FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (6th - 12th May 1969)
This week's stories include a bomb hoax in Rainford, an American boy gets in a pickle in Blackbrook, the end is in sight for gas lamps in St Helens, there's criticism of the town's only council nursery, the Westfield Street redevelopment begins and there's disgust at lorries on the new Sutton Heath housing estate.
We begin on the 6th when the Liverpool Echo reported that blue paint had been poured over six cars parked in Glover Street in St Helens. Five of them belonged to firemen employed in Pilkington's works brigade and the men had now decided to mount a guard over the cars parked outside their homes.
One of the men, Michael Halsall, said: "It's not the first time that cars have been attacked in this area. So now, we are going to keep watch on them ourselves."
Recently there had been a bomb hoax at the Plaza after someone had rung the fire brigade and claimed a device had been left inside the Duke Street club. A similar event occurred at Rainford Secondary School on the 6th when a caller claimed that a bomb had been planted inside the building.
The pupils and staff had to stand in the schoolyard in the pouring rain for almost half an hour while a search took place. However the head allowed the wet kids and their teachers to go home for a long lunch break in order to dry out.
They returned to their lessons at 2pm, nearly three hours after the school secretary had received the anonymous phone call. Such hoaxes were not yet commonplace and the Reporter's detailed front-page coverage of the incident seems out of place today as it could well have encouraged copycat calls.
Haydock Male Voice Choir and Tony Green's Trio performed at Haydock Labour Club No 1 on the 7th in front of 250 people with £20 raised for the NSPCC.
The 8th was local election day in St Helens and one of the town's youngest-ever candidates was John Ashall, who was standing in the West Sutton ward. The 21-year-old represented the Conservatives against Councillor Ronald Halsall.
Both the Tories and the Liberals gained a seat from Labour, although the latter still dominated the council with 23 seats. The Conservatives had 10, Liberals 6 and an Independent 1.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 9th began: "St Helens, a thriving County Borough with a population of 103,000 has only one day-nursery provided by the council. Only 40 children are catered for and at the moment there is a long waiting list.
"People wanting their children to attend have to wait between 12 and 18 months. The nursery is in a Victorian-style house in Hill Street. Its facilities are Dickensian and there are no immediate plans for relieving the situation."
The paper reported that fifteen years earlier plans had been drawn up for a new building. However each time the council had contacted the Government, they were told that no money was available.
Margaret Ephgrave, the matron of the nursery, complained to the Reporter that the council had been able to obtain plenty of cash from the Government for ring roads and schools but not for a new nursery. Its cost, she said, would only be a drop in the ocean compared to other expensive schemes. "The situation here is ridiculous", added Miss Ephgrave.
A highly critical letter from a resident on the new Sutton Heath council estate was published in the paper. The anonymous writer said he / she was disgusted by the fact that night after night six and eight wheeler lorries were parked in Harlow Close leaving the road covered in diesel oil. The letter said: "We have been re-housed from slum areas, but I have never been in so much dirt and untidiness."
Another writer complained of the two and three storey flats that had been built in recent years in St Helens, saying it was "sickening to see toddlers cooped up" and adding: "I have pleasant memories of when I was a school child, when my friends and myself used to go out after breakfast to play in a field and we stayed out until after tea time. What memories will the young children of today have to think about?"
The Reporter also revealed that St Helens still had around six hundred gas lamps dispersed around the town. However the council had applied for a government loan to enable them to replace the lamps with an all-electric lighting system. If the loan was received, it was expected that the scheme could be completed by the end of 1970.
There was also a report in the paper on how an American boy staying with relatives in Link Avenue, off Blackbrook Road, had got himself into a bit of a pickle. Somehow 4-year-old Michael Carson had got his head wedged between two adjoining garages in Chain Lane.
The fire brigade was called and they wrapped a rope around one of the corrugated steel garages and heaved hard. The garage eased sufficiently away from Michael's head and he was able to pull himself free. The boy was taken to Providence Hospital but was discharged after receiving treatment for some abrasions to his ears.
Pictured in the Reporter were members of Clock Face Sunday School Choir, who had won the Henry Bennett Shield for the second year running. The choir's ages ranged from nine to twelve and they had been awarded 92 marks out of 100 for their performance in a recent festival.
Robert Dickie from Rookery Drive in Rainford was pictured receiving his silver Duke of Edinburgh award from the Mayor, Tom Forshaw. The 17-year-old was one of a record 94 St Helens teenagers who received their awards at the Town Hall.
A loco driver at Bold Colliery (shown above) was also pictured in the Reporter receiving a cheque for £1,500 from DJ Pete Murray. Tom Hooper from Moss Lane in Parr had travelled to London to receive his prize after coming first in the Winning Post racing competition organised by the Spastics Society.
The Reporter also stated that plans were going ahead for the opening of a new coal face in Bold Colliery's four feet seam. This would replace the worked out south dip face that had been badly damaged by crude oil seeping in from surrounding rock formations.
There was also a report on the Westfield Street redevelopment scheme, which was set to cost £844,000 (about £14m in today's money). Preparations for this had now begun on the near 5-acre site known as the Westfield Street triangle, which had been derelict for eight years.
This is the area that became known as St Thomas Square or Westpoint and which is currently receiving another redevelopment. Workmen's huts had recently sprung up on the site and it was now fenced off ready for work to begin in earnest. This would create many flats and maisonettes and a pub was also planned.
Two-dozen Czechs were in St Helens on a training programme at Pilkington's, learning how to operate their float glass process. One man had left his wallet containing £50 in a shop but had it safely returned to him on the following day. That's around £800 in present day money and I can't help wondering how many people would be so honest today?
St Helens magistrates were told on the 9th that a supermarket manager in Bridge Street had found "complete chaos" upon opening up on the 20th April. A total of £566 worth of damage had been done – almost £10,000 in today's money. A 17-year-old lad from Park Road was charged with committing unlawful damage to foodstuffs, clothing, tins of paint and electrical fittings.
He pleaded guilty and also admitted stealing a total of 8,500 cigarettes, 2,083 trading stamps, a clock, a clothesline and three buttering knives. The case was adjourned for a medical report.
Youngsters participating on sponsored walks to Southport were regular events during the late Sixties. Sacred Heart Youth Club put their best food forward on the 10th, with proceeds from their walk going to the Lourdes Sick Fund.
The 1958 sci-fi classic 'The Blob' starring Steve McQueen began a four-day run at the Capitol cinema on the 11th.
On the following day firemen rushed to a building site in Blackbrook Road after a gas cylinder burst into flames. A spark was thought to have been the cause but workmen were able to smother the flames using earth.
On the same day the Liverpool Echo reported that Redgate Boys Silver Band would be leaving for Frankfurt in a few weeks time to compete in the International World Festival of Music. The average age of the boys was fourteen and their conductor Leo Murphy would be accompanying them.
The band certainly got about in an age when international travel was not as widespread as today. In the past the youngsters had toured Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. Recently the band and St Helens Girls Choir had made their first LP, a live recording of a performance at St Helens Town Hall.
Next week's stories will include more on the Reginald Road gipsies, Brian Harrison's murderer is convicted, there is a public inquiry into clearance orders in College Street and Gerards Bridge, a dramatic chase in Hardshaw Street, denials of religious discrimination in Rainford and the prospect of Sunday sport in Haydock.
We begin on the 6th when the Liverpool Echo reported that blue paint had been poured over six cars parked in Glover Street in St Helens. Five of them belonged to firemen employed in Pilkington's works brigade and the men had now decided to mount a guard over the cars parked outside their homes.
One of the men, Michael Halsall, said: "It's not the first time that cars have been attacked in this area. So now, we are going to keep watch on them ourselves."
Recently there had been a bomb hoax at the Plaza after someone had rung the fire brigade and claimed a device had been left inside the Duke Street club. A similar event occurred at Rainford Secondary School on the 6th when a caller claimed that a bomb had been planted inside the building.
The pupils and staff had to stand in the schoolyard in the pouring rain for almost half an hour while a search took place. However the head allowed the wet kids and their teachers to go home for a long lunch break in order to dry out.
They returned to their lessons at 2pm, nearly three hours after the school secretary had received the anonymous phone call. Such hoaxes were not yet commonplace and the Reporter's detailed front-page coverage of the incident seems out of place today as it could well have encouraged copycat calls.
Haydock Male Voice Choir and Tony Green's Trio performed at Haydock Labour Club No 1 on the 7th in front of 250 people with £20 raised for the NSPCC.
The 8th was local election day in St Helens and one of the town's youngest-ever candidates was John Ashall, who was standing in the West Sutton ward. The 21-year-old represented the Conservatives against Councillor Ronald Halsall.
Both the Tories and the Liberals gained a seat from Labour, although the latter still dominated the council with 23 seats. The Conservatives had 10, Liberals 6 and an Independent 1.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 9th began: "St Helens, a thriving County Borough with a population of 103,000 has only one day-nursery provided by the council. Only 40 children are catered for and at the moment there is a long waiting list.
"People wanting their children to attend have to wait between 12 and 18 months. The nursery is in a Victorian-style house in Hill Street. Its facilities are Dickensian and there are no immediate plans for relieving the situation."
The paper reported that fifteen years earlier plans had been drawn up for a new building. However each time the council had contacted the Government, they were told that no money was available.
Margaret Ephgrave, the matron of the nursery, complained to the Reporter that the council had been able to obtain plenty of cash from the Government for ring roads and schools but not for a new nursery. Its cost, she said, would only be a drop in the ocean compared to other expensive schemes. "The situation here is ridiculous", added Miss Ephgrave.
A highly critical letter from a resident on the new Sutton Heath council estate was published in the paper. The anonymous writer said he / she was disgusted by the fact that night after night six and eight wheeler lorries were parked in Harlow Close leaving the road covered in diesel oil. The letter said: "We have been re-housed from slum areas, but I have never been in so much dirt and untidiness."
Another writer complained of the two and three storey flats that had been built in recent years in St Helens, saying it was "sickening to see toddlers cooped up" and adding: "I have pleasant memories of when I was a school child, when my friends and myself used to go out after breakfast to play in a field and we stayed out until after tea time. What memories will the young children of today have to think about?"
The Reporter also revealed that St Helens still had around six hundred gas lamps dispersed around the town. However the council had applied for a government loan to enable them to replace the lamps with an all-electric lighting system. If the loan was received, it was expected that the scheme could be completed by the end of 1970.
There was also a report in the paper on how an American boy staying with relatives in Link Avenue, off Blackbrook Road, had got himself into a bit of a pickle. Somehow 4-year-old Michael Carson had got his head wedged between two adjoining garages in Chain Lane.
The fire brigade was called and they wrapped a rope around one of the corrugated steel garages and heaved hard. The garage eased sufficiently away from Michael's head and he was able to pull himself free. The boy was taken to Providence Hospital but was discharged after receiving treatment for some abrasions to his ears.
Pictured in the Reporter were members of Clock Face Sunday School Choir, who had won the Henry Bennett Shield for the second year running. The choir's ages ranged from nine to twelve and they had been awarded 92 marks out of 100 for their performance in a recent festival.
Robert Dickie from Rookery Drive in Rainford was pictured receiving his silver Duke of Edinburgh award from the Mayor, Tom Forshaw. The 17-year-old was one of a record 94 St Helens teenagers who received their awards at the Town Hall.
The Reporter also stated that plans were going ahead for the opening of a new coal face in Bold Colliery's four feet seam. This would replace the worked out south dip face that had been badly damaged by crude oil seeping in from surrounding rock formations.
There was also a report on the Westfield Street redevelopment scheme, which was set to cost £844,000 (about £14m in today's money). Preparations for this had now begun on the near 5-acre site known as the Westfield Street triangle, which had been derelict for eight years.
This is the area that became known as St Thomas Square or Westpoint and which is currently receiving another redevelopment. Workmen's huts had recently sprung up on the site and it was now fenced off ready for work to begin in earnest. This would create many flats and maisonettes and a pub was also planned.
Two-dozen Czechs were in St Helens on a training programme at Pilkington's, learning how to operate their float glass process. One man had left his wallet containing £50 in a shop but had it safely returned to him on the following day. That's around £800 in present day money and I can't help wondering how many people would be so honest today?
St Helens magistrates were told on the 9th that a supermarket manager in Bridge Street had found "complete chaos" upon opening up on the 20th April. A total of £566 worth of damage had been done – almost £10,000 in today's money. A 17-year-old lad from Park Road was charged with committing unlawful damage to foodstuffs, clothing, tins of paint and electrical fittings.
He pleaded guilty and also admitted stealing a total of 8,500 cigarettes, 2,083 trading stamps, a clock, a clothesline and three buttering knives. The case was adjourned for a medical report.
Youngsters participating on sponsored walks to Southport were regular events during the late Sixties. Sacred Heart Youth Club put their best food forward on the 10th, with proceeds from their walk going to the Lourdes Sick Fund.
The 1958 sci-fi classic 'The Blob' starring Steve McQueen began a four-day run at the Capitol cinema on the 11th.
On the following day firemen rushed to a building site in Blackbrook Road after a gas cylinder burst into flames. A spark was thought to have been the cause but workmen were able to smother the flames using earth.
On the same day the Liverpool Echo reported that Redgate Boys Silver Band would be leaving for Frankfurt in a few weeks time to compete in the International World Festival of Music. The average age of the boys was fourteen and their conductor Leo Murphy would be accompanying them.
The band certainly got about in an age when international travel was not as widespread as today. In the past the youngsters had toured Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Ireland. Recently the band and St Helens Girls Choir had made their first LP, a live recording of a performance at St Helens Town Hall.
Next week's stories will include more on the Reginald Road gipsies, Brian Harrison's murderer is convicted, there is a public inquiry into clearance orders in College Street and Gerards Bridge, a dramatic chase in Hardshaw Street, denials of religious discrimination in Rainford and the prospect of Sunday sport in Haydock.