FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (8th - 14th FEBRUARY 1971)
This week's many stories include the Lennon's attempted robbery outside a Prescot bank, the punch card operators at Pilkingtons, the Silhouette Slimming Club, long-gone St Helens newsagents and Redgate Boys' Band and St. Edmund Campion Choir broadcast on Radio 2.
We begin with the St Helens Schools Sports Committee Awards, which were made at St Helens "Tech" on the 8th. There were dozens of awards presented by the Mayor Eric Kerr to scholars who had been successful during the past year. Stephen Lawrence of Cowley Grammar (but previously of Parr Central) won the top award of the Wilcock Trophy for his prowess at the 1,500 metres event.
Do you remember Audrey and Dickie Fleming in Coronation Street? No I don't either but apparently Gillian McCann and Nigel Humphries appeared as the young couple from 1968 to 1970. They were brought in as part of an attempt to attract younger viewers to the show, along with the character of Ray Langton. I mention that because "Coronation Street T.V. Stars" Gillian and Nigel appeared at the Theatre Royal all this week in a comedy called 'The Good Young Man'.
On the 9th members of the Silhouette Slimming Club met for their "group therapy classes" at the Parish Hall in New Street in Sutton. The Club had arrived in the St Helens district in 1969 charging a £1 membership fee and 5 shillings a session. Promising no forbidden foods, the classes were designed to teach individuals how to slim permanently.
Dozens of weekly classes were now being held in the North West – including in the Co-op Hall at Helena House in Baldwin Street, the Eagle and Child in Rainford and the Civic Hall in Newton-le-Willows. "LADIES! – Will you be slim and trim and ready to enjoy your summer holiday?" said their advert.
The Liverpool Echo was running a competition in which readers could win two ringside seats for "the most talked-about fight of the century". This was between Cassius Clay and Smokin' Joe Frazier at Madison Square Gardens on March 8th. The winner and friend would be flown to New York to watch the battle between the two undefeated heavyweights and enjoy three days in the States all expenses paid.
Six runners-up would be given free tickets to watch the fight live by Telstar satellite at the Odeon in Liverpool. They would be among 80,000 cinemagoers nationwide expected to watch the big fight live at 2am. However there was one problem. The postal strike was now in its fourth week and so St Helens entrants had to take their coupon to an office at 13 Shaw Street.
Alternatively, the coupons could be taken to certain newsagents who would forward them onto the Echo. The paper had added this service last week for its 'Place The Ball' and 'Money Bags' competitions – however St Helens had then, for some reason, been excluded. Now these long-gone newsagents would be acting as intermediaries for the Echo:
Buckley's, Duke Street; Cowley's, Windle Smithy Stores; A. & E. Bradbury & Son, 14 Ormskirk Road, Rainford; Beagan's, 415 Clock Face Road; Chesworth's, 240 Jubits Lane, Sutton Manor; Luther and Cunliffe, 203 Parr Stocks Road, Parr; Wainwright's, 129 Boundary Road; Davies's, 312 Clipsley Lane, Haydock; Rimmer's, 23 Basenthwaite Avenue, Moss Bank; Thornton's, 14 Station Road, St Helens Junction; H. Pomfret, 202 Market Street, Earlestown and Maltby's, Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Pilkingtons was probably the first firm in St Helens to make use of computers. Their new head office in Prescot Road that opened in 1963 had been specially designed with a large dedicated computer room. Of course these were not computers, as we know them today. The newspapers used to call them "giant brains" and data and programs had to be punched in and out using punched cards.
These would be superseded by floppy disks but in 1971 being a punch card operator was a skilled job and seemingly these individuals were in short supply. On the 11th Pilkingtons was advertising in the Liverpool Echo for fully experienced operators in their Computer Department. The postal strike was complicating the filling of job vacancies. Local applicants could hand in their written applications at any of Pilks' works offices or otherwise they had to telephone the firm for advice.
Over the last few weeks, the leaders of last year's devastating Pilkington strike had sounded quite desperate as they almost pleaded for their jobs back. The glass giant had dismissed them and many other workers at Triplex after they'd formed their own union and went on a further strike towards the end of the year. Not being able to find work with other firms after being branded troublemakers, the men now sought peace with Pilks and were willing to sacrifice their pension entitlements if they were re-hired.
But the first step was to be accepted back into the fold by the General and Municipal Workers Union – as Pilkingtons had a "closed shop" exclusive arrangement with them. That was the union – as the Daily Mirror put it last month – on which the rebels had last year "declared war". Negotiations had been tricky but under the headline "Rebels' Reprieve", the Guardian on the 12th described how progress was being made:
"Shop stewards of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, at the Triplex factory of Pilkington Brothers at St Helens, have agreed to ask regional headquarters to readmit into membership 90 former colleagues who formed a breakaway union during a strike last December. Among those seeking readmission is Mr Gerry Caughey, president of the breakaway Glass and General Workers Union. An official at the Liverpool regional headquarters said yesterday that they had not yet been told of the shop stewards' decision and added: “The men will have to have jobs before they can be eligible for membership again.” Mr Caughey said: “This is a great step forward in our fight for readmission.”"
Night safes on the outside of banks allowing cash and cheques to be deposited outside of normal opening hours were first introduced in the 1930s. They have proved a great boon to businesses, although have one major disadvantage. Crooks can wait for individuals to arrive at the bank carrying the special bag and rob them of it, knowing it is likely to contain a considerable amount of cash. During the evening of the 12th three assistant managers of Lennon's supermarket in Eccleston Street in Prescot were attacked as they took £2,500 to the night safe of the Midland Bank. Three men armed with truncheons laid into the managers outside the branch but were fought off.
The gang were forced to flee empty handed, escaping in a stolen car that was later found abandoned in Shaw Lane, Whiston. However the brave managers were badly hurt with William Hudson suffering severe head injuries and John Grimshaw of Charles Street in St Helens receiving arm and leg wounds. Detective Superintendent Frank Ward, head of St. Helens Division C.I.D., said: "There was a fierce struggle on the pavement before the would-be robbers ran off empty handed to a waiting car. After placing the large sum of money in the night safe, the three victims of the vicious assault were rushed to Whiston Hospital."
Among the new homes offered for sale in the Echo on the 12th were those described as being on the new Heathfield estate on Sutton Heath Road in St Helens. The semi-detached houses were available to buy from £3,700.
Redgate Boys' Silver Band put their troubles behind them during the morning of the 14th when they were featured on Radio 2 in the series 'Sing Alleluia'. Last December the award-winning ensemble had been playing carols in St Helens market place but upon returning to their HQ in Park Road found a disaster awaiting them – as described by the St Helens Reporter: "Rioting gipsy children were caught red-handed looting and wrecking a brass band's headquarters at the weekend. Priceless trophies and mementoes were stolen when they went berserk, smashing windows and hurling broken chairs into a canal."
The band broadcast on Radio 2 alongside St. Edmund Campion School Choir and Patrick Booth, the school's headmaster, conducted them both. Actor Andrew Cruickshank – who played Dr. Cameron in the television series 'Dr. Finlay’s Casebook' – introduced the programme.
And finally this item under the headline "The Moon Sleepwalk" caught my eye in the Echo. A little over 18 months earlier the Apollo 11 landing on the moon had riveted the country. However after the latest mission Apollo 14 had successfully returned to Earth, Walter Huntley felt the wonders of space were now being taken for granted:
"Have you noticed just how really blasé we have become about moon shots? I had said to my ten-year-old son: “At this very moment, men are on their way to the moon”. “Not again,” he replied. But the B.B.C. really put it all in perspective. Against the pictures of the astronauts walking on the moon, they kept flashing the message: “Jackanory follows at 4.40”."
Next week's stories will include an update on the violent assault on Lennon's managers, Pilks close one of its glass tanks, a boost for Bold Colliery and the "regional revolution" that took St Helens out of Lancashire and into Merseyside.
Do you remember Audrey and Dickie Fleming in Coronation Street? No I don't either but apparently Gillian McCann and Nigel Humphries appeared as the young couple from 1968 to 1970. They were brought in as part of an attempt to attract younger viewers to the show, along with the character of Ray Langton. I mention that because "Coronation Street T.V. Stars" Gillian and Nigel appeared at the Theatre Royal all this week in a comedy called 'The Good Young Man'.
On the 9th members of the Silhouette Slimming Club met for their "group therapy classes" at the Parish Hall in New Street in Sutton. The Club had arrived in the St Helens district in 1969 charging a £1 membership fee and 5 shillings a session. Promising no forbidden foods, the classes were designed to teach individuals how to slim permanently.
Dozens of weekly classes were now being held in the North West – including in the Co-op Hall at Helena House in Baldwin Street, the Eagle and Child in Rainford and the Civic Hall in Newton-le-Willows. "LADIES! – Will you be slim and trim and ready to enjoy your summer holiday?" said their advert.
The Liverpool Echo was running a competition in which readers could win two ringside seats for "the most talked-about fight of the century". This was between Cassius Clay and Smokin' Joe Frazier at Madison Square Gardens on March 8th. The winner and friend would be flown to New York to watch the battle between the two undefeated heavyweights and enjoy three days in the States all expenses paid.
Six runners-up would be given free tickets to watch the fight live by Telstar satellite at the Odeon in Liverpool. They would be among 80,000 cinemagoers nationwide expected to watch the big fight live at 2am. However there was one problem. The postal strike was now in its fourth week and so St Helens entrants had to take their coupon to an office at 13 Shaw Street.
Alternatively, the coupons could be taken to certain newsagents who would forward them onto the Echo. The paper had added this service last week for its 'Place The Ball' and 'Money Bags' competitions – however St Helens had then, for some reason, been excluded. Now these long-gone newsagents would be acting as intermediaries for the Echo:
Buckley's, Duke Street; Cowley's, Windle Smithy Stores; A. & E. Bradbury & Son, 14 Ormskirk Road, Rainford; Beagan's, 415 Clock Face Road; Chesworth's, 240 Jubits Lane, Sutton Manor; Luther and Cunliffe, 203 Parr Stocks Road, Parr; Wainwright's, 129 Boundary Road; Davies's, 312 Clipsley Lane, Haydock; Rimmer's, 23 Basenthwaite Avenue, Moss Bank; Thornton's, 14 Station Road, St Helens Junction; H. Pomfret, 202 Market Street, Earlestown and Maltby's, Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Pilkingtons was probably the first firm in St Helens to make use of computers. Their new head office in Prescot Road that opened in 1963 had been specially designed with a large dedicated computer room. Of course these were not computers, as we know them today. The newspapers used to call them "giant brains" and data and programs had to be punched in and out using punched cards.
These would be superseded by floppy disks but in 1971 being a punch card operator was a skilled job and seemingly these individuals were in short supply. On the 11th Pilkingtons was advertising in the Liverpool Echo for fully experienced operators in their Computer Department. The postal strike was complicating the filling of job vacancies. Local applicants could hand in their written applications at any of Pilks' works offices or otherwise they had to telephone the firm for advice.
Over the last few weeks, the leaders of last year's devastating Pilkington strike had sounded quite desperate as they almost pleaded for their jobs back. The glass giant had dismissed them and many other workers at Triplex after they'd formed their own union and went on a further strike towards the end of the year. Not being able to find work with other firms after being branded troublemakers, the men now sought peace with Pilks and were willing to sacrifice their pension entitlements if they were re-hired.
But the first step was to be accepted back into the fold by the General and Municipal Workers Union – as Pilkingtons had a "closed shop" exclusive arrangement with them. That was the union – as the Daily Mirror put it last month – on which the rebels had last year "declared war". Negotiations had been tricky but under the headline "Rebels' Reprieve", the Guardian on the 12th described how progress was being made:
"Shop stewards of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, at the Triplex factory of Pilkington Brothers at St Helens, have agreed to ask regional headquarters to readmit into membership 90 former colleagues who formed a breakaway union during a strike last December. Among those seeking readmission is Mr Gerry Caughey, president of the breakaway Glass and General Workers Union. An official at the Liverpool regional headquarters said yesterday that they had not yet been told of the shop stewards' decision and added: “The men will have to have jobs before they can be eligible for membership again.” Mr Caughey said: “This is a great step forward in our fight for readmission.”"
Night safes on the outside of banks allowing cash and cheques to be deposited outside of normal opening hours were first introduced in the 1930s. They have proved a great boon to businesses, although have one major disadvantage. Crooks can wait for individuals to arrive at the bank carrying the special bag and rob them of it, knowing it is likely to contain a considerable amount of cash. During the evening of the 12th three assistant managers of Lennon's supermarket in Eccleston Street in Prescot were attacked as they took £2,500 to the night safe of the Midland Bank. Three men armed with truncheons laid into the managers outside the branch but were fought off.
The gang were forced to flee empty handed, escaping in a stolen car that was later found abandoned in Shaw Lane, Whiston. However the brave managers were badly hurt with William Hudson suffering severe head injuries and John Grimshaw of Charles Street in St Helens receiving arm and leg wounds. Detective Superintendent Frank Ward, head of St. Helens Division C.I.D., said: "There was a fierce struggle on the pavement before the would-be robbers ran off empty handed to a waiting car. After placing the large sum of money in the night safe, the three victims of the vicious assault were rushed to Whiston Hospital."
Among the new homes offered for sale in the Echo on the 12th were those described as being on the new Heathfield estate on Sutton Heath Road in St Helens. The semi-detached houses were available to buy from £3,700.
Redgate Boys' Silver Band put their troubles behind them during the morning of the 14th when they were featured on Radio 2 in the series 'Sing Alleluia'. Last December the award-winning ensemble had been playing carols in St Helens market place but upon returning to their HQ in Park Road found a disaster awaiting them – as described by the St Helens Reporter: "Rioting gipsy children were caught red-handed looting and wrecking a brass band's headquarters at the weekend. Priceless trophies and mementoes were stolen when they went berserk, smashing windows and hurling broken chairs into a canal."
The band broadcast on Radio 2 alongside St. Edmund Campion School Choir and Patrick Booth, the school's headmaster, conducted them both. Actor Andrew Cruickshank – who played Dr. Cameron in the television series 'Dr. Finlay’s Casebook' – introduced the programme.
And finally this item under the headline "The Moon Sleepwalk" caught my eye in the Echo. A little over 18 months earlier the Apollo 11 landing on the moon had riveted the country. However after the latest mission Apollo 14 had successfully returned to Earth, Walter Huntley felt the wonders of space were now being taken for granted:
"Have you noticed just how really blasé we have become about moon shots? I had said to my ten-year-old son: “At this very moment, men are on their way to the moon”. “Not again,” he replied. But the B.B.C. really put it all in perspective. Against the pictures of the astronauts walking on the moon, they kept flashing the message: “Jackanory follows at 4.40”."
Next week's stories will include an update on the violent assault on Lennon's managers, Pilks close one of its glass tanks, a boost for Bold Colliery and the "regional revolution" that took St Helens out of Lancashire and into Merseyside.
This week's many stories include the Lennon's attempted robbery outside a Prescot bank, the punch card operators at Pilkingtons, the Silhouette Slimming Club, long-gone St Helens newsagents and Redgate Boys' Band and St. Edmund Campion Choir broadcast on Radio 2.
We begin with the St Helens Schools Sports Committee Awards, which were made at St Helens "Tech" on the 8th.
There were dozens of awards presented by the Mayor Eric Kerr to scholars who had been successful during the past year.
Stephen Lawrence of Cowley Grammar (but previously of Parr Central) won the top award of the Wilcock Trophy for his prowess at the 1,500 metres event.
Do you remember Audrey and Dickie Fleming in Coronation Street? No I don't either but apparently Gillian McCann and Nigel Humphries appeared as the young couple from 1968 to 1970.
They were brought in as part of an attempt to attract younger viewers to the show, along with the character of Ray Langton.
I mention that because "Coronation Street T.V. Stars" Gillian and Nigel appeared at the Theatre Royal all this week in a comedy called 'The Good Young Man'.
On the 9th members of the Silhouette Slimming Club met for their "group therapy classes" at the Parish Hall in New Street in Sutton.
The Club had arrived in the St Helens district in 1969 charging a £1 membership fee and 5 shillings a session.
Promising no forbidden foods, the classes were designed to teach individuals how to slim permanently.
Dozens of weekly classes were now being held in the North West – including in the Co-op Hall at Helena House in Baldwin Street, the Eagle and Child in Rainford and the Civic Hall in Newton-le-Willows.
"LADIES! – Will you be slim and trim and ready to enjoy your summer holiday?" said their advert.
The Liverpool Echo was running a competition in which readers could win two ringside seats for "the most talked-about fight of the century".
This was between Cassius Clay and Smokin' Joe Frazier at Madison Square Gardens on March 8th.
The winner and friend would be flown to New York to watch the battle between the two undefeated heavyweights and enjoy three days in the States all expenses paid.
Six runners-up would be given free tickets to watch the fight live by Telstar satellite at the Odeon in Liverpool.
They would be among 80,000 cinemagoers nationwide expected to watch the big fight live at 2am.
However there was one problem. The postal strike was now in its fourth week and so St Helens entrants had to take their coupon to an office at 13 Shaw Street.
Alternatively, the coupons could be taken to certain newsagents who would forward them onto the Echo.
The paper had added this service last week for its 'Place The Ball' and 'Money Bags' competitions – however St Helens had then, for some reason, been excluded.
Now these long-gone newsagents would be acting as intermediaries for the Echo:
Buckley's, Duke Street; Cowley's, Windle Smithy Stores; A. & E. Bradbury & Son, 14 Ormskirk Road, Rainford; Beagan's, 415 Clock Face Road; Chesworth's, 240 Jubits Lane, Sutton Manor and Luther and Cunliffe, 203 Parr Stocks Road, Parr.
Also Wainwright's, 129 Boundary Road; Davies's, 312 Clipsley Lane, Haydock; Rimmer's, 23 Basenthwaite Avenue, Moss Bank; Thornton's, 14 Station Road, St Helens Junction; H. Pomfret, 202 Market Street, Earlestown and Maltby's, Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Pilkingtons was probably the first firm in St Helens to make use of computers.
Their new head office in Prescot Road that opened in 1963 had been specially designed with a large dedicated computer room.
Of course these were not computers, as we know them today. The newspapers used to call them "giant brains" and data and programs had to be punched in and out using punched cards.
These would be superseded by floppy disks but in 1971 being a punch card operator was a skilled job and seemingly these individuals were in short supply.
On the 11th Pilkingtons was advertising in the Liverpool Echo for fully experienced operators in their Computer Department.
The postal strike was complicating the filling of job vacancies. Local applicants could hand in their written applications at any of Pilks' works offices or otherwise they had to telephone the firm for advice.
Over the last few weeks, the leaders of last year's devastating Pilkington strike had sounded quite desperate as they almost pleaded for their jobs back.
The glass giant had dismissed them and many other workers at Triplex after they'd formed their own union and went on a further strike towards the end of the year.
Not being able to find work with other firms after being branded troublemakers, the men now sought peace with Pilks and were willing to sacrifice their pension entitlements if they were re-hired.
But the first step was to be accepted back into the fold by the General and Municipal Workers Union – as Pilkingtons had a "closed shop" exclusive arrangement with them.
That was the union – as the Daily Mirror put it last month – on which the rebels had last year "declared war".
Negotiations had been tricky but under the headline "Rebels' Reprieve", the Guardian on the 12th described how progress was being made:
"Shop stewards of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, at the Triplex factory of Pilkington Brothers at St Helens, have agreed to ask regional headquarters to readmit into membership 90 former colleagues who formed a breakaway union during a strike last December.
"Among those seeking readmission is Mr Gerry Caughey, president of the breakaway Glass and General Workers Union.
"An official at the Liverpool regional headquarters said yesterday that they had not yet been told of the shop stewards' decision and added:
"“The men will have to have jobs before they can be eligible for membership again.” Mr Caughey said: “This is a great step forward in our fight for readmission.”"
Night safes on the outside of banks allowing cash and cheques to be deposited outside of normal opening hours were first introduced in the 1930s.
They have proved a great boon to businesses, although have one major disadvantage.
Crooks can wait for individuals to arrive at the bank carrying the special bag and rob them of it, knowing it is likely to contain a considerable amount of cash.
During the evening of the 12th three assistant managers of Lennon's supermarket in Eccleston Street in Prescot were attacked as they took £2,500 to the night safe of the Midland Bank.
Three men armed with truncheons laid into the managers outside the branch but were fought off.
The gang were forced to flee empty handed, escaping in a stolen car that was later found abandoned in Shaw Lane, Whiston.
However the brave managers were badly hurt with William Hudson suffering severe head injuries and John Grimshaw of Charles Street in St Helens receiving arm and leg wounds.
Detective Superintendent Frank Ward, head of St. Helens Division C.I.D., said:
"There was a fierce struggle on the pavement before the would-be robbers ran off empty handed to a waiting car.
"After placing the large sum of money in the night safe, the three victims of the vicious assault were rushed to Whiston Hospital."
Among the new homes offered for sale in the Echo on the 12th were those described as being on the new Heathfield estate on Sutton Heath Road in St Helens. The semi-detached houses were available to buy from £3,700.
Redgate Boys' Silver Band put their troubles behind them during the morning of the 14th when they were featured on Radio 2 in the series 'Sing Alleluia'.
Last December the award-winning ensemble had been playing carols in St Helens market place but upon returning to their HQ in Park Road found a disaster awaiting them – as described by the St Helens Reporter:
"Rioting gipsy children were caught red-handed looting and wrecking a brass band's headquarters at the weekend. Priceless trophies and mementoes were stolen when they went berserk, smashing windows and hurling broken chairs into a canal."
The band broadcast on Radio 2 alongside St. Edmund Campion School Choir and Patrick Booth, the school's headmaster, conducted them both.
Actor Andrew Cruickshank – who played Dr. Cameron in 'Dr. Finlay’s Casebook' – introduced the programme.
And finally this item under the headline "The Moon Sleepwalk" caught my eye in the Echo.
A little over 18 months earlier the Apollo 11 landing on the moon had riveted the country.
However after the latest mission Apollo 14 had successfully returned to Earth, Walter Huntley felt the wonders of space were now being taken for granted:
"Have you noticed just how really blasé we have become about moon shots? I had said to my ten-year-old son: “At this very moment, men are on their way to the moon”. “Not again,” he replied.
"But the B.B.C. really put it all in perspective. Against the pictures of the astronauts walking on the moon, they kept flashing the message: “Jackanory follows at 4.40”."
Next week's stories will include an update on the violent assault on Lennon's managers, Pilks close one of its glass tanks, a boost for Bold Colliery and the "regional revolution" that took St Helens out of Lancashire and into Merseyside.
We begin with the St Helens Schools Sports Committee Awards, which were made at St Helens "Tech" on the 8th.
Stephen Lawrence of Cowley Grammar (but previously of Parr Central) won the top award of the Wilcock Trophy for his prowess at the 1,500 metres event.
Do you remember Audrey and Dickie Fleming in Coronation Street? No I don't either but apparently Gillian McCann and Nigel Humphries appeared as the young couple from 1968 to 1970.
They were brought in as part of an attempt to attract younger viewers to the show, along with the character of Ray Langton.
I mention that because "Coronation Street T.V. Stars" Gillian and Nigel appeared at the Theatre Royal all this week in a comedy called 'The Good Young Man'.
On the 9th members of the Silhouette Slimming Club met for their "group therapy classes" at the Parish Hall in New Street in Sutton.
The Club had arrived in the St Helens district in 1969 charging a £1 membership fee and 5 shillings a session.
Promising no forbidden foods, the classes were designed to teach individuals how to slim permanently.
Dozens of weekly classes were now being held in the North West – including in the Co-op Hall at Helena House in Baldwin Street, the Eagle and Child in Rainford and the Civic Hall in Newton-le-Willows.
"LADIES! – Will you be slim and trim and ready to enjoy your summer holiday?" said their advert.
The Liverpool Echo was running a competition in which readers could win two ringside seats for "the most talked-about fight of the century".
This was between Cassius Clay and Smokin' Joe Frazier at Madison Square Gardens on March 8th.
The winner and friend would be flown to New York to watch the battle between the two undefeated heavyweights and enjoy three days in the States all expenses paid.
Six runners-up would be given free tickets to watch the fight live by Telstar satellite at the Odeon in Liverpool.
They would be among 80,000 cinemagoers nationwide expected to watch the big fight live at 2am.
However there was one problem. The postal strike was now in its fourth week and so St Helens entrants had to take their coupon to an office at 13 Shaw Street.
Alternatively, the coupons could be taken to certain newsagents who would forward them onto the Echo.
The paper had added this service last week for its 'Place The Ball' and 'Money Bags' competitions – however St Helens had then, for some reason, been excluded.
Now these long-gone newsagents would be acting as intermediaries for the Echo:
Buckley's, Duke Street; Cowley's, Windle Smithy Stores; A. & E. Bradbury & Son, 14 Ormskirk Road, Rainford; Beagan's, 415 Clock Face Road; Chesworth's, 240 Jubits Lane, Sutton Manor and Luther and Cunliffe, 203 Parr Stocks Road, Parr.
Also Wainwright's, 129 Boundary Road; Davies's, 312 Clipsley Lane, Haydock; Rimmer's, 23 Basenthwaite Avenue, Moss Bank; Thornton's, 14 Station Road, St Helens Junction; H. Pomfret, 202 Market Street, Earlestown and Maltby's, Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
Pilkingtons was probably the first firm in St Helens to make use of computers.
Their new head office in Prescot Road that opened in 1963 had been specially designed with a large dedicated computer room.
Of course these were not computers, as we know them today. The newspapers used to call them "giant brains" and data and programs had to be punched in and out using punched cards.
These would be superseded by floppy disks but in 1971 being a punch card operator was a skilled job and seemingly these individuals were in short supply.
On the 11th Pilkingtons was advertising in the Liverpool Echo for fully experienced operators in their Computer Department.
The postal strike was complicating the filling of job vacancies. Local applicants could hand in their written applications at any of Pilks' works offices or otherwise they had to telephone the firm for advice.
Over the last few weeks, the leaders of last year's devastating Pilkington strike had sounded quite desperate as they almost pleaded for their jobs back.
The glass giant had dismissed them and many other workers at Triplex after they'd formed their own union and went on a further strike towards the end of the year.
Not being able to find work with other firms after being branded troublemakers, the men now sought peace with Pilks and were willing to sacrifice their pension entitlements if they were re-hired.
But the first step was to be accepted back into the fold by the General and Municipal Workers Union – as Pilkingtons had a "closed shop" exclusive arrangement with them.
That was the union – as the Daily Mirror put it last month – on which the rebels had last year "declared war".
Negotiations had been tricky but under the headline "Rebels' Reprieve", the Guardian on the 12th described how progress was being made:
"Shop stewards of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, at the Triplex factory of Pilkington Brothers at St Helens, have agreed to ask regional headquarters to readmit into membership 90 former colleagues who formed a breakaway union during a strike last December.
"Among those seeking readmission is Mr Gerry Caughey, president of the breakaway Glass and General Workers Union.
"An official at the Liverpool regional headquarters said yesterday that they had not yet been told of the shop stewards' decision and added:
"“The men will have to have jobs before they can be eligible for membership again.” Mr Caughey said: “This is a great step forward in our fight for readmission.”"
Night safes on the outside of banks allowing cash and cheques to be deposited outside of normal opening hours were first introduced in the 1930s.
They have proved a great boon to businesses, although have one major disadvantage.
Crooks can wait for individuals to arrive at the bank carrying the special bag and rob them of it, knowing it is likely to contain a considerable amount of cash.
During the evening of the 12th three assistant managers of Lennon's supermarket in Eccleston Street in Prescot were attacked as they took £2,500 to the night safe of the Midland Bank.
Three men armed with truncheons laid into the managers outside the branch but were fought off.
The gang were forced to flee empty handed, escaping in a stolen car that was later found abandoned in Shaw Lane, Whiston.
However the brave managers were badly hurt with William Hudson suffering severe head injuries and John Grimshaw of Charles Street in St Helens receiving arm and leg wounds.
Detective Superintendent Frank Ward, head of St. Helens Division C.I.D., said:
"There was a fierce struggle on the pavement before the would-be robbers ran off empty handed to a waiting car.
"After placing the large sum of money in the night safe, the three victims of the vicious assault were rushed to Whiston Hospital."
Among the new homes offered for sale in the Echo on the 12th were those described as being on the new Heathfield estate on Sutton Heath Road in St Helens. The semi-detached houses were available to buy from £3,700.
Redgate Boys' Silver Band put their troubles behind them during the morning of the 14th when they were featured on Radio 2 in the series 'Sing Alleluia'.
Last December the award-winning ensemble had been playing carols in St Helens market place but upon returning to their HQ in Park Road found a disaster awaiting them – as described by the St Helens Reporter:
"Rioting gipsy children were caught red-handed looting and wrecking a brass band's headquarters at the weekend. Priceless trophies and mementoes were stolen when they went berserk, smashing windows and hurling broken chairs into a canal."
The band broadcast on Radio 2 alongside St. Edmund Campion School Choir and Patrick Booth, the school's headmaster, conducted them both.
Actor Andrew Cruickshank – who played Dr. Cameron in 'Dr. Finlay’s Casebook' – introduced the programme.
And finally this item under the headline "The Moon Sleepwalk" caught my eye in the Echo.
A little over 18 months earlier the Apollo 11 landing on the moon had riveted the country.
However after the latest mission Apollo 14 had successfully returned to Earth, Walter Huntley felt the wonders of space were now being taken for granted:
"Have you noticed just how really blasé we have become about moon shots? I had said to my ten-year-old son: “At this very moment, men are on their way to the moon”. “Not again,” he replied.
"But the B.B.C. really put it all in perspective. Against the pictures of the astronauts walking on the moon, they kept flashing the message: “Jackanory follows at 4.40”."
Next week's stories will include an update on the violent assault on Lennon's managers, Pilks close one of its glass tanks, a boost for Bold Colliery and the "regional revolution" that took St Helens out of Lancashire and into Merseyside.