FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 30 JUNE - 6 JULY 1975
This week's many stories include the Rainford search for clues to a killing in Birmingham, the shock closure of Pilkington's Ravenhead television glassware works, Womblemania comes to Mill House School, the Reporter's war of words and pedantic point scoring with a St Helens councillor, the Snoopy Club promotes secret messages, the Vulcan Gala Day and the big pay bonanza for Town Hall bosses.
We begin on July 1st when 30 men walked out of Beecham's Westfield Street factory. Their one-day strike was in protest at the company making a larger pay settlement with the craft unions than with the GMWU.
On the 2nd Pilkington's announced that they were closing their Ravenhead works with the loss of 750 jobs. The television glassware factory had been in trouble for some time and had made a number of redundancies over the past year. But the news still came as a bombshell. The workers were informed of the decision through what the Reporter described as a "special bulletin" that was handed out to them.
The announcement came after the Department of Industry had rejected Pilks' application for a temporary employment subsidy while the long-term prospects of the plant were investigated. But the works was believed to be losing as much as £400,000 a month and the Department said they were unable to identify any long-term future for Ravenhead and so could not justify any subsidy. Trade union officials and MPs were said to be now fighting "shoulder to shoulder" to try and save the jobs.
Rainford was reported to be the centre of a massive police investigation this week when 30 officers were drafted into the village as part of a murder hunt. They were searching for the killer of Birmingham hairdresser Tom Walker after the victim's car was discovered abandoned in Blindfoot Lane. Two items from the car were said to have special interest for the investigation although police would not identify what they were.
Residents were being asked if they had seen any strangers recently or knew of anyone who had suddenly disappeared. The St Helens Reporter ended their account with this curious question that the police wanted locals to answer: "Do they know of people with Birmingham connections, or any homosexuals in the area?"
On the 5th the Liverpool Echo updated the story by revealing that police tracker dogs had found the registration plates from the dead man's car concealed beneath a hedge in the Blindfoot Lane / Mossborough Road area of Rainford. These had been located 150 yards away from where the car had been abandoned, close to a roadway leading to the entrance to Mossborough Hall Farm.
The killer was believed to have taken Mr Walker's car after he had been savagely kicked to death and then driven it straight to Rainford. Detective Inspector Ron Brevin, was leading the hunt and at a Press conference held in St Helens on the previous day had said: "We also believe the man we are seeking is small because of the position of the driving seat and the driving mirror."
The St Helens Reporter was having a war of words with Councillor Ronnie Halsall who had at a committee meeting declared it to be the most irresponsible newspaper in the country. In its response the Reporter's editor had sarcastically pointed out that there were over 1,100 papers in Britain and wondered if he had read them all in order to make his comparison and enquiring:
"Did you enjoy the Putney and Roehampton Herald, Councillor Halsall? How was the Whittlesey Reporter or the Newmarket Weekly News, or the Oadby and Wigston Advertiser?"
In his riposte that was published this week, Councillor Halsall pointed out that the Reporter had misspelt the title of one of the newspapers and disputed its claim that their sales figures were higher than the number of people who had voted in recent local elections. In the paper's reply to the former point, they gleefully stated that Cllr Halsall had dated his letter that was published on July 4th, July 31st!
And in answer to his question, the editor claimed that South Lancashire Newspapers' five editions of the Reporter that circulated inside the new borough boundary had during May 1975 totalled over 54,000 sales each week. But in the same month only 35,800 people had voted in council elections. And so the ball was now back in the councillor's court for more pedantic point scoring!
Under the heading "Town Hall in Big Pay Bonanza", the St Helens Reporter described how pay rises of about 22% would soon be handed out to St Helens Council's top officials. They wrote that since the local authority reorganisation of 1974, the top men in the council had roughly doubled their salaries.
For example, Nat Birch, the Director of Environmental Health, had a salary of £3,780 prior to the reorganisation but afterwards his earnings were on a scale between £6,170 and £6,800. And with an upcoming 22% pay increase, his salary was likely to be boosted to around £8,300. What the Reporter did not say in its article was that the top officials now had a much bigger area to cover with more responsibilities at a time of high inflation – although they were still huge rises that had taken place in little over a year.
The paper also described how over 3,000 people had attended the Mill House School Gala Day: "Womblemania struck Mill House School when hundreds of thrilled children jostled to see their furry idols. Working non-stop, signing autographs and posing for photographs with the children, Orinoco, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet, Tomsk, Wellington and Tobermory, still did not manage to see everyone. So on Sunday they returned and visited more of the children at the Willows Hostel."
The Newton school – which was described as for mentally handicapped children – also had Granada Reports presenters Bob Greaves, Jane Cousins and Tony Wilson in attendance. Bob Greaves said: "It is the best gala day I have ever been to, the people are great."
The Snoopy Club in the Reporter began this week's feature like this: "HELLO CHILDREN: Passing secret messages to your friends can be a very difficult business. Letters often fall into the wrong hands, and then your secret is no longer safe. The best way to send a secret message is by writing it in a code, known only to you and the friend who is receiving your message. Making up your own special codes can be fun. This week I am showing you an old code which has been used by children for years. Perhaps when you understand how this one works, you can make up one of your own."
There was an article on Foster Plastics of Rainford who had just won a £40,000 order from Nigeria. The firm based in Lords Fold employed more than 400 people and the order had been clinched after two Nigerian businessmen had paid a visit to the works.
It used to be common for large firms in St Helens to take their retired employees on day trips. Pictured in the Reporter were some of the 230 pensioners that Rockware from Pocket Nook had treated to a day trip to Blackpool.
It was Vulcan Sports Club's Gala Day on the 5th which took place on the Sports Ground in Wargrave Road in Newton-le-Willows. It was now almost compulsory for such events to hold a version of TV's 'It's A Knock Out', with the teams that participated from Sankey Sugar, McCorquodales, Simon-Vicars and Vulcan. There were also judo displays, a dog show, loco rides, fun fair, engineering exhibits, traction engine, vintage car, fair organ and a remote control flying display with mock battles. Admission was adults 15p and children and OAPs 10p.
On Sunday the 6th the gardens at Windle Hall (pictured above) were once again opened to the public. The event took place three times a year with Lord and Lady Pilkington donating the proceeds to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Sunday was usually all-change day at the town's two cinemas but there was no switch in programme at the ABC Savoy on the 6th as 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was retained for a second week. And the Capitol replaced 'Dirty O’Neil' with 'The Exorcist', which they claimed was being returned by public demand.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath topless sunbathing row, the Ravenhead Pilks' workers protest over plans to close their plant, the fight for equal pay in Parr and an update on the Rainford murder investigation.
We begin on July 1st when 30 men walked out of Beecham's Westfield Street factory. Their one-day strike was in protest at the company making a larger pay settlement with the craft unions than with the GMWU.
On the 2nd Pilkington's announced that they were closing their Ravenhead works with the loss of 750 jobs. The television glassware factory had been in trouble for some time and had made a number of redundancies over the past year. But the news still came as a bombshell. The workers were informed of the decision through what the Reporter described as a "special bulletin" that was handed out to them.
The announcement came after the Department of Industry had rejected Pilks' application for a temporary employment subsidy while the long-term prospects of the plant were investigated. But the works was believed to be losing as much as £400,000 a month and the Department said they were unable to identify any long-term future for Ravenhead and so could not justify any subsidy. Trade union officials and MPs were said to be now fighting "shoulder to shoulder" to try and save the jobs.
Rainford was reported to be the centre of a massive police investigation this week when 30 officers were drafted into the village as part of a murder hunt. They were searching for the killer of Birmingham hairdresser Tom Walker after the victim's car was discovered abandoned in Blindfoot Lane. Two items from the car were said to have special interest for the investigation although police would not identify what they were.
Residents were being asked if they had seen any strangers recently or knew of anyone who had suddenly disappeared. The St Helens Reporter ended their account with this curious question that the police wanted locals to answer: "Do they know of people with Birmingham connections, or any homosexuals in the area?"
On the 5th the Liverpool Echo updated the story by revealing that police tracker dogs had found the registration plates from the dead man's car concealed beneath a hedge in the Blindfoot Lane / Mossborough Road area of Rainford. These had been located 150 yards away from where the car had been abandoned, close to a roadway leading to the entrance to Mossborough Hall Farm.
The killer was believed to have taken Mr Walker's car after he had been savagely kicked to death and then driven it straight to Rainford. Detective Inspector Ron Brevin, was leading the hunt and at a Press conference held in St Helens on the previous day had said: "We also believe the man we are seeking is small because of the position of the driving seat and the driving mirror."
The St Helens Reporter was having a war of words with Councillor Ronnie Halsall who had at a committee meeting declared it to be the most irresponsible newspaper in the country. In its response the Reporter's editor had sarcastically pointed out that there were over 1,100 papers in Britain and wondered if he had read them all in order to make his comparison and enquiring:
"Did you enjoy the Putney and Roehampton Herald, Councillor Halsall? How was the Whittlesey Reporter or the Newmarket Weekly News, or the Oadby and Wigston Advertiser?"
In his riposte that was published this week, Councillor Halsall pointed out that the Reporter had misspelt the title of one of the newspapers and disputed its claim that their sales figures were higher than the number of people who had voted in recent local elections. In the paper's reply to the former point, they gleefully stated that Cllr Halsall had dated his letter that was published on July 4th, July 31st!
And in answer to his question, the editor claimed that South Lancashire Newspapers' five editions of the Reporter that circulated inside the new borough boundary had during May 1975 totalled over 54,000 sales each week. But in the same month only 35,800 people had voted in council elections. And so the ball was now back in the councillor's court for more pedantic point scoring!
Under the heading "Town Hall in Big Pay Bonanza", the St Helens Reporter described how pay rises of about 22% would soon be handed out to St Helens Council's top officials. They wrote that since the local authority reorganisation of 1974, the top men in the council had roughly doubled their salaries.
For example, Nat Birch, the Director of Environmental Health, had a salary of £3,780 prior to the reorganisation but afterwards his earnings were on a scale between £6,170 and £6,800. And with an upcoming 22% pay increase, his salary was likely to be boosted to around £8,300. What the Reporter did not say in its article was that the top officials now had a much bigger area to cover with more responsibilities at a time of high inflation – although they were still huge rises that had taken place in little over a year.
The paper also described how over 3,000 people had attended the Mill House School Gala Day: "Womblemania struck Mill House School when hundreds of thrilled children jostled to see their furry idols. Working non-stop, signing autographs and posing for photographs with the children, Orinoco, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet, Tomsk, Wellington and Tobermory, still did not manage to see everyone. So on Sunday they returned and visited more of the children at the Willows Hostel."
The Newton school – which was described as for mentally handicapped children – also had Granada Reports presenters Bob Greaves, Jane Cousins and Tony Wilson in attendance. Bob Greaves said: "It is the best gala day I have ever been to, the people are great."
There was an article on Foster Plastics of Rainford who had just won a £40,000 order from Nigeria. The firm based in Lords Fold employed more than 400 people and the order had been clinched after two Nigerian businessmen had paid a visit to the works.
It used to be common for large firms in St Helens to take their retired employees on day trips. Pictured in the Reporter were some of the 230 pensioners that Rockware from Pocket Nook had treated to a day trip to Blackpool.
It was Vulcan Sports Club's Gala Day on the 5th which took place on the Sports Ground in Wargrave Road in Newton-le-Willows. It was now almost compulsory for such events to hold a version of TV's 'It's A Knock Out', with the teams that participated from Sankey Sugar, McCorquodales, Simon-Vicars and Vulcan. There were also judo displays, a dog show, loco rides, fun fair, engineering exhibits, traction engine, vintage car, fair organ and a remote control flying display with mock battles. Admission was adults 15p and children and OAPs 10p.
Sunday was usually all-change day at the town's two cinemas but there was no switch in programme at the ABC Savoy on the 6th as 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was retained for a second week. And the Capitol replaced 'Dirty O’Neil' with 'The Exorcist', which they claimed was being returned by public demand.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath topless sunbathing row, the Ravenhead Pilks' workers protest over plans to close their plant, the fight for equal pay in Parr and an update on the Rainford murder investigation.
This week's many stories include the Rainford search for clues to a killing in Birmingham, the shock closure of Pilkington's Ravenhead television glassware works, Womblemania comes to Mill House School, the Reporter's war of words and pedantic point scoring with a St Helens councillor, the Snoopy Club promotes secret messages, the Vulcan Gala Day and the big pay bonanza for Town Hall bosses.
We begin on July 1st when 30 men walked out of Beecham's Westfield Street factory.
Their one-day strike was in protest at the company making a larger pay settlement with the craft unions than with the GMWU.
On the 2nd Pilkington's announced that they were closing their Ravenhead works with the loss of 750 jobs.
The television glassware factory had been in trouble for some time and had made a number of redundancies over the past year. But the news still came as a bombshell.
The workers were informed of the decision through what the Reporter described as a "special bulletin" that was handed out to them.
The announcement came after the Department of Industry had rejected Pilks' application for a temporary employment subsidy while the long-term prospects of the plant were investigated.
But the works was believed to be losing as much as £400,000 a month and the Department said they were unable to identify any long-term future for Ravenhead and so could not justify any subsidy.
Trade union officials and MPs were said to be now fighting "shoulder to shoulder" to try and save the jobs.
Rainford was reported to be the centre of a massive police investigation this week when 30 officers were drafted into the village as part of a murder hunt.
They were searching for the killer of Birmingham hairdresser Tom Walker after the victim's car was discovered abandoned in Blindfoot Lane.
Two items from the car were said to have special interest for the investigation although police would not identify what they were.
Residents were being asked if they had seen any strangers recently or knew of anyone who had suddenly disappeared.
The St Helens Reporter ended their account with this curious question that the police wanted locals to answer:
"Do they know of people with Birmingham connections, or any homosexuals in the area?"
On the 5th the Liverpool Echo updated the story by revealing that police tracker dogs had found the registration plates from the dead man's car concealed beneath a hedge in the Blindfoot Lane / Mossborough Road area of Rainford.
These had been located 150 yards away from where the car had been abandoned, close to a roadway leading to the entrance to Mossborough Hall Farm.
The killer was believed to have taken Mr Walker's car after he had been savagely kicked to death and then driven it straight to Rainford.
Detective Inspector Ron Brevin, was leading the hunt and at a Press conference held in St Helens on the previous day had said: "We also believe the man we are seeking is small because of the position of the driving seat and the driving mirror."
The St Helens Reporter was having a war of words with Councillor Ronnie Halsall who had at a committee meeting declared it to be the most irresponsible newspaper in the country.
In its response the Reporter's editor had sarcastically pointed out that there were over 1,100 papers in Britain and wondered if he had read them all in order to make his comparison and enquiring:
"Did you enjoy the Putney and Roehampton Herald, Councillor Halsall? How was the Whittlesey Reporter or the Newmarket Weekly News, or the Oadby and Wigston Advertiser?"
In his riposte that was published this week, Councillor Halsall pointed out that the Reporter had misspelt the title of one of the newspapers and disputed its claim that their sales figures were higher than the number of people who had voted in recent local elections.
In the paper's reply to the former point, they gleefully stated that Cllr Halsall had dated his letter that was published on July 4th, July 31st!
And in answer to his question, the editor claimed that South Lancashire Newspapers' five editions of the Reporter that circulated inside the new borough boundary had during May 1975 totalled over 54,000 sales each week.
But in the same month only 35,800 people had voted in council elections. And so the ball was now back in the councillor's court for more pedantic point scoring!
Under the heading "Town Hall in Big Pay Bonanza", the St Helens Reporter described how pay rises of about 22% would soon be handed out to St Helens Council's top officials.
They wrote that since the local authority reorganisation of 1974, the top men in the council had roughly doubled their salaries.
For example, Nat Birch, the Director of Environmental Health, had a salary of £3,780 prior to the reorganisation but afterwards his earnings were on a scale between £6,170 and £6,800.
And with an upcoming 22% pay increase, his salary was likely to be boosted to around £8,300.
What the Reporter did not say in its article was that the top officials now had a much bigger area to cover with more responsibilities at a time of high inflation – although they were still huge rises that had taken place in little over a year.
The paper also described how over 3,000 people had attended the Mill House School Gala Day:
"Womblemania struck Mill House School when hundreds of thrilled children jostled to see their furry idols. Working non-stop, signing autographs and posing for photographs with the children, Orinoco, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet, Tomsk, Wellington and Tobermory, still did not manage to see everyone. So on Sunday they returned and visited more of the children at the Willows Hostel."
The Newton school – which was described as for mentally handicapped children – also had Granada Reports presenters Bob Greaves, Jane Cousins and Tony Wilson in attendance. Bob Greaves said: "It is the best gala day I have ever been to, the people are great."
The Snoopy Club in the Reporter began this week's feature like this:
"HELLO CHILDREN: Passing secret messages to your friends can be a very difficult business. Letters often fall into the wrong hands, and then your secret is no longer safe.
"The best way to send a secret message is by writing it in a code, known only to you and the friend who is receiving your message.
"Making up your own special codes can be fun. This week I am showing you an old code which has been used by children for years. Perhaps when you understand how this one works, you can make up one of your own."
There was an article on Foster Plastics of Rainford who had just won a £40,000 order from Nigeria.
The firm based in Lords Fold employed more than 400 people and the order had been clinched after two Nigerian businessmen had paid a visit to the works.
It used to be common for large firms in St Helens to take their retired employees on day trips.
Pictured in the Reporter were some of the 230 pensioners that Rockware from Pocket Nook had treated to a day trip to Blackpool.
It was Vulcan Sports Club's Gala Day on the 5th which took place on the Sports Ground in Wargrave Road in Newton-le-Willows.
It was now almost compulsory for such events to hold a version of TV's 'It's A Knock Out', with the teams that participated from Sankey Sugar, McCorquodales, Simon-Vicars and Vulcan.
There were also judo displays, a dog show, loco rides, fun fair, engineering exhibits, traction engine, vintage car, fair organ and a remote control flying display with mock battles. Admission was adults 15p and children and OAPs 10p.
On Sunday the 6th the gardens at Windle Hall (pictured above) were once again opened to the public.
The event took place three times a year with Lord and Lady Pilkington donating the proceeds to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Sunday was usually all-change day at the town's two cinemas but there was no switch in programme at the ABC Savoy on the 6th as 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was retained for a second week.
And the Capitol replaced 'Dirty O’Neil' with 'The Exorcist', which they claimed was being returned by public demand.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath topless sunbathing row, the Ravenhead Pilks' workers protest over plans to close their plant, the fight for equal pay in Parr and an update on the Rainford murder investigation.
We begin on July 1st when 30 men walked out of Beecham's Westfield Street factory.
Their one-day strike was in protest at the company making a larger pay settlement with the craft unions than with the GMWU.
On the 2nd Pilkington's announced that they were closing their Ravenhead works with the loss of 750 jobs.
The television glassware factory had been in trouble for some time and had made a number of redundancies over the past year. But the news still came as a bombshell.
The workers were informed of the decision through what the Reporter described as a "special bulletin" that was handed out to them.
The announcement came after the Department of Industry had rejected Pilks' application for a temporary employment subsidy while the long-term prospects of the plant were investigated.
But the works was believed to be losing as much as £400,000 a month and the Department said they were unable to identify any long-term future for Ravenhead and so could not justify any subsidy.
Trade union officials and MPs were said to be now fighting "shoulder to shoulder" to try and save the jobs.
Rainford was reported to be the centre of a massive police investigation this week when 30 officers were drafted into the village as part of a murder hunt.
They were searching for the killer of Birmingham hairdresser Tom Walker after the victim's car was discovered abandoned in Blindfoot Lane.
Two items from the car were said to have special interest for the investigation although police would not identify what they were.
Residents were being asked if they had seen any strangers recently or knew of anyone who had suddenly disappeared.
The St Helens Reporter ended their account with this curious question that the police wanted locals to answer:
"Do they know of people with Birmingham connections, or any homosexuals in the area?"
On the 5th the Liverpool Echo updated the story by revealing that police tracker dogs had found the registration plates from the dead man's car concealed beneath a hedge in the Blindfoot Lane / Mossborough Road area of Rainford.
These had been located 150 yards away from where the car had been abandoned, close to a roadway leading to the entrance to Mossborough Hall Farm.
The killer was believed to have taken Mr Walker's car after he had been savagely kicked to death and then driven it straight to Rainford.
Detective Inspector Ron Brevin, was leading the hunt and at a Press conference held in St Helens on the previous day had said: "We also believe the man we are seeking is small because of the position of the driving seat and the driving mirror."
The St Helens Reporter was having a war of words with Councillor Ronnie Halsall who had at a committee meeting declared it to be the most irresponsible newspaper in the country.
In its response the Reporter's editor had sarcastically pointed out that there were over 1,100 papers in Britain and wondered if he had read them all in order to make his comparison and enquiring:
"Did you enjoy the Putney and Roehampton Herald, Councillor Halsall? How was the Whittlesey Reporter or the Newmarket Weekly News, or the Oadby and Wigston Advertiser?"
In his riposte that was published this week, Councillor Halsall pointed out that the Reporter had misspelt the title of one of the newspapers and disputed its claim that their sales figures were higher than the number of people who had voted in recent local elections.
In the paper's reply to the former point, they gleefully stated that Cllr Halsall had dated his letter that was published on July 4th, July 31st!
And in answer to his question, the editor claimed that South Lancashire Newspapers' five editions of the Reporter that circulated inside the new borough boundary had during May 1975 totalled over 54,000 sales each week.
But in the same month only 35,800 people had voted in council elections. And so the ball was now back in the councillor's court for more pedantic point scoring!
Under the heading "Town Hall in Big Pay Bonanza", the St Helens Reporter described how pay rises of about 22% would soon be handed out to St Helens Council's top officials.
They wrote that since the local authority reorganisation of 1974, the top men in the council had roughly doubled their salaries.
For example, Nat Birch, the Director of Environmental Health, had a salary of £3,780 prior to the reorganisation but afterwards his earnings were on a scale between £6,170 and £6,800.
And with an upcoming 22% pay increase, his salary was likely to be boosted to around £8,300.
What the Reporter did not say in its article was that the top officials now had a much bigger area to cover with more responsibilities at a time of high inflation – although they were still huge rises that had taken place in little over a year.
The paper also described how over 3,000 people had attended the Mill House School Gala Day:
"Womblemania struck Mill House School when hundreds of thrilled children jostled to see their furry idols. Working non-stop, signing autographs and posing for photographs with the children, Orinoco, Great Uncle Bulgaria, Madame Cholet, Tomsk, Wellington and Tobermory, still did not manage to see everyone. So on Sunday they returned and visited more of the children at the Willows Hostel."
The Newton school – which was described as for mentally handicapped children – also had Granada Reports presenters Bob Greaves, Jane Cousins and Tony Wilson in attendance. Bob Greaves said: "It is the best gala day I have ever been to, the people are great."
"HELLO CHILDREN: Passing secret messages to your friends can be a very difficult business. Letters often fall into the wrong hands, and then your secret is no longer safe.
"The best way to send a secret message is by writing it in a code, known only to you and the friend who is receiving your message.
"Making up your own special codes can be fun. This week I am showing you an old code which has been used by children for years. Perhaps when you understand how this one works, you can make up one of your own."
There was an article on Foster Plastics of Rainford who had just won a £40,000 order from Nigeria.
The firm based in Lords Fold employed more than 400 people and the order had been clinched after two Nigerian businessmen had paid a visit to the works.
It used to be common for large firms in St Helens to take their retired employees on day trips.
Pictured in the Reporter were some of the 230 pensioners that Rockware from Pocket Nook had treated to a day trip to Blackpool.
It was Vulcan Sports Club's Gala Day on the 5th which took place on the Sports Ground in Wargrave Road in Newton-le-Willows.
It was now almost compulsory for such events to hold a version of TV's 'It's A Knock Out', with the teams that participated from Sankey Sugar, McCorquodales, Simon-Vicars and Vulcan.
There were also judo displays, a dog show, loco rides, fun fair, engineering exhibits, traction engine, vintage car, fair organ and a remote control flying display with mock battles. Admission was adults 15p and children and OAPs 10p.
The event took place three times a year with Lord and Lady Pilkington donating the proceeds to the Retired District Nurses' Benevolent Fund.
Sunday was usually all-change day at the town's two cinemas but there was no switch in programme at the ABC Savoy on the 6th as 'The Towering Inferno', starring Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, was retained for a second week.
And the Capitol replaced 'Dirty O’Neil' with 'The Exorcist', which they claimed was being returned by public demand.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath topless sunbathing row, the Ravenhead Pilks' workers protest over plans to close their plant, the fight for equal pay in Parr and an update on the Rainford murder investigation.