FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 4 - 10 DECEMBER 1973
This week's many stories include the robbery outside the Seven Stars, garage owners hit out at selfish car drivers in half-mile long petrol queues, the opening of Dingle Belles new store in St Helens, the new pre-school playgroup for the children of shopping mothers, major road improvements plans are announced and there's an expansion of the one-way system in St Helens.
We begin on the 5th at the Theatre Royal when the Northern Dance Orchestra was in concert. On the following evening the Liverpool country band the Hillsiders performed again in Corporation Street, along with comic Tom O’Connor. The former Bootle maths and music teacher was a regular in St Helens after his appearances on the TV show 'The Comedians' that had begun in 1971.
The national power and fuel crisis was worsening and impacting on the run up to Christmas. This week Billinge Council’s Environment Committee discussed whether three 25 ft Christmas trees should be erected in the village as a result of the Government's ban on display lighting.
The committee’s chairman, Councillor Allan Daly, said: "I think we will be breaking the law if we light the trees this year". However, Cllr. Bert Sullivan said: "I think the children would be disappointed if we didn't have the trees." And Cllr. Alan Atherton commented: "I move we put up the trees without light and put presents on them instead." It was later reported that one in ten street lamps in Billinge would not be lit during the crisis.
On the 7th the St Helens Reporter described the difficulties at the petrol pumps with queues half-a-mile long reported at some garages: "Greedy motorists who tour the St. Helens pumps on the big petrol scrounge were on the road to self-destruction, say angry garage owners.
"Tired and harassed after a week of forecourt frustration, they've hit [out] at the petrol sharks who have shamed the town. Stories of drivers throwing tantrums and demanding more than their fair share are filtering from the filling stations. Some motorists have even posed as doctors to get more petrol. Now garage owners have warned motorists to keep calm, cool and collected – and don't be mean."
Winifred Walsh was the wife of car body repairs specialist Joe Walsh of Sherdley Road and she made the pages of the Reporter after being the victim of a robbery. Jewellery and cash worth £1,400 (£20,000 in today's money) had been stolen from Mrs Walsh's car after she'd parked it at the Seven Stars pub in Eccleston.
And why had she been out and about with her valuables? Well, Mrs Walsh told the Reporter that when she was away from home all day she liked to have her worldly goods with her "for safe keeping". Let's hope the police managed to recover the items, as I don't think her insurance company would have been very impressed!
The Reporter briefly described how a syndicate of ten workers at William Neill's engineering works in Bold had won almost £40,000 on Vernons Pools. "Secret 10 Win Pools Fortune" was their headline. That's around £60,000 each in today's money. But the men had inserted the “X” for no publicity on their football coupon, denying the Reporter a celebratory photo and big write-up.
The paper also reported how three major road improvements were to be carried out soon in St Helens to reduce congestion. The first was a road-widening scheme for Chancery Lane in Parr. Within a few weeks some derelict properties in the street would be demolished. That would allow room for a broader carriageway to be created between Nunn Street and a point near Boardmans Lane. At present a build up of stationary cars and buses was causing a bottleneck.
The second project involved resurfacing work on the 2½-mile stretch of the East Lancs near St Helens. The scheme would take about nine months to complete and involve one of the carriageways having to be closed while work took place. The final improvement, which was awaiting government approval, involved the replacement of the 19th century railway bridge in Clock Face Road. The present bridge only had a single lane controlled by traffic lights. But the new one would have two through lanes with an additional one allowing incoming vehicles to turn left into Gartons Lane.
There were also planned extensions to the one-way system in St Helens. By Easter 1974 Corporation Street – from Victoria Square to its junction with Hall Street – would be one-way only for outgoing traffic. Incoming vehicles from the Higher Parr Street end would be channelled first into Hall Street and then into Bickerstaffe Street until it meets Victoria Square. The scheme would also mean that the bus stands in the centre of Victoria Square (pictured above) would be removed. Some would be relocated around its edge, while other shelters would be placed further down Corporation Street.
Do you recall the clunky 8-track music cartridges that were popular during the 1970s? The players were mainly used in cars as they played in an endless loop and didn't need flipping over like music cassettes – although you could not rewind them. This week Dingle Belles opened their new store in St Helens and in their advert claimed to have the largest selection of pre-recorded cartridges and cassettes in Lancashire. The "car accessories and spares supermarket" at 121 / 123 Liverpool Road (next door to the Liverpool Arms) also sold quadrophonic in car-entertainment using four speakers.
The Reporter also described how girls had "swept the board" at a public speaking contest organised by the St Helens Junior Chamber of Commerce, leaving the six male entrants well behind. The team prize went to Janina Gravener and Margaret Friar – both from Parr and representing Cowley Girls School – and the individual prize was presented to Kathryn Harrison from Notre Dame. All the girls were aged 15.
For over three decades pig breeder Tom Hunter had operated on a smallholding off Hoghton Road in Sutton and until a few days ago had 400 pigs. But swine vesicular disease had broken out among his herd and they'd all now been slaughtered to reduce the risk of the infection spreading. Tom told the Reporter: "It's taken me 30 years to build the place up – then suddenly I'm out of business."
Schoolboy Stephen Brown was praised for his prompt action in rousing his parents and then racing to a telephone box to call the fire brigade when the kitchen of his Blackbrook home caught fire. A paraffin heater had started the blaze at Stephen's home in Frodsham Drive and the kitchen was completely ruined.
A claim by an unnamed Sunday newspaper that St Helens spent less on elderly folk than any other council in the country was refuted in the Reporter. St Helens was said to spend on its "old people" just £11 per 1,000 persons, compared to ten London boroughs that each spent between £900 and £2,500 per thousand. But a treasurers' association said the figures were misleading, as they excluded the money spent on residential accommodation and home helps. And as the percentage of over 65s within the St Helens population at 12.2% was less than the national average, it was expected that less would be spent on the elderly.
Childcare provision in St Helens was still very sketchy in the early 1970s and in the few places where playgroups existed, volunteers tended to run them. Any new playgroup that the Reporter described needed to have an explanation of its purpose. And so in describing how a new group was opening in January at the Hall Street Baptist Church, its organiser Veronica Whitfield stated that the main reason for starting it was to provide a "bridge" for children between their early lives at home and the atmosphere of school.
Mrs Whitfield from Sutton Heath added: "We want to give them some experience outside so that starting school will be easier." Mothers visiting St Helens would be able to leave their children at the pre-school playgroup so that they could concentrate on their shopping.
On the 8th the Bishop of Liverpool visited St Helens to open the new St Paul's Church in Blackbrook. Most of the cash to build it had come from weekly envelopes from parishioners with the Rev. John Bronnert commenting: "Everyone has worked very hard to see the church finished."
And during the evening of the 8th, the London Mozart Orchestra performed at the Theatre Royal as part of the theatre's prestigious International Concert Series. Tickets were usually snapped up for these annual performances many weeks in advance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a public inquiry into Leathers Chemicals, Silcock's offer to light up St Helens' Christmas trees, the sinister disappearance of cats in Rainhill and there's a facelift for the Fleece and a revamp for the Raven.
We begin on the 5th at the Theatre Royal when the Northern Dance Orchestra was in concert. On the following evening the Liverpool country band the Hillsiders performed again in Corporation Street, along with comic Tom O’Connor. The former Bootle maths and music teacher was a regular in St Helens after his appearances on the TV show 'The Comedians' that had begun in 1971.
The national power and fuel crisis was worsening and impacting on the run up to Christmas. This week Billinge Council’s Environment Committee discussed whether three 25 ft Christmas trees should be erected in the village as a result of the Government's ban on display lighting.
The committee’s chairman, Councillor Allan Daly, said: "I think we will be breaking the law if we light the trees this year". However, Cllr. Bert Sullivan said: "I think the children would be disappointed if we didn't have the trees." And Cllr. Alan Atherton commented: "I move we put up the trees without light and put presents on them instead." It was later reported that one in ten street lamps in Billinge would not be lit during the crisis.
On the 7th the St Helens Reporter described the difficulties at the petrol pumps with queues half-a-mile long reported at some garages: "Greedy motorists who tour the St. Helens pumps on the big petrol scrounge were on the road to self-destruction, say angry garage owners.
"Tired and harassed after a week of forecourt frustration, they've hit [out] at the petrol sharks who have shamed the town. Stories of drivers throwing tantrums and demanding more than their fair share are filtering from the filling stations. Some motorists have even posed as doctors to get more petrol. Now garage owners have warned motorists to keep calm, cool and collected – and don't be mean."
Winifred Walsh was the wife of car body repairs specialist Joe Walsh of Sherdley Road and she made the pages of the Reporter after being the victim of a robbery. Jewellery and cash worth £1,400 (£20,000 in today's money) had been stolen from Mrs Walsh's car after she'd parked it at the Seven Stars pub in Eccleston.
And why had she been out and about with her valuables? Well, Mrs Walsh told the Reporter that when she was away from home all day she liked to have her worldly goods with her "for safe keeping". Let's hope the police managed to recover the items, as I don't think her insurance company would have been very impressed!
The Reporter briefly described how a syndicate of ten workers at William Neill's engineering works in Bold had won almost £40,000 on Vernons Pools. "Secret 10 Win Pools Fortune" was their headline. That's around £60,000 each in today's money. But the men had inserted the “X” for no publicity on their football coupon, denying the Reporter a celebratory photo and big write-up.
The paper also reported how three major road improvements were to be carried out soon in St Helens to reduce congestion. The first was a road-widening scheme for Chancery Lane in Parr. Within a few weeks some derelict properties in the street would be demolished. That would allow room for a broader carriageway to be created between Nunn Street and a point near Boardmans Lane. At present a build up of stationary cars and buses was causing a bottleneck.
The second project involved resurfacing work on the 2½-mile stretch of the East Lancs near St Helens. The scheme would take about nine months to complete and involve one of the carriageways having to be closed while work took place. The final improvement, which was awaiting government approval, involved the replacement of the 19th century railway bridge in Clock Face Road. The present bridge only had a single lane controlled by traffic lights. But the new one would have two through lanes with an additional one allowing incoming vehicles to turn left into Gartons Lane.
Do you recall the clunky 8-track music cartridges that were popular during the 1970s? The players were mainly used in cars as they played in an endless loop and didn't need flipping over like music cassettes – although you could not rewind them. This week Dingle Belles opened their new store in St Helens and in their advert claimed to have the largest selection of pre-recorded cartridges and cassettes in Lancashire. The "car accessories and spares supermarket" at 121 / 123 Liverpool Road (next door to the Liverpool Arms) also sold quadrophonic in car-entertainment using four speakers.
The Reporter also described how girls had "swept the board" at a public speaking contest organised by the St Helens Junior Chamber of Commerce, leaving the six male entrants well behind. The team prize went to Janina Gravener and Margaret Friar – both from Parr and representing Cowley Girls School – and the individual prize was presented to Kathryn Harrison from Notre Dame. All the girls were aged 15.
For over three decades pig breeder Tom Hunter had operated on a smallholding off Hoghton Road in Sutton and until a few days ago had 400 pigs. But swine vesicular disease had broken out among his herd and they'd all now been slaughtered to reduce the risk of the infection spreading. Tom told the Reporter: "It's taken me 30 years to build the place up – then suddenly I'm out of business."
Schoolboy Stephen Brown was praised for his prompt action in rousing his parents and then racing to a telephone box to call the fire brigade when the kitchen of his Blackbrook home caught fire. A paraffin heater had started the blaze at Stephen's home in Frodsham Drive and the kitchen was completely ruined.
A claim by an unnamed Sunday newspaper that St Helens spent less on elderly folk than any other council in the country was refuted in the Reporter. St Helens was said to spend on its "old people" just £11 per 1,000 persons, compared to ten London boroughs that each spent between £900 and £2,500 per thousand. But a treasurers' association said the figures were misleading, as they excluded the money spent on residential accommodation and home helps. And as the percentage of over 65s within the St Helens population at 12.2% was less than the national average, it was expected that less would be spent on the elderly.
Childcare provision in St Helens was still very sketchy in the early 1970s and in the few places where playgroups existed, volunteers tended to run them. Any new playgroup that the Reporter described needed to have an explanation of its purpose. And so in describing how a new group was opening in January at the Hall Street Baptist Church, its organiser Veronica Whitfield stated that the main reason for starting it was to provide a "bridge" for children between their early lives at home and the atmosphere of school.
Mrs Whitfield from Sutton Heath added: "We want to give them some experience outside so that starting school will be easier." Mothers visiting St Helens would be able to leave their children at the pre-school playgroup so that they could concentrate on their shopping.
On the 8th the Bishop of Liverpool visited St Helens to open the new St Paul's Church in Blackbrook. Most of the cash to build it had come from weekly envelopes from parishioners with the Rev. John Bronnert commenting: "Everyone has worked very hard to see the church finished."
And during the evening of the 8th, the London Mozart Orchestra performed at the Theatre Royal as part of the theatre's prestigious International Concert Series. Tickets were usually snapped up for these annual performances many weeks in advance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a public inquiry into Leathers Chemicals, Silcock's offer to light up St Helens' Christmas trees, the sinister disappearance of cats in Rainhill and there's a facelift for the Fleece and a revamp for the Raven.
This week's many stories include the robbery outside the Seven Stars, garage owners hit out at selfish car drivers in half-mile long petrol queues, the opening of Dingle Belles new store in St Helens, the new pre-school playgroup for the children of shopping mothers, major road improvements plans are announced and there's an expansion of the one-way system in St Helens.
We begin on the 5th at the Theatre Royal when the Northern Dance Orchestra was in concert.
On the following evening the Liverpool country band the Hillsiders performed again in Corporation Street, along with comic Tom O’Connor.
The former Bootle maths and music teacher was a regular in St Helens after his appearances on the TV show 'The Comedians' that had begun in 1971.
The national power and fuel crisis was worsening and impacting on the run up to Christmas.
This week Billinge Council’s Environment Committee discussed whether three 25 ft Christmas trees should be erected in the village as a result of the Government's ban on display lighting.
The committee’s chairman, Councillor Allan Daly, said: "I think we will be breaking the law if we light the trees this year".
However, Cllr. Bert Sullivan said: "I think the children would be disappointed if we didn't have the trees."
And Cllr. Alan Atherton commented: "I move we put up the trees without light and put presents on them instead."
It was later reported that one in ten street lamps in Billinge would not be lit during the crisis.
On the 7th the St Helens Reporter described the difficulties at the petrol pumps with queues half-a-mile long reported at some garages:
"Greedy motorists who tour the St. Helens pumps on the big petrol scrounge were on the road to self-destruction, say angry garage owners.
"Tired and harassed after a week of forecourt frustration, they've hit [out] at the petrol sharks who have shamed the town.
"Stories of drivers throwing tantrums and demanding more than their fair share are filtering from the filling stations.
"Some motorists have even posed as doctors to get more petrol. Now garage owners have warned motorists to keep calm, cool and collected – and don't be mean."
Winifred Walsh was the wife of car body repairs specialist Joe Walsh of Sherdley Road and she made the pages of the Reporter after being the victim of a robbery.
Jewellery and cash worth £1,400 (£20,000 in today's money) had been stolen from Mrs Walsh's car after she'd parked it at the Seven Stars pub in Eccleston.
And why had she been out and about with her valuables? Well, Mrs Walsh told the Reporter that when she was away from home all day she liked to have her worldly goods with her "for safe keeping".
Let's hope the police managed to recover the items, as I don't think her insurance company would have been very impressed!
The Reporter briefly described how a syndicate of ten workers at William Neill's engineering works in Bold had won almost £40,000 on Vernons Pools. "Secret 10 Win Pools Fortune" was their headline.
That's around £60,000 each in today's money. But the men had inserted the “X” for no publicity on their football coupon, denying the Reporter a celebratory photo and big write-up.
The paper also reported how three major road improvements were to be carried out soon in St Helens to reduce congestion. The first was a road-widening scheme for Chancery Lane in Parr.
Within a few weeks some derelict properties in the street would be demolished. That would allow room for a broader carriageway to be created between Nunn Street and a point near Boardmans Lane. At present a build up of stationary cars and buses was causing a bottleneck.
The second project involved resurfacing work on the 2½-mile stretch of the East Lancs near St Helens.
The scheme would take about nine months to complete and involve one of the carriageways having to be closed while work took place.
The final improvement, which was awaiting government approval, involved the replacement of the 19th century railway bridge in Clock Face Road.
The present bridge only had a single lane controlled by traffic lights. But the new one would have two through lanes with an additional one allowing incoming vehicles to turn left into Gartons Lane.
There were also planned extensions to the one-way system in St Helens. By Easter 1974 Corporation Street – from Victoria Square to its junction with Hall Street – would be one-way only for outgoing traffic.
Incoming vehicles from the Higher Parr Street end would be channelled first into Hall Street and then into Bickerstaffe Street until it meets Victoria Square.
The scheme would also mean that the bus stands in the centre of Victoria Square (pictured above) would be removed.
Some would be relocated around its edge, while other shelters would be placed further down Corporation Street.
Do you recall the clunky 8-track music cartridges that were popular during the 1970s?
The players were mainly used in cars as they played in an endless loop and didn't need flipping over like music cassettes – although you could not rewind them.
This week Dingle Belles opened their new store in St Helens and in their advert claimed to have the largest selection of pre-recorded cartridges and cassettes in Lancashire.
The "car accessories and spares supermarket" at 121 / 123 Liverpool Road (next door to the Liverpool Arms) also sold quadrophonic in car-entertainment using four speakers.
The Reporter also described how girls had "swept the board" at a public speaking contest organised by the St Helens Junior Chamber of Commerce, leaving the six male entrants well behind.
The team prize went to Janina Gravener and Margaret Friar – both from Parr and representing Cowley Girls School – and the individual prize was presented to Kathryn Harrison from Notre Dame. All the girls were aged 15.
For over three decades pig breeder Tom Hunter had operated on a smallholding off Hoghton Road in Sutton and until a few days ago had 400 pigs.
But swine vesicular disease had broken out among his herd and they'd all now been slaughtered to reduce the risk of the infection spreading.
Tom told the Reporter: "It's taken me 30 years to build the place up – then suddenly I'm out of business."
Schoolboy Stephen Brown was praised for his prompt action in rousing his parents and then racing to a telephone box to call the fire brigade when the kitchen of his Blackbrook home caught fire.
A paraffin heater had started the blaze at Stephen's home in Frodsham Drive and the kitchen was completely ruined.
A claim by an unnamed Sunday newspaper that St Helens spent less on elderly folk than any other council in the country was refuted in the Reporter.
St Helens was said to spend on its "old people" just £11 per 1,000 persons, compared to ten London boroughs that each spent between £900 and £2,500 per thousand.
But a treasurers' association said the figures were misleading, as they excluded the money spent on residential accommodation and home helps.
And as the percentage of over 65s within the St Helens population at 12.2% was less than the national average, it was expected that less would be spent on the elderly.
Childcare provision in St Helens was still very sketchy in the early 1970s and in the few places where playgroups existed, volunteers tended to run them.
Any new playgroup that the Reporter described needed to have an explanation of its purpose.
And so in describing how a new group was opening in January at the Hall Street Baptist Church, its organiser Veronica Whitfield stated that the main reason for starting it was to provide a "bridge" for children between their early lives at home and the atmosphere of school.
Mrs Whitfield from Sutton Heath added: "We want to give them some experience outside so that starting school will be easier."
Mothers visiting St Helens would be able to leave their children at the pre-school playgroup so that they could concentrate on their shopping.
On the 8th the Bishop of Liverpool visited St Helens to open the new St Paul's Church in Blackbrook.
Most of the cash to build it had come from weekly envelopes from parishioners with the Rev. John Bronnert commenting: "Everyone has worked very hard to see the church finished."
And during the evening of the 8th, the London Mozart Orchestra performed at the Theatre Royal as part of the theatre's prestigious International Concert Series.
Tickets were usually snapped up for these annual performances many weeks in advance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a public inquiry into Leathers Chemicals, Silcock's offer to light up St Helens' Christmas trees, the sinister disappearance of cats in Rainhill and there's a facelift for the Fleece and a revamp for the Raven.
We begin on the 5th at the Theatre Royal when the Northern Dance Orchestra was in concert.
On the following evening the Liverpool country band the Hillsiders performed again in Corporation Street, along with comic Tom O’Connor.
The former Bootle maths and music teacher was a regular in St Helens after his appearances on the TV show 'The Comedians' that had begun in 1971.
The national power and fuel crisis was worsening and impacting on the run up to Christmas.
This week Billinge Council’s Environment Committee discussed whether three 25 ft Christmas trees should be erected in the village as a result of the Government's ban on display lighting.
The committee’s chairman, Councillor Allan Daly, said: "I think we will be breaking the law if we light the trees this year".
However, Cllr. Bert Sullivan said: "I think the children would be disappointed if we didn't have the trees."
And Cllr. Alan Atherton commented: "I move we put up the trees without light and put presents on them instead."
It was later reported that one in ten street lamps in Billinge would not be lit during the crisis.
On the 7th the St Helens Reporter described the difficulties at the petrol pumps with queues half-a-mile long reported at some garages:
"Greedy motorists who tour the St. Helens pumps on the big petrol scrounge were on the road to self-destruction, say angry garage owners.
"Tired and harassed after a week of forecourt frustration, they've hit [out] at the petrol sharks who have shamed the town.
"Stories of drivers throwing tantrums and demanding more than their fair share are filtering from the filling stations.
"Some motorists have even posed as doctors to get more petrol. Now garage owners have warned motorists to keep calm, cool and collected – and don't be mean."
Winifred Walsh was the wife of car body repairs specialist Joe Walsh of Sherdley Road and she made the pages of the Reporter after being the victim of a robbery.
Jewellery and cash worth £1,400 (£20,000 in today's money) had been stolen from Mrs Walsh's car after she'd parked it at the Seven Stars pub in Eccleston.
And why had she been out and about with her valuables? Well, Mrs Walsh told the Reporter that when she was away from home all day she liked to have her worldly goods with her "for safe keeping".
Let's hope the police managed to recover the items, as I don't think her insurance company would have been very impressed!
The Reporter briefly described how a syndicate of ten workers at William Neill's engineering works in Bold had won almost £40,000 on Vernons Pools. "Secret 10 Win Pools Fortune" was their headline.
That's around £60,000 each in today's money. But the men had inserted the “X” for no publicity on their football coupon, denying the Reporter a celebratory photo and big write-up.
The paper also reported how three major road improvements were to be carried out soon in St Helens to reduce congestion. The first was a road-widening scheme for Chancery Lane in Parr.
Within a few weeks some derelict properties in the street would be demolished. That would allow room for a broader carriageway to be created between Nunn Street and a point near Boardmans Lane. At present a build up of stationary cars and buses was causing a bottleneck.
The second project involved resurfacing work on the 2½-mile stretch of the East Lancs near St Helens.
The scheme would take about nine months to complete and involve one of the carriageways having to be closed while work took place.
The final improvement, which was awaiting government approval, involved the replacement of the 19th century railway bridge in Clock Face Road.
The present bridge only had a single lane controlled by traffic lights. But the new one would have two through lanes with an additional one allowing incoming vehicles to turn left into Gartons Lane.
There were also planned extensions to the one-way system in St Helens. By Easter 1974 Corporation Street – from Victoria Square to its junction with Hall Street – would be one-way only for outgoing traffic.
Incoming vehicles from the Higher Parr Street end would be channelled first into Hall Street and then into Bickerstaffe Street until it meets Victoria Square.
Some would be relocated around its edge, while other shelters would be placed further down Corporation Street.
Do you recall the clunky 8-track music cartridges that were popular during the 1970s?
The players were mainly used in cars as they played in an endless loop and didn't need flipping over like music cassettes – although you could not rewind them.
This week Dingle Belles opened their new store in St Helens and in their advert claimed to have the largest selection of pre-recorded cartridges and cassettes in Lancashire.
The "car accessories and spares supermarket" at 121 / 123 Liverpool Road (next door to the Liverpool Arms) also sold quadrophonic in car-entertainment using four speakers.
The Reporter also described how girls had "swept the board" at a public speaking contest organised by the St Helens Junior Chamber of Commerce, leaving the six male entrants well behind.
The team prize went to Janina Gravener and Margaret Friar – both from Parr and representing Cowley Girls School – and the individual prize was presented to Kathryn Harrison from Notre Dame. All the girls were aged 15.
For over three decades pig breeder Tom Hunter had operated on a smallholding off Hoghton Road in Sutton and until a few days ago had 400 pigs.
But swine vesicular disease had broken out among his herd and they'd all now been slaughtered to reduce the risk of the infection spreading.
Tom told the Reporter: "It's taken me 30 years to build the place up – then suddenly I'm out of business."
Schoolboy Stephen Brown was praised for his prompt action in rousing his parents and then racing to a telephone box to call the fire brigade when the kitchen of his Blackbrook home caught fire.
A paraffin heater had started the blaze at Stephen's home in Frodsham Drive and the kitchen was completely ruined.
A claim by an unnamed Sunday newspaper that St Helens spent less on elderly folk than any other council in the country was refuted in the Reporter.
St Helens was said to spend on its "old people" just £11 per 1,000 persons, compared to ten London boroughs that each spent between £900 and £2,500 per thousand.
But a treasurers' association said the figures were misleading, as they excluded the money spent on residential accommodation and home helps.
And as the percentage of over 65s within the St Helens population at 12.2% was less than the national average, it was expected that less would be spent on the elderly.
Childcare provision in St Helens was still very sketchy in the early 1970s and in the few places where playgroups existed, volunteers tended to run them.
Any new playgroup that the Reporter described needed to have an explanation of its purpose.
And so in describing how a new group was opening in January at the Hall Street Baptist Church, its organiser Veronica Whitfield stated that the main reason for starting it was to provide a "bridge" for children between their early lives at home and the atmosphere of school.
Mrs Whitfield from Sutton Heath added: "We want to give them some experience outside so that starting school will be easier."
Mothers visiting St Helens would be able to leave their children at the pre-school playgroup so that they could concentrate on their shopping.
On the 8th the Bishop of Liverpool visited St Helens to open the new St Paul's Church in Blackbrook.
Most of the cash to build it had come from weekly envelopes from parishioners with the Rev. John Bronnert commenting: "Everyone has worked very hard to see the church finished."
And during the evening of the 8th, the London Mozart Orchestra performed at the Theatre Royal as part of the theatre's prestigious International Concert Series.
Tickets were usually snapped up for these annual performances many weeks in advance.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include a public inquiry into Leathers Chemicals, Silcock's offer to light up St Helens' Christmas trees, the sinister disappearance of cats in Rainhill and there's a facelift for the Fleece and a revamp for the Raven.