FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (28 AUGUST - 3 SEPT 1973)
This week's 14 stories include the proliferation of hoax telephone calls in St Helens, the cheeky burglar in Sutton Leach who entered six homes in one street, Kwik Save opens in Boundary Road, the changes to the St Helens postal service, a trolleybus restoration and the new sports hall planned for Rainford High.
We begin with the cheeky burglar that struck in Axbridge Avenue in Sutton Leach in St Helens – not once but six times in one night! The intruder went from house-to-house as if he was the postman or milkman. But instead of leaving things he took away a total of £100 in cash and some personal items. Marian Shelton was one of the man’s victims and said: "He must have been a professional. I can't get over his nerve." At one of the homes a friend of the family was sleeping on a rug in their living room. But undaunted the burglar picked the slumbering man's pocket containing £40.
Hoax telephone calls were becoming an increasing nuisance. This week fake bomb alerts were made to Helena House, St Helens Library, the Reporter offices and the St Helens Telephone Exchange. Chief Inspector Bill Lawrenson was the second in command of St Helens Police and did not mince his words when he said: "There are always nutters who are ready to make a daft call. They're a thorn in our flesh."
The threat of letter bombs was also making people nervous of unexpected deliveries through the post. When the St Helens Education Department received a bulky missive this week they called the police – but the small parcel only contained a newspaper. Bogus callers were also on the increase in St Helens. But well done to the unidentified elderly woman in the town who did the right thing and demanded proof of identity when she received such a visit. On the 29th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Police to-day issued a “beat the bogus officials” warning – always ask to see the person's credentials. It came after an 88-years-old St. Helens pensioner was confronted by a man posing as an official of the Department of Health and Social Security. She challenged him and asked to see his written authority. He ran away. The man was described as being in his 30s, with dark shoulder length hair, about 5ft. 6ins. in height and having a Liverpool accent."
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road in St Helens was opened on the 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices". From their premises covering 45,000 sq. ft., Kwik Save was offering large sliced bread for 7p, HP baked beans for 3½p, Sugar Puffs for 11½p and Typhoo tea for 6½p.
A computerised stock control system was stated as ensuring that the housewife bought food that was factory fresh. Kwik Save already had 40 stores by then, including one at Haydock. And from October all deliveries would be made from Kwik Save's new warehouse at Ashton-in-Makerfield.
In the St Helens Reporter on the 31st there was a reminder of the days when the postal delivery used to be first thing in the morning – with a second made a few hours later. The paper ran a story about postal delivery times being changed for many households in St Helens. They wrote: "New-style postmen's walks have been devised to increase efficiency and cope with expansion and change in the town."
As a result 20,000 households would receive an earlier delivery and 10,000 would receive their mail a little later. But not that much later – as the time span for the first post was fixed at between 7 am and 9:30 am. The St Helens posties were then delivering 300,000 items of mail each week, which was a big increase on the figure from two years before.
John Swift received a surprise in the post this week. The 30-year-old fitter from Lawrenson Street in St Helens had received a letter saying a song that he had written was to be included on an LP. However, the number called "You Can't Run Away" had been written 11 years before and John had sent his composition off to a Californian publishing company but heard nothing back.
The out-of-the blue letter from a different music firm brought this response from John: "I was flabbergasted. I thought the song had just been stuck in a file and forgotten. Heaven knows why it should come to light now." John was in the process of buying a new house and was hoping that royalties from his song would help with the cost.
It was also reported that Rainford Council had agreed in principle to buy a stake in a proposed £80,000 sports extension to Rainford High School. Plans were being drawn up for what was described as a massive new sports hall and the cash contribution from the council would mean Rainford residents would be able to use the facility after school hours.
However, the council could only find about £9,000 and they were hoping for help from Lancashire County Council and the new St Helens District Council. It was expected that the sports complex would include three squash courts, a coffee bar, swimming pool, extra changing rooms, pitch floodlighting and a car park.
Helena House in Baldwin Street (pictured above) was advertising their "big price plunge" on washing machines with Hotpoint Supermatic twin tubs available for £65.90 and Hotpoint Automatics priced at £99.25. They could be bought on HP for just £1 deposit and all purchasers would be entered in a competition to win a Ford Cortina.
It was also reported that Cook Street in Prescot would soon be demolished after the go-ahead for a compulsory purchase by Prescot Council had been received from the Secretary of State. Unusually all the residents of the street appeared to approve of the decision, with John Ives summing up their feelings by saying: "The sooner we get out the better. The houses have outlived their usefulness."
"Slip Into Clarks – Slip Into Clinkards" was the headline to an ad from the Westfield Street shoe shop as they promoted Clarks Clippers shoes for just £4.99 – "casual good looks for fashion-conscious feet".
There was a photo in the Reporter of a large sign outside the Rainford United Reformed Church's Sunday school in Higher Lane, which said: "Praise the Lord! We are moving to new premises." Work had begun on a site opposite the church and their new building would be ready for occupation in about six months. At that point the old building – which their minister the Rev. Arthur Huyton described as "dilapidated" – would be demolished.
The Reporter also described how a group of enthusiasts were to pay over £700 to restore an old St Helens trolleybus to the mint condition of its heyday. The 25-strong St Helens Trolleybus and Transport Society had bought the vehicle for £200 from Bradford Corporation who'd taken it over when the trolley went out of service in St Helens in 1958. The society now owned three trolleybuses, two double-deckers and a coach but they were scattered all over the north.
And finally, the paper told how half a century ago Letitia Drury's parents were so set against their daughter's marriage to Arthur Hornby that they twice stopped the couple from putting up the banns. But Letitia was determined to wed her sweetheart and fifty years later she and her husband were celebrating their golden wedding.
The couple had married at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street on August 20th 1923 and then moved into a terraced house on Gladstone Street. "We had nothing when we started our married life," said Mrs Hornby, "but we don't want for anything now. We've been very happy and have a wonderful family." That included ten children, thirty-seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the home classes for illiterate people in St Helens, anger over delays to classes at St Theresa's School, more criticism of the Chester Lane tip and the sad plight of many elderly people in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin with the cheeky burglar that struck in Axbridge Avenue in Sutton Leach in St Helens – not once but six times in one night! The intruder went from house-to-house as if he was the postman or milkman. But instead of leaving things he took away a total of £100 in cash and some personal items. Marian Shelton was one of the man’s victims and said: "He must have been a professional. I can't get over his nerve." At one of the homes a friend of the family was sleeping on a rug in their living room. But undaunted the burglar picked the slumbering man's pocket containing £40.
Hoax telephone calls were becoming an increasing nuisance. This week fake bomb alerts were made to Helena House, St Helens Library, the Reporter offices and the St Helens Telephone Exchange. Chief Inspector Bill Lawrenson was the second in command of St Helens Police and did not mince his words when he said: "There are always nutters who are ready to make a daft call. They're a thorn in our flesh."
The threat of letter bombs was also making people nervous of unexpected deliveries through the post. When the St Helens Education Department received a bulky missive this week they called the police – but the small parcel only contained a newspaper. Bogus callers were also on the increase in St Helens. But well done to the unidentified elderly woman in the town who did the right thing and demanded proof of identity when she received such a visit. On the 29th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Police to-day issued a “beat the bogus officials” warning – always ask to see the person's credentials. It came after an 88-years-old St. Helens pensioner was confronted by a man posing as an official of the Department of Health and Social Security. She challenged him and asked to see his written authority. He ran away. The man was described as being in his 30s, with dark shoulder length hair, about 5ft. 6ins. in height and having a Liverpool accent."
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road in St Helens was opened on the 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices". From their premises covering 45,000 sq. ft., Kwik Save was offering large sliced bread for 7p, HP baked beans for 3½p, Sugar Puffs for 11½p and Typhoo tea for 6½p.
A computerised stock control system was stated as ensuring that the housewife bought food that was factory fresh. Kwik Save already had 40 stores by then, including one at Haydock. And from October all deliveries would be made from Kwik Save's new warehouse at Ashton-in-Makerfield.
In the St Helens Reporter on the 31st there was a reminder of the days when the postal delivery used to be first thing in the morning – with a second made a few hours later. The paper ran a story about postal delivery times being changed for many households in St Helens. They wrote: "New-style postmen's walks have been devised to increase efficiency and cope with expansion and change in the town."
As a result 20,000 households would receive an earlier delivery and 10,000 would receive their mail a little later. But not that much later – as the time span for the first post was fixed at between 7 am and 9:30 am. The St Helens posties were then delivering 300,000 items of mail each week, which was a big increase on the figure from two years before.
John Swift received a surprise in the post this week. The 30-year-old fitter from Lawrenson Street in St Helens had received a letter saying a song that he had written was to be included on an LP. However, the number called "You Can't Run Away" had been written 11 years before and John had sent his composition off to a Californian publishing company but heard nothing back.
The out-of-the blue letter from a different music firm brought this response from John: "I was flabbergasted. I thought the song had just been stuck in a file and forgotten. Heaven knows why it should come to light now." John was in the process of buying a new house and was hoping that royalties from his song would help with the cost.
It was also reported that Rainford Council had agreed in principle to buy a stake in a proposed £80,000 sports extension to Rainford High School. Plans were being drawn up for what was described as a massive new sports hall and the cash contribution from the council would mean Rainford residents would be able to use the facility after school hours.
However, the council could only find about £9,000 and they were hoping for help from Lancashire County Council and the new St Helens District Council. It was expected that the sports complex would include three squash courts, a coffee bar, swimming pool, extra changing rooms, pitch floodlighting and a car park.
It was also reported that Cook Street in Prescot would soon be demolished after the go-ahead for a compulsory purchase by Prescot Council had been received from the Secretary of State. Unusually all the residents of the street appeared to approve of the decision, with John Ives summing up their feelings by saying: "The sooner we get out the better. The houses have outlived their usefulness."
"Slip Into Clarks – Slip Into Clinkards" was the headline to an ad from the Westfield Street shoe shop as they promoted Clarks Clippers shoes for just £4.99 – "casual good looks for fashion-conscious feet".
There was a photo in the Reporter of a large sign outside the Rainford United Reformed Church's Sunday school in Higher Lane, which said: "Praise the Lord! We are moving to new premises." Work had begun on a site opposite the church and their new building would be ready for occupation in about six months. At that point the old building – which their minister the Rev. Arthur Huyton described as "dilapidated" – would be demolished.
And finally, the paper told how half a century ago Letitia Drury's parents were so set against their daughter's marriage to Arthur Hornby that they twice stopped the couple from putting up the banns. But Letitia was determined to wed her sweetheart and fifty years later she and her husband were celebrating their golden wedding.
The couple had married at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street on August 20th 1923 and then moved into a terraced house on Gladstone Street. "We had nothing when we started our married life," said Mrs Hornby, "but we don't want for anything now. We've been very happy and have a wonderful family." That included ten children, thirty-seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the home classes for illiterate people in St Helens, anger over delays to classes at St Theresa's School, more criticism of the Chester Lane tip and the sad plight of many elderly people in Rainhill Hospital.
This week's 14 stories include the proliferation of hoax telephone calls in St Helens, the cheeky burglar in Sutton Leach who entered six homes in one street, Kwik Save opens in Boundary Road, the changes to the St Helens postal service, a trolleybus restoration and the new sports hall planned for Rainford High.
We begin with the cheeky burglar that struck in Axbridge Avenue in Sutton Leach in St Helens – not once but six times in one night!
The intruder went from house-to-house as if he was the postman or milkman. But instead of leaving things he took away a total of £100 in cash and some personal items.
Marian Shelton was one of the man’s victims and said: "He must have been a professional. I can't get over his nerve."
At one of the homes a friend of the family was sleeping on a rug in their living room. But undaunted the burglar picked the slumbering man's pocket containing £40.
Hoax telephone calls were becoming an increasing nuisance. This week fake bomb alerts were made to Helena House, St Helens Library, the Reporter offices and the St Helens Telephone Exchange.
Chief Inspector Bill Lawrenson was the second in command of St Helens Police and did not mince his words when he said:
"There are always nutters who are ready to make a daft call. They're a thorn in our flesh."
The threat of letter bombs was also making people nervous of unexpected deliveries through the post.
When the St Helens Education Department received a bulky missive this week they called the police – but the small parcel only contained a newspaper.
Bogus callers were also on the increase in St Helens. But well done to the unidentified elderly woman in the town who did the right thing and demanded proof of identity when she received such a visit. On the 29th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Police to-day issued a “beat the bogus officials” warning – always ask to see the person's credentials. It came after an 88-years-old St. Helens pensioner was confronted by a man posing as an official of the Department of Health and Social Security.
"She challenged him and asked to see his written authority. He ran away. The man was described as being in his 30s, with dark shoulder length hair, about 5ft. 6ins. in height and having a Liverpool accent."
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road in St Helens was opened on the 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices".
From their premises covering 45,000 sq. ft., Kwik Save was offering large sliced bread for 7p, HP baked beans for 3½p, Sugar Puffs for 11½p and Typhoo tea for 6½p.
A computerised stock control system was stated as ensuring that the housewife bought food that was factory fresh.
Kwik Save already had 40 stores by then, including one at Haydock. And from October all deliveries would be made from Kwik Save's new warehouse at Ashton-in-Makerfield.
In the St Helens Reporter on the 31st there was a reminder of the days when the postal delivery used to be first thing in the morning – with a second made a few hours later.
The paper ran a story about postal delivery times being changed for many households in St Helens. They wrote:
"New-style postmen's walks have been devised to increase efficiency and cope with expansion and change in the town."
As a result 20,000 households would receive an earlier delivery and 10,000 would receive their mail a little later.
But not that much later – as the time span for the first post was fixed at between 7 am and 9:30 am.
The St Helens posties were then delivering 300,000 items of mail each week, which was a big increase on the figure from two years before.
John Swift received a surprise in the post this week. The 30-year-old fitter from Lawrenson Street in St Helens had received a letter saying a song that he had written was to be included on an LP.
However, the number called "You Can't Run Away" had been written 11 years before and John had sent his composition off to a Californian publishing company but heard nothing back.
The out-of-the blue letter from a different music firm brought this response from John:
"I was flabbergasted. I thought the song had just been stuck in a file and forgotten. Heaven knows why it should come to light now."
John was in the process of buying a new house and was hoping that royalties from his song would help with the cost.
It was also reported that Rainford Council had agreed in principle to buy a stake in a proposed £80,000 sports extension to Rainford High School.
Plans were being drawn up for what was described as a massive new sports hall and the cash contribution from the council would mean Rainford residents would be able to use the facility after school hours.
However, the council could only find about £9,000 and they were hoping for help from Lancashire County Council and the new St Helens District Council.
It was expected that the sports complex would include three squash courts, a coffee bar, swimming pool, extra changing rooms, pitch floodlighting and a car park.
Helena House in Baldwin Street (pictured above) was advertising their "big price plunge" on washing machines with Hotpoint Supermatic twin tubs available for £65.90 and Hotpoint Automatics priced at £99.25.
They could be bought on HP for just £1 deposit and all purchasers would be entered in a competition to win a Ford Cortina.
It was also reported that Cook Street in Prescot would soon be demolished after the go-ahead for a compulsory purchase by Prescot Council had been received from the Secretary of State.
Unusually all the residents of the street appeared to approve of the decision, with John Ives summing up their feelings by saying:
"The sooner we get out the better. The houses have outlived their usefulness."
"Slip Into Clarks – Slip Into Clinkards" was the headline to an ad from the Westfield Street shoe shop as they promoted Clarks Clippers shoes for just £4.99 – "casual good looks for fashion-conscious feet".
There was a photo in the Reporter of a large sign outside the Rainford United Reformed Church's Sunday school in Higher Lane, which said: "Praise the Lord! We are moving to new premises."
Work had begun on a site opposite the church and their new building would be ready for occupation in about six months.
At that point the old building – which their minister the Rev. Arthur Huyton described as "dilapidated" – would be demolished.
The Reporter also described how a group of enthusiasts were to pay over £700 to restore an old St Helens trolleybus to the mint condition of its heyday.
The 25-strong St Helens Trolleybus and Transport Society had bought the vehicle for £200 from Bradford Corporation who'd taken it over when the trolley went out of service in St Helens in 1958.
The society now owned three trolleybuses, two double-deckers and a coach but they were scattered all over the north.
And finally, the paper told how half a century ago Letitia Drury's parents were so set against their daughter's marriage to Arthur Hornby that they twice stopped the couple from putting up the banns.
But Letitia was determined to wed her sweetheart and fifty years later she and her husband were celebrating their golden wedding.
The couple had married at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street on August 20th 1923 and then moved into a terraced house on Gladstone Street.
"We had nothing when we started our married life," said Mrs Hornby, "but we don't want for anything now. We've been very happy and have a wonderful family."
That included ten children, thirty-seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the home classes for illiterate people in St Helens, anger over delays to classes at St Theresa's School, more criticism of the Chester Lane tip and the sad plight of many elderly people in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin with the cheeky burglar that struck in Axbridge Avenue in Sutton Leach in St Helens – not once but six times in one night!
The intruder went from house-to-house as if he was the postman or milkman. But instead of leaving things he took away a total of £100 in cash and some personal items.
Marian Shelton was one of the man’s victims and said: "He must have been a professional. I can't get over his nerve."
At one of the homes a friend of the family was sleeping on a rug in their living room. But undaunted the burglar picked the slumbering man's pocket containing £40.
Hoax telephone calls were becoming an increasing nuisance. This week fake bomb alerts were made to Helena House, St Helens Library, the Reporter offices and the St Helens Telephone Exchange.
Chief Inspector Bill Lawrenson was the second in command of St Helens Police and did not mince his words when he said:
"There are always nutters who are ready to make a daft call. They're a thorn in our flesh."
The threat of letter bombs was also making people nervous of unexpected deliveries through the post.
When the St Helens Education Department received a bulky missive this week they called the police – but the small parcel only contained a newspaper.
Bogus callers were also on the increase in St Helens. But well done to the unidentified elderly woman in the town who did the right thing and demanded proof of identity when she received such a visit. On the 29th the Liverpool Echo wrote:
"Police to-day issued a “beat the bogus officials” warning – always ask to see the person's credentials. It came after an 88-years-old St. Helens pensioner was confronted by a man posing as an official of the Department of Health and Social Security.
"She challenged him and asked to see his written authority. He ran away. The man was described as being in his 30s, with dark shoulder length hair, about 5ft. 6ins. in height and having a Liverpool accent."
The new Kwik Save in Boundary Road in St Helens was opened on the 31st. Describing itself not as a supermarket but as a no-frills "discount shopping warehouse", customers were promised: "You buy from us retail – at wholesale prices".
From their premises covering 45,000 sq. ft., Kwik Save was offering large sliced bread for 7p, HP baked beans for 3½p, Sugar Puffs for 11½p and Typhoo tea for 6½p.
A computerised stock control system was stated as ensuring that the housewife bought food that was factory fresh.
Kwik Save already had 40 stores by then, including one at Haydock. And from October all deliveries would be made from Kwik Save's new warehouse at Ashton-in-Makerfield.
In the St Helens Reporter on the 31st there was a reminder of the days when the postal delivery used to be first thing in the morning – with a second made a few hours later.
The paper ran a story about postal delivery times being changed for many households in St Helens. They wrote:
"New-style postmen's walks have been devised to increase efficiency and cope with expansion and change in the town."
As a result 20,000 households would receive an earlier delivery and 10,000 would receive their mail a little later.
But not that much later – as the time span for the first post was fixed at between 7 am and 9:30 am.
The St Helens posties were then delivering 300,000 items of mail each week, which was a big increase on the figure from two years before.
John Swift received a surprise in the post this week. The 30-year-old fitter from Lawrenson Street in St Helens had received a letter saying a song that he had written was to be included on an LP.
However, the number called "You Can't Run Away" had been written 11 years before and John had sent his composition off to a Californian publishing company but heard nothing back.
The out-of-the blue letter from a different music firm brought this response from John:
"I was flabbergasted. I thought the song had just been stuck in a file and forgotten. Heaven knows why it should come to light now."
John was in the process of buying a new house and was hoping that royalties from his song would help with the cost.
It was also reported that Rainford Council had agreed in principle to buy a stake in a proposed £80,000 sports extension to Rainford High School.
Plans were being drawn up for what was described as a massive new sports hall and the cash contribution from the council would mean Rainford residents would be able to use the facility after school hours.
However, the council could only find about £9,000 and they were hoping for help from Lancashire County Council and the new St Helens District Council.
It was expected that the sports complex would include three squash courts, a coffee bar, swimming pool, extra changing rooms, pitch floodlighting and a car park.
They could be bought on HP for just £1 deposit and all purchasers would be entered in a competition to win a Ford Cortina.
It was also reported that Cook Street in Prescot would soon be demolished after the go-ahead for a compulsory purchase by Prescot Council had been received from the Secretary of State.
Unusually all the residents of the street appeared to approve of the decision, with John Ives summing up their feelings by saying:
"The sooner we get out the better. The houses have outlived their usefulness."
"Slip Into Clarks – Slip Into Clinkards" was the headline to an ad from the Westfield Street shoe shop as they promoted Clarks Clippers shoes for just £4.99 – "casual good looks for fashion-conscious feet".
There was a photo in the Reporter of a large sign outside the Rainford United Reformed Church's Sunday school in Higher Lane, which said: "Praise the Lord! We are moving to new premises."
Work had begun on a site opposite the church and their new building would be ready for occupation in about six months.
At that point the old building – which their minister the Rev. Arthur Huyton described as "dilapidated" – would be demolished.
The 25-strong St Helens Trolleybus and Transport Society had bought the vehicle for £200 from Bradford Corporation who'd taken it over when the trolley went out of service in St Helens in 1958.
The society now owned three trolleybuses, two double-deckers and a coach but they were scattered all over the north.
And finally, the paper told how half a century ago Letitia Drury's parents were so set against their daughter's marriage to Arthur Hornby that they twice stopped the couple from putting up the banns.
But Letitia was determined to wed her sweetheart and fifty years later she and her husband were celebrating their golden wedding.
The couple had married at St Thomas's Church in Westfield Street on August 20th 1923 and then moved into a terraced house on Gladstone Street.
"We had nothing when we started our married life," said Mrs Hornby, "but we don't want for anything now. We've been very happy and have a wonderful family."
That included ten children, thirty-seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the home classes for illiterate people in St Helens, anger over delays to classes at St Theresa's School, more criticism of the Chester Lane tip and the sad plight of many elderly people in Rainhill Hospital.