FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 1 - 7 JUNE 1976
This week's many stories include the fire at Everson's in Westfield Street, the clogs being worn at United Glass, the vandalism on new build housing estates, Pimblett's no smoking bonus, the near tragedy in Pilkington's Sheet Works yard and an update on the phasing in of one-man buses.
Although Triplex in Eccleston was renowned for producing safety glass for cars, the plant also had an aircraft division. This week it was announced that British Airways had committed themselves to buying what was described as main pilot's windscreens from Triplex for their fleet of jumbo jets. Some of their 18 jumbos already had Triplex-made screens but in future all of their new jets would incorporate them.
I've been publishing these '50 Years Ago' articles for some years now and a constant theme has been the shocking levels of vandalism and theft from building sites. Looking back it does seem curious that it never seemed to dawn on anyone that they should fence off such sites as is done today. That, of course, must be expensive but it saves considerable money in the long run.
But when anyone could gain access to houses that were in the process of being built, kids could have fun putting windows through and criminals could steal machinery. On top of those issues there were the health and safety risks to young trespassing children. In this week's St Helens Reporter that was published on the 4th, it was revealed that 21 windows had been smashed on a building site in Gerards Bridge in just one evening, with more windows put through on other nights. And a quantity of lead had been taken from completed dwellings on the same site.
Building sites on Park Road and in Elm Road had also had electrical and joinery materials, as well as workers' tools, stolen. Vandals and thieves had also left their mark on a flat conversion scheme in Sexton Avenue. Although security staff were employed to guard the sites, they only visited them at various times and so incidents were more likely to occur when they were absent.
Kenneth Pimblett was also on the front page of the Reporter, as the managing director of Pimbletts was offering a £25 bonus to his employees. His entire staff of 130 who worked in the firm's nine confectionery shops in St Helens would earn the bonus if they could resist smoking during the day for six months.
"I'm hoping that once they have been without cigarettes for a while they'll give them up altogether," said Keith. "I used to smoke about 25 a day, but I realised what it can do to your health and stopped." Staff were not allowed to smoke in the shops and bakery but they would light up in their breaks. Non-smokers automatically qualified for the bonus, which was worth about £300 in today's money.
There were photographs in the paper of two 8-year-old dogs called Gyp and Lucky who were going to be put down in a month. That was unless new owners stepped forward and offered them homes. The pair had belonged to octogenarian sisters Alice and Mary Redhead of Gorsey Lane in Bold who had both died. Their executors had put the dogs into boarding kennels but now said the sisters' estate could no longer afford to foot the bill. I expect the Reporter would have been flooded with offers for the two pets.
Last month I described how because of the government's counter inflation policies the plans for 100% one-man bus operations in St Helens were being halted. One-man buses had begun in the town in 1968 and were being slowly phased in and conductors slowly phased out. When drivers of buses with conductors migrated to one-man operation, they received extra cash and because inflation in 1975 had hit 24%, the Labour government had clamped down on both price and pay rises.
In this week's paper it was revealed that new, single-decker buses ordered years ago and intended for one-man operation were now having to go out on the road with two-man crews. That was because drivers could not be paid the higher rate for solo working. Only 65% of the 110 buses in the St Helens fleet had so far been converted to one-man operation. That compared to 100% in Southport and 93% in Liverpool.
An ad in the Reporter said: "Come to Helena House for your wedding or any functions. Two banqueting suites with bars available. High class party catering for any occasion." I wonder if you got a divi for booking a function room?
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street was advertising that it was under new management and was now open for lunch with excellent meals available from 40p. "The new place to be – Geraldo's", said the ad.
The Reporter carried a warning for parents to stop their children from trespassing at Pilkington's Sheet Works after two boys nearly lost their lives. That was after the pair had been buried in 18 tons of sand. Jack Ellson was the personnel manager for the Sheet Works' Lyon Yard and told the paper:
"It was only the prompt action of three employees that saved these boys. The yard is a dangerous spot for children, who have no idea where they are going or what they are playing with."
John Owens, Freddie Lee and James Burke were the three workers who had raised the alarm after seeing the boys trapped in a sand wagon. Along with members of the Fire Brigade, they spent 45 minutes digging the boys out after being buried up to their chests. The lads were taken to St Helens Hospital where they were treated for shock and then discharged.
It was also revealed that Capper Neill, which had nearly doubled its profits during the last year, was making fifty of their employees redundant. That was in their subsidiary firm William Neill of Bold who blamed the move on the bursting of the North Sea oil bubble. Director David Stewart said:
"The offshore industry has been the quickest boom to burst I've ever seen in my life." When the North Sea oil boom had taken off, Neill's began specialising in the oil platform construction business, with their products going into rigs in the Forties, Brent, Thistle and Ninion fields. But now they could get no new orders and so needed to make redundancies.
The Reporter described how clogs were still in use at the United Glass' Sherdley works. Cissie Swan from Morgan Street in Parr told the paper, "They are safer, more comfortable and cheaper. More workers are turning to them again." And Elsie Callaghan from Hamblett Crescent in Haresfinch said:
"They are much safer than safety shoes, especially when you are walking through oil and cullet [crushed waste glass], as I am every day. Ordinary shoes are just no good at all." It was stated in the report that clogs could still be bought at a few stores on Merseyside but UGB bought them wholesale and sold them to their workers at half-price.
From the 4th what was described as Silcocks World Fair was in King George's Park in Haydock. Sunday fairs were still not usually allowed and so the 3-day event concluded on Monday 7th.
On the 5th Everson's town centre restaurant and bakery reopened after a fire during the previous weekend that had cost the owner over £6,000. A pub landlord in Westfield Street had reported the blaze, which was believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette rolling under the gates at the rear of the premises and igniting rubbish.
The fire wiped out Everson's complete Bank Holiday stock of food, pies and bread and since the blaze the shop's staff had been involved in a massive clean-up operation. Ronald Everson said: "We had to throw all the food out that we had ready for the Bank Holiday. The damage to the property and stock is in the region of £5,000, while the lost trade this week could put another £1,500 on top of that. All the staff have been marvellous."
And finally, from the 6th 'Mahogany' starring Diana Ross was screened at the ABC Savoy and the Capitol retained 'Jaws' for another week. "The biggest film hit of all time," was how it was described in the listing.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include concern over the pedestrianisation of Hardshaw Street, the canal rescue at Blackbrook, a call for more women to hold senior positions in the Town Hall and how gas lamps could be making a comeback.
Although Triplex in Eccleston was renowned for producing safety glass for cars, the plant also had an aircraft division. This week it was announced that British Airways had committed themselves to buying what was described as main pilot's windscreens from Triplex for their fleet of jumbo jets. Some of their 18 jumbos already had Triplex-made screens but in future all of their new jets would incorporate them.
I've been publishing these '50 Years Ago' articles for some years now and a constant theme has been the shocking levels of vandalism and theft from building sites. Looking back it does seem curious that it never seemed to dawn on anyone that they should fence off such sites as is done today. That, of course, must be expensive but it saves considerable money in the long run.
But when anyone could gain access to houses that were in the process of being built, kids could have fun putting windows through and criminals could steal machinery. On top of those issues there were the health and safety risks to young trespassing children. In this week's St Helens Reporter that was published on the 4th, it was revealed that 21 windows had been smashed on a building site in Gerards Bridge in just one evening, with more windows put through on other nights. And a quantity of lead had been taken from completed dwellings on the same site.
Building sites on Park Road and in Elm Road had also had electrical and joinery materials, as well as workers' tools, stolen. Vandals and thieves had also left their mark on a flat conversion scheme in Sexton Avenue. Although security staff were employed to guard the sites, they only visited them at various times and so incidents were more likely to occur when they were absent.
"I'm hoping that once they have been without cigarettes for a while they'll give them up altogether," said Keith. "I used to smoke about 25 a day, but I realised what it can do to your health and stopped." Staff were not allowed to smoke in the shops and bakery but they would light up in their breaks. Non-smokers automatically qualified for the bonus, which was worth about £300 in today's money.
There were photographs in the paper of two 8-year-old dogs called Gyp and Lucky who were going to be put down in a month. That was unless new owners stepped forward and offered them homes. The pair had belonged to octogenarian sisters Alice and Mary Redhead of Gorsey Lane in Bold who had both died. Their executors had put the dogs into boarding kennels but now said the sisters' estate could no longer afford to foot the bill. I expect the Reporter would have been flooded with offers for the two pets.
Last month I described how because of the government's counter inflation policies the plans for 100% one-man bus operations in St Helens were being halted. One-man buses had begun in the town in 1968 and were being slowly phased in and conductors slowly phased out. When drivers of buses with conductors migrated to one-man operation, they received extra cash and because inflation in 1975 had hit 24%, the Labour government had clamped down on both price and pay rises.
In this week's paper it was revealed that new, single-decker buses ordered years ago and intended for one-man operation were now having to go out on the road with two-man crews. That was because drivers could not be paid the higher rate for solo working. Only 65% of the 110 buses in the St Helens fleet had so far been converted to one-man operation. That compared to 100% in Southport and 93% in Liverpool.
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street was advertising that it was under new management and was now open for lunch with excellent meals available from 40p. "The new place to be – Geraldo's", said the ad.
The Reporter carried a warning for parents to stop their children from trespassing at Pilkington's Sheet Works after two boys nearly lost their lives. That was after the pair had been buried in 18 tons of sand. Jack Ellson was the personnel manager for the Sheet Works' Lyon Yard and told the paper:
"It was only the prompt action of three employees that saved these boys. The yard is a dangerous spot for children, who have no idea where they are going or what they are playing with."
John Owens, Freddie Lee and James Burke were the three workers who had raised the alarm after seeing the boys trapped in a sand wagon. Along with members of the Fire Brigade, they spent 45 minutes digging the boys out after being buried up to their chests. The lads were taken to St Helens Hospital where they were treated for shock and then discharged.
It was also revealed that Capper Neill, which had nearly doubled its profits during the last year, was making fifty of their employees redundant. That was in their subsidiary firm William Neill of Bold who blamed the move on the bursting of the North Sea oil bubble. Director David Stewart said:
"The offshore industry has been the quickest boom to burst I've ever seen in my life." When the North Sea oil boom had taken off, Neill's began specialising in the oil platform construction business, with their products going into rigs in the Forties, Brent, Thistle and Ninion fields. But now they could get no new orders and so needed to make redundancies.
The Reporter described how clogs were still in use at the United Glass' Sherdley works. Cissie Swan from Morgan Street in Parr told the paper, "They are safer, more comfortable and cheaper. More workers are turning to them again." And Elsie Callaghan from Hamblett Crescent in Haresfinch said:
"They are much safer than safety shoes, especially when you are walking through oil and cullet [crushed waste glass], as I am every day. Ordinary shoes are just no good at all." It was stated in the report that clogs could still be bought at a few stores on Merseyside but UGB bought them wholesale and sold them to their workers at half-price.
From the 4th what was described as Silcocks World Fair was in King George's Park in Haydock. Sunday fairs were still not usually allowed and so the 3-day event concluded on Monday 7th.
On the 5th Everson's town centre restaurant and bakery reopened after a fire during the previous weekend that had cost the owner over £6,000. A pub landlord in Westfield Street had reported the blaze, which was believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette rolling under the gates at the rear of the premises and igniting rubbish.
The fire wiped out Everson's complete Bank Holiday stock of food, pies and bread and since the blaze the shop's staff had been involved in a massive clean-up operation. Ronald Everson said: "We had to throw all the food out that we had ready for the Bank Holiday. The damage to the property and stock is in the region of £5,000, while the lost trade this week could put another £1,500 on top of that. All the staff have been marvellous."
And finally, from the 6th 'Mahogany' starring Diana Ross was screened at the ABC Savoy and the Capitol retained 'Jaws' for another week. "The biggest film hit of all time," was how it was described in the listing.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include concern over the pedestrianisation of Hardshaw Street, the canal rescue at Blackbrook, a call for more women to hold senior positions in the Town Hall and how gas lamps could be making a comeback.
This week's many stories include the fire at Everson's in Westfield Street, the clogs being worn at United Glass, the vandalism on new build housing estates, Pimblett's no smoking bonus, the near tragedy in Pilkington's Sheet Works yard and an update on the phasing in of one-man buses.
Although Triplex in Eccleston was renowned for producing safety glass for cars, the plant also had an aircraft division.
This week it was announced that British Airways had committed themselves to buying what was described as main pilot's windscreens from Triplex for their fleet of jumbo jets.
Some of their 18 jumbos already had Triplex-made screens but in future all of their new jets would incorporate them.
I've been publishing these '50 Years Ago' articles for some years now and a constant theme has been the shocking levels of vandalism and theft from building sites.
Looking back it does seem curious that it never seemed to dawn on anyone that they should fence off such sites as is done today.
That, of course, must be expensive but it saves considerable money in the long run.
But when anyone could gain access to houses that were in the process of being built, kids could have fun putting windows through and criminals could steal machinery.
On top of those issues there were the health and safety risks to young trespassing children.
In this week's St Helens Reporter that was published on the 4th, it was revealed that 21 windows had been smashed on a building site in Gerards Bridge in just one evening, with more windows put through on other nights.
And a quantity of lead had been taken from completed dwellings on the same site.
Building sites on Park Road and in Elm Road had also had electrical and joinery materials, as well as workers' tools, stolen.
Vandals and thieves had also left their mark on a flat conversion scheme in Sexton Avenue.
Although security staff were employed to guard the sites, they only visited them at various times and so incidents were more likely to occur when they were absent.
Kenneth Pimblett was also on the front page of the Reporter, as the managing director of Pimbletts was offering a £25 bonus to his employees.
His entire staff of 130 who worked in the firm's nine confectionery shops in St Helens would earn the bonus if they could resist smoking during the day for six months.
"I'm hoping that once they have been without cigarettes for a while they'll give them up altogether," said Keith.
"I used to smoke about 25 a day, but I realised what it can do to your health and stopped."
Staff were not allowed to smoke in the shops and bakery but they would light up in their breaks.
Non-smokers automatically qualified for the bonus, which was worth about £300 in today's money.
There were photographs in the paper of two 8-year-old dogs called Gyp and Lucky who were going to be put down in a month.
That was unless new owners stepped forward and offered them homes.
The pair had belonged to octogenarian sisters Alice and Mary Redhead of Gorsey Lane in Bold who had both died.
Their executors had put the dogs into boarding kennels but now said the sisters' estate could no longer afford to foot the bill.
I expect the Reporter would have been flooded with offers for the two pets.
Last month I described how because of the government's counter inflation policies the plans for 100% one-man bus operations in St Helens were being halted.
One-man buses had begun in the town in 1968 and were being slowly phased in and conductors slowly phased out.
When drivers of buses with conductors migrated to one-man operation, they received extra cash and because inflation in 1975 had hit 24%, the Labour government had clamped down on both price and pay rises.
In this week's paper it was revealed that new, single-decker buses ordered years ago and intended for one-man operation were now having to go out on the road with two-man crews.
That was because drivers could not be paid the higher rate for solo working.
Only 65% of the 110 buses in the St Helens fleet had so far been converted to one-man operation. That compared to 100% in Southport and 93% in Liverpool.
An ad in the Reporter said: "Come to Helena House for your wedding or any functions. Two banqueting suites with bars available. High class party catering for any occasion."
I wonder if you got a divi for booking a function room?
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street was advertising that it was under new management and was now open for lunch with excellent meals available from 40p. "The new place to be – Geraldo's", said the ad.
The Reporter carried a warning for parents to stop their children from trespassing at Pilkington's Sheet Works after two boys nearly lost their lives. That was after the pair had been buried in 18 tons of sand.
Jack Ellson was the personnel manager for the Sheet Works' Lyon Yard and told the paper:
"It was only the prompt action of three employees that saved these boys. The yard is a dangerous spot for children, who have no idea where they are going or what they are playing with."
John Owens, Freddie Lee and James Burke were the three workers who had raised the alarm after seeing the boys trapped in a sand wagon.
Along with members of the Fire Brigade, they spent 45 minutes digging the boys out after being buried up to their chests.
The lads were taken to St Helens Hospital where they were treated for shock and then discharged.
It was also revealed that Capper Neill, which had nearly doubled its profits during the last year, was making fifty of their employees redundant.
That was in their subsidiary firm William Neill of Bold who blamed the move on the bursting of the North Sea oil bubble. Director David Stewart said:
"The offshore industry has been the quickest boom to burst I've ever seen in my life."
When the North Sea oil boom had taken off, Neill's began specialising in the oil platform construction business, with their products going into rigs in the Forties, Brent, Thistle and Ninion fields.
But now they could get no new orders and so needed to make redundancies.
The Reporter described how clogs were still in use at the United Glass' Sherdley works.
Cissie Swan from Morgan Street in Parr told the paper, "They are safer, more comfortable and cheaper. More workers are turning to them again."
And Elsie Callaghan from Hamblett Crescent in Haresfinch said:
"They are much safer than safety shoes, especially when you are walking through oil and cullet [crushed waste glass], as I am every day. Ordinary shoes are just no good at all."
It was stated in the report that clogs could still be bought at a few stores on Merseyside but UGB bought them wholesale and sold them to their workers at half-price.
From the 4th what was described as Silcocks World Fair was in King George's Park in Haydock.
Sunday fairs were still not usually allowed and so the 3-day event concluded on Monday 7th.
On the 5th Everson's town centre restaurant and bakery reopened after a fire during the previous weekend that had cost the owner over £6,000.
A pub landlord in Westfield Street had reported the blaze, which was believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette rolling under the gates at the rear of the premises and igniting rubbish.
The fire wiped out Everson's complete Bank Holiday stock of food, pies and bread and since the blaze the shop's staff had been involved in a massive clean-up operation.
Ronald Everson said: "We had to throw all the food out that we had ready for the Bank Holiday. The damage to the property and stock is in the region of £5,000, while the lost trade this week could put another £1,500 on top of that. All the staff have been marvellous."
And finally, from the 6th 'Mahogany' starring Diana Ross was screened at the ABC Savoy and the Capitol retained 'Jaws' for another week. "The biggest film hit of all time," was how it was described in the listing.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include concern over the pedestrianisation of Hardshaw Street, the canal rescue at Blackbrook, a call for more women to hold senior positions in the Town Hall and how gas lamps could be making a comeback.
Although Triplex in Eccleston was renowned for producing safety glass for cars, the plant also had an aircraft division.
This week it was announced that British Airways had committed themselves to buying what was described as main pilot's windscreens from Triplex for their fleet of jumbo jets.
Some of their 18 jumbos already had Triplex-made screens but in future all of their new jets would incorporate them.
I've been publishing these '50 Years Ago' articles for some years now and a constant theme has been the shocking levels of vandalism and theft from building sites.
Looking back it does seem curious that it never seemed to dawn on anyone that they should fence off such sites as is done today.
That, of course, must be expensive but it saves considerable money in the long run.
But when anyone could gain access to houses that were in the process of being built, kids could have fun putting windows through and criminals could steal machinery.
On top of those issues there were the health and safety risks to young trespassing children.
In this week's St Helens Reporter that was published on the 4th, it was revealed that 21 windows had been smashed on a building site in Gerards Bridge in just one evening, with more windows put through on other nights.
And a quantity of lead had been taken from completed dwellings on the same site.
Building sites on Park Road and in Elm Road had also had electrical and joinery materials, as well as workers' tools, stolen.
Vandals and thieves had also left their mark on a flat conversion scheme in Sexton Avenue.
Although security staff were employed to guard the sites, they only visited them at various times and so incidents were more likely to occur when they were absent.
His entire staff of 130 who worked in the firm's nine confectionery shops in St Helens would earn the bonus if they could resist smoking during the day for six months.
"I'm hoping that once they have been without cigarettes for a while they'll give them up altogether," said Keith.
"I used to smoke about 25 a day, but I realised what it can do to your health and stopped."
Staff were not allowed to smoke in the shops and bakery but they would light up in their breaks.
Non-smokers automatically qualified for the bonus, which was worth about £300 in today's money.
There were photographs in the paper of two 8-year-old dogs called Gyp and Lucky who were going to be put down in a month.
That was unless new owners stepped forward and offered them homes.
The pair had belonged to octogenarian sisters Alice and Mary Redhead of Gorsey Lane in Bold who had both died.
Their executors had put the dogs into boarding kennels but now said the sisters' estate could no longer afford to foot the bill.
I expect the Reporter would have been flooded with offers for the two pets.
Last month I described how because of the government's counter inflation policies the plans for 100% one-man bus operations in St Helens were being halted.
One-man buses had begun in the town in 1968 and were being slowly phased in and conductors slowly phased out.
When drivers of buses with conductors migrated to one-man operation, they received extra cash and because inflation in 1975 had hit 24%, the Labour government had clamped down on both price and pay rises.
In this week's paper it was revealed that new, single-decker buses ordered years ago and intended for one-man operation were now having to go out on the road with two-man crews.
That was because drivers could not be paid the higher rate for solo working.
Only 65% of the 110 buses in the St Helens fleet had so far been converted to one-man operation. That compared to 100% in Southport and 93% in Liverpool.
I wonder if you got a divi for booking a function room?
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street was advertising that it was under new management and was now open for lunch with excellent meals available from 40p. "The new place to be – Geraldo's", said the ad.
The Reporter carried a warning for parents to stop their children from trespassing at Pilkington's Sheet Works after two boys nearly lost their lives. That was after the pair had been buried in 18 tons of sand.
Jack Ellson was the personnel manager for the Sheet Works' Lyon Yard and told the paper:
"It was only the prompt action of three employees that saved these boys. The yard is a dangerous spot for children, who have no idea where they are going or what they are playing with."
John Owens, Freddie Lee and James Burke were the three workers who had raised the alarm after seeing the boys trapped in a sand wagon.
Along with members of the Fire Brigade, they spent 45 minutes digging the boys out after being buried up to their chests.
The lads were taken to St Helens Hospital where they were treated for shock and then discharged.
It was also revealed that Capper Neill, which had nearly doubled its profits during the last year, was making fifty of their employees redundant.
That was in their subsidiary firm William Neill of Bold who blamed the move on the bursting of the North Sea oil bubble. Director David Stewart said:
"The offshore industry has been the quickest boom to burst I've ever seen in my life."
When the North Sea oil boom had taken off, Neill's began specialising in the oil platform construction business, with their products going into rigs in the Forties, Brent, Thistle and Ninion fields.
But now they could get no new orders and so needed to make redundancies.
The Reporter described how clogs were still in use at the United Glass' Sherdley works.
Cissie Swan from Morgan Street in Parr told the paper, "They are safer, more comfortable and cheaper. More workers are turning to them again."
And Elsie Callaghan from Hamblett Crescent in Haresfinch said:
"They are much safer than safety shoes, especially when you are walking through oil and cullet [crushed waste glass], as I am every day. Ordinary shoes are just no good at all."
It was stated in the report that clogs could still be bought at a few stores on Merseyside but UGB bought them wholesale and sold them to their workers at half-price.
From the 4th what was described as Silcocks World Fair was in King George's Park in Haydock.
Sunday fairs were still not usually allowed and so the 3-day event concluded on Monday 7th.
On the 5th Everson's town centre restaurant and bakery reopened after a fire during the previous weekend that had cost the owner over £6,000.
A pub landlord in Westfield Street had reported the blaze, which was believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette rolling under the gates at the rear of the premises and igniting rubbish.
The fire wiped out Everson's complete Bank Holiday stock of food, pies and bread and since the blaze the shop's staff had been involved in a massive clean-up operation.
Ronald Everson said: "We had to throw all the food out that we had ready for the Bank Holiday. The damage to the property and stock is in the region of £5,000, while the lost trade this week could put another £1,500 on top of that. All the staff have been marvellous."
And finally, from the 6th 'Mahogany' starring Diana Ross was screened at the ABC Savoy and the Capitol retained 'Jaws' for another week. "The biggest film hit of all time," was how it was described in the listing.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include concern over the pedestrianisation of Hardshaw Street, the canal rescue at Blackbrook, a call for more women to hold senior positions in the Town Hall and how gas lamps could be making a comeback.