FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (4th - 10th March 1969)
In this week's 17 stories a runaway spud van crashes into a Thatto Heath home, Carr Mill juniors get in on the space race, there's vandalism on a new Haydock estate, St Helens booms on the jobs front and a big investment is made in the town's RC schools. And in other news, a 12-year-old Bootle boy called Keith Chegwin gets his big break.
We begin on the 4th when two men from Litherland appeared in Liverpool County Magistrates Court charged with stabbing to death Brian Harrison. The 34-year-old from Waterdale Crescent in Sutton had worked in the office of the clerk to the Magistrates Court in St Helens.
One of the accused men's solicitors protested against a "scandalous and nonsensical" procedure, after being told he could not be given a copy of his client's police statement. Both were remanded to Risley Remand Centre until March 13th.
'An Evening With The Scaffold' was held at the Theatre Royal on the 4th – and then again on the 5th. Formed in 1964 the trio were in demand as 'Lily the Pink' had topped the charts during the previous year. The group also wrote and sang the theme tune to 'The Liver Birds', which would begin on April 14th on BBC 1.
This week it was announced that almost 900 new primary school places were to be created at two Catholic schools in St Helens, at a cost of £141,000 (around £2½m in today's money). Alterations and extensions were planned at St Theresa's school in Sutton Manor (shown above) that would allow it to cater for an additional 320 junior and 240 infant pupils.
Also a new school would be built at the junction of Sutton Heath Road and Lowfield Lane that would accommodate 300 children. It was stated that it would be called Elton Head Road RC School.
However they must have had a change of mind, as it has been known as St John Vianney for a long time. Howard Cubitt, the St Helens Director of Education, also revealed that permission had been granted to spend £200,000 on extensions to Grange Park Secondary School.
Annie Darlington was counting her blessings during the evening of the 5th. A few hours earlier she had left her home in Thatto Heath to visit her mother in Parr who had been unwell. During the time she was away, a one-ton delivery van came crashing into her home in Canberra Avenue, leaving its engine and bumper embedded in her sitting room wall.
Mrs Darlington would normally have been at home and her three-year-old daughter would likely have been playing on the front lawn with friends. Her husband Alan also had a lucky escape, as he'd been visiting his sister when the accident occurred.
The runaway potato van had been parked on a steep incline some distance from the house. A spud merchant from Cooper Street would later be fined after admitting leaving the van with the brake off and the engine on. "It was a terrible shock", said Mrs Darlington, "but it could have been so much worse if we had been at home when it happened."
It was 'Star Nite' at Whiston Labour Club on the 5th with Johnny Echo ("Maestro of the echo chamber"), Bonk Shaw ("Merseyside's top comedian") and Dave Newman ("Yorkshire's own Roy Orbison"), plus the inevitable bingo.
The Stage newspaper wrote on the 6th that the Lyrics Show Group were "four smart looking young men" from St Helens who were making a marked impact in club and cabaret throughout the North. "The group concentrate on popular songs and ballads and blend in a little comedy as well as some impressions."
In a separate article The Stage claimed that the theatre on Merseyside was "practically moribund" but stated that "club business is booming, with new clubs opening and established clubs either planning or constructing extensions." The new social club at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Peasley Cross and one at Rainford North End were provided as examples of the booming Mersey scene.
St Helens was also "booming with employment opportunities", according to the Reporter on the 7th in a front-page piece. Over the next 18 months it was anticipated that 3,000 new jobs would be created as existing firms expanded and new businesses began operating.
The manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange had even said this week that it was doubtful that the labour needs of new firms could be met locally. In fact Pilkington's had already started a television advertising campaign to recruit workers for their Cowley Hill plant.
In the Reporter there was an advert for the Royal Oak on the East Lancs who "wish to announce the opening of the Garden Hall Restaurant. Delightful cocktail and lounge bars, where popular Greenall Whitley drinks are served with light snacks and sandwiches."
The paper also reported on the level of vandalism on a housing estate that was being built off Station Road in Haydock. The local council was so concerned that they intended to contact headmasters to enlist their help in putting a stop to the damage.
This included light switches being ripped off walls, TV aerials being buried in plaster, windows broken and floors being damaged. Although each property on the site was kept locked, youngsters were getting in by dragging away stainless steel grills from the walls and slipping through the narrow space created.
Sidney Mills was pictured in the Reporter receiving a £50 long service cheque from Rockware Glass's works manager. Mr Mills had recently retired after 51 years service at the company, which was Forsters Glass when he joined it in 1917. He said he was then expected to work 53 hours a week for 13s 9d.
Also pictured were pupils from Carr Mill Junior School with a scale model of the Apollo 9 "moonship" – as it was described. The space mission had launched on March 3rd and was the first manned flight of the lunar module that would land on the Moon in July.
There was much excitement and teacher Douglas Appleton had recruited some youngsters to build a model that would help them appreciate the size of the actual rocket. At 387 feet Apollo 9 was 100 feet taller than the tower of Pilkington's head office.
This was not the first such project that the pupils had been involved with. They had previously built a near-full size model of one of the earlier American Mercury flights into which the children could actually climb.
Another photo was of some abandoned vehicles that had been dumped on the streets of St Helens. They were moved to land in College Street while attempts were made to contact the owners. Once the Civic Amenities Act became law the council would have more powers to dispose of abandoned vehicles.
It was also stated in the paper that St Helens Council were looking at the possibility of providing a site for "gipsies and other itinerants".
The ABC St Helens down Bridge Street (aka 'Savoy') now began their weekly programme on Sundays and on the 9th began seven days of screenings of 'Twisted Nerve'. The psychological thriller starred Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Billie Whitelaw and Frank Finlay.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, 'Fanny Hill' – described as the "memoirs of a woman of pleasure" – started six days of screenings from the 10th. The Cap was also now advertising a 'Minors Matinee' every Saturday at 2pm featuring a cartoon, serial and feature film. Admission was one shilling in the stalls and 1/6 in the circle.
I end this week with an article that had the headline "The Boy From Bootle Heads For The West End", which was published in the Liverpool Echo: "Keith Chegwin, aged 12, was the toast of his Bootle school to-day. For the fresh-faced youngster has been picked to appear in the West End musical "Mame" with Ginger Rogers. His twin brother, Jeffrey, has been auditioned for a supporting role in the show.
"Fair haired Keith, a pupil at St. George of England County Secondary School, said: “It's great to go on stage with Ginger Rogers. I've seen her on television with Fred Astaire, and she is a wonderful dancer.” Four-feet tall Keith, of 37 Aintree Road, Bootle, will appear as Ginger's ten years-old son.
"West end agent Mrs. June Collins said: “I was asked to find a youngster with fair hair, blue eyes and a cheeky grin. And I've found one.” Said Keith to-day: “I met Ginger Rogers when I went to the audition in London. She was very nice to me.”
"Keith, who constantly sports a cheeky grin, is no stranger to the bright lights of showbiz. In January he sang 'Wonderful World' – the Louis Armstrong hit song – on television in 'Junior Showtime'. He has won three first prizes in holiday competitions at Blackpool, Southport and Rhyl. Sister Janice, aged 13, completes the showbiz family – for she has had a one-act play televised in a series for junior playwrights. The twins will not miss schooling during their stay in London. They will have special lessons."
As a postscript the parents of twins Keith and Jeffrey Chegwin and Janice Long – as she became – moved from Bootle to Rainford where they took up residence off Junction Road.
Next week's stories will include the wave of Rainford telephone robberies, the end of the BICC strike in Prescot, the Nutgrove Brownies pedlars' parade, anger at a proposed rates increase, Haydock Lodge mental hospital is given away and Sooty returns to the Theatre Royal.
We begin on the 4th when two men from Litherland appeared in Liverpool County Magistrates Court charged with stabbing to death Brian Harrison. The 34-year-old from Waterdale Crescent in Sutton had worked in the office of the clerk to the Magistrates Court in St Helens.
One of the accused men's solicitors protested against a "scandalous and nonsensical" procedure, after being told he could not be given a copy of his client's police statement. Both were remanded to Risley Remand Centre until March 13th.
'An Evening With The Scaffold' was held at the Theatre Royal on the 4th – and then again on the 5th. Formed in 1964 the trio were in demand as 'Lily the Pink' had topped the charts during the previous year. The group also wrote and sang the theme tune to 'The Liver Birds', which would begin on April 14th on BBC 1.
Also a new school would be built at the junction of Sutton Heath Road and Lowfield Lane that would accommodate 300 children. It was stated that it would be called Elton Head Road RC School.
However they must have had a change of mind, as it has been known as St John Vianney for a long time. Howard Cubitt, the St Helens Director of Education, also revealed that permission had been granted to spend £200,000 on extensions to Grange Park Secondary School.
Annie Darlington was counting her blessings during the evening of the 5th. A few hours earlier she had left her home in Thatto Heath to visit her mother in Parr who had been unwell. During the time she was away, a one-ton delivery van came crashing into her home in Canberra Avenue, leaving its engine and bumper embedded in her sitting room wall.
Mrs Darlington would normally have been at home and her three-year-old daughter would likely have been playing on the front lawn with friends. Her husband Alan also had a lucky escape, as he'd been visiting his sister when the accident occurred.
The runaway potato van had been parked on a steep incline some distance from the house. A spud merchant from Cooper Street would later be fined after admitting leaving the van with the brake off and the engine on. "It was a terrible shock", said Mrs Darlington, "but it could have been so much worse if we had been at home when it happened."
It was 'Star Nite' at Whiston Labour Club on the 5th with Johnny Echo ("Maestro of the echo chamber"), Bonk Shaw ("Merseyside's top comedian") and Dave Newman ("Yorkshire's own Roy Orbison"), plus the inevitable bingo.
The Stage newspaper wrote on the 6th that the Lyrics Show Group were "four smart looking young men" from St Helens who were making a marked impact in club and cabaret throughout the North. "The group concentrate on popular songs and ballads and blend in a little comedy as well as some impressions."
In a separate article The Stage claimed that the theatre on Merseyside was "practically moribund" but stated that "club business is booming, with new clubs opening and established clubs either planning or constructing extensions." The new social club at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Peasley Cross and one at Rainford North End were provided as examples of the booming Mersey scene.
St Helens was also "booming with employment opportunities", according to the Reporter on the 7th in a front-page piece. Over the next 18 months it was anticipated that 3,000 new jobs would be created as existing firms expanded and new businesses began operating.
The manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange had even said this week that it was doubtful that the labour needs of new firms could be met locally. In fact Pilkington's had already started a television advertising campaign to recruit workers for their Cowley Hill plant.
In the Reporter there was an advert for the Royal Oak on the East Lancs who "wish to announce the opening of the Garden Hall Restaurant. Delightful cocktail and lounge bars, where popular Greenall Whitley drinks are served with light snacks and sandwiches."
The paper also reported on the level of vandalism on a housing estate that was being built off Station Road in Haydock. The local council was so concerned that they intended to contact headmasters to enlist their help in putting a stop to the damage.
This included light switches being ripped off walls, TV aerials being buried in plaster, windows broken and floors being damaged. Although each property on the site was kept locked, youngsters were getting in by dragging away stainless steel grills from the walls and slipping through the narrow space created.
Sidney Mills was pictured in the Reporter receiving a £50 long service cheque from Rockware Glass's works manager. Mr Mills had recently retired after 51 years service at the company, which was Forsters Glass when he joined it in 1917. He said he was then expected to work 53 hours a week for 13s 9d.
Also pictured were pupils from Carr Mill Junior School with a scale model of the Apollo 9 "moonship" – as it was described. The space mission had launched on March 3rd and was the first manned flight of the lunar module that would land on the Moon in July.
There was much excitement and teacher Douglas Appleton had recruited some youngsters to build a model that would help them appreciate the size of the actual rocket. At 387 feet Apollo 9 was 100 feet taller than the tower of Pilkington's head office.
This was not the first such project that the pupils had been involved with. They had previously built a near-full size model of one of the earlier American Mercury flights into which the children could actually climb.
Another photo was of some abandoned vehicles that had been dumped on the streets of St Helens. They were moved to land in College Street while attempts were made to contact the owners. Once the Civic Amenities Act became law the council would have more powers to dispose of abandoned vehicles.
It was also stated in the paper that St Helens Council were looking at the possibility of providing a site for "gipsies and other itinerants".
The ABC St Helens down Bridge Street (aka 'Savoy') now began their weekly programme on Sundays and on the 9th began seven days of screenings of 'Twisted Nerve'. The psychological thriller starred Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Billie Whitelaw and Frank Finlay.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, 'Fanny Hill' – described as the "memoirs of a woman of pleasure" – started six days of screenings from the 10th. The Cap was also now advertising a 'Minors Matinee' every Saturday at 2pm featuring a cartoon, serial and feature film. Admission was one shilling in the stalls and 1/6 in the circle.
"Fair haired Keith, a pupil at St. George of England County Secondary School, said: “It's great to go on stage with Ginger Rogers. I've seen her on television with Fred Astaire, and she is a wonderful dancer.” Four-feet tall Keith, of 37 Aintree Road, Bootle, will appear as Ginger's ten years-old son.
"West end agent Mrs. June Collins said: “I was asked to find a youngster with fair hair, blue eyes and a cheeky grin. And I've found one.” Said Keith to-day: “I met Ginger Rogers when I went to the audition in London. She was very nice to me.”
"Keith, who constantly sports a cheeky grin, is no stranger to the bright lights of showbiz. In January he sang 'Wonderful World' – the Louis Armstrong hit song – on television in 'Junior Showtime'. He has won three first prizes in holiday competitions at Blackpool, Southport and Rhyl. Sister Janice, aged 13, completes the showbiz family – for she has had a one-act play televised in a series for junior playwrights. The twins will not miss schooling during their stay in London. They will have special lessons."
As a postscript the parents of twins Keith and Jeffrey Chegwin and Janice Long – as she became – moved from Bootle to Rainford where they took up residence off Junction Road.
Next week's stories will include the wave of Rainford telephone robberies, the end of the BICC strike in Prescot, the Nutgrove Brownies pedlars' parade, anger at a proposed rates increase, Haydock Lodge mental hospital is given away and Sooty returns to the Theatre Royal.