FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 17 - 23 NOVEMBER 1975
This week's many stories include the Four Acre flagpole dispute, the genesis of Scott Clinic at Rainhill Hospital, the protest march against unemployment, the new housing estate off College Street that was dividing opinion and the children causing a nuisance by riding up and down the lift at the St Helens Museum.
We begin with an unusual event in which fire was taken to the fire brigade – instead of the other way round. While in Newton-le-Willows, a St Helens Council refuse lorry discovered its load was ablaze and so it pulled into the Newton fire station yard to request assistance. The fire was quickly extinguished.
On the 19th a dinner boxing cabaret night was held at the Fleece Hotel in St Helens. As well as a 5-course meal, there were eight boxing bouts and comic Mickey Finn and country singer Alex Young provided the entertainment. Tickets cost £5.
On November 8th 1985 the Liverpool Echo would write this about a murder in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital (pictured above):
"The killing of Janice McKinley confirmed all the worst fears of leaders of the National Union of Public Employees at Rainhill Hospital. From the moment the prestige, new, purpose-built regional secure unit, the Scott Clinic, was proposed for Rainhill, they came down against it. They sent out dire warnings to residents of what might happen if the unit was set up in the grounds of Rainhill Psychiatric Hospital. And they feel sadly now that a young girl lost her life because those warnings were ignored."
Ten years earlier the St Helens Reporter was describing the genesis of what became Scott Clinic – and those warnings were certainly being made. But it was not just officials of NUPE that were against the new unit, so was the hospital management. The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 21st of this week: "Staff and management are united in opposing Government plans to transfer up to 150 Broadmoor patients to a unit at Rainhill Hospital."
Nothing definite had yet been agreed but Jack Brady, the Rainhill Hospital Administrator, had lodged a report with the Merseyside Regional Health Authority setting out their opposition to a unit for the criminally insane being created at Rainhill. And the St Helens and Knowsley Area Health Authority were supporting Mr Brady in his opposition.
The Reporter also described how "rubble-strewn acres near Westfield Street in St. Helens town centre" could house a community of 3,000 by 1982. The paper wrote that the Planning Committee of St Helens Council would be studying the Westfield Action Area Plan at a meeting next week and if approved a public consultation process would begin.
The Reporter also described how residents of Chester Lane had petitioned St Helens Council to remove five flagpoles from a car park in Four Acre Lane. The poles displayed two flags advertising a firm called St Helens Discount, as well as three striped flags. The residents claimed that Mac Markets, the owner of St Helens Discount, had put up the flagpoles and cut down a hedge without planning permission.
Joan Nedcledous who had organised the petition said: "The flags are like dirty old handkerchiefs. With the hedge cut down, all we get at night is lights from cars going to the supermarket. We want the flag poles removed and the hedges put back." Another resident called the flagpoles an eyesore and West Sutton Councillor Harry Williams said the Planning Committee would consider the petition, adding:
"The hedges have been ruined. They were over four feet high, but now they are about 18 inches high." But a spokesman for St Helens Town Hall said the supermarket had made a planning application for the flagpoles.
Much anger was expressed in the Reporter that longstanding hopes that Rainhill could have its own secondary school had been dashed. The Department of Education had written to St Helens Council to say that they could not afford the £1 million needed to build the school. They added that their decision should come as no surprise in view of the crisis affecting Britain's economy. But Councillor Bill Jones declared to the Reporter: "My fight for a secondary school goes on. I am shattered by this decision. What do we have to do to get a school in Rainhill?"
Although Britain was no longer in a recession, the inflation rate for 1975 was 24% and money was tight. Hence, Krazy Kuts' ad in the Reporter which said: "It's looking a little gloomy all round for the festive season this year; but you can still look forward to a good old fashioned Christmas by buying your Christmas goodies at the Krazy Kuts supermarket, Eccleston Street, St. Helens." A large loaf was advertised for 13p and with tea bags not completely catching on as yet, a ¼ pound packet of PG Tips tea cost 9p.
The Reporter also said that schoolchildren had been banned from using the lift at the St Helens Museum and Art Gallery inside the Gamble Institute. A spokesman told the paper: "With bus stops near to the building, children can rush off the buses straight in to the gallery. Until the ban they were playing about in it while it was in motion and some of them used it to go to upstairs rooms which are forbidden to the public for security reasons."
The Reporter also spotlighted a new housing estate off College Street which they felt had been impressively designed, with lessons learned from the mistakes of the past: "Gone is the long ribbon development. Nowhere are there high-rise blocks of flats. Instead there are little squares, community areas where the new residents can meet and get to know each other. Where once people lived in back-to-back houses, with outside toilet facilities and no gardens, now all have central heating and inside plumbing, and many have lawns." Bill Huyton of Lord Street was a fan of his new home. "It's champion", he declared.
But not everyone was happy. That was mainly because 61 houses within the 204-home development were three-storey properties and their gas heated living rooms were on the first floor, which was causing some embarrassment. Mother-of-four Josie Pike of Union Street said: "Inviting a stranger up to the living room is like asking him up to the bedroom." The split living arrangement also meant getting from room-to-room involved some stair climbing, which was not good for the elderly.
Parkside Colliery in Newton (pictured above) was also in the news after their workers had smashed records. Their productivity-output linked performance had never previously been equalled in the history of mining in the North West. Said colliery general manager Cliff Daniels: "We are now consistently breaking these records – this is the third time in as many weeks – and this has shown that our techniques and labour relations are just right. These are very satisfying results which augur well for the future performance of the colliery."
On the 22nd the St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs led a protest march through the town aimed at drawing attention to the unemployment problem. The demonstration was organised by St Helens Trades Council and ended up outside the Town Hall where speeches were made. In the days leading up to the demo, 25,000 leaflets had been handed out throughout St Helens promoting the event, with trade union members manning loudspeaker units outside several factories urging workers to join the rally.
On the 23rd Les Dennis made another appearance at the St Helens AFC Social Club in Hoghton Road in Sutton. The comedian had played the club in 1974 and later that year had made his name by winning 'New Faces' on ITV. But surprisingly, while making his return gig at Hoghton Road, Les was still only second on the bill after a singer / guitarist called Alf Berry.
And finally, the second Beecham's Brass Festival also took place on the 23rd with 100 competitors taking part. Organised by Haydock Brass Band, the event was held at Beecham's Social Club in Bentinck Street in Sutton.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill schoolgirls' petition for better bus services, the date is set for the Leathers public inquiry into its forced closure, the new Rent-A-Claus Santa scheme and a Sue Ryder home is set to open in Billinge.
We begin with an unusual event in which fire was taken to the fire brigade – instead of the other way round. While in Newton-le-Willows, a St Helens Council refuse lorry discovered its load was ablaze and so it pulled into the Newton fire station yard to request assistance. The fire was quickly extinguished.
On the 19th a dinner boxing cabaret night was held at the Fleece Hotel in St Helens. As well as a 5-course meal, there were eight boxing bouts and comic Mickey Finn and country singer Alex Young provided the entertainment. Tickets cost £5.
"The killing of Janice McKinley confirmed all the worst fears of leaders of the National Union of Public Employees at Rainhill Hospital. From the moment the prestige, new, purpose-built regional secure unit, the Scott Clinic, was proposed for Rainhill, they came down against it. They sent out dire warnings to residents of what might happen if the unit was set up in the grounds of Rainhill Psychiatric Hospital. And they feel sadly now that a young girl lost her life because those warnings were ignored."
Ten years earlier the St Helens Reporter was describing the genesis of what became Scott Clinic – and those warnings were certainly being made. But it was not just officials of NUPE that were against the new unit, so was the hospital management. The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 21st of this week: "Staff and management are united in opposing Government plans to transfer up to 150 Broadmoor patients to a unit at Rainhill Hospital."
Nothing definite had yet been agreed but Jack Brady, the Rainhill Hospital Administrator, had lodged a report with the Merseyside Regional Health Authority setting out their opposition to a unit for the criminally insane being created at Rainhill. And the St Helens and Knowsley Area Health Authority were supporting Mr Brady in his opposition.
The Reporter also described how "rubble-strewn acres near Westfield Street in St. Helens town centre" could house a community of 3,000 by 1982. The paper wrote that the Planning Committee of St Helens Council would be studying the Westfield Action Area Plan at a meeting next week and if approved a public consultation process would begin.
The Reporter also described how residents of Chester Lane had petitioned St Helens Council to remove five flagpoles from a car park in Four Acre Lane. The poles displayed two flags advertising a firm called St Helens Discount, as well as three striped flags. The residents claimed that Mac Markets, the owner of St Helens Discount, had put up the flagpoles and cut down a hedge without planning permission.
Joan Nedcledous who had organised the petition said: "The flags are like dirty old handkerchiefs. With the hedge cut down, all we get at night is lights from cars going to the supermarket. We want the flag poles removed and the hedges put back." Another resident called the flagpoles an eyesore and West Sutton Councillor Harry Williams said the Planning Committee would consider the petition, adding:
"The hedges have been ruined. They were over four feet high, but now they are about 18 inches high." But a spokesman for St Helens Town Hall said the supermarket had made a planning application for the flagpoles.
Much anger was expressed in the Reporter that longstanding hopes that Rainhill could have its own secondary school had been dashed. The Department of Education had written to St Helens Council to say that they could not afford the £1 million needed to build the school. They added that their decision should come as no surprise in view of the crisis affecting Britain's economy. But Councillor Bill Jones declared to the Reporter: "My fight for a secondary school goes on. I am shattered by this decision. What do we have to do to get a school in Rainhill?"
Although Britain was no longer in a recession, the inflation rate for 1975 was 24% and money was tight. Hence, Krazy Kuts' ad in the Reporter which said: "It's looking a little gloomy all round for the festive season this year; but you can still look forward to a good old fashioned Christmas by buying your Christmas goodies at the Krazy Kuts supermarket, Eccleston Street, St. Helens." A large loaf was advertised for 13p and with tea bags not completely catching on as yet, a ¼ pound packet of PG Tips tea cost 9p.
The Reporter also said that schoolchildren had been banned from using the lift at the St Helens Museum and Art Gallery inside the Gamble Institute. A spokesman told the paper: "With bus stops near to the building, children can rush off the buses straight in to the gallery. Until the ban they were playing about in it while it was in motion and some of them used it to go to upstairs rooms which are forbidden to the public for security reasons."
The Reporter also spotlighted a new housing estate off College Street which they felt had been impressively designed, with lessons learned from the mistakes of the past: "Gone is the long ribbon development. Nowhere are there high-rise blocks of flats. Instead there are little squares, community areas where the new residents can meet and get to know each other. Where once people lived in back-to-back houses, with outside toilet facilities and no gardens, now all have central heating and inside plumbing, and many have lawns." Bill Huyton of Lord Street was a fan of his new home. "It's champion", he declared.
But not everyone was happy. That was mainly because 61 houses within the 204-home development were three-storey properties and their gas heated living rooms were on the first floor, which was causing some embarrassment. Mother-of-four Josie Pike of Union Street said: "Inviting a stranger up to the living room is like asking him up to the bedroom." The split living arrangement also meant getting from room-to-room involved some stair climbing, which was not good for the elderly.
On the 22nd the St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs led a protest march through the town aimed at drawing attention to the unemployment problem. The demonstration was organised by St Helens Trades Council and ended up outside the Town Hall where speeches were made. In the days leading up to the demo, 25,000 leaflets had been handed out throughout St Helens promoting the event, with trade union members manning loudspeaker units outside several factories urging workers to join the rally.
On the 23rd Les Dennis made another appearance at the St Helens AFC Social Club in Hoghton Road in Sutton. The comedian had played the club in 1974 and later that year had made his name by winning 'New Faces' on ITV. But surprisingly, while making his return gig at Hoghton Road, Les was still only second on the bill after a singer / guitarist called Alf Berry.
And finally, the second Beecham's Brass Festival also took place on the 23rd with 100 competitors taking part. Organised by Haydock Brass Band, the event was held at Beecham's Social Club in Bentinck Street in Sutton.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill schoolgirls' petition for better bus services, the date is set for the Leathers public inquiry into its forced closure, the new Rent-A-Claus Santa scheme and a Sue Ryder home is set to open in Billinge.
This week's many stories include the Four Acre flagpole dispute, the genesis of Scott Clinic at Rainhill Hospital, the protest march against unemployment, the new housing estate off College Street that was dividing opinion and the children causing a nuisance by riding up and down the lift at the St Helens Museum.
We begin with an unusual event in which fire was taken to the fire brigade – instead of the other way round.
While in Newton-le-Willows, a St Helens Council refuse lorry discovered its load was ablaze and so it pulled into the Newton fire station yard to request assistance. The fire was quickly extinguished.
On the 19th a dinner boxing cabaret night was held at the Fleece Hotel in St Helens. As well as a 5-course meal, there were eight boxing bouts and comic Mickey Finn and country singer Alex Young provided the entertainment. Tickets cost £5.
On November 8th 1985 the Liverpool Echo would write this about a murder in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital (pictured above):
"The killing of Janice McKinley confirmed all the worst fears of leaders of the National Union of Public Employees at Rainhill Hospital.
"From the moment the prestige, new, purpose-built regional secure unit, the Scott Clinic, was proposed for Rainhill, they came down against it.
"They sent out dire warnings to residents of what might happen if the unit was set up in the grounds of Rainhill Psychiatric Hospital. And they feel sadly now that a young girl lost her life because those warnings were ignored."
Ten years earlier the St Helens Reporter was describing the genesis of what became Scott Clinic – and those warnings were certainly being made.
But it was not just officials of NUPE that were against the new unit, so was the hospital management. The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 21st of this week:
"Staff and management are united in opposing Government plans to transfer up to 150 Broadmoor patients to a unit at Rainhill Hospital."
Nothing definite had yet been agreed but Jack Brady, the Rainhill Hospital Administrator, had lodged a report with the Merseyside Regional Health Authority setting out their opposition to a unit for the criminally insane being created at Rainhill.
And the St Helens and Knowsley Area Health Authority were supporting Mr Brady in his opposition.
The Reporter also described how "rubble-strewn acres near Westfield Street in St. Helens town centre" could house a community of 3,000 by 1982.
The paper wrote that the Planning Committee of St Helens Council would be studying the Westfield Action Area Plan at a meeting next week and if approved a public consultation process would begin.
The Reporter also described how residents of Chester Lane had petitioned St Helens Council to remove five flagpoles from a car park in Four Acre Lane.
The poles displayed two flags advertising a firm called St Helens Discount, as well as three striped flags.
The residents claimed that Mac Markets, the owner of St Helens Discount, had put up the flagpoles and cut down a hedge without planning permission.
Joan Nedcledous who had organised the petition said: "The flags are like dirty old handkerchiefs. With the hedge cut down, all we get at night is lights from cars going to the supermarket. We want the flag poles removed and the hedges put back."
Another resident called the flagpoles an eyesore and West Sutton Councillor Harry Williams said the Planning Committee would consider the petition, adding:
"The hedges have been ruined. They were over four feet high, but now they are about 18 inches high."
But a spokesman for St Helens Town Hall said the supermarket had made a planning application for the flagpoles.
Much anger was expressed in the Reporter that longstanding hopes that Rainhill could have its own secondary school had been dashed.
The Department of Education had written to St Helens Council to say that they could not afford the £1 million needed to build the school.
They added that their decision should come as no surprise in view of the crisis affecting Britain's economy.
But Councillor Bill Jones declared to the Reporter: "My fight for a secondary school goes on. I am shattered by this decision. What do we have to do to get a school in Rainhill?"
Although Britain was no longer in a recession, the inflation rate for 1975 was 24% and money was tight. Hence, Krazy Kuts' ad in the Reporter which said:
"It's looking a little gloomy all round for the festive season this year; but you can still look forward to a good old fashioned Christmas by buying your Christmas goodies at the Krazy Kuts supermarket, Eccleston Street, St. Helens."
A large loaf was advertised for 13p and with tea bags not completely catching on as yet, a ¼ pound packet of PG Tips tea cost 9p.
The Reporter also said that schoolchildren had been banned from using the lift at the St Helens Museum and Art Gallery inside the Gamble Institute. A spokesman told the paper:
"With bus stops near to the building, children can rush off the buses straight in to the gallery. Until the ban they were playing about in it while it was in motion and some of them used it to go to upstairs rooms which are forbidden to the public for security reasons."
The Reporter also spotlighted a new housing estate off College Street which they felt had been impressively designed, with lessons learned from the mistakes of the past:
"Gone is the long ribbon development. Nowhere are there high-rise blocks of flats. Instead there are little squares, community areas where the new residents can meet and get to know each other.
"Where once people lived in back-to-back houses, with outside toilet facilities and no gardens, now all have central heating and inside plumbing, and many have lawns."
Bill Huyton of Lord Street was a fan of his new home. "It's champion", he declared.
But not everyone was happy. That was mainly because 61 houses within the 204-home development were three-storey properties and their gas heated living rooms were on the first floor, which was causing some embarrassment.
Mother-of-four Josie Pike of Union Street said: "Inviting a stranger up to the living room is like asking him up to the bedroom."
The split living arrangement also meant getting from room-to-room involved some stair climbing, which was not good for the elderly.
Parkside Colliery in Newton (pictured above) was also in the news after their workers had smashed records. Their productivity-output linked performance had never previously been equalled in the history of mining in the North West.
Said colliery general manager Cliff Daniels: "We are now consistently breaking these records – this is the third time in as many weeks – and this has shown that our techniques and labour relations are just right. These are very satisfying results which augur well for the future performance of the colliery."
On the 22nd the St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs led a protest march through the town aimed at drawing attention to the unemployment problem.
The demonstration was organised by St Helens Trades Council and ended up outside the Town Hall where speeches were made.
In the days leading up to the demo, 25,000 leaflets had been handed out throughout St Helens promoting the event, with trade union members manning loudspeaker units outside several factories urging workers to join the rally.
On the 23rd Les Dennis made another appearance at the St Helens AFC Social Club in Hoghton Road in Sutton.
The comedian had played the club in 1974 and later that year had made his name by winning 'New Faces' on ITV.
But surprisingly, while making his return gig at Hoghton Road, Les was still only second on the bill after a singer / guitarist called Alf Berry.
And finally, the second Beecham's Brass Festival also took place on the 23rd with 100 competitors taking part.
Organised by Haydock Brass Band, the event was held at Beecham's Social Club in Bentinck Street in Sutton.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill schoolgirls' petition for better bus services, the date is set for the Leathers public inquiry into its forced closure, the new Rent-A-Claus Santa scheme and a Sue Ryder home is set to open in Billinge.
We begin with an unusual event in which fire was taken to the fire brigade – instead of the other way round.
While in Newton-le-Willows, a St Helens Council refuse lorry discovered its load was ablaze and so it pulled into the Newton fire station yard to request assistance. The fire was quickly extinguished.
On the 19th a dinner boxing cabaret night was held at the Fleece Hotel in St Helens. As well as a 5-course meal, there were eight boxing bouts and comic Mickey Finn and country singer Alex Young provided the entertainment. Tickets cost £5.
"The killing of Janice McKinley confirmed all the worst fears of leaders of the National Union of Public Employees at Rainhill Hospital.
"From the moment the prestige, new, purpose-built regional secure unit, the Scott Clinic, was proposed for Rainhill, they came down against it.
"They sent out dire warnings to residents of what might happen if the unit was set up in the grounds of Rainhill Psychiatric Hospital. And they feel sadly now that a young girl lost her life because those warnings were ignored."
Ten years earlier the St Helens Reporter was describing the genesis of what became Scott Clinic – and those warnings were certainly being made.
But it was not just officials of NUPE that were against the new unit, so was the hospital management. The St Helens Reporter wrote on the 21st of this week:
"Staff and management are united in opposing Government plans to transfer up to 150 Broadmoor patients to a unit at Rainhill Hospital."
Nothing definite had yet been agreed but Jack Brady, the Rainhill Hospital Administrator, had lodged a report with the Merseyside Regional Health Authority setting out their opposition to a unit for the criminally insane being created at Rainhill.
And the St Helens and Knowsley Area Health Authority were supporting Mr Brady in his opposition.
The Reporter also described how "rubble-strewn acres near Westfield Street in St. Helens town centre" could house a community of 3,000 by 1982.
The paper wrote that the Planning Committee of St Helens Council would be studying the Westfield Action Area Plan at a meeting next week and if approved a public consultation process would begin.
The Reporter also described how residents of Chester Lane had petitioned St Helens Council to remove five flagpoles from a car park in Four Acre Lane.
The poles displayed two flags advertising a firm called St Helens Discount, as well as three striped flags.
The residents claimed that Mac Markets, the owner of St Helens Discount, had put up the flagpoles and cut down a hedge without planning permission.
Joan Nedcledous who had organised the petition said: "The flags are like dirty old handkerchiefs. With the hedge cut down, all we get at night is lights from cars going to the supermarket. We want the flag poles removed and the hedges put back."
Another resident called the flagpoles an eyesore and West Sutton Councillor Harry Williams said the Planning Committee would consider the petition, adding:
"The hedges have been ruined. They were over four feet high, but now they are about 18 inches high."
But a spokesman for St Helens Town Hall said the supermarket had made a planning application for the flagpoles.
Much anger was expressed in the Reporter that longstanding hopes that Rainhill could have its own secondary school had been dashed.
The Department of Education had written to St Helens Council to say that they could not afford the £1 million needed to build the school.
They added that their decision should come as no surprise in view of the crisis affecting Britain's economy.
But Councillor Bill Jones declared to the Reporter: "My fight for a secondary school goes on. I am shattered by this decision. What do we have to do to get a school in Rainhill?"
Although Britain was no longer in a recession, the inflation rate for 1975 was 24% and money was tight. Hence, Krazy Kuts' ad in the Reporter which said:
"It's looking a little gloomy all round for the festive season this year; but you can still look forward to a good old fashioned Christmas by buying your Christmas goodies at the Krazy Kuts supermarket, Eccleston Street, St. Helens."
A large loaf was advertised for 13p and with tea bags not completely catching on as yet, a ¼ pound packet of PG Tips tea cost 9p.
The Reporter also said that schoolchildren had been banned from using the lift at the St Helens Museum and Art Gallery inside the Gamble Institute. A spokesman told the paper:
"With bus stops near to the building, children can rush off the buses straight in to the gallery. Until the ban they were playing about in it while it was in motion and some of them used it to go to upstairs rooms which are forbidden to the public for security reasons."
The Reporter also spotlighted a new housing estate off College Street which they felt had been impressively designed, with lessons learned from the mistakes of the past:
"Gone is the long ribbon development. Nowhere are there high-rise blocks of flats. Instead there are little squares, community areas where the new residents can meet and get to know each other.
"Where once people lived in back-to-back houses, with outside toilet facilities and no gardens, now all have central heating and inside plumbing, and many have lawns."
Bill Huyton of Lord Street was a fan of his new home. "It's champion", he declared.
But not everyone was happy. That was mainly because 61 houses within the 204-home development were three-storey properties and their gas heated living rooms were on the first floor, which was causing some embarrassment.
Mother-of-four Josie Pike of Union Street said: "Inviting a stranger up to the living room is like asking him up to the bedroom."
The split living arrangement also meant getting from room-to-room involved some stair climbing, which was not good for the elderly.
Said colliery general manager Cliff Daniels: "We are now consistently breaking these records – this is the third time in as many weeks – and this has shown that our techniques and labour relations are just right. These are very satisfying results which augur well for the future performance of the colliery."
On the 22nd the St Helens MP Leslie Spriggs led a protest march through the town aimed at drawing attention to the unemployment problem.
The demonstration was organised by St Helens Trades Council and ended up outside the Town Hall where speeches were made.
In the days leading up to the demo, 25,000 leaflets had been handed out throughout St Helens promoting the event, with trade union members manning loudspeaker units outside several factories urging workers to join the rally.
On the 23rd Les Dennis made another appearance at the St Helens AFC Social Club in Hoghton Road in Sutton.
The comedian had played the club in 1974 and later that year had made his name by winning 'New Faces' on ITV.
But surprisingly, while making his return gig at Hoghton Road, Les was still only second on the bill after a singer / guitarist called Alf Berry.
And finally, the second Beecham's Brass Festival also took place on the 23rd with 100 competitors taking part.
Organised by Haydock Brass Band, the event was held at Beecham's Social Club in Bentinck Street in Sutton.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Rainhill schoolgirls' petition for better bus services, the date is set for the Leathers public inquiry into its forced closure, the new Rent-A-Claus Santa scheme and a Sue Ryder home is set to open in Billinge.