FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 2 - 8 JUNE 1975
This week's many stories include the operation facelift on the Derbyshire Hill estate, the neighbourly row in Islands Brow, the contest for green-fingered council tenants, the vandalism at the Park Road greyhound course and the claim of a big bang on Carr Mill Dam that resembled an underwater atomic explosion.
We begin on June 5th which was Referendum Day when a vote took place to decide on whether we should remain in the EEC or Common Market after just over two years of membership. The vote on Merseyside pretty much mirrored the national outcome of some 2 to 1 voting in favour of remaining. The politicians at the time thought that would end the debate – but we know differently!
An article in the St Helens Reporter on the 6th said: "Greenfingered council tenants should get out that rusty old lawnmower and start mowing, hoeing and weeding if they want to win cash prizes in a new garden competition." One might have thought that by June gardens should have been well mowed. But it was part of a council initiative to stimulate interest in gardening and tidy up estates in a competition that had four classes.
These were homes with front and rear gardens, rear gardens only, gardens of new properties and there was a special section for pensioners in bungalows and flats. The first prize was £10, second prize £5 and third prize was £2.50, with an overall winner being presented with a cup.
In a separate story the Reporter described how what they called "Operation Facelift" was well underway on the Derbyshire Hill estate. The area's house modernisation programme had been completed and St Helens Council was spending a further £180,000 – as the Reporter put it – "to make it a happier place to live" and do away with "tumbledown fences, overgrown hedges and car-cluttered streets".
Council architect Brian Lee said: "We hope to help create a happier feeling and add something to the people's lives. I've been there so many times and it leaves me cold." The scheme would include new street lamps; better roads and pavements; common grassed areas; new fences to separate back gardens; trees would be planted and a play area created on the site of two demolished houses in Winston Avenue. In April the council's Social Services Department had set up a family advice centre in Neville Avenue and that now had four permanent staff.
The Reporter also said vandals were giving Reg Cooton a "dog's life". For nearly 40 years Reg had been in charge of the Park Road Greyhound Stadium and explained how it had been a regular target for vandals. Last week damage to a £14,000 Tote machine had threatened the future of racing on the site and had cost £200 to repair. Twenty "part-time girls" had also been put out of a job for a while.
There was a photo in the Reporter of some of the 13 pupils from St Cuthbert's and Central Secondary schools who had been helping Age Concern prepare for the opening of their nearly-new charity shop in Church Street that would take place next week. Pictured were Catherine Winstanley, Donna Johnson, Jane Donnellan, Jacky Carter and June Finch.
Blue Peter used to receive an enormous number of competition entries. The Reporter stated that their recent painting contest had attracted 200,000 submissions, including one from Andrew Jones. The 7-year-old from Mossdale Drive in Rainhill was celebrating becoming a runner up in the contest and his painting of sea life from a submarine window had been chosen to appear in the World Expo exhibition in Tokyo later this month.
A neighbours' row in Enderby Avenue in Islands Brow was profiled in the Reporter after a dispute over some spare land near to their homes. A petition had been drawn up for submission to the council complaining about Jean Easby who was accused of regularly calling the police to move youngsters off the land.
Susan Murphy told the paper: "We had no problems until Mrs. Easby moved here. But now, every time the children set foot on the fields, she calls the police." Pat Patterson said: "On the original plans of our estate a small area on the corner of the avenue was designated a play area. Yet whenever the children go there, they are moved away." And Jean Simms added: "Even the police are fed up with constantly being called out. It is time something was done."
But Mrs Easby defended her stance, saying that she only wanted to prevent older children causing vandalism, telling the Reporter: "I have campaigned for years to have the area made more pleasant for the community. I have never objected to the younger ones playing there."
In March 1974 when workmen had arrived in Harrison Street in Sutton to continue working on a sewer, they found their digger blocked off by a car. It had been deliberately parked at that spot to prevent the men from excavating a 20 ft deep trench. The protest was part of local people's campaign to stop the sewer from passing through their road because they believed the construction work was damaging their homes.
Then in December the Reporter described how the Harrison Street residents were still unhappy, claiming their houses were unstable because their road was sinking. They claimed walls were buckling, doors would not open or close, steps were coming away from walls and the pavement had shattered.
The residents also said they dreaded rainy days because puddles on the uneven road surfaces and within potholes created drenching waterspouts when large vehicles went through them. "The road just floods," said resident John Jackson, "and the lorries and coaches shake the houses." In their response the council had claimed that the problems were caused by mining subsidence unrelated to the work on the sewer.
In this week's paper the Harrison Street residents were described as living in fear of their homes collapsing around them. It was claimed that cracks up to six inches long had appeared in their houses; floorboards had snapped and window frames had been pushed out from the brickwork due to violent tremors in the street's foundations. Scaffolding both inside and out was supporting one house.
That was inhabited by Vincent and Dorothy Watkinson and their son-in-law, Les Lyon, told the Reporter of what had recently happened to his mother-in-law: "A few weeks ago she was walking over to the window when the floor just collapsed under her." All the thirteen homes in the street that were still occupied were said to have been damaged by the tremors and residents urgently wanted a meeting with the council to get assurances that their homes would be made safe.
But the response from a council spokesman was not reassuring: "These properties are affected by mining subsidence and sewerage work may have caused some homes to be affected but we are not convinced that there is anything other than minimal damage."
Rather optimistically the Reporter claimed that the dumping of garden refuse along country lanes could soon be stamped out in St Helens. That, they thought, would occur if the refuse collection unions and the council could agree on the terms of a garden rubbish collection scheme.
St Helens Council had made an offer of an extra allowance for the bin men if they agreed to collect garden refuse but their unions felt the money was insufficient for the work that they were expected to do. Kenneth Perks, the council’s Director of Technical Services, had produced a report that was being submitted for council consideration to try and resolve the dispute.
Another row was taking place on Carr Mill Dam between anglers and powerboat enthusiasts after explosives had been used. Lancashire Powerboat Club had asked explosives experts to check the possibility of moving the foundations of an old boathouse that extended into the water and which had been blamed for damaging speedboats.
Frank Burgess, the assistant secretary of St Helens Anglers Association, happened to be on the water when an explosive test was being made and he said he had been assured that there would only be a "tiny bang" – but claimed it had been "terrific". Mr Burgess said rocks had shot 80 feet into the air, adding: "It just looked like an underwater atomic explosion."
He also stated that thousands of fish were killed and he'd had to bury many of them: "I also put thousands of stunned fish in a backwater, hoping they would recover." However, a director of the Lancashire Powerboat Club was also present and denied any fish had been killed, apart from a few that may have been swimming over the blast area at the time. He insisted only a small charge had been detonated in order to remove a large coping stone.
On the 7th a Rotary Fair was held in the schoolrooms in Brook Street that was organised by the Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs of St Helens. The new Mayor, Peggy McNamara, opened the proceedings, which featured the usual stalls, games, tombola, raffle and amusements, with the admission being 10p. The proceeds were in aid of seaside holidays for the elderly and help for the disabled, with the raffle prize being a "Stardust-Showtime Mini Luxury" holiday for two in London – whatever that meant!
And on Sunday June 8th what was advertised as the "Liverpool Premier Bango, Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra" performed in Taylor Park. I presume that should have been banjo, not bango, or perhaps it was bongo?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath newsagent's impact-absorbing glass fibre bales, the sackings at Grange Park Golf Club for going on strike, the festival of joy in Queen's Park and more concerns over the Holiday Moss tip in Rainford.
We begin on June 5th which was Referendum Day when a vote took place to decide on whether we should remain in the EEC or Common Market after just over two years of membership. The vote on Merseyside pretty much mirrored the national outcome of some 2 to 1 voting in favour of remaining. The politicians at the time thought that would end the debate – but we know differently!
An article in the St Helens Reporter on the 6th said: "Greenfingered council tenants should get out that rusty old lawnmower and start mowing, hoeing and weeding if they want to win cash prizes in a new garden competition." One might have thought that by June gardens should have been well mowed. But it was part of a council initiative to stimulate interest in gardening and tidy up estates in a competition that had four classes.
These were homes with front and rear gardens, rear gardens only, gardens of new properties and there was a special section for pensioners in bungalows and flats. The first prize was £10, second prize £5 and third prize was £2.50, with an overall winner being presented with a cup.
In a separate story the Reporter described how what they called "Operation Facelift" was well underway on the Derbyshire Hill estate. The area's house modernisation programme had been completed and St Helens Council was spending a further £180,000 – as the Reporter put it – "to make it a happier place to live" and do away with "tumbledown fences, overgrown hedges and car-cluttered streets".
Council architect Brian Lee said: "We hope to help create a happier feeling and add something to the people's lives. I've been there so many times and it leaves me cold." The scheme would include new street lamps; better roads and pavements; common grassed areas; new fences to separate back gardens; trees would be planted and a play area created on the site of two demolished houses in Winston Avenue. In April the council's Social Services Department had set up a family advice centre in Neville Avenue and that now had four permanent staff.
The Reporter also said vandals were giving Reg Cooton a "dog's life". For nearly 40 years Reg had been in charge of the Park Road Greyhound Stadium and explained how it had been a regular target for vandals. Last week damage to a £14,000 Tote machine had threatened the future of racing on the site and had cost £200 to repair. Twenty "part-time girls" had also been put out of a job for a while.
There was a photo in the Reporter of some of the 13 pupils from St Cuthbert's and Central Secondary schools who had been helping Age Concern prepare for the opening of their nearly-new charity shop in Church Street that would take place next week. Pictured were Catherine Winstanley, Donna Johnson, Jane Donnellan, Jacky Carter and June Finch.
Blue Peter used to receive an enormous number of competition entries. The Reporter stated that their recent painting contest had attracted 200,000 submissions, including one from Andrew Jones. The 7-year-old from Mossdale Drive in Rainhill was celebrating becoming a runner up in the contest and his painting of sea life from a submarine window had been chosen to appear in the World Expo exhibition in Tokyo later this month.
A neighbours' row in Enderby Avenue in Islands Brow was profiled in the Reporter after a dispute over some spare land near to their homes. A petition had been drawn up for submission to the council complaining about Jean Easby who was accused of regularly calling the police to move youngsters off the land.
Susan Murphy told the paper: "We had no problems until Mrs. Easby moved here. But now, every time the children set foot on the fields, she calls the police." Pat Patterson said: "On the original plans of our estate a small area on the corner of the avenue was designated a play area. Yet whenever the children go there, they are moved away." And Jean Simms added: "Even the police are fed up with constantly being called out. It is time something was done."
But Mrs Easby defended her stance, saying that she only wanted to prevent older children causing vandalism, telling the Reporter: "I have campaigned for years to have the area made more pleasant for the community. I have never objected to the younger ones playing there."
In March 1974 when workmen had arrived in Harrison Street in Sutton to continue working on a sewer, they found their digger blocked off by a car. It had been deliberately parked at that spot to prevent the men from excavating a 20 ft deep trench. The protest was part of local people's campaign to stop the sewer from passing through their road because they believed the construction work was damaging their homes.
Then in December the Reporter described how the Harrison Street residents were still unhappy, claiming their houses were unstable because their road was sinking. They claimed walls were buckling, doors would not open or close, steps were coming away from walls and the pavement had shattered.
The residents also said they dreaded rainy days because puddles on the uneven road surfaces and within potholes created drenching waterspouts when large vehicles went through them. "The road just floods," said resident John Jackson, "and the lorries and coaches shake the houses." In their response the council had claimed that the problems were caused by mining subsidence unrelated to the work on the sewer.
In this week's paper the Harrison Street residents were described as living in fear of their homes collapsing around them. It was claimed that cracks up to six inches long had appeared in their houses; floorboards had snapped and window frames had been pushed out from the brickwork due to violent tremors in the street's foundations. Scaffolding both inside and out was supporting one house.
That was inhabited by Vincent and Dorothy Watkinson and their son-in-law, Les Lyon, told the Reporter of what had recently happened to his mother-in-law: "A few weeks ago she was walking over to the window when the floor just collapsed under her." All the thirteen homes in the street that were still occupied were said to have been damaged by the tremors and residents urgently wanted a meeting with the council to get assurances that their homes would be made safe.
But the response from a council spokesman was not reassuring: "These properties are affected by mining subsidence and sewerage work may have caused some homes to be affected but we are not convinced that there is anything other than minimal damage."
Rather optimistically the Reporter claimed that the dumping of garden refuse along country lanes could soon be stamped out in St Helens. That, they thought, would occur if the refuse collection unions and the council could agree on the terms of a garden rubbish collection scheme.
St Helens Council had made an offer of an extra allowance for the bin men if they agreed to collect garden refuse but their unions felt the money was insufficient for the work that they were expected to do. Kenneth Perks, the council’s Director of Technical Services, had produced a report that was being submitted for council consideration to try and resolve the dispute.
Frank Burgess, the assistant secretary of St Helens Anglers Association, happened to be on the water when an explosive test was being made and he said he had been assured that there would only be a "tiny bang" – but claimed it had been "terrific". Mr Burgess said rocks had shot 80 feet into the air, adding: "It just looked like an underwater atomic explosion."
He also stated that thousands of fish were killed and he'd had to bury many of them: "I also put thousands of stunned fish in a backwater, hoping they would recover." However, a director of the Lancashire Powerboat Club was also present and denied any fish had been killed, apart from a few that may have been swimming over the blast area at the time. He insisted only a small charge had been detonated in order to remove a large coping stone.
On the 7th a Rotary Fair was held in the schoolrooms in Brook Street that was organised by the Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs of St Helens. The new Mayor, Peggy McNamara, opened the proceedings, which featured the usual stalls, games, tombola, raffle and amusements, with the admission being 10p. The proceeds were in aid of seaside holidays for the elderly and help for the disabled, with the raffle prize being a "Stardust-Showtime Mini Luxury" holiday for two in London – whatever that meant!
And on Sunday June 8th what was advertised as the "Liverpool Premier Bango, Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra" performed in Taylor Park. I presume that should have been banjo, not bango, or perhaps it was bongo?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath newsagent's impact-absorbing glass fibre bales, the sackings at Grange Park Golf Club for going on strike, the festival of joy in Queen's Park and more concerns over the Holiday Moss tip in Rainford.
This week's many stories include the operation facelift on the Derbyshire Hill estate, the neighbourly row in Islands Brow, the contest for green-fingered council tenants, the vandalism at the Park Road greyhound course and the claim of a big bang on Carr Mill Dam that resembled an underwater atomic explosion.
We begin on June 5th which was Referendum Day when a vote took place to decide on whether we should remain in the EEC or Common Market after just over two years of membership.
The vote on Merseyside pretty much mirrored the national outcome of some 2 to 1 voting in favour of remaining. The politicians at the time thought that would end the debate – but we know differently!
An article in the St Helens Reporter on the 6th said: "Greenfingered council tenants should get out that rusty old lawnmower and start mowing, hoeing and weeding if they want to win cash prizes in a new garden competition."
One might have thought that by June gardens should have been well mowed. But it was part of a council initiative to stimulate interest in gardening and tidy up estates in a competition that had four classes.
These were homes with front and rear gardens, rear gardens only, gardens of new properties and there was a special section for pensioners in bungalows and flats.
The first prize was £10, second prize £5 and third prize was £2.50, with an overall winner being presented with a cup.
In a separate story the Reporter described how what they called "Operation Facelift" was well underway on the Derbyshire Hill estate.
The area's house modernisation programme had been completed and St Helens Council was spending a further £180,000 – as the Reporter put it – "to make it a happier place to live" and do away with "tumbledown fences, overgrown hedges and car-cluttered streets".
Council architect Brian Lee said: "We hope to help create a happier feeling and add something to the people's lives. I've been there so many times and it leaves me cold."
The scheme would include new street lamps; better roads and pavements; common grassed areas; new fences to separate back gardens; trees would be planted and a play area created on the site of two demolished houses in Winston Avenue.
In April the council's Social Services Department had set up a family advice centre in Neville Avenue and that now had four permanent staff.
The Reporter also said vandals were giving Reg Cooton a "dog's life".
For nearly 40 years Reg had been in charge of the Park Road Greyhound Stadium and explained how it had been a regular target for vandals.
Last week damage to a £14,000 Tote machine had threatened the future of racing on the site and had cost £200 to repair. Twenty "part-time girls" had also been put out of a job for a while.
There was a photo in the Reporter of some of the 13 pupils from St Cuthbert's and Central Secondary schools who had been helping Age Concern prepare for the opening of their nearly-new charity shop in Church Street that would take place next week.
Pictured were Catherine Winstanley, Donna Johnson, Jane Donnellan, Jacky Carter and June Finch.
Blue Peter used to receive an enormous number of competition entries. The Reporter stated that their recent painting contest had attracted 200,000 submissions, including one from Andrew Jones.
The 7-year-old from Mossdale Drive in Rainhill was celebrating becoming a runner up in the contest and his painting of sea life from a submarine window had been chosen to appear in the World Expo exhibition in Tokyo later this month.
A neighbours' row in Enderby Avenue in Islands Brow was profiled in the Reporter after a dispute over some spare land near to their homes.
A petition had been drawn up for submission to the council complaining about Jean Easby who was accused of regularly calling the police to move youngsters off the land.
Susan Murphy told the paper: "We had no problems until Mrs. Easby moved here. But now, every time the children set foot on the fields, she calls the police."
Pat Patterson said: "On the original plans of our estate a small area on the corner of the avenue was designated a play area. Yet whenever the children go there, they are moved away."
And Jean Simms added: "Even the police are fed up with constantly being called out. It is time something was done."
But Mrs Easby defended her stance, saying that she only wanted to prevent older children causing vandalism, telling the Reporter:
"I have campaigned for years to have the area made more pleasant for the community. I have never objected to the younger ones playing there."
In March 1974 when workmen had arrived in Harrison Street in Sutton to continue working on a sewer, they found their digger blocked off by a car.
It had been deliberately parked at that spot to prevent the men from excavating a 20 ft deep trench.
The protest was part of local people's campaign to stop the sewer from passing through their road because they believed the construction work was damaging their homes.
Then in December the Reporter described how the Harrison Street residents were still unhappy, claiming their houses were unstable because their road was sinking.
They claimed walls were buckling, doors would not open or close, steps were coming away from walls and the pavement had shattered.
The residents also said they dreaded rainy days because puddles on the uneven road surfaces and within potholes created drenching waterspouts when large vehicles went through them.
"The road just floods," said resident John Jackson, "and the lorries and coaches shake the houses."
In their response the council had claimed that the problems were caused by mining subsidence unrelated to the work on the sewer.
In this week's paper the Harrison Street residents were described as living in fear of their homes collapsing around them.
It was claimed that cracks up to six inches long had appeared in their houses; floorboards had snapped and window frames had been pushed out from the brickwork due to violent tremors in the street's foundations.
Scaffolding both inside and out was supporting one house. That was inhabited by Vincent and Dorothy Watkinson and their son-in-law, Les Lyon, told the Reporter of what had recently happened to his mother-in-law:
"A few weeks ago she was walking over to the window when the floor just collapsed under her."
All the thirteen homes in the street that were still occupied were said to have been damaged by the tremors and residents urgently wanted a meeting with the council to get assurances that their homes would be made safe.
But the response from a council spokesman was not reassuring:
"These properties are affected by mining subsidence and sewerage work may have caused some homes to be affected but we are not convinced that there is anything other than minimal damage."
Rather optimistically the Reporter claimed that the dumping of garden refuse along country lanes could soon be stamped out in St Helens.
That, they thought, would occur if the refuse collection unions and the council could agree on the terms of a garden rubbish collection scheme.
St Helens Council had made an offer of an extra allowance for the bin men if they agreed to collect garden refuse but their unions felt the money was insufficient for the work that they were expected to do.
Kenneth Perks, the council’s Director of Technical Services, had produced a report that was being submitted for council consideration to try and resolve the dispute.
Another row was taking place on Carr Mill Dam between anglers and powerboat enthusiasts after explosives had been used.
Lancashire Powerboat Club had asked explosives experts to check the possibility of moving the foundations of an old boathouse that extended into the water and which had been blamed for damaging speedboats.
Frank Burgess, the assistant secretary of St Helens Anglers Association, happened to be on the water when an explosive test was being made and he said he had been assured that there would only be a "tiny bang" – but claimed it had been "terrific".
Mr Burgess said rocks had shot 80 feet into the air, adding: "It just looked like an underwater atomic explosion."
He also stated that thousands of fish were killed and he'd had to bury many of them: "I also put thousands of stunned fish in a backwater, hoping they would recover."
However, a director of the Lancashire Powerboat Club was also present and denied any fish had been killed, apart from a few that may have been swimming over the blast area at the time.
He insisted only a small charge had been detonated in order to remove a large coping stone.
On the 7th a Rotary Fair was held in the schoolrooms in Brook Street that was organised by the Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs of St Helens.
The new Mayor, Peggy McNamara, opened the proceedings, which featured the usual stalls, games, tombola, raffle and amusements, with the admission being 10p.
The proceeds were in aid of seaside holidays for the elderly and help for the disabled, with the raffle prize being a "Stardust-Showtime Mini Luxury" holiday for two in London – whatever that meant!
And on Sunday June 8th what was advertised as the "Liverpool Premier Bango, Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra" performed in Taylor Park.
I presume that should have been banjo, not bango, or perhaps it was bongo?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath newsagent's impact-absorbing glass fibre bales, the sackings at Grange Park Golf Club for going on strike, the festival of joy in Queen's Park and more concerns over the Holiday Moss tip in Rainford.
We begin on June 5th which was Referendum Day when a vote took place to decide on whether we should remain in the EEC or Common Market after just over two years of membership.
The vote on Merseyside pretty much mirrored the national outcome of some 2 to 1 voting in favour of remaining. The politicians at the time thought that would end the debate – but we know differently!
An article in the St Helens Reporter on the 6th said: "Greenfingered council tenants should get out that rusty old lawnmower and start mowing, hoeing and weeding if they want to win cash prizes in a new garden competition."
One might have thought that by June gardens should have been well mowed. But it was part of a council initiative to stimulate interest in gardening and tidy up estates in a competition that had four classes.
These were homes with front and rear gardens, rear gardens only, gardens of new properties and there was a special section for pensioners in bungalows and flats.
The first prize was £10, second prize £5 and third prize was £2.50, with an overall winner being presented with a cup.
In a separate story the Reporter described how what they called "Operation Facelift" was well underway on the Derbyshire Hill estate.
The area's house modernisation programme had been completed and St Helens Council was spending a further £180,000 – as the Reporter put it – "to make it a happier place to live" and do away with "tumbledown fences, overgrown hedges and car-cluttered streets".
Council architect Brian Lee said: "We hope to help create a happier feeling and add something to the people's lives. I've been there so many times and it leaves me cold."
The scheme would include new street lamps; better roads and pavements; common grassed areas; new fences to separate back gardens; trees would be planted and a play area created on the site of two demolished houses in Winston Avenue.
In April the council's Social Services Department had set up a family advice centre in Neville Avenue and that now had four permanent staff.
The Reporter also said vandals were giving Reg Cooton a "dog's life".
For nearly 40 years Reg had been in charge of the Park Road Greyhound Stadium and explained how it had been a regular target for vandals.
Last week damage to a £14,000 Tote machine had threatened the future of racing on the site and had cost £200 to repair. Twenty "part-time girls" had also been put out of a job for a while.
There was a photo in the Reporter of some of the 13 pupils from St Cuthbert's and Central Secondary schools who had been helping Age Concern prepare for the opening of their nearly-new charity shop in Church Street that would take place next week.
Pictured were Catherine Winstanley, Donna Johnson, Jane Donnellan, Jacky Carter and June Finch.
Blue Peter used to receive an enormous number of competition entries. The Reporter stated that their recent painting contest had attracted 200,000 submissions, including one from Andrew Jones.
The 7-year-old from Mossdale Drive in Rainhill was celebrating becoming a runner up in the contest and his painting of sea life from a submarine window had been chosen to appear in the World Expo exhibition in Tokyo later this month.
A neighbours' row in Enderby Avenue in Islands Brow was profiled in the Reporter after a dispute over some spare land near to their homes.
A petition had been drawn up for submission to the council complaining about Jean Easby who was accused of regularly calling the police to move youngsters off the land.
Susan Murphy told the paper: "We had no problems until Mrs. Easby moved here. But now, every time the children set foot on the fields, she calls the police."
Pat Patterson said: "On the original plans of our estate a small area on the corner of the avenue was designated a play area. Yet whenever the children go there, they are moved away."
And Jean Simms added: "Even the police are fed up with constantly being called out. It is time something was done."
But Mrs Easby defended her stance, saying that she only wanted to prevent older children causing vandalism, telling the Reporter:
"I have campaigned for years to have the area made more pleasant for the community. I have never objected to the younger ones playing there."
In March 1974 when workmen had arrived in Harrison Street in Sutton to continue working on a sewer, they found their digger blocked off by a car.
It had been deliberately parked at that spot to prevent the men from excavating a 20 ft deep trench.
The protest was part of local people's campaign to stop the sewer from passing through their road because they believed the construction work was damaging their homes.
Then in December the Reporter described how the Harrison Street residents were still unhappy, claiming their houses were unstable because their road was sinking.
They claimed walls were buckling, doors would not open or close, steps were coming away from walls and the pavement had shattered.
The residents also said they dreaded rainy days because puddles on the uneven road surfaces and within potholes created drenching waterspouts when large vehicles went through them.
"The road just floods," said resident John Jackson, "and the lorries and coaches shake the houses."
In their response the council had claimed that the problems were caused by mining subsidence unrelated to the work on the sewer.
In this week's paper the Harrison Street residents were described as living in fear of their homes collapsing around them.
It was claimed that cracks up to six inches long had appeared in their houses; floorboards had snapped and window frames had been pushed out from the brickwork due to violent tremors in the street's foundations.
Scaffolding both inside and out was supporting one house. That was inhabited by Vincent and Dorothy Watkinson and their son-in-law, Les Lyon, told the Reporter of what had recently happened to his mother-in-law:
"A few weeks ago she was walking over to the window when the floor just collapsed under her."
All the thirteen homes in the street that were still occupied were said to have been damaged by the tremors and residents urgently wanted a meeting with the council to get assurances that their homes would be made safe.
But the response from a council spokesman was not reassuring:
"These properties are affected by mining subsidence and sewerage work may have caused some homes to be affected but we are not convinced that there is anything other than minimal damage."
Rather optimistically the Reporter claimed that the dumping of garden refuse along country lanes could soon be stamped out in St Helens.
That, they thought, would occur if the refuse collection unions and the council could agree on the terms of a garden rubbish collection scheme.
St Helens Council had made an offer of an extra allowance for the bin men if they agreed to collect garden refuse but their unions felt the money was insufficient for the work that they were expected to do.
Kenneth Perks, the council’s Director of Technical Services, had produced a report that was being submitted for council consideration to try and resolve the dispute.
Lancashire Powerboat Club had asked explosives experts to check the possibility of moving the foundations of an old boathouse that extended into the water and which had been blamed for damaging speedboats.
Frank Burgess, the assistant secretary of St Helens Anglers Association, happened to be on the water when an explosive test was being made and he said he had been assured that there would only be a "tiny bang" – but claimed it had been "terrific".
Mr Burgess said rocks had shot 80 feet into the air, adding: "It just looked like an underwater atomic explosion."
He also stated that thousands of fish were killed and he'd had to bury many of them: "I also put thousands of stunned fish in a backwater, hoping they would recover."
However, a director of the Lancashire Powerboat Club was also present and denied any fish had been killed, apart from a few that may have been swimming over the blast area at the time.
He insisted only a small charge had been detonated in order to remove a large coping stone.
On the 7th a Rotary Fair was held in the schoolrooms in Brook Street that was organised by the Rotary and Inner Wheel clubs of St Helens.
The new Mayor, Peggy McNamara, opened the proceedings, which featured the usual stalls, games, tombola, raffle and amusements, with the admission being 10p.
The proceeds were in aid of seaside holidays for the elderly and help for the disabled, with the raffle prize being a "Stardust-Showtime Mini Luxury" holiday for two in London – whatever that meant!
And on Sunday June 8th what was advertised as the "Liverpool Premier Bango, Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra" performed in Taylor Park.
I presume that should have been banjo, not bango, or perhaps it was bongo?
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the Thatto Heath newsagent's impact-absorbing glass fibre bales, the sackings at Grange Park Golf Club for going on strike, the festival of joy in Queen's Park and more concerns over the Holiday Moss tip in Rainford.