FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 6 - 12 APRIL 1976
This week's many stories include the huge cuts that were planned for Moss Bank and Rainhill buses, a woman joining the board of Lennon's is made into a big news story, the Reporter's Miss St Helens contest, criticism of the lack of road signs in Eccleston and British Sidac go into the red – but there's hope for Todd Steels.
We begin with a court victory for a Hoylake man against Lennon's supermarkets of St Helens. The firm kept wine stores in Market Street in Hoylake but in order to access them, Lennon's 20ft-long delivery vehicles needed to back down a narrow passageway at the side of Roy Lewis' house.
In January the 49-year-old plumber got so annoyed by the noise and what he claimed were the wagons damaging his wall as they went down the alley, that he fixed a cart wheel to the side of his home. It only jutted out 7 inches but it was enough to prevent the 8 feet 4 inches wide vehicles from backing down the entry.
Instead, the lorry drivers needed to laboriously carry their deliveries down the 9ft wide, 22ft long alley. Lennon's took the case to the High Court seeking an injunction to order Mr Lewis to remove his wheel. But the judge dismissed their application saying the defendant had every right to protect his property.
On the 7th a meeting took place between senior Labour councillors in St Helens and transport bosses to discuss plans by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive to slash bus services in the town. MPTE said loss of subsidies was why cuts amounting to 136,000 miles a year of bus travel needed to be imposed, primarily in Moss Bank and Rainhill. The council delegation was described as having been shocked by the extent of the proposed cuts and Moss Bank councillor Pat Ashton presented the MPTE officials with alternative plans that they said they would consider.
The cellulose filmmaker British Sidac announced a £1.3 million loss in their annual results which were published this week, compared to profits of £2.4 million in the previous year. But Sidac said they were confident that now the recession was over, business was looking up.
"We've been through a bad patch – and now we're pulling out of it," said Group Chief Accountant Charles Mason this week. During the summer of 1975 and for a fortnight at Christmas, the factory in Lancots Lane had closed for a month to help the company shift stock and a number of redundancies had also taken place.
It was a front-page story in the Reporter that a woman had become a director of Lennon's. "Beryl Joins The Board", was the headline. Beryl Hanks of Hoghton Road in Sutton had been made the firm's first female director, 27 years after she had joined the firm as a bookkeeper. Mrs Hanks said she was "absolutely thrilled" and said it had been a big step forward for her to join the all-male board.
And two St Helens women were key figures this week in what the Reporter called "Merseyside's first battle of the Sex Equality Act." At a Liverpool industrial tribunal, Lillian Wellends of Kentmere Avenue in Carr Mill and Millie Owen of Regal Drive in Windle – along with three other women – claimed pay parity with their male colleagues in the quality control department of Kraft Foods in Kirkby. The women claimed that although in some cases their jobs carried more responsibility than the men in their department, they received £12 less per week. The tribunal's decision would be made at a later date.
There was a picture in the Reporter of Liverpool football star Jimmy Case who had visited St Helens Town FC to open their newly extended lounge. And two students from St Helens College were praised after volunteering to help Age Concern produce a newspaper for elderly persons in the town.
Gary Owen and Malcolm Turner had provided all the artwork for the paper, including a comic strip. The newspaper was going to be circulated free to pensioners through clubs, libraries and other places where the elderly met.
The Reporter stated that almost 500 youngsters were now on the dole in St Helens, with half that number 16-year-olds that would be leaving school that week. St Helens Career Officer, Derek Brown, said: "There is a terrible shortage of jobs for youngsters at the moment. This new influx of unemployed school-leavers is aggravating a very difficult situation."
If you recall, colour TV sets in the 1970s used to be quite heavy and bulky things. In a court hearing this week it was reported that when two juveniles broke into a house in Ada Street and found a TV set too heavy for them to carry away, one of them went to his brother's house to ask him to give them a hand! Their case was adjourned until April.
In February the St Helens Reporter had described how a "feverish round of negotiations" was taking place in a bid to save the parent company of the historic St Helens firm of Todd Steels. British Steel Construction (Birmingham) Ltd was the owner of both Todd Steels' St Helens and Widnes plants and was currently in financial trouble.
Then in March the paper stated that Todd Steels had gone into receivership, with the longstanding firm that employed about 100 people in St Helens hoping to be sold. This week the Reporter said shop floor and management workers at Todd's factory had now been told that the firm's survival chances were looking good. Several people were said to be interested in running it as a going concern and Todd's was still trading and receiving orders.
"Free Beer If You Run For It!", was the headline in the Reporter to a story about Rainford Charities fundraising pub crawl. The annual sponsored event was taking place this year on April 25th in which men supped half-a-pint of best bitter in ten pubs and clubs, while the ladies drank six halves. The funds raised this year would go towards providing a kidney machine.
The Reporter described how Eccleston parish councillors were angry over a Merseyside county decision not to provide the village with signs. At the annual parish meeting held this week, Councillor Ray Crosby said: "Planning Committee policy is not to signpost old areas, but it seems to me that a place like Eccleston, which is older than St. Helens itself should be recognised in some way. I do not see why we should become just another anonymous conglomeration."
The Reporter was running a Miss St Helens contest that was open to all females living in the borough aged from 16 to 26. In order to enter the competition, women needed to telephone the Reporter and book a photography session, with the winning young lady promised a "fat cheque", a continental holiday for two and a grooming course at a top modelling school. Cynics might say it was little more than an excuse to have a batch of attractive young women pictured in the paper each week!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the sacking of Windle Labour Club's bar staff, protests over plans to close St Helens Hospital's A&E at night, Haydock Cottage Hospital is set to close and the Sutton choirboys that planned to raise money sitting in bins.
In January the 49-year-old plumber got so annoyed by the noise and what he claimed were the wagons damaging his wall as they went down the alley, that he fixed a cart wheel to the side of his home. It only jutted out 7 inches but it was enough to prevent the 8 feet 4 inches wide vehicles from backing down the entry.
Instead, the lorry drivers needed to laboriously carry their deliveries down the 9ft wide, 22ft long alley. Lennon's took the case to the High Court seeking an injunction to order Mr Lewis to remove his wheel. But the judge dismissed their application saying the defendant had every right to protect his property.
On the 7th a meeting took place between senior Labour councillors in St Helens and transport bosses to discuss plans by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive to slash bus services in the town. MPTE said loss of subsidies was why cuts amounting to 136,000 miles a year of bus travel needed to be imposed, primarily in Moss Bank and Rainhill. The council delegation was described as having been shocked by the extent of the proposed cuts and Moss Bank councillor Pat Ashton presented the MPTE officials with alternative plans that they said they would consider.
"We've been through a bad patch – and now we're pulling out of it," said Group Chief Accountant Charles Mason this week. During the summer of 1975 and for a fortnight at Christmas, the factory in Lancots Lane had closed for a month to help the company shift stock and a number of redundancies had also taken place.
It was a front-page story in the Reporter that a woman had become a director of Lennon's. "Beryl Joins The Board", was the headline. Beryl Hanks of Hoghton Road in Sutton had been made the firm's first female director, 27 years after she had joined the firm as a bookkeeper. Mrs Hanks said she was "absolutely thrilled" and said it had been a big step forward for her to join the all-male board.
And two St Helens women were key figures this week in what the Reporter called "Merseyside's first battle of the Sex Equality Act." At a Liverpool industrial tribunal, Lillian Wellends of Kentmere Avenue in Carr Mill and Millie Owen of Regal Drive in Windle – along with three other women – claimed pay parity with their male colleagues in the quality control department of Kraft Foods in Kirkby. The women claimed that although in some cases their jobs carried more responsibility than the men in their department, they received £12 less per week. The tribunal's decision would be made at a later date.
There was a picture in the Reporter of Liverpool football star Jimmy Case who had visited St Helens Town FC to open their newly extended lounge. And two students from St Helens College were praised after volunteering to help Age Concern produce a newspaper for elderly persons in the town.
Gary Owen and Malcolm Turner had provided all the artwork for the paper, including a comic strip. The newspaper was going to be circulated free to pensioners through clubs, libraries and other places where the elderly met.
The Reporter stated that almost 500 youngsters were now on the dole in St Helens, with half that number 16-year-olds that would be leaving school that week. St Helens Career Officer, Derek Brown, said: "There is a terrible shortage of jobs for youngsters at the moment. This new influx of unemployed school-leavers is aggravating a very difficult situation."
If you recall, colour TV sets in the 1970s used to be quite heavy and bulky things. In a court hearing this week it was reported that when two juveniles broke into a house in Ada Street and found a TV set too heavy for them to carry away, one of them went to his brother's house to ask him to give them a hand! Their case was adjourned until April.
In February the St Helens Reporter had described how a "feverish round of negotiations" was taking place in a bid to save the parent company of the historic St Helens firm of Todd Steels. British Steel Construction (Birmingham) Ltd was the owner of both Todd Steels' St Helens and Widnes plants and was currently in financial trouble.
Then in March the paper stated that Todd Steels had gone into receivership, with the longstanding firm that employed about 100 people in St Helens hoping to be sold. This week the Reporter said shop floor and management workers at Todd's factory had now been told that the firm's survival chances were looking good. Several people were said to be interested in running it as a going concern and Todd's was still trading and receiving orders.
"Free Beer If You Run For It!", was the headline in the Reporter to a story about Rainford Charities fundraising pub crawl. The annual sponsored event was taking place this year on April 25th in which men supped half-a-pint of best bitter in ten pubs and clubs, while the ladies drank six halves. The funds raised this year would go towards providing a kidney machine.
The Reporter described how Eccleston parish councillors were angry over a Merseyside county decision not to provide the village with signs. At the annual parish meeting held this week, Councillor Ray Crosby said: "Planning Committee policy is not to signpost old areas, but it seems to me that a place like Eccleston, which is older than St. Helens itself should be recognised in some way. I do not see why we should become just another anonymous conglomeration."
The Reporter was running a Miss St Helens contest that was open to all females living in the borough aged from 16 to 26. In order to enter the competition, women needed to telephone the Reporter and book a photography session, with the winning young lady promised a "fat cheque", a continental holiday for two and a grooming course at a top modelling school. Cynics might say it was little more than an excuse to have a batch of attractive young women pictured in the paper each week!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the sacking of Windle Labour Club's bar staff, protests over plans to close St Helens Hospital's A&E at night, Haydock Cottage Hospital is set to close and the Sutton choirboys that planned to raise money sitting in bins.
This week's many stories include the huge cuts that were planned for Moss Bank and Rainhill buses, a woman joining the board of Lennon's is made into a big news story, the Reporter's Miss St Helens contest, criticism of the lack of road signs in Eccleston and British Sidac go into the red – but there's hope for Todd Steels.
We begin with a court victory for a Hoylake man against Lennon's supermarkets of St Helens.
The firm kept wine stores in Market Street in Hoylake but in order to access them, Lennon's 20ft-long delivery vehicles needed to back down a narrow passageway at the side of Roy Lewis' house.
In January the 49-year-old plumber got so annoyed by the noise and what he claimed were the wagons damaging his wall as they went down the alley, that he fixed a cart wheel to the side of his home.
It only jutted out 7 inches but it was enough to prevent the 8 feet 4 inches wide vehicles from backing down the entry.
Instead, the lorry drivers needed to laboriously carry their deliveries down the 9ft wide, 22ft long alley.
Lennon's took the case to the High Court seeking an injunction to order Mr Lewis to remove his wheel.
But the judge dismissed their application saying the defendant had every right to protect his property.
On the 7th a meeting took place between senior Labour councillors in St Helens and transport bosses to discuss plans by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive to slash bus services in the town.
MPTE said loss of subsidies was why cuts amounting to 136,000 miles a year of bus travel needed to be imposed, primarily in Moss Bank and Rainhill.
The council delegation was described as having been shocked by the extent of the proposed cuts and Moss Bank councillor Pat Ashton presented the MPTE officials with alternative plans that they said they would consider.
The cellulose filmmaker British Sidac announced a £1.3 million loss in their annual results which were published this week, compared to profits of £2.4 million in the previous year.
But Sidac said they were confident that now the recession was over, business was looking up.
"We've been through a bad patch – and now we're pulling out of it," said Group Chief Accountant Charles Mason this week.
During the summer of 1975 and for a fortnight at Christmas, the factory in Lancots Lane had closed for a month to help the company shift stock and a number of redundancies had also taken place.
It was a front-page story in the Reporter that a woman had become a director of Lennon's. "Beryl Joins The Board", was the headline.
Beryl Hanks of Hoghton Road in Sutton had been made the firm's first female director, 27 years after she had joined the firm as a bookkeeper.
Mrs Hanks said she was "absolutely thrilled" and said it had been a big step forward for her to join the all-male board.
And two St Helens women were key figures this week in what the Reporter called "Merseyside's first battle of the Sex Equality Act."
At a Liverpool industrial tribunal, Lillian Wellends of Kentmere Avenue in Carr Mill and Millie Owen of Regal Drive in Windle – along with three other women – claimed pay parity with their male colleagues in the quality control department of Kraft Foods in Kirkby.
The women claimed that although in some cases their jobs carried more responsibility than the men in their department, they received £12 less per week. The tribunal's decision would be made at a later date.
There was a picture in the Reporter of Liverpool football star Jimmy Case who had visited St Helens Town FC to open their newly extended lounge.
And two students from St Helens College were praised after volunteering to help Age Concern produce a newspaper for elderly persons in the town.
Gary Owen and Malcolm Turner had provided all the artwork for the paper, including a comic strip.
The newspaper was going to be circulated free to pensioners through clubs, libraries and other places where the elderly met.
The Reporter stated that almost 500 youngsters were now on the dole in St Helens, with half that number 16-year-olds that would be leaving school that week.
St Helens Career Officer, Derek Brown, said: "There is a terrible shortage of jobs for youngsters at the moment. This new influx of unemployed school-leavers is aggravating a very difficult situation."
If you recall, colour TV sets in the 1970s used to be quite heavy and bulky things.
In a court hearing this week it was reported that when two juveniles broke into a house in Ada Street and found a TV set too heavy for them to carry away, one of them went to his brother's house to ask him to give them a hand! Their case was adjourned until April.
In February the St Helens Reporter had described how a "feverish round of negotiations" was taking place in a bid to save the parent company of the historic St Helens firm of Todd Steels.
British Steel Construction (Birmingham) Ltd was the owner of both Todd Steels' St Helens and Widnes plants and was currently in financial trouble.
Then in March the paper stated that Todd Steels had gone into receivership, with the longstanding firm that employed about 100 people in St Helens hoping to be sold.
This week the Reporter said shop floor and management workers at Todd's factory had now been told that the firm's survival chances were looking good.
Several people were said to be interested in running it as a going concern and Todd's was still trading and receiving orders.
"Free Beer If You Run For It!", was the headline in the Reporter to a story about Rainford Charities fundraising pub crawl.
The annual sponsored event was taking place this year on April 25th in which men supped half-a-pint of best bitter in ten pubs and clubs, while the ladies drank six halves.
The funds raised this year would go towards providing a kidney machine.
The Reporter described how Eccleston parish councillors were angry over a Merseyside county decision not to provide the village with signs.
At the annual parish meeting held this week, Councillor Ray Crosby said:
"Planning Committee policy is not to signpost old areas, but it seems to me that a place like Eccleston, which is older than St. Helens itself should be recognised in some way. I do not see why we should become just another anonymous conglomeration."
The Reporter was running a Miss St Helens contest that was open to all females living in the borough aged from 16 to 26.
In order to enter the competition, women needed to telephone the Reporter and book a photography session, with the winning young lady promised a "fat cheque", a continental holiday for two and a grooming course at a top modelling school.
Cynics might say it was little more than an excuse to have a batch of attractive young women pictured in the paper each week!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the sacking of Windle Labour Club's bar staff, protests over plans to close St Helens Hospital's A&E at night, Haydock Cottage Hospital is set to close and the Sutton choirboys that planned to raise money sitting in bins.
We begin with a court victory for a Hoylake man against Lennon's supermarkets of St Helens.
The firm kept wine stores in Market Street in Hoylake but in order to access them, Lennon's 20ft-long delivery vehicles needed to back down a narrow passageway at the side of Roy Lewis' house.
In January the 49-year-old plumber got so annoyed by the noise and what he claimed were the wagons damaging his wall as they went down the alley, that he fixed a cart wheel to the side of his home.
It only jutted out 7 inches but it was enough to prevent the 8 feet 4 inches wide vehicles from backing down the entry.
Instead, the lorry drivers needed to laboriously carry their deliveries down the 9ft wide, 22ft long alley.
Lennon's took the case to the High Court seeking an injunction to order Mr Lewis to remove his wheel.
But the judge dismissed their application saying the defendant had every right to protect his property.
On the 7th a meeting took place between senior Labour councillors in St Helens and transport bosses to discuss plans by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive to slash bus services in the town.
MPTE said loss of subsidies was why cuts amounting to 136,000 miles a year of bus travel needed to be imposed, primarily in Moss Bank and Rainhill.
The council delegation was described as having been shocked by the extent of the proposed cuts and Moss Bank councillor Pat Ashton presented the MPTE officials with alternative plans that they said they would consider.
But Sidac said they were confident that now the recession was over, business was looking up.
"We've been through a bad patch – and now we're pulling out of it," said Group Chief Accountant Charles Mason this week.
During the summer of 1975 and for a fortnight at Christmas, the factory in Lancots Lane had closed for a month to help the company shift stock and a number of redundancies had also taken place.
Beryl Hanks of Hoghton Road in Sutton had been made the firm's first female director, 27 years after she had joined the firm as a bookkeeper.
Mrs Hanks said she was "absolutely thrilled" and said it had been a big step forward for her to join the all-male board.
And two St Helens women were key figures this week in what the Reporter called "Merseyside's first battle of the Sex Equality Act."
At a Liverpool industrial tribunal, Lillian Wellends of Kentmere Avenue in Carr Mill and Millie Owen of Regal Drive in Windle – along with three other women – claimed pay parity with their male colleagues in the quality control department of Kraft Foods in Kirkby.
The women claimed that although in some cases their jobs carried more responsibility than the men in their department, they received £12 less per week. The tribunal's decision would be made at a later date.
There was a picture in the Reporter of Liverpool football star Jimmy Case who had visited St Helens Town FC to open their newly extended lounge.
And two students from St Helens College were praised after volunteering to help Age Concern produce a newspaper for elderly persons in the town.
Gary Owen and Malcolm Turner had provided all the artwork for the paper, including a comic strip.
The newspaper was going to be circulated free to pensioners through clubs, libraries and other places where the elderly met.
The Reporter stated that almost 500 youngsters were now on the dole in St Helens, with half that number 16-year-olds that would be leaving school that week.
St Helens Career Officer, Derek Brown, said: "There is a terrible shortage of jobs for youngsters at the moment. This new influx of unemployed school-leavers is aggravating a very difficult situation."
If you recall, colour TV sets in the 1970s used to be quite heavy and bulky things.
In a court hearing this week it was reported that when two juveniles broke into a house in Ada Street and found a TV set too heavy for them to carry away, one of them went to his brother's house to ask him to give them a hand! Their case was adjourned until April.
In February the St Helens Reporter had described how a "feverish round of negotiations" was taking place in a bid to save the parent company of the historic St Helens firm of Todd Steels.
British Steel Construction (Birmingham) Ltd was the owner of both Todd Steels' St Helens and Widnes plants and was currently in financial trouble.
Then in March the paper stated that Todd Steels had gone into receivership, with the longstanding firm that employed about 100 people in St Helens hoping to be sold.
This week the Reporter said shop floor and management workers at Todd's factory had now been told that the firm's survival chances were looking good.
Several people were said to be interested in running it as a going concern and Todd's was still trading and receiving orders.
"Free Beer If You Run For It!", was the headline in the Reporter to a story about Rainford Charities fundraising pub crawl.
The annual sponsored event was taking place this year on April 25th in which men supped half-a-pint of best bitter in ten pubs and clubs, while the ladies drank six halves.
The funds raised this year would go towards providing a kidney machine.
The Reporter described how Eccleston parish councillors were angry over a Merseyside county decision not to provide the village with signs.
At the annual parish meeting held this week, Councillor Ray Crosby said:
"Planning Committee policy is not to signpost old areas, but it seems to me that a place like Eccleston, which is older than St. Helens itself should be recognised in some way. I do not see why we should become just another anonymous conglomeration."
The Reporter was running a Miss St Helens contest that was open to all females living in the borough aged from 16 to 26.
In order to enter the competition, women needed to telephone the Reporter and book a photography session, with the winning young lady promised a "fat cheque", a continental holiday for two and a grooming course at a top modelling school.
Cynics might say it was little more than an excuse to have a batch of attractive young women pictured in the paper each week!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the sacking of Windle Labour Club's bar staff, protests over plans to close St Helens Hospital's A&E at night, Haydock Cottage Hospital is set to close and the Sutton choirboys that planned to raise money sitting in bins.