FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 21 - 27 OCTOBER 1974
This week's many stories include the massive cost of vandalism on building sites, the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association win their battle with their developers, a new mayoral limousine is ordered for St Helens, there's a knock-back for a public telephone kiosk in Rainhill, redundancies are announced at Pilks' Cowley Hill site and why Charles Street had been alive with witches, wizards and hob goblins.
We begin on the 21st when the St Helens Amateur Operatic Society began a week's performances of 'Oklahoma!' at the Theatre Royal, which they described as "the liveliest musical of them all".
I wonder when it was that the penny dropped with builders in St Helens that the hefty cost of fencing off their new housing estates would save them money in the long run? When there was a virtual open access to building sites, vandals and thieves took full advantage during the evenings and weekends.
And children used them as playgrounds, with the obvious dangers. But that penny had yet to fall by 1974 and the Liverpool Echo reported on the 21st that across Merseyside vandalism alone was costing builders £1 million a year. In today's money that's around £15m – and it was getting worse with the amount having increased by 50% over the previous two years.
The article quoted Derrick Langford, director of the Liverpool region of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, saying, "It is a sad and terrible story". Housing sites in St Helens and Liverpool were described as having their windows broken daily, brickwork mutilated and copper piping torn out.
Mr Langford stated that the builders had experimented with "all sorts of things" to reduce vandalism, including guard dogs, liaison with schools, publicity, calling priests, circulars asking for parental co-operation, mobile patrols and round-the-clock watchmen.
The building federation boss also listed substantial fencing as one of the anti-vandal measures that had been tried – but clearly completely screening off building sites from the public as happens today was not commonplace.
It appears that the decline in the use of telephone kiosks began in the mid-1970s. At this week's meeting of Rainhill Parish Council its members were informed that their request for another kiosk to be sited in the village had been refused by the Post Office. That was on the ground that the booth would be "non-remunerative" because 835 houses out of 1,000 in the area already had their own private telephone line.
But Cllr Mike Doyle was not happy with the response, saying: "It is a public service the Post Office are providing. We have not received a satisfactory answer from them." And Cllr Jim Haddock added: "They are putting the onus on people with phones to let anyone use them. It seems that the relatives of someone who falls ill at night will have to knock up someone with a phone." The parish council decided to press the Post Office to reconsider their decision.
This week 120 female catering and cleaning staff at St Helens "Tech" (pictured above) went on strike. That was after it was alleged that a man employed at the Meads College of Management in Portico had struck a woman supervisor.
On the 22nd the Echo described an "anomaly" in rail fares, which meant residents of St Helens and Southport could not buy weekly or monthly tickets and receive unlimited travel for a fixed price. But passengers from most other parts of Merseyside using buses, trains and ferries could purchase such tickets.
The discrepancy was made worse by the fact that since April with the local government reorganisation, St Helens residents had been paying rates to the Merseyside County Council which now ran the transport system. The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive were said to be looking into the issue.
This advert appeared in the Echo on the 22nd: "You're charming, persistent and totally irresistible". You have to be. You're a Gestetner Telesales girl, giving an after sales service to our regular customers and showing those businessmen who don't use our machines the error of their ways. You're young, well spoken, well educated and want to be well paid! Phone us NOW. Telephone Ashton-in-Makerfield 78638, Contact: Mr. R. Willis-Dixon, Gestetner Duplicators Limited, Haydock Industrial Estate, Withins Road, St. Helens, Lancs."
A fortnight ago the St Helens Reporter described how a group of St Helens councillors had been "taken for a ride". They had been to Bolton to discuss purchasing a replacement vehicle to serve as the Mayoral car. That was because their current Daimler was spending more time in the garage being repaired than on the road.
On the 25th the Reporter described how the council had placed an order for a new Mayoral limousine. The vehicle was a Granada Ghia Grosvenor G costing £7,000 plus VAT. A Bolton firm of bodywork specialists would be adding a 31-inch middle section to a Ford Granada Ghia coupe, which the Reporter said:
"The result is an eye-catching car which has drawn admiring comment – and orders – at the [Earls Court] Motor Show." The vehicle sprayed deep maroon with vinyl roof and golden nylon upholstery was shortly to be handed over to the council.
The Reporter also had a picture of some of those that had participated in an 11-a-side football match held to raise money for Whiston Hospital's medical unit. The match played in heavy rain at Delph Lane Sports Field in Whiston was between female nurses and male doctors and nurses. The women won 8 - 7 with proceeds from the event helping to pay for telephone trolleys for patients.
The Reporter also described how the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association's two-year legal battle with the developers of their homes had finally ended. The dispute dated back to 1972 when the residents were told to switch off their gas boilers after a potential killer in their central heating systems was detected.
Early in 1974 it was announced that Daleholme who had built the estate had settled out of court and agreed to pay the 328 homeowners a total of £11,500 compensation. Each would receive an average of £35 (around £500 in today's money), which included an "inconvenience allowance" of £15. But in June the building firm withdrew their offer of the £15 allowance leading to accusations of them breaking their word.
The Association's chairman, Les Webster, said at the time: "Daleholme have admitted out of court and also in a newspaper that they are liable for flue alteration. Unless we get a cheque for £11,000, we won't settle out of court." This week it was announced that the ratepayers group had done much better than £11,000 as Daleholme had agreed to pay a total of £16,330 in compensation – although that amount did include pay-outs to claimants that had only recently come forward.
The Reporter also described how Roughdales brickmaking works in Chester Lane and Burtonhead Road had recently been modernised. The St Helens factory was described as spearheading a brand-new process in the manufacture of bricks and was leading the world in the mass production of a highly developed facing brick.
On the 26th Pilkingtons informed 120 workers at their Cowley Hill site that they were being made redundant. A drop off in orders for float glass was causing the closure of a certain machine that cut large sheets of glass to ordered sizes. The workforce at Cowley Hill currently numbered 3,300 with 2,600 of them hourly paid.
On the 26th Holy Cross Junior School held their annual Halloween party. The Reporter wrote how Charles Street had been "alive with witches, wizards and hob goblins" who had been making their way to the school. The event was organised by its Parents and Friends Association and one of the highlights was the arrival of Snoopy from the Reporter's children's club who judged the fancy dress competition.
Uncle Bud, a well-known local clown, also made an appearance. The prize winners included Tracy Knowles as a bat; Michael Hitchmough as a Cadbury's Smash Martian; Tracy Bannon as a witch and Paul Kinsey who dressed up as Merlin.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include good news about the stinking brook, the many dogs that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks and the kind volunteers visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 21st when the St Helens Amateur Operatic Society began a week's performances of 'Oklahoma!' at the Theatre Royal, which they described as "the liveliest musical of them all".
I wonder when it was that the penny dropped with builders in St Helens that the hefty cost of fencing off their new housing estates would save them money in the long run? When there was a virtual open access to building sites, vandals and thieves took full advantage during the evenings and weekends.
And children used them as playgrounds, with the obvious dangers. But that penny had yet to fall by 1974 and the Liverpool Echo reported on the 21st that across Merseyside vandalism alone was costing builders £1 million a year. In today's money that's around £15m – and it was getting worse with the amount having increased by 50% over the previous two years.
The article quoted Derrick Langford, director of the Liverpool region of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, saying, "It is a sad and terrible story". Housing sites in St Helens and Liverpool were described as having their windows broken daily, brickwork mutilated and copper piping torn out.
Mr Langford stated that the builders had experimented with "all sorts of things" to reduce vandalism, including guard dogs, liaison with schools, publicity, calling priests, circulars asking for parental co-operation, mobile patrols and round-the-clock watchmen.
The building federation boss also listed substantial fencing as one of the anti-vandal measures that had been tried – but clearly completely screening off building sites from the public as happens today was not commonplace.
It appears that the decline in the use of telephone kiosks began in the mid-1970s. At this week's meeting of Rainhill Parish Council its members were informed that their request for another kiosk to be sited in the village had been refused by the Post Office. That was on the ground that the booth would be "non-remunerative" because 835 houses out of 1,000 in the area already had their own private telephone line.
But Cllr Mike Doyle was not happy with the response, saying: "It is a public service the Post Office are providing. We have not received a satisfactory answer from them." And Cllr Jim Haddock added: "They are putting the onus on people with phones to let anyone use them. It seems that the relatives of someone who falls ill at night will have to knock up someone with a phone." The parish council decided to press the Post Office to reconsider their decision.
On the 22nd the Echo described an "anomaly" in rail fares, which meant residents of St Helens and Southport could not buy weekly or monthly tickets and receive unlimited travel for a fixed price. But passengers from most other parts of Merseyside using buses, trains and ferries could purchase such tickets.
The discrepancy was made worse by the fact that since April with the local government reorganisation, St Helens residents had been paying rates to the Merseyside County Council which now ran the transport system. The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive were said to be looking into the issue.
This advert appeared in the Echo on the 22nd: "You're charming, persistent and totally irresistible". You have to be. You're a Gestetner Telesales girl, giving an after sales service to our regular customers and showing those businessmen who don't use our machines the error of their ways. You're young, well spoken, well educated and want to be well paid! Phone us NOW. Telephone Ashton-in-Makerfield 78638, Contact: Mr. R. Willis-Dixon, Gestetner Duplicators Limited, Haydock Industrial Estate, Withins Road, St. Helens, Lancs."
A fortnight ago the St Helens Reporter described how a group of St Helens councillors had been "taken for a ride". They had been to Bolton to discuss purchasing a replacement vehicle to serve as the Mayoral car. That was because their current Daimler was spending more time in the garage being repaired than on the road.
On the 25th the Reporter described how the council had placed an order for a new Mayoral limousine. The vehicle was a Granada Ghia Grosvenor G costing £7,000 plus VAT. A Bolton firm of bodywork specialists would be adding a 31-inch middle section to a Ford Granada Ghia coupe, which the Reporter said:
"The result is an eye-catching car which has drawn admiring comment – and orders – at the [Earls Court] Motor Show." The vehicle sprayed deep maroon with vinyl roof and golden nylon upholstery was shortly to be handed over to the council.
The Reporter also had a picture of some of those that had participated in an 11-a-side football match held to raise money for Whiston Hospital's medical unit. The match played in heavy rain at Delph Lane Sports Field in Whiston was between female nurses and male doctors and nurses. The women won 8 - 7 with proceeds from the event helping to pay for telephone trolleys for patients.
The Reporter also described how the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association's two-year legal battle with the developers of their homes had finally ended. The dispute dated back to 1972 when the residents were told to switch off their gas boilers after a potential killer in their central heating systems was detected.
Early in 1974 it was announced that Daleholme who had built the estate had settled out of court and agreed to pay the 328 homeowners a total of £11,500 compensation. Each would receive an average of £35 (around £500 in today's money), which included an "inconvenience allowance" of £15. But in June the building firm withdrew their offer of the £15 allowance leading to accusations of them breaking their word.
The Association's chairman, Les Webster, said at the time: "Daleholme have admitted out of court and also in a newspaper that they are liable for flue alteration. Unless we get a cheque for £11,000, we won't settle out of court." This week it was announced that the ratepayers group had done much better than £11,000 as Daleholme had agreed to pay a total of £16,330 in compensation – although that amount did include pay-outs to claimants that had only recently come forward.
The Reporter also described how Roughdales brickmaking works in Chester Lane and Burtonhead Road had recently been modernised. The St Helens factory was described as spearheading a brand-new process in the manufacture of bricks and was leading the world in the mass production of a highly developed facing brick.
On the 26th Pilkingtons informed 120 workers at their Cowley Hill site that they were being made redundant. A drop off in orders for float glass was causing the closure of a certain machine that cut large sheets of glass to ordered sizes. The workforce at Cowley Hill currently numbered 3,300 with 2,600 of them hourly paid.
On the 26th Holy Cross Junior School held their annual Halloween party. The Reporter wrote how Charles Street had been "alive with witches, wizards and hob goblins" who had been making their way to the school. The event was organised by its Parents and Friends Association and one of the highlights was the arrival of Snoopy from the Reporter's children's club who judged the fancy dress competition.
Uncle Bud, a well-known local clown, also made an appearance. The prize winners included Tracy Knowles as a bat; Michael Hitchmough as a Cadbury's Smash Martian; Tracy Bannon as a witch and Paul Kinsey who dressed up as Merlin.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include good news about the stinking brook, the many dogs that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks and the kind volunteers visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.
This week's many stories include the massive cost of vandalism on building sites, the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association win their battle with their developers, a new mayoral limousine is ordered for St Helens, there's a knock-back for a public telephone kiosk in Rainhill, redundancies are announced at Pilks' Cowley Hill site and why Charles Street had been alive with witches, wizards and hobgoblins.
We begin on the 21st when the St Helens Amateur Operatic Society began a week's performances of 'Oklahoma!' at the Theatre Royal, which they described as "the liveliest musical of them all".
I wonder when it was that the penny dropped with builders in St Helens that the hefty cost of fencing off their new housing estates would save them money in the long run?
When there was a virtual open access to building sites, vandals and thieves took full advantage during the evenings and weekends. And children used them as playgrounds, with the obvious dangers.
But that penny had yet to fall by 1974 and the Liverpool Echo reported on the 21st that across Merseyside vandalism alone was costing builders £1 million a year.
In today's money that's around £15m – and it was getting worse with the amount having increased by 50% over the previous two years.
The article quoted Derrick Langford, director of the Liverpool region of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, saying, "It is a sad and terrible story".
Housing sites in St Helens and Liverpool were described as having their windows broken daily, brickwork mutilated and copper piping torn out.
Mr Langford stated that the builders had experimented with "all sorts of things" to reduce vandalism, including guard dogs, liaison with schools, publicity, calling priests, circulars asking for parental co-operation, mobile patrols and round-the-clock watchmen.
The building federation boss also listed substantial fencing as one of the anti-vandal measures that had been tried – but clearly completely screening off building sites from the public as happens today was not commonplace.
It appears that the decline in the use of telephone kiosks began in the mid-1970s.
At this week's meeting of Rainhill Parish Council its members were informed that their request for another kiosk to be sited in the village had been refused by the Post Office.
That was on the ground that the booth would be "non-remunerative" because 835 houses out of 1,000 in the area already had their own private telephone line.
But Cllr Mike Doyle was not happy with the response, saying:
"It is a public service the Post Office are providing. We have not received a satisfactory answer from them." And Cllr Jim Haddock added:
"They are putting the onus on people with phones to let anyone use them. It seems that the relatives of someone who falls ill at night will have to knock up someone with a phone."
The parish council decided to press the Post Office to reconsider their decision.
This week 120 female catering and cleaning staff at St Helens "Tech" (pictured above) went on strike.
That was after it was alleged that a man employed at the Meads College of Management in Portico had struck a woman supervisor.
On the 22nd the Echo described an "anomaly" in rail fares, which meant residents of St Helens and Southport could not buy weekly or monthly tickets and receive unlimited travel for a fixed price.
But passengers from most other parts of Merseyside using buses, trains and ferries could purchase such tickets.
The discrepancy was made worse by the fact that since April with the local government reorganisation, St Helens residents had been paying rates to the Merseyside County Council which now ran the transport system.
The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive were said to be looking into the issue.
This advert appeared in the Echo on the 22nd:
"You're charming, persistent and totally irresistible". You have to be. You're a Gestetner Telesales girl, giving an after sales service to our regular customers and showing those businessmen who don't use our machines the error of their ways.
"You're young, well spoken, well educated and want to be well paid! Phone us NOW. Telephone Ashton-in-Makerfield 78638, Contact: Mr. R. Willis-Dixon, Gestetner Duplicators Limited, Haydock Industrial Estate, Withins Road, St. Helens, Lancs."
A fortnight ago the St Helens Reporter described how a group of St Helens councillors had been "taken for a ride".
They had been to Bolton to discuss purchasing a replacement vehicle to serve as the Mayoral car.
That was because their current Daimler was spending more time in the garage being repaired than on the road.
On the 25th the Reporter described how the council had placed an order for a new Mayoral limousine. The vehicle was a Granada Ghia Grosvenor G costing £7,000 plus VAT.
A Bolton firm of bodywork specialists would be adding a 31-inch middle section to a Ford Granada Ghia coupe, which the Reporter said:
"The result is an eye-catching car which has drawn admiring comment – and orders – at the [Earls Court] Motor Show."
The vehicle sprayed deep maroon with vinyl roof and golden nylon upholstery was shortly to be handed over to the council.
The Reporter also had a picture of some of those that had participated in an 11-a-side football match held to raise money for Whiston Hospital's medical unit.
The match played in heavy rain at Delph Lane Sports Field in Whiston was between female nurses and male doctors and nurses.
The women won 8 - 7 with proceeds from the event helping to pay for telephone trolleys for patients.
The Reporter also described how the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association's two-year legal battle with the developers of their homes had finally ended.
The dispute dated back to 1972 when the residents were told to switch off their gas boilers after a potential killer in their central heating systems was detected.
Early in 1974 it was announced that Daleholme who had built the estate had settled out of court and agreed to pay the 328 homeowners a total of £11,500 compensation.
Each would receive an average of £35 (around £500 in today's money), which included an "inconvenience allowance" of £15.
But in June the building firm withdrew their offer of the £15 allowance leading to accusations of them breaking their word. The Association's chairman, Les Webster, said at the time:
"Daleholme have admitted out of court and also in a newspaper that they are liable for flue alteration. Unless we get a cheque for £11,000, we won't settle out of court."
This week it was announced that the ratepayers group had done much better than £11,000 as Daleholme had agreed to pay a total of £16,330 in compensation – although that amount did include pay-outs to claimants that had only recently come forward.
The Reporter also described how Roughdales brickmaking works in Chester Lane and Burtonhead Road had recently been modernised.
The St Helens factory was described as spearheading a brand-new process in the manufacture of bricks and was leading the world in the mass production of a highly developed facing brick.
On the 26th Pilkingtons informed 120 workers at their Cowley Hill site that they were being made redundant.
A drop off in orders for float glass was causing the closure of a certain machine that cut large sheets of glass to ordered sizes.
The workforce at Cowley Hill currently numbered 3,300 with 2,600 of them hourly paid.
On the 26th Holy Cross Junior School held their annual Halloween party.
The Reporter wrote how Charles Street had been "alive with witches, wizards and hob goblins" who had been making their way to the school.
The event was organised by its Parents and Friends Association and one of the highlights was the arrival of Snoopy from the Reporter's children's club who judged the fancy dress competition.
Uncle Bud, a well-known local clown, also made an appearance.
The prize winners included Tracy Knowles as a bat; Michael Hitchmough as a Cadbury's Smash Martian; Tracy Bannon as a witch and Paul Kinsey who dressed up as Merlin.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include good news about the stinking brook, the many dogs that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks and the kind volunteers visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 21st when the St Helens Amateur Operatic Society began a week's performances of 'Oklahoma!' at the Theatre Royal, which they described as "the liveliest musical of them all".
I wonder when it was that the penny dropped with builders in St Helens that the hefty cost of fencing off their new housing estates would save them money in the long run?
When there was a virtual open access to building sites, vandals and thieves took full advantage during the evenings and weekends. And children used them as playgrounds, with the obvious dangers.
But that penny had yet to fall by 1974 and the Liverpool Echo reported on the 21st that across Merseyside vandalism alone was costing builders £1 million a year.
In today's money that's around £15m – and it was getting worse with the amount having increased by 50% over the previous two years.
The article quoted Derrick Langford, director of the Liverpool region of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, saying, "It is a sad and terrible story".
Housing sites in St Helens and Liverpool were described as having their windows broken daily, brickwork mutilated and copper piping torn out.
Mr Langford stated that the builders had experimented with "all sorts of things" to reduce vandalism, including guard dogs, liaison with schools, publicity, calling priests, circulars asking for parental co-operation, mobile patrols and round-the-clock watchmen.
The building federation boss also listed substantial fencing as one of the anti-vandal measures that had been tried – but clearly completely screening off building sites from the public as happens today was not commonplace.
It appears that the decline in the use of telephone kiosks began in the mid-1970s.
At this week's meeting of Rainhill Parish Council its members were informed that their request for another kiosk to be sited in the village had been refused by the Post Office.
That was on the ground that the booth would be "non-remunerative" because 835 houses out of 1,000 in the area already had their own private telephone line.
But Cllr Mike Doyle was not happy with the response, saying:
"It is a public service the Post Office are providing. We have not received a satisfactory answer from them." And Cllr Jim Haddock added:
"They are putting the onus on people with phones to let anyone use them. It seems that the relatives of someone who falls ill at night will have to knock up someone with a phone."
The parish council decided to press the Post Office to reconsider their decision.
That was after it was alleged that a man employed at the Meads College of Management in Portico had struck a woman supervisor.
On the 22nd the Echo described an "anomaly" in rail fares, which meant residents of St Helens and Southport could not buy weekly or monthly tickets and receive unlimited travel for a fixed price.
But passengers from most other parts of Merseyside using buses, trains and ferries could purchase such tickets.
The discrepancy was made worse by the fact that since April with the local government reorganisation, St Helens residents had been paying rates to the Merseyside County Council which now ran the transport system.
The Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive were said to be looking into the issue.
This advert appeared in the Echo on the 22nd:
"You're charming, persistent and totally irresistible". You have to be. You're a Gestetner Telesales girl, giving an after sales service to our regular customers and showing those businessmen who don't use our machines the error of their ways.
"You're young, well spoken, well educated and want to be well paid! Phone us NOW. Telephone Ashton-in-Makerfield 78638, Contact: Mr. R. Willis-Dixon, Gestetner Duplicators Limited, Haydock Industrial Estate, Withins Road, St. Helens, Lancs."
A fortnight ago the St Helens Reporter described how a group of St Helens councillors had been "taken for a ride".
They had been to Bolton to discuss purchasing a replacement vehicle to serve as the Mayoral car.
That was because their current Daimler was spending more time in the garage being repaired than on the road.
On the 25th the Reporter described how the council had placed an order for a new Mayoral limousine. The vehicle was a Granada Ghia Grosvenor G costing £7,000 plus VAT.
A Bolton firm of bodywork specialists would be adding a 31-inch middle section to a Ford Granada Ghia coupe, which the Reporter said:
"The result is an eye-catching car which has drawn admiring comment – and orders – at the [Earls Court] Motor Show."
The vehicle sprayed deep maroon with vinyl roof and golden nylon upholstery was shortly to be handed over to the council.
The Reporter also had a picture of some of those that had participated in an 11-a-side football match held to raise money for Whiston Hospital's medical unit.
The match played in heavy rain at Delph Lane Sports Field in Whiston was between female nurses and male doctors and nurses.
The women won 8 - 7 with proceeds from the event helping to pay for telephone trolleys for patients.
The Reporter also described how the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association's two-year legal battle with the developers of their homes had finally ended.
The dispute dated back to 1972 when the residents were told to switch off their gas boilers after a potential killer in their central heating systems was detected.
Early in 1974 it was announced that Daleholme who had built the estate had settled out of court and agreed to pay the 328 homeowners a total of £11,500 compensation.
Each would receive an average of £35 (around £500 in today's money), which included an "inconvenience allowance" of £15.
But in June the building firm withdrew their offer of the £15 allowance leading to accusations of them breaking their word. The Association's chairman, Les Webster, said at the time:
"Daleholme have admitted out of court and also in a newspaper that they are liable for flue alteration. Unless we get a cheque for £11,000, we won't settle out of court."
This week it was announced that the ratepayers group had done much better than £11,000 as Daleholme had agreed to pay a total of £16,330 in compensation – although that amount did include pay-outs to claimants that had only recently come forward.
The Reporter also described how Roughdales brickmaking works in Chester Lane and Burtonhead Road had recently been modernised.
The St Helens factory was described as spearheading a brand-new process in the manufacture of bricks and was leading the world in the mass production of a highly developed facing brick.
On the 26th Pilkingtons informed 120 workers at their Cowley Hill site that they were being made redundant.
A drop off in orders for float glass was causing the closure of a certain machine that cut large sheets of glass to ordered sizes.
The workforce at Cowley Hill currently numbered 3,300 with 2,600 of them hourly paid.
On the 26th Holy Cross Junior School held their annual Halloween party.
The Reporter wrote how Charles Street had been "alive with witches, wizards and hob goblins" who had been making their way to the school.
The event was organised by its Parents and Friends Association and one of the highlights was the arrival of Snoopy from the Reporter's children's club who judged the fancy dress competition.
Uncle Bud, a well-known local clown, also made an appearance.
The prize winners included Tracy Knowles as a bat; Michael Hitchmough as a Cadbury's Smash Martian; Tracy Bannon as a witch and Paul Kinsey who dressed up as Merlin.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include good news about the stinking brook, the many dogs that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks and the kind volunteers visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.