FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (3rd - 9th AUGUST 1970)
This week's stories include the start of another strike at Pilkingtons, a police hunt for a little girl missing from Ruskin Drive, the St Helens woman that turned down a top role in Oh! Calcutta!, the long telephone waiting list in the town and an advertising feature on hobbies is in the Reporter.
We begin at the Rifle Corps on the morning of the 3rd when Barry Gower took over the Duke Street pub and pulled his first – and last – pints. During the evening customers found the doors bolted and on the following morning Mr Gower and his wife and daughter returned to their old home in Haresfinch.
Greenalls had mysteriously withdrawn his licence application and destroyed Barry's dream of running his own pub. Customer Tom Briscoe from Crab Street told the Reporter: "I don't know why Mr. Gower was refused his pub, but I think it's a disgrace. The brewery must have left it until the last minute and let this young chap build up his hopes."
The Capitol cinema (pictured above) began six days of screenings of 'David Copperfield' from the 3rd featuring a host of stars, including Richard Attenborough and Laurence Olivier. Meanwhile the ABC Savoy was showing a Warren Mitchell comedy called 'All The Way Up' that also featured Richard Briers.
Tom Teasdale had a lucky escape in St Helens on the 4th. The 59-year-old from Bryn had just booked his Ford Anglia into a garage for an MOT when it was crushed by a fire engine. The tender toppled over while rounding a right-hand bend at the junction of Burtonhead Road and Canal Street, squashing Tom's car. "It's a good job I wasn't inside", said a relieved Mr Teasdale. "There'll be no need to put it through a test now." Three people were injured but were allowed home after treatment.
Little Mandy Pilkington caused panic on the 5th after wandering off from her sisters at the Ruskin Drive recreation ground. The four-year-old had been enjoying a picnic with nine-year-old Jane, eight-year-old Judith and five-year-old Alison when she suddenly disappeared. Mandy was nowhere to be seen when her father David Pilkington arrived to collect his daughters and so a full-scale police search was mounted.
But after two hours Mandy was found playing in a neighbour’s home across the road from her house in Dentons Green Lane. Mother Catherine said: "I was frantic with worry while she was missing". However Mandy was oblivious to the panic having been playing on the swings at Ruskin Drive and watching a cricket match before strolling home.
More than 300 workers at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works voted to begin a three-day stoppage during the evening of the 6th in order to gain union recognition. The glass giant recognised the General and Municipal Workers Union but would not negotiate with the new Glass and General Workers Union, formed in the wake of the recent 7-week strike.
Earlier in the week glass carrier Eamon Topping had been suspended after a dispute over a worksheet. The 36-year-old from Legh Road in Haydock was a member of the new union but Pilkingtons refused to discuss his case with representatives of the GGWU. So a factory gate meeting of union members was held, initially in the pouring rain, before transferring to the nearby Geraldo Club.
Councillor John Topping told the workers: "The position is that Pilkington’s just don’t want to know our union. We have got to show that we are going to give backing to brother Topping. The union committee feel we should not allow the management to get away with this." Although the workers voted to return to their jobs from Sunday afternoon, they would then work to rule and ban overtime.
During the same evening Haydock and Ashton Youth Band returned home after excelling in a world music festival in Holland. Led by conductor Charles Fradley, the band shared the highest honours with the national brass band of New Zealand.
It was announced this week that Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows (pictured above) would be holding a gala at the end of the month to mark the mine's achievements in colliery safety. Over 1,000 visitors were expected to attend the event, with a highlight being the exhibition of a fully equipped mock coalface.
Dancer Frances Lea explained to the St Helens Reporter on the 7th why she had turned down a starring role in the smash hit musical 'Oh! Calcutta!': "I knew when I went for the audition of Oh! Calcutta! that it was a nude show. But I was also under the impression that there were roles for girl singers and dancers at least partly clothed.
"The money they offered me was fantastic, but I'm certainly not prancing about starkers night after night, hit show or not. I turned down one of the leading roles. I would not have been allowed to wear even three little stars to cover what matters." The 30-year-old from Edge Street in Nutgrove had been a member of the glamorous Vernons Girls and was a former girlfriend of Billy Fury.
The St Helens Show Queen Pat Stoneking from Prescot Road was given a lot of space in the Reporter to complain about the telephone waiting list in the town. The 18-year-old assistant works study engineer at BICC was expecting to have a well-filled diary of social engagements over the coming year. So last week Pat had applied to the GPO for a telephone and was shocked to learn that there were over 1,000 prospective subscribers ahead of her in the queue. It would take twelve months for a phone to be installed, meaning she could receive fewer bookings as Show Queen.
Pat commented: "It could mean that because I can't be contacted by phone, some people just won't bother to try to see me – and that includes boyfriends." A Post Office spokesman said: "Only people like doctors, who have an urgent priority, can get a telephone installed in St. Helens before mid-1971". The Telephone Exchange in St Mary Street was presently overcrowded, although more space would be available in a couple of months when the postal sorting office relocated.
"Fishkeeping is mentally relaxing and helps to soothe tired brains". So said the Reporter in an advertising feature on hobbies. The advertisers included the St Helens Aquarium Centre of 52 Westfield Street who was offering tropical fish, plants and equipment. Cycling was a good, healthy hobby as well, with Dingsdales declaring they had hundreds of bikes in stock at their shops in Duke Street, Higher Parr Street and Church Road, Haydock.
I'm not sure that going on holiday is a hobby but Ellison's of Westfield Street and Gavin Murray of Boundary Road were promoting winter sunshine breaks with 4 - 5 days in Majorca priced from £18. Home brewing is definitely a hobby, with Ron Pimblett of Knowsley Road the place to go "for all your home brewing ingredients and equipment".
Whether DIY is a hobby or a chore, Harold Spencer was offering Green Shield stamps for purchases at his handyman's store and decorating centre in Church Road, Haydock. "Photography – the hobby you can enlarge", said F. G. Laughton of 6 - 8 Cotham Street. "Make your hobby a profitable one if sewing is your hobby", said J. & P. Jacobs of the Parr Industrial Estate, implying women sewing at home could get a job working for them. However they somewhat contradicted themselves by saying their clothing factory had vacancies for "experienced industrial sewing machinists" – which is hardly the same thing.
I suppose motoring can just about be seen as a hobby. "Treat yourself to a new car", said The Automobile Centre of 64/68 Greenfield Road in their ad in the feature. And finally The Model Shop at 113 Duke Street had a "full range of modellers' requirements for aircraft, boats, cars, railways."
An advert elsewhere in the Reporter from DER in Westfield Street had the caption: "Get to know a Playboy FREE for a week", over a picture of a woman kissing a man behind a TV set. "Everyone's talking about the Playboy", the ad continued. "Dishy new portable TV from D.E.R. Give us a call – and enjoy a week's free Playboy viewing all around your house. You'll fall for its smooth good looks, its big beautiful 17” tube picture on ITV, BBC1 and BBC2."
The 'Whalley's World' column in the Reporter profiled "jovial" Gerry Barnes who was celebrating a diamond anniversary of sorts within the licensed trade. The mine host of the Star Inn at Rainford had lived under a pub roof for sixty years, as his father had also been in the trade. In fact Charles Barnes was once the landlord of the Millhouse Inn, that used to be over the road from the Star and his son Gerry was the Millhouse's last landlord upon its closure in 1936. Alan Whalley wrote:
"In the old days, the cheery Rainford pubs were the stopping place for wagonette outings to Southport. In those pre-motoring days, the wagonette trip was a highlight of the year for working class folk of St. Helens and district." That, of course, was long before the building of the Rainford bypass when the horse-drawn traffic had to pass right through the village.
Next week's stories will include skinhead attacks on the College Street home of six Pakistani men, more strike trouble at Pilkingtons, the Rainford storm over eleven-plus failures and the St Helens vicar who accused bookshops and cinemas of sinking to the gutter in peddling sex.
We begin at the Rifle Corps on the morning of the 3rd when Barry Gower took over the Duke Street pub and pulled his first – and last – pints. During the evening customers found the doors bolted and on the following morning Mr Gower and his wife and daughter returned to their old home in Haresfinch.
Greenalls had mysteriously withdrawn his licence application and destroyed Barry's dream of running his own pub. Customer Tom Briscoe from Crab Street told the Reporter: "I don't know why Mr. Gower was refused his pub, but I think it's a disgrace. The brewery must have left it until the last minute and let this young chap build up his hopes."
Tom Teasdale had a lucky escape in St Helens on the 4th. The 59-year-old from Bryn had just booked his Ford Anglia into a garage for an MOT when it was crushed by a fire engine. The tender toppled over while rounding a right-hand bend at the junction of Burtonhead Road and Canal Street, squashing Tom's car. "It's a good job I wasn't inside", said a relieved Mr Teasdale. "There'll be no need to put it through a test now." Three people were injured but were allowed home after treatment.
Little Mandy Pilkington caused panic on the 5th after wandering off from her sisters at the Ruskin Drive recreation ground. The four-year-old had been enjoying a picnic with nine-year-old Jane, eight-year-old Judith and five-year-old Alison when she suddenly disappeared. Mandy was nowhere to be seen when her father David Pilkington arrived to collect his daughters and so a full-scale police search was mounted.
But after two hours Mandy was found playing in a neighbour’s home across the road from her house in Dentons Green Lane. Mother Catherine said: "I was frantic with worry while she was missing". However Mandy was oblivious to the panic having been playing on the swings at Ruskin Drive and watching a cricket match before strolling home.
More than 300 workers at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works voted to begin a three-day stoppage during the evening of the 6th in order to gain union recognition. The glass giant recognised the General and Municipal Workers Union but would not negotiate with the new Glass and General Workers Union, formed in the wake of the recent 7-week strike.
Earlier in the week glass carrier Eamon Topping had been suspended after a dispute over a worksheet. The 36-year-old from Legh Road in Haydock was a member of the new union but Pilkingtons refused to discuss his case with representatives of the GGWU. So a factory gate meeting of union members was held, initially in the pouring rain, before transferring to the nearby Geraldo Club.
Councillor John Topping told the workers: "The position is that Pilkington’s just don’t want to know our union. We have got to show that we are going to give backing to brother Topping. The union committee feel we should not allow the management to get away with this." Although the workers voted to return to their jobs from Sunday afternoon, they would then work to rule and ban overtime.
During the same evening Haydock and Ashton Youth Band returned home after excelling in a world music festival in Holland. Led by conductor Charles Fradley, the band shared the highest honours with the national brass band of New Zealand.
Dancer Frances Lea explained to the St Helens Reporter on the 7th why she had turned down a starring role in the smash hit musical 'Oh! Calcutta!': "I knew when I went for the audition of Oh! Calcutta! that it was a nude show. But I was also under the impression that there were roles for girl singers and dancers at least partly clothed.
"The money they offered me was fantastic, but I'm certainly not prancing about starkers night after night, hit show or not. I turned down one of the leading roles. I would not have been allowed to wear even three little stars to cover what matters." The 30-year-old from Edge Street in Nutgrove had been a member of the glamorous Vernons Girls and was a former girlfriend of Billy Fury.
The St Helens Show Queen Pat Stoneking from Prescot Road was given a lot of space in the Reporter to complain about the telephone waiting list in the town. The 18-year-old assistant works study engineer at BICC was expecting to have a well-filled diary of social engagements over the coming year. So last week Pat had applied to the GPO for a telephone and was shocked to learn that there were over 1,000 prospective subscribers ahead of her in the queue. It would take twelve months for a phone to be installed, meaning she could receive fewer bookings as Show Queen.
Pat commented: "It could mean that because I can't be contacted by phone, some people just won't bother to try to see me – and that includes boyfriends." A Post Office spokesman said: "Only people like doctors, who have an urgent priority, can get a telephone installed in St. Helens before mid-1971". The Telephone Exchange in St Mary Street was presently overcrowded, although more space would be available in a couple of months when the postal sorting office relocated.
"Fishkeeping is mentally relaxing and helps to soothe tired brains". So said the Reporter in an advertising feature on hobbies. The advertisers included the St Helens Aquarium Centre of 52 Westfield Street who was offering tropical fish, plants and equipment. Cycling was a good, healthy hobby as well, with Dingsdales declaring they had hundreds of bikes in stock at their shops in Duke Street, Higher Parr Street and Church Road, Haydock.
I'm not sure that going on holiday is a hobby but Ellison's of Westfield Street and Gavin Murray of Boundary Road were promoting winter sunshine breaks with 4 - 5 days in Majorca priced from £18. Home brewing is definitely a hobby, with Ron Pimblett of Knowsley Road the place to go "for all your home brewing ingredients and equipment".
Whether DIY is a hobby or a chore, Harold Spencer was offering Green Shield stamps for purchases at his handyman's store and decorating centre in Church Road, Haydock. "Photography – the hobby you can enlarge", said F. G. Laughton of 6 - 8 Cotham Street. "Make your hobby a profitable one if sewing is your hobby", said J. & P. Jacobs of the Parr Industrial Estate, implying women sewing at home could get a job working for them. However they somewhat contradicted themselves by saying their clothing factory had vacancies for "experienced industrial sewing machinists" – which is hardly the same thing.
I suppose motoring can just about be seen as a hobby. "Treat yourself to a new car", said The Automobile Centre of 64/68 Greenfield Road in their ad in the feature. And finally The Model Shop at 113 Duke Street had a "full range of modellers' requirements for aircraft, boats, cars, railways."
An advert elsewhere in the Reporter from DER in Westfield Street had the caption: "Get to know a Playboy FREE for a week", over a picture of a woman kissing a man behind a TV set. "Everyone's talking about the Playboy", the ad continued. "Dishy new portable TV from D.E.R. Give us a call – and enjoy a week's free Playboy viewing all around your house. You'll fall for its smooth good looks, its big beautiful 17” tube picture on ITV, BBC1 and BBC2."
The 'Whalley's World' column in the Reporter profiled "jovial" Gerry Barnes who was celebrating a diamond anniversary of sorts within the licensed trade. The mine host of the Star Inn at Rainford had lived under a pub roof for sixty years, as his father had also been in the trade. In fact Charles Barnes was once the landlord of the Millhouse Inn, that used to be over the road from the Star and his son Gerry was the Millhouse's last landlord upon its closure in 1936. Alan Whalley wrote:
"In the old days, the cheery Rainford pubs were the stopping place for wagonette outings to Southport. In those pre-motoring days, the wagonette trip was a highlight of the year for working class folk of St. Helens and district." That, of course, was long before the building of the Rainford bypass when the horse-drawn traffic had to pass right through the village.
Next week's stories will include skinhead attacks on the College Street home of six Pakistani men, more strike trouble at Pilkingtons, the Rainford storm over eleven-plus failures and the St Helens vicar who accused bookshops and cinemas of sinking to the gutter in peddling sex.
This week's stories include the start of another strike at Pilkingtons, a police hunt for a little girl missing from Ruskin Drive, the St Helens woman that turned down a top role in Oh! Calcutta!, the long telephone waiting list in the town and an advertising feature on hobbies is in the Reporter.
We begin at the Rifle Corps on the morning of the 3rd when Barry Gower took over the Duke Street pub and pulled his first – and last – pints.
During the evening customers found the doors bolted and on the following morning Mr Gower and his wife and daughter returned to their old home in Haresfinch.
Greenalls had mysteriously withdrawn his licence application and destroyed Barry's dream of running his own pub. Customer Tom Briscoe from Crab Street told the Reporter:
"I don't know why Mr. Gower was refused his pub, but I think it's a disgrace. The brewery must have left it until the last minute and let this young chap build up his hopes."
The Capitol cinema (pictured above) began six days of screenings of 'David Copperfield' from the 3rd featuring a host of stars, including Richard Attenborough and Laurence Olivier.
Meanwhile the ABC Savoy was showing a Warren Mitchell comedy called 'All The Way Up' that also featured Richard Briers.
Tom Teasdale had a lucky escape in St Helens on the 4th. The 59-year-old from Bryn had just booked his Ford Anglia into a garage for an MOT when it was crushed by a fire engine.
The tender toppled over while rounding a right-hand bend at the junction of Burtonhead Road and Canal Street, squashing Tom's car.
"It's a good job I wasn't inside", said a relieved Mr Teasdale. "There'll be no need to put it through a test now."
Three people were injured but were allowed home after treatment.
Little Mandy Pilkington caused panic on the 5th after wandering off from her sisters at the Ruskin Drive recreation ground.
The four-year-old had been enjoying a picnic with nine-year-old Jane, eight-year-old Judith and five-year-old Alison when she suddenly disappeared.
Mandy was nowhere to be seen when her father David Pilkington arrived to collect his daughters and so a full-scale police search was mounted.
But after two hours Mandy was found playing in a neighbour’s home across the road from her house in Dentons Green Lane.
Mother Catherine said: "I was frantic with worry while she was missing".
However Mandy was oblivious to the panic having been playing on the swings at Ruskin Drive and watching a cricket match before strolling home.
More than 300 workers at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works voted to begin a three-day stoppage during the evening of the 6th in order to gain union recognition.
The glass giant recognised the General and Municipal Workers Union but would not negotiate with the new Glass and General Workers Union, formed in the wake of the recent 7-week strike.
Earlier in the week glass carrier Eamon Topping had been suspended after a dispute over a worksheet.
The 36-year-old from Legh Road in Haydock was a member of the new union but Pilkingtons refused to discuss his case with representatives of the GGWU.
So a factory gate meeting of union members was held, initially in the pouring rain, before transferring to the nearby Geraldo Club. Councillor John Topping told the workers:
"The position is that Pilkington’s just don’t want to know our union. We have got to show that we are going to give backing to brother Topping. The union committee feel we should not allow the management to get away with this."
Although the workers voted to return to their jobs from Sunday afternoon, they would then work to rule and ban overtime.
During the same evening Haydock and Ashton Youth Band returned home after excelling in a world music festival in Holland.
Led by conductor Charles Fradley, the band shared the highest honours with the national brass band of New Zealand.
It was announced this week that Parkside Colliery in Newton-le-Willows (pictured above) would be holding a gala at the end of the month to mark the mine's achievements in colliery safety.
Over 1,000 visitors were expected to attend the event, with a highlight being the exhibition of a fully equipped mock coalface.
Dancer Frances Lea explained to the St Helens Reporter on the 7th why she had turned down a starring role in the smash hit musical 'Oh! Calcutta!':
"I knew when I went for the audition of Oh! Calcutta! that it was a nude show. But I was also under the impression that there were roles for girl singers and dancers at least partly clothed."
"The money they offered me was fantastic”, explained Frances. ”But I'm certainly not prancing about starkers night after night, hit show or not. I turned down one of the leading roles. I would not have been allowed to wear even three little stars to cover what matters."
The 30-year-old from Edge Street in Nutgrove had been a member of the glamorous Vernons Girls and was a former girlfriend of Billy Fury.
The St Helens Show Queen Pat Stoneking from Prescot Road was given a lot of space in the Reporter to complain about the telephone waiting list in the town.
The 18-year-old assistant works study engineer at BICC was expecting to have a well-filled diary of social engagements over the coming year.
So last week Pat had applied to the GPO for a telephone and was shocked to learn that there were over 1,000 prospective subscribers ahead of her in the queue.
It would take twelve months for a phone to be installed, meaning she could receive fewer bookings as Show Queen.
Pat commented: "It could mean that because I can't be contacted by phone, some people just won't bother to try to see me – and that includes boyfriends."
A Post Office spokesman said: "Only people like doctors, who have an urgent priority, can get a telephone installed in St. Helens before mid-1971".
The Telephone Exchange in St Mary Street was presently overcrowded, although more space would be available in a couple of months when the postal sorting office relocated.
"Fishkeeping is mentally relaxing and helps to soothe tired brains". So said the Reporter in an advertising feature on hobbies.
The advertisers included the St Helens Aquarium Centre of 52 Westfield Street who was offering tropical fish, plants and equipment.
Cycling was a good, healthy hobby as well, with Dingsdales declaring they had hundreds of bikes in stock at their shops in Duke Street, Higher Parr Street and Church Road, Haydock.
I'm not sure that going on holiday is a hobby but Ellison's of Westfield Street and Gavin Murray of Boundary Road were promoting winter sunshine breaks with 4 - 5 days in Majorca priced from £18.
Home brewing is definitely a hobby, with Ron Pimblett of Knowsley Road the place to go "for all your home brewing ingredients and equipment".
Whether DIY is a hobby or a chore, Harold Spencer was offering Green Shield stamps for purchases at his handyman's store and decorating centre in Church Road, Haydock.
"Photography – the hobby you can enlarge", said F. G. Laughton of 6 - 8 Cotham Street.
"Make your hobby a profitable one if sewing is your hobby", said J. & P. Jacobs of the Parr Industrial Estate, implying women sewing at home could get a job working for them.
However they somewhat contradicted themselves by saying their clothing factory had vacancies for "experienced industrial sewing machinists" – which is hardly the same thing.
I suppose motoring can just about be seen as a hobby. "Treat yourself to a new car", said The Automobile Centre of 64/68 Greenfield Road in their ad in the feature.
And finally The Model Shop at 113 Duke Street had a "full range of modellers' requirements for aircraft, boats, cars, railways."
An advert elsewhere in the Reporter from DER in Westfield Street had the caption: "Get to know a Playboy FREE for a week", over a picture of a woman kissing a man behind a TV set.
"Everyone's talking about the Playboy", the ad continued.
"Dishy new portable TV from D.E.R. Give us a call – and enjoy a week's free Playboy viewing all around your house. You'll fall for its smooth good looks, its big beautiful 17” tube picture on ITV, BBC1 and BBC2."
The 'Whalley's World' column in the Reporter profiled "jovial" Gerry Barnes who was celebrating a diamond anniversary of sorts within the licensed trade.
The mine host of the Star Inn at Rainford had lived under a pub roof for sixty years, as his father had also been in the trade.
In fact Charles Barnes was once the landlord of the Millhouse Inn, that used to be over the road from the Star and his son Gerry was the Millhouse's last landlord upon its closure in 1936. Alan Whalley wrote:
"In the old days, the cheery Rainford pubs were the stopping place for wagonette outings to Southport. In those pre-motoring days, the wagonette trip was a highlight of the year for working class folk of St. Helens and district."
That, of course, was long before the building of the Rainford bypass when the horse-drawn traffic had to pass right through the village.
Next week's stories will include skinhead attacks on the College Street home of six Pakistani men, more strike trouble at Pilkingtons, the Rainford storm over eleven-plus failures and the St Helens vicar who accused bookshops and cinemas of sinking to the gutter in peddling sex.
We begin at the Rifle Corps on the morning of the 3rd when Barry Gower took over the Duke Street pub and pulled his first – and last – pints.
During the evening customers found the doors bolted and on the following morning Mr Gower and his wife and daughter returned to their old home in Haresfinch.
Greenalls had mysteriously withdrawn his licence application and destroyed Barry's dream of running his own pub. Customer Tom Briscoe from Crab Street told the Reporter:
"I don't know why Mr. Gower was refused his pub, but I think it's a disgrace. The brewery must have left it until the last minute and let this young chap build up his hopes."
Meanwhile the ABC Savoy was showing a Warren Mitchell comedy called 'All The Way Up' that also featured Richard Briers.
Tom Teasdale had a lucky escape in St Helens on the 4th. The 59-year-old from Bryn had just booked his Ford Anglia into a garage for an MOT when it was crushed by a fire engine.
The tender toppled over while rounding a right-hand bend at the junction of Burtonhead Road and Canal Street, squashing Tom's car.
"It's a good job I wasn't inside", said a relieved Mr Teasdale. "There'll be no need to put it through a test now."
Three people were injured but were allowed home after treatment.
Little Mandy Pilkington caused panic on the 5th after wandering off from her sisters at the Ruskin Drive recreation ground.
The four-year-old had been enjoying a picnic with nine-year-old Jane, eight-year-old Judith and five-year-old Alison when she suddenly disappeared.
Mandy was nowhere to be seen when her father David Pilkington arrived to collect his daughters and so a full-scale police search was mounted.
But after two hours Mandy was found playing in a neighbour’s home across the road from her house in Dentons Green Lane.
Mother Catherine said: "I was frantic with worry while she was missing".
However Mandy was oblivious to the panic having been playing on the swings at Ruskin Drive and watching a cricket match before strolling home.
More than 300 workers at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works voted to begin a three-day stoppage during the evening of the 6th in order to gain union recognition.
The glass giant recognised the General and Municipal Workers Union but would not negotiate with the new Glass and General Workers Union, formed in the wake of the recent 7-week strike.
Earlier in the week glass carrier Eamon Topping had been suspended after a dispute over a worksheet.
The 36-year-old from Legh Road in Haydock was a member of the new union but Pilkingtons refused to discuss his case with representatives of the GGWU.
So a factory gate meeting of union members was held, initially in the pouring rain, before transferring to the nearby Geraldo Club. Councillor John Topping told the workers:
"The position is that Pilkington’s just don’t want to know our union. We have got to show that we are going to give backing to brother Topping. The union committee feel we should not allow the management to get away with this."
Although the workers voted to return to their jobs from Sunday afternoon, they would then work to rule and ban overtime.
During the same evening Haydock and Ashton Youth Band returned home after excelling in a world music festival in Holland.
Led by conductor Charles Fradley, the band shared the highest honours with the national brass band of New Zealand.
Over 1,000 visitors were expected to attend the event, with a highlight being the exhibition of a fully equipped mock coalface.
Dancer Frances Lea explained to the St Helens Reporter on the 7th why she had turned down a starring role in the smash hit musical 'Oh! Calcutta!':
"I knew when I went for the audition of Oh! Calcutta! that it was a nude show. But I was also under the impression that there were roles for girl singers and dancers at least partly clothed."
The 30-year-old from Edge Street in Nutgrove had been a member of the glamorous Vernons Girls and was a former girlfriend of Billy Fury.
The St Helens Show Queen Pat Stoneking from Prescot Road was given a lot of space in the Reporter to complain about the telephone waiting list in the town.
The 18-year-old assistant works study engineer at BICC was expecting to have a well-filled diary of social engagements over the coming year.
So last week Pat had applied to the GPO for a telephone and was shocked to learn that there were over 1,000 prospective subscribers ahead of her in the queue.
It would take twelve months for a phone to be installed, meaning she could receive fewer bookings as Show Queen.
Pat commented: "It could mean that because I can't be contacted by phone, some people just won't bother to try to see me – and that includes boyfriends."
A Post Office spokesman said: "Only people like doctors, who have an urgent priority, can get a telephone installed in St. Helens before mid-1971".
The Telephone Exchange in St Mary Street was presently overcrowded, although more space would be available in a couple of months when the postal sorting office relocated.
"Fishkeeping is mentally relaxing and helps to soothe tired brains". So said the Reporter in an advertising feature on hobbies.
The advertisers included the St Helens Aquarium Centre of 52 Westfield Street who was offering tropical fish, plants and equipment.
Cycling was a good, healthy hobby as well, with Dingsdales declaring they had hundreds of bikes in stock at their shops in Duke Street, Higher Parr Street and Church Road, Haydock.
I'm not sure that going on holiday is a hobby but Ellison's of Westfield Street and Gavin Murray of Boundary Road were promoting winter sunshine breaks with 4 - 5 days in Majorca priced from £18.
Home brewing is definitely a hobby, with Ron Pimblett of Knowsley Road the place to go "for all your home brewing ingredients and equipment".
Whether DIY is a hobby or a chore, Harold Spencer was offering Green Shield stamps for purchases at his handyman's store and decorating centre in Church Road, Haydock.
"Photography – the hobby you can enlarge", said F. G. Laughton of 6 - 8 Cotham Street.
"Make your hobby a profitable one if sewing is your hobby", said J. & P. Jacobs of the Parr Industrial Estate, implying women sewing at home could get a job working for them.
However they somewhat contradicted themselves by saying their clothing factory had vacancies for "experienced industrial sewing machinists" – which is hardly the same thing.
I suppose motoring can just about be seen as a hobby. "Treat yourself to a new car", said The Automobile Centre of 64/68 Greenfield Road in their ad in the feature.
And finally The Model Shop at 113 Duke Street had a "full range of modellers' requirements for aircraft, boats, cars, railways."
An advert elsewhere in the Reporter from DER in Westfield Street had the caption: "Get to know a Playboy FREE for a week", over a picture of a woman kissing a man behind a TV set.
"Everyone's talking about the Playboy", the ad continued.
"Dishy new portable TV from D.E.R. Give us a call – and enjoy a week's free Playboy viewing all around your house. You'll fall for its smooth good looks, its big beautiful 17” tube picture on ITV, BBC1 and BBC2."
The 'Whalley's World' column in the Reporter profiled "jovial" Gerry Barnes who was celebrating a diamond anniversary of sorts within the licensed trade.
The mine host of the Star Inn at Rainford had lived under a pub roof for sixty years, as his father had also been in the trade.
In fact Charles Barnes was once the landlord of the Millhouse Inn, that used to be over the road from the Star and his son Gerry was the Millhouse's last landlord upon its closure in 1936. Alan Whalley wrote:
"In the old days, the cheery Rainford pubs were the stopping place for wagonette outings to Southport. In those pre-motoring days, the wagonette trip was a highlight of the year for working class folk of St. Helens and district."
That, of course, was long before the building of the Rainford bypass when the horse-drawn traffic had to pass right through the village.
Next week's stories will include skinhead attacks on the College Street home of six Pakistani men, more strike trouble at Pilkingtons, the Rainford storm over eleven-plus failures and the St Helens vicar who accused bookshops and cinemas of sinking to the gutter in peddling sex.