St Helens History This Week

Bringing History to Life from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago!

Bringing History to Life from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago!

ST HELENS 50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
This page is a series of weekly articles that describe llfe in the Lancashire town in the 1970s and which are updated every Sunday morning.
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK
This page is a series of weekly articles that describe llfe in St Helens in Lancashire in the 1970s and which are updated every Sunday morning.
Fibreglass summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (30th MARCH - 5th APRIL 1970)

This week's stories include the tearing down of "Skid Row" inside a St Helens' brickworks, plans for a huge zoo in the grounds of Knowsley Park, the first St Helens' horse rides in the Grand National, the first Whalley's World column is published in the Reporter, the highlights of the St Helens Show are announced and a councillor criticises savage rent rises planned for council houses in Jubits Lane and Four Acre.
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Snoopy Club summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (23rd - 29th MARCH 1970)

This week's many stories include the miracle of the missing Chihuahua dog who had been missing from her Windle home during the severe Arctic weather, the new Snoopy Club in the St Helens Reporter, concern for the future of Notre Dame girls' school, the Rainhill telephone saga and the 86-year-old Sutton Manor woman who lived in a "dilapidated, mouse-infested cottage" and was a "prisoner of cold, damp and despair".
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St Helens Police summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd MARCH 1970)

This week's stories include anger over the ban on Sunday sport on council-owned pitches, a huge tobacco and spirits heist in Boundary Road, an update on the creation of the new Duckeries park in Parr, the opening of a new social centre for St Anne's Church in Sutton, a decision over the mobile fish van invaders is taken, the Haydock Donkey Derby programme and what Lord Pilkington had to say about the environment.
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Savoy Cinema summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th MARCH 1970)

This week's stories include the Black Horse in Moss Bank's ban on longhaired drinkers, a claim of ghetto-like conditions in Parr, the Reporter profiles the ice-cream salesgirls at the Savoy cinema, work begins on a new housing estate in Sutton Manor, the Jacobs clothing factory on the Parr Industrial Estate and the 11-year-old girls that giggled in court after threatening an 87-year-old woman with a milk bottle.
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Bold Colliery summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (2nd - 8th MARCH 1970)

This week's many stories include the 6-year-old Thatto Heath housing estate that was becoming a slum, the "devilish" noise at British Sidac, the official opening of the new Rivington Comprehensive School, the Fleet Lane factory strike, the restoration of St Nicholas Church in Sutton, concern over illiteracy in St Helens and a councillor's claim that the town was still living in the days of the horse and carriage.
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Alastair Pilkington summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (24th FEB. - 1st MARCH 1970)

This week's many stories include fury over the pirate taxi drivers on the streets of St Helens, the fish invaders who were annoying the council in Sutton Manor, the prayer books that had been stolen from Lowe House church, the battle of Billinge Hill between councillors and a quarrying firm, the woman who dubbed the town dilapidated, miserable and a dump and an advertising feature on the shops in Westfield Street.
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Dubliners summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (17th - 23rd FEBRUARY 1970)

This week's stories include the overnight snow that caused chaos in St Helens, the scandal of the Crab Street child gamblers, the troublesome teenagers leaving Moss Lane dances, the Transport Department's new social club in Tolver Street, Lord Pilkington calls for industrial harmony, there's news on the town centre redevelopment plans and a councillor and the Dean of St Helens complain about a "sex by post" book.
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Bold colliery summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (10th - 16th FEBRUARY 1970)

This week's stories include the first ever strike at Stoves cooker factory in Rainhill, the opening of the new Prescot Bypass, a street in Parr is labelled "squalor row", a profile of the telephonists employed at the St Helens Telephone Exchange, a Clock Face couple's terror of a giant crane, the "wonder-wards" planned for Rainhill Hospital, the ABC Minors Club at the Capitol and the record-breaking Bold Colliery.
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Television Toppers summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (3rd - 9th FEBRUARY 1970)

This week's many stories include vandalism at Allanson Street School, a new maternity unit for Whiston Hospital, what St Helens' folk thought of Valentines, a rent rise for council house tenants, support for the proposed Sherdley Road gipsy camp, a group of "gorgeous dollies" visit the Pilkington Glass Museum, the Reporter profiles conductresses on St Helens' buses and the new Century House is ready for occupation.
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St Helens Town Hall summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th JAN. - 2nd FEB. 1970)

This week's stories include a naked prowler in Thatto Heath, what St Helens' women thought of the Pill, a campaign against plans to set up a permanent gipsy camp off Sherdley Road, Blaster Bates is back in town, snooker champion John Spencer plays at Lowe House, a big increase in telephone subscribers, the new Friendly Club for over 40s and criticism of the police Panda car system as a crime wave hits the town.
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Boundary Road baths summary

FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (20th - 26th JANUARY 1970)

This week's stories include the trainee engineer dolly girls at Pilkingtons, the abusive phone calls over bin collections that the Corporation's cleansing superintendent received, the wall of silence between neighbours in St Helens Road, the new industrial estate in Rainford, there’s criticism of the state of Newton Road and Provident Street and a dispute over the building of new homes on green space in Parr.
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