ahead, for the time being at least."
It was a reference to the proposed £1½ million business college to be built at Hollin Hey in Carr Mill.
For several years St Helens and Liverpool had vied to have the college located in their area, with St Helens winning the contest, although the school's management would be shared with Liverpool.
Speedboats had been on Carr Mill Dam since 1930 but as they had been getting more powerful there were regular complaints about the noise.
And recently a powerboat had cut a swan to pieces and there had been another complaint about the Lancashire Power Boat Club deliberately causing a huge explosion and killing many fish.
Now the Reporter was describing how Councillor Pat Ashton was planning to set up an appeal fund to save Carr Mill Dam from private development.
The Moss Bank councillor had also written a letter to the council's Leisure and Recreation Committee drawing attention to what he called the "continued nuisance of power boats", and calling for measures to be taken "towards the cessation of such hostilities".
Planning permission had been granted for a five-storey hotel on the site and although the Lancashire Power Boat Club had the rights to use the water, the rest of the Carr Mill site belonged to the council. "We must retain this beauty spot for the public," insisted Cllr Ashton.
Two weeks ago the Rector of Sutton, the Rev Paul Conder, had announced that he would be leaving the parish at the end of the year.
But what might be seen as his parting shot before relocating to Surrey was to give a ringing endorsement to the ordination of women priests – which was still 17 years away from being enacted. Rev Conder wrote in the Reporter:
"The ordination of women would bring many practical, social and psychological difficulties to many faithful and sincere people.
"No doubt many of the objections stem from nothing other than prejudice. But if a thing is right in principle can it be right to delay carrying it out at the earliest opportunity?"
The Reporter also described how Saints had appointed a commercial manager to "tackle their runaway losses".
Ken Healey began working at Knowsley Road this week with his work focused on the financial interests of the club off the field.
Last year the club lost £33,000 but this figure was halved through the profit from Saints Cabaret Lounge, bars and restaurant.
It was hoped that by appointing a commercial manager to concentrate on the financial side, this trend could be reversed. Mr Healey said:
"Commercial managers are nothing new, almost every Rugby League club has someone working in this capacity.
"In these days of falling attendances and lost revenue through the turnstiles, most clubs are having to rely heavily on the income brought in by lotteries and social amenities."
Mr Healey would be responsible for running Saints weekly pools lottery, which had waned a little of late.
The recession and financial crisis had been affecting many St Helens firms, including Rockware Glass (pictured above).
Earlier in the year a decline in orders had led to the Pocket Nook firm slashing production by 30%.
But, instead of laying off workers, they had deployed them onto other jobs, such as cleaning and painting the factory, for which they had earned rare praise from unions.
In August Rockware had announced a drive to sell soft drinks bottles to Arab countries and they then sounded optimistic about their future.
But this week the firm stated that 130 staff were being made redundant, with large stocks of unsold glass having accumulated in their factory and expected improvements in their sales during August and September not coming to fruition.
And finally, the Dubliners performed at the Theatre Royal on the 20th. Relations had improved since 1971 when the Irish folk band was controversially "banned" from Corporation Street.
Then the theatre's manager, James Lovelace, had asked the Dubliners not to perform any Irish rebel songs. However, the group refused to bow to what they saw as censorship and two sold-out gigs had to be cancelled.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the coach operator who blacklisted Saints rugby league ground, criticism of the St Helens Show, the police parking blitz on Saints fans and the family who accidentally drank half a bottle of pest killer.
We begin with Pilkington's announcement that they were ending their biennial Gala, mainly because of the damage caused by the event to their ground at Ruskin Drive. Gala Committee Chairman David Wood said:
"We were compelled to take a new look at the gala when the Recreation Executive Maintenance Committee reported that gala damage to Ruskin Drive was rapidly reaching the stage where it could not be remedied by conventional means."
A number of the galas had been affected by bad weather and that had not done the ground at Ruskin Drive any favours when crowds were tramping over it.
Many of the attractions that used to be in the Gala were now available at the St Helens Show, which had not been in existence when the Gala began.
Falling attendances were another factor, with the 1974 Gala costing almost 12 times as much as the 1965 show, which had more people in attendance.
The Pilkington Gala had ten years earlier replaced the popular Recreation Club Open Weekend, which would now be revived at Ruskin Drive.
In a report this week it was disclosed that St Helens Council was building more houses and clearing more slums than any other local authority in the Merseyside area, except Liverpool.
But construction figures for the private sector were among the lowest in the country.
The report released by the Department of the Environment covered the first quarter of 1975 and revealed that 118 council homes had been built in St Helens, with Liverpool constructing 277. Sefton was the lowest ranked authority with just 13.
The longstanding St Helens name of J. Ashall and Son (Engineers) Ltd in City Road was this week replaced by signs bearing the name Skipper.
But the firm insisted that there had been no change as far as the public was concerned as Ashall's had been part of the Skipper group of Ford main dealers for the past six years.
On the 17th Tony Christie performed at the Theatre Royal and, no doubt, sang his biggest hit 'Is This The Way To Amarillo'.
His support was Stu Francis, Les Peters and The Dooley Family. In 1972 the latter had appeared at the St Helens Town Social Club in Hoghton Road.
The group was still two years away from having their first hit record under their shortened name of the Dooleys.
On the following evening, The Hillsiders made yet another appearance in Corporation Street.
On the 19th a 58-year-old man from Oakley Avenue in Billinge received a two-year conditional discharge after admitting indecently assaulting a five-year-old girl in a shed on two occasions within an hour.
And the condition under which the discharge was made was that the man claimed he had consumed too much medicine for his chest complaint. This is what he told St Helens Magistrates Court:
"It was very warm weather and my chest was troubling me so I took more of the tablets prescribed for me than I should have done and I drank a glass of whisky to see if that would help my chest.
"I didn't realise what I was doing. I know the little girl very well and have always treated her like a grandchild. I was disgusted with myself when I realised what had happened. It was as if I had had a black-out and in a trance. I am shocked that it should have happened."
These days most charges of indecent assault made during the 1970s, would be classified as a sexual assault.
Also on the 19th, the St Thomas Scout Group celebrated their diamond jubilee at their headquarters in Barton Street, with the Mayor, Councillor Peggy McNamara, in attendance.
The St Helens Reporter was published on that day and wrote: "A million pound-plus super dream has been wrecked by the local authority spending crisis.
"For St. Helens education boss, Councillor Tom Harvey, has revealed that a prestige plan to build a top management college in the town will not be going ahead, for the time being at least."
It was a reference to the proposed £1½ million business college to be built at Hollin Hey in Carr Mill.
For several years St Helens and Liverpool had vied to have the college located in their area, with St Helens winning the contest, although the school's management would be shared with Liverpool.
Speedboats had been on Carr Mill Dam since 1930 but as they had been getting more powerful there were regular complaints about the noise.
And recently a powerboat had cut a swan to pieces and there had been another complaint about the Lancashire Power Boat Club deliberately causing a huge explosion and killing many fish.
Now the Reporter was describing how Councillor Pat Ashton was planning to set up an appeal fund to save Carr Mill Dam from private development.
The Moss Bank councillor had also written a letter to the council's Leisure and Recreation Committee drawing attention to what he called the "continued nuisance of power boats", and calling for measures to be taken "towards the cessation of such hostilities".
Planning permission had been granted for a five-storey hotel on the site and although the Lancashire Power Boat Club had the rights to use the water, the rest of the Carr Mill site belonged to the council. "We must retain this beauty spot for the public," insisted Cllr Ashton.
Two weeks ago the Rector of Sutton, the Rev Paul Conder, had announced that he would be leaving the parish at the end of the year.
But what might be seen as his parting shot before relocating to Surrey was to give a ringing endorsement to the ordination of women priests – which was still 17 years away from being enacted. Rev Conder wrote in the Reporter:
"The ordination of women would bring many practical, social and psychological difficulties to many faithful and sincere people.
"No doubt many of the objections stem from nothing other than prejudice. But if a thing is right in principle can it be right to delay carrying it out at the earliest opportunity?"
The Reporter also described how Saints had appointed a commercial manager to "tackle their runaway losses".
Ken Healey began working at Knowsley Road this week with his work focused on the financial interests of the club off the field.
Last year the club lost £33,000 but this figure was halved through the profit from Saints Cabaret Lounge, bars and restaurant.
It was hoped that by appointing a commercial manager to concentrate on the financial side, this trend could be reversed. Mr Healey said:
"Commercial managers are nothing new, almost every Rugby League club has someone working in this capacity.
"In these days of falling attendances and lost revenue through the turnstiles, most clubs are having to rely heavily on the income brought in by lotteries and social amenities."
Mr Healey would be responsible for running Saints weekly pools lottery, which had waned a little of late.
Earlier in the year a decline in orders had led to the Pocket Nook firm slashing production by 30%.
But, instead of laying off workers, they had deployed them onto other jobs, such as cleaning and painting the factory, for which they had earned rare praise from unions.
In August Rockware had announced a drive to sell soft drinks bottles to Arab countries and they then sounded optimistic about their future.
But this week the firm stated that 130 staff were being made redundant, with large stocks of unsold glass having accumulated in their factory and expected improvements in their sales during August and September not coming to fruition.
Then the theatre's manager, James Lovelace, had asked the Dubliners not to perform any Irish rebel songs. However, the group refused to bow to what they saw as censorship and two sold-out gigs had to be cancelled.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the coach operator who blacklisted Saints rugby league ground, criticism of the St Helens Show, the police parking blitz on Saints fans and the family who accidentally drank half a bottle of pest killer.