FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (8th - 14th JUNE 1970)
This week's 18 stories include the local candidates for the General Election, a rat plague in Haydock, a brave rescue of a drowning man in Carr Mill dam, the clearing of the parish church graveyard, bad news for Sunday sport campaigners and Auntie Annie leaves her Gerards Bridge shop after 42 years.
The Prime Minister Harold Wilson had called a General Election for June 18th and on the 8th all nominations for candidates closed at 3pm. St Helens then only had one seat, which would be contested by the incumbent Labour MP Leslie Spriggs and Ian McGaw for the Tories. At the previous election in 1966, the Labour Party had a majority of 19,549. Mr Spriggs – who lived in Thornton Cleveleys – had been adopted as the official Labour candidate for a record fifth time.
Rainford was then part of the Ormskirk constituency and it would also be a two-horse race. The Conservative candidate Harold Soref was being opposed by an unknown lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool called Robert Kilroy-Silk. The 28-year-old's talk show 'Kilroy' was still some 16 years away! Of the forty-six election candidates within the Merseyside district, only one was a woman.
The council's Amenities Committee met on the 8th and decided against allowing organised sport on council owned pitches on Sundays. Their Director of Parks, Sidney Adamson, told the committee that Leigh and Wigan both allowed Sunday sport in the afternoon – although the latter charged clubs £50 for the season. Widnes was like St Helens and did not permit it at all on the Sabbath. Mr Adamson explained that council playing fields were already overworked and playing extra games during a continued spell of bad weather could "mutilate" them.
Also meeting on that day was the St Helens Building Committee and their members were told of increased vandalism on the Kendal Drive and Fleet Lane sites where new houses were being built. Building Manager Joe Appleton cited one example where all the electric wiring had been ripped out of a house and left piled on the floor. "It must have taken them at least an hour", Mr Appleton complained.
The committee also heard about council house tenants who refused to carry out the most minor of repair work without asking Town Hall workmen to come and do it for them. One tenant had moaned for weeks that a screw was missing from the lock on his front door. In the end a rent collector borrowed a screwdriver and a screw from the tenant and did the job in two minutes. The Mayor, Eric Kerr, then cited the case of a tenant who complained that his front door lock would not work. "Have you tried releasing the catch?", asked an inspector who visited the house. And the lock worked perfectly when he did!
F. W. Woolworth and Co. of Church Street (shown above) was fined £50 in St Helens Magistrates Court on the 8th. A weights and measures inspector had found that the yellow paint on a magnetic fishing rod used in a game sold by Woolies contained 20 times more lead than was allowed.
Clint Eastwood's western 'Hang 'Em High' began five days of screenings at the Capitol Cinema from the 8th, with a Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow film called 'John and Mary' playing at the Savoy.
On the 9th the Liverpool Echo profiled a St Helens group called 'The Gravy Train', who they said had "got their feet on the first rung of the ladder to fame and fortune". The foursome had just been booked for a 6-week tour of the USA and had their first album and single coming out soon. The band comprised Norman Barratt from Newton, Les Williams from Sutton, Barry Davenport from Rainford and John Hughes from Huyton.
Also on the 9th a man was pulled semi-conscious out of Carr Mill Dam after getting into difficulties while swimming. Brian Rowley and Ruth Holmes had saved the life of 24-year-old David Rimmer, who had been cooling off in the hot weather. Plumber Brian from Nutgrove Hall Drive in Thatto Heath spent five minutes struggling with the panic-stricken swimmer before he and Mrs Holmes managed to pull him to safety.
Commenting on Ruth's role, the St Helens Reporter wrote: "A mini-skirted mother of five stripped down to her bra and briefs to help save a drowning man." The 33-year-old – who had not swum for more than ten years – told the Reporter: "It's no use blushing when someone is drowning. I just stripped off and went in." David Rimmer was taken to Providence Hospital, where after treatment for shock he was allowed to go home.
Two of the three glass men jailed for three months for wounding and intimidation during the Pilkington strike had their sentences suspended by an appeal court on the 10th. On the following day Pilkingtons agreed to stop deducting 2/6 weekly "subs" from former members of the General and Municipal Workers Union. As many as 4,000 glassworkers had signed forms, contracting out of the union.
The Spinners returned to the Theatre Royal for two nights from the 11th with the Brighouse and Rastrick Prize Band making their debut in Corporation Street on the 13th.
A big story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 12th bore the headline "Families in Fear of a Rat Plague" and began: "Fear is hanging over a luxury housing estate – because of a plague of rats. For in Westminster Drive, Haydock, mothers are terrified that when their toddlers are out playing they may find a dead rat or be bitten by one of the pests. Recently rats have been seen in gardens, around dustbins and sitting on front pathways. Pet dogs and cats have taken them into houses. Families even have to keep the bedroom windows of their bungalows shut for fear a rat may jump in."
A nearby scrap metal yard was considered the likely source of the vermin but Haydock's Medical Officer said he could find no evidence of rat infestation in the yard. Richard Watkin, Haydock's Public Health Inspector, also downplayed the problem saying it was "common for an odd rat" to found in places like Westminster Drive, but there was definitely no infestation. However his rodent inspector had been round with poison and would visit the estate again in a few weeks.
Pilkington strike convenor Gerry Caughey was spotlighted in the Reporter, denying rumours of profiting from the dispute. The 36-year-old from Sutton Manor claimed to be the victim of a smear campaign, having been accused of buying a new car and moving into a £10,000 bungalow. Mr Caughey blamed the General and Municipal Workers Union for spreading lies about him and told the paper:
"The truth is that the strike has financially crippled me. The union are trying to break up the solidarity among the people who have been on strike. They are trying to make my name mud. I am the figurehead, and they are trying to knock me down." The leader of the Rank and File Committee also claimed to have slept in a park when he took a delegation to London to meet Vic Feather of the TUC. A spokesman for the GMWU completely denied Gerry Caughey's allegation of a whispering campaign.
A letter in the Reporter from Charles Hartley of Harris Street attacked Mr Caughey and his Rank and File Committee. His son was one of 240 Triplex workers made redundant as a result of orders that had been lost through the 7-week strike. This was despite the fact that Mr Hartley’s son had reported for work on three occasions during the dispute. He wrote: "It is time the law was able to deal with the scoundrels responsible for the strike, and life imprisonment is a lenient punishment for the misery and suffering they are responsible for."
The Reporter revealed that the old graveyard in Church Street behind the Post Office was to be cleared to make way for a new market. This would mean that the "tramps and down-and-outs" that used the site would have to relocate, as a Town Hall spokesman explained: "Tramps will have to find somewhere else to sleep now. The bulldozers will be moving in soon." There was no suggestion that the council might attempt to find accommodation for these homeless persons.
The human remains in the graveyard would be transferred to the borough cemetery in Rainford Road. These would include Lt. Colonel George Mackay who served with Wellington in many of his battles. And also the remains of Rev. Dr. William Finch, a former vicar of the parish church (1786 - 1815), who had introduced vaccine inoculation to the St Helens district.
Annie Eden was pictured in the Reporter having closed her little general store in College Street after 42 years. Known as "Auntie Annie" to generations of children, Mrs Eden had been forced to leave her home through the impending demolition and redevelopment of Gerards Bridge. Annie told the Reporter: "I love this little shop. It's given me a good living all these years. And it's sad to see such a splendid place as Gerards Bridge emptying. All my old customers and friends have either gone or they're going."
There was an advert in the paper for a new "Las Vegas" amusement arcade at 57 Ormskirk Street. The attractions included kiddies' rides, rifle ranges, pin tables, fruit machines, football games and a snack bar. Also in Ormskirk Street was The Baccardi Club and they were promoting their 'Crazy Dazy Disco' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Membership cost 10/6.
Next week's stories will include a bus smash in Corporation Street, the strange behaviour of a Haydock newsagent, St Helens teenagers cast their vote for the first time, the polluted Carr Mill Dam and a claim that unmarried mothers were losing their shame.
Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Leslie Spriggs, the MP for St Helens from 1958 until 1983
Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Leslie Spriggs, St Helens MP 1958 to 1983
Leslie Spriggs MP for St Helens 1958 - 83
Rainford was then part of the Ormskirk constituency and it would also be a two-horse race. The Conservative candidate Harold Soref was being opposed by an unknown lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool called Robert Kilroy-Silk. The 28-year-old's talk show 'Kilroy' was still some 16 years away! Of the forty-six election candidates within the Merseyside district, only one was a woman.
The council's Amenities Committee met on the 8th and decided against allowing organised sport on council owned pitches on Sundays. Their Director of Parks, Sidney Adamson, told the committee that Leigh and Wigan both allowed Sunday sport in the afternoon – although the latter charged clubs £50 for the season. Widnes was like St Helens and did not permit it at all on the Sabbath. Mr Adamson explained that council playing fields were already overworked and playing extra games during a continued spell of bad weather could "mutilate" them.
Also meeting on that day was the St Helens Building Committee and their members were told of increased vandalism on the Kendal Drive and Fleet Lane sites where new houses were being built. Building Manager Joe Appleton cited one example where all the electric wiring had been ripped out of a house and left piled on the floor. "It must have taken them at least an hour", Mr Appleton complained.
The committee also heard about council house tenants who refused to carry out the most minor of repair work without asking Town Hall workmen to come and do it for them. One tenant had moaned for weeks that a screw was missing from the lock on his front door. In the end a rent collector borrowed a screwdriver and a screw from the tenant and did the job in two minutes. The Mayor, Eric Kerr, then cited the case of a tenant who complained that his front door lock would not work. "Have you tried releasing the catch?", asked an inspector who visited the house. And the lock worked perfectly when he did!
Clint Eastwood's western 'Hang 'Em High' began five days of screenings at the Capitol Cinema from the 8th, with a Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow film called 'John and Mary' playing at the Savoy.
On the 9th the Liverpool Echo profiled a St Helens group called 'The Gravy Train', who they said had "got their feet on the first rung of the ladder to fame and fortune". The foursome had just been booked for a 6-week tour of the USA and had their first album and single coming out soon. The band comprised Norman Barratt from Newton, Les Williams from Sutton, Barry Davenport from Rainford and John Hughes from Huyton.
Also on the 9th a man was pulled semi-conscious out of Carr Mill Dam after getting into difficulties while swimming. Brian Rowley and Ruth Holmes had saved the life of 24-year-old David Rimmer, who had been cooling off in the hot weather. Plumber Brian from Nutgrove Hall Drive in Thatto Heath spent five minutes struggling with the panic-stricken swimmer before he and Mrs Holmes managed to pull him to safety.
Commenting on Ruth's role, the St Helens Reporter wrote: "A mini-skirted mother of five stripped down to her bra and briefs to help save a drowning man." The 33-year-old – who had not swum for more than ten years – told the Reporter: "It's no use blushing when someone is drowning. I just stripped off and went in." David Rimmer was taken to Providence Hospital, where after treatment for shock he was allowed to go home.
Two of the three glass men jailed for three months for wounding and intimidation during the Pilkington strike had their sentences suspended by an appeal court on the 10th. On the following day Pilkingtons agreed to stop deducting 2/6 weekly "subs" from former members of the General and Municipal Workers Union. As many as 4,000 glassworkers had signed forms, contracting out of the union.
The Spinners returned to the Theatre Royal for two nights from the 11th with the Brighouse and Rastrick Prize Band making their debut in Corporation Street on the 13th.
A big story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 12th bore the headline "Families in Fear of a Rat Plague" and began: "Fear is hanging over a luxury housing estate – because of a plague of rats. For in Westminster Drive, Haydock, mothers are terrified that when their toddlers are out playing they may find a dead rat or be bitten by one of the pests. Recently rats have been seen in gardens, around dustbins and sitting on front pathways. Pet dogs and cats have taken them into houses. Families even have to keep the bedroom windows of their bungalows shut for fear a rat may jump in."
A nearby scrap metal yard was considered the likely source of the vermin but Haydock's Medical Officer said he could find no evidence of rat infestation in the yard. Richard Watkin, Haydock's Public Health Inspector, also downplayed the problem saying it was "common for an odd rat" to found in places like Westminster Drive, but there was definitely no infestation. However his rodent inspector had been round with poison and would visit the estate again in a few weeks.
Pilkington strike convenor Gerry Caughey was spotlighted in the Reporter, denying rumours of profiting from the dispute. The 36-year-old from Sutton Manor claimed to be the victim of a smear campaign, having been accused of buying a new car and moving into a £10,000 bungalow. Mr Caughey blamed the General and Municipal Workers Union for spreading lies about him and told the paper:
"The truth is that the strike has financially crippled me. The union are trying to break up the solidarity among the people who have been on strike. They are trying to make my name mud. I am the figurehead, and they are trying to knock me down." The leader of the Rank and File Committee also claimed to have slept in a park when he took a delegation to London to meet Vic Feather of the TUC. A spokesman for the GMWU completely denied Gerry Caughey's allegation of a whispering campaign.
A letter in the Reporter from Charles Hartley of Harris Street attacked Mr Caughey and his Rank and File Committee. His son was one of 240 Triplex workers made redundant as a result of orders that had been lost through the 7-week strike. This was despite the fact that Mr Hartley’s son had reported for work on three occasions during the dispute. He wrote: "It is time the law was able to deal with the scoundrels responsible for the strike, and life imprisonment is a lenient punishment for the misery and suffering they are responsible for."
The old St Helens Church graveyard and grave of Rev. William Finch, the minister and vaccine pioneer
The old St Helens Church graveyard and grave of Rev. William Finch
The grave of Rev. William Finch
The human remains in the graveyard would be transferred to the borough cemetery in Rainford Road. These would include Lt. Colonel George Mackay who served with Wellington in many of his battles. And also the remains of Rev. Dr. William Finch, a former vicar of the parish church (1786 - 1815), who had introduced vaccine inoculation to the St Helens district.
Annie Eden was pictured in the Reporter having closed her little general store in College Street after 42 years. Known as "Auntie Annie" to generations of children, Mrs Eden had been forced to leave her home through the impending demolition and redevelopment of Gerards Bridge. Annie told the Reporter: "I love this little shop. It's given me a good living all these years. And it's sad to see such a splendid place as Gerards Bridge emptying. All my old customers and friends have either gone or they're going."
There was an advert in the paper for a new "Las Vegas" amusement arcade at 57 Ormskirk Street. The attractions included kiddies' rides, rifle ranges, pin tables, fruit machines, football games and a snack bar. Also in Ormskirk Street was The Baccardi Club and they were promoting their 'Crazy Dazy Disco' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Membership cost 10/6.
Next week's stories will include a bus smash in Corporation Street, the strange behaviour of a Haydock newsagent, St Helens teenagers cast their vote for the first time, the polluted Carr Mill Dam and a claim that unmarried mothers were losing their shame.
This week's 18 stories include the local candidates for the General Election, a rat plague in Haydock, a brave rescue of a drowning man in Carr Mill dam, the clearing of the parish church graveyard, bad news for Sunday sport campaigners and Auntie Annie leaves her Gerards Bridge shop after 42 years.
The Prime Minister Harold Wilson had called a General Election for June 18th and on the 8th all nominations for candidates closed at 3pm.
St Helens then only had one seat, which would be contested by the incumbent Labour MP Leslie Spriggs and Ian McGaw for the Tories.
At the previous election in 1966, the Labour Party had a majority of 19,549.
Mr Spriggs – who lived in Thornton Cleveleys – had been adopted as the official Labour candidate for a record fifth time.
Rainford was then part of the Ormskirk constituency and it would also be a two-horse race.
The Conservative candidate Harold Soref was being opposed by an unknown lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool called Robert Kilroy-Silk.
The 28-year-old's talk show 'Kilroy' was still some 16 years away! Of the forty-six election candidates within the Merseyside district, only one was a woman.
The council's Amenities Committee met on the 8th and decided against allowing organised sport on council owned pitches on Sundays.
Their Director of Parks, Sidney Adamson, told the committee that Leigh and Wigan both allowed Sunday sport in the afternoon – although the latter charged clubs £50 for the season.
Widnes was like St Helens and did not permit it at all on the Sabbath. Mr Adamson explained that council playing fields were already overworked and playing extra games during a continued spell of bad weather could "mutilate" them.
Also meeting on that day was the St Helens Building Committee and their members were told of increased vandalism on the Kendal Drive and Fleet Lane sites where new houses were being built.
Building Manager Joe Appleton cited one example where all the electric wiring had been ripped out of a house and left piled on the floor. "It must have taken them at least an hour", Mr Appleton complained.
The committee also heard about council house tenants who refused to carry out the most minor of repair work without asking Town Hall workmen to come and do it for them.
One tenant had moaned for weeks that a screw was missing from the lock on his front door.
In the end a rent collector borrowed a screwdriver and a screw from the tenant and did the job in two minutes.
The Mayor, Eric Kerr, then cited the case of a tenant who complained that his front door lock would not work.
"Have you tried releasing the catch?", asked an inspector who visited the house. And the lock worked perfectly when he did!
F. W. Woolworth and Co. of Church Street (shown above) was fined £50 in St Helens Magistrates Court on the 8th.
A weights and measures inspector had found that the yellow paint on a magnetic fishing rod used in a game sold by Woolies contained 20 times more lead than was allowed.
Clint Eastwood's western 'Hang 'Em High' began five days of screenings at the Capitol Cinema from the 8th, with a Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow film called 'John and Mary' playing at the Savoy.
On the 9th the Liverpool Echo profiled a St Helens group called 'The Gravy Train', who they said had "got their feet on the first rung of the ladder to fame and fortune".
The foursome had just been booked for a 6-week tour of the USA and had their first album and single coming out soon.
The band comprised Norman Barratt from Newton, Les Williams from Sutton, Barry Davenport from Rainford and John Hughes from Huyton.
Also on the 9th a man was pulled semi-conscious out of Carr Mill Dam after getting into difficulties while swimming.
Brian Rowley and Ruth Holmes had saved the life of 24-year-old David Rimmer, who had been cooling off in the hot weather.
Plumber Brian from Nutgrove Hall Drive in Thatto Heath spent five minutes struggling with the panic-stricken swimmer before he and Mrs Holmes managed to pull him to safety.
Commenting on Ruth's role, the St Helens Reporter wrote: "A mini-skirted mother of five stripped down to her bra and briefs to help save a drowning man."
The 33-year-old – who had not swum for more than ten years – told the Reporter: "It's no use blushing when someone is drowning. I just stripped off and went in."
David Rimmer was taken to Providence Hospital, where after treatment for shock he was allowed to go home.
Two of the three glass men jailed for three months for wounding and intimidation during the Pilkington strike had their sentences suspended by an appeal court on the 10th.
On the following day Pilkingtons agreed to stop deducting 2/6 weekly "subs" from former members of the General and Municipal Workers Union.
As many as 4,000 of the glassworkers had signed forms, contracting out of the union.
The Spinners returned to the Theatre Royal for two nights from the 11th with the Brighouse and Rastrick Prize Band making their debut in Corporation Street on the 13th.
A big story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 12th bore the headline "Families in Fear of a Rat Plague" and began:
"Fear is hanging over a luxury housing estate – because of a plague of rats. For in Westminster Drive, Haydock, mothers are terrified that when their toddlers are out playing they may find a dead rat or be bitten by one of the pests.
"Recently rats have been seen in gardens, around dustbins and sitting on front pathways. Pet dogs and cats have taken them into houses. Families even have to keep the bedroom windows of their bungalows shut for fear a rat may jump in."
A nearby scrap metal yard was considered the likely source of the vermin but Haydock's Medical Officer said he could find no evidence of rat infestation in the yard.
Richard Watkin, Haydock's Public Health Inspector, also downplayed the problem saying it was "common for an odd rat" to found in places like Westminster Drive, but there was definitely no infestation.
However his rodent inspector had been round with poison and would visit the estate again in a few weeks.
Pilkington strike convenor Gerry Caughey was spotlighted in the Reporter, denying rumours of profiting from the dispute.
The 36-year-old from Sutton Manor claimed to be the victim of a smear campaign, having been accused of buying a new car and moving into a £10,000 bungalow.
Mr Caughey blamed the General and Municipal Workers Union for spreading lies about him and told the paper:
"The truth is that the strike has financially crippled me. The union are trying to break up the solidarity among the people who have been on strike. They are trying to make my name mud. I am the figurehead, and they are trying to knock me down."
The leader of the Rank and File Committee also claimed to have slept in a park when he took a delegation to London to meet Vic Feather of the TUC.
A spokesman for the GMWU completely denied Gerry Caughey's allegation of a whispering campaign.
A letter in the Reporter from Charles Hartley of Harris Street attacked Mr Caughey and his Rank and File Committee.
His son was one of 240 Triplex workers made redundant as a result of orders that had been lost through the 7-week strike.
This was despite the fact that Mr Hartley’s son had reported for work on three occasions during the dispute.
He wrote: "It is time the law was able to deal with the scoundrels responsible for the strike, and life imprisonment is a lenient punishment for the misery and suffering they are responsible for."
The Reporter revealed that the old graveyard in Church Street behind the Post Office was to be cleared to make way for a new market.
This would mean that the "tramps and down-and-outs" that used the site would have to relocate, as a Town Hall spokesman explained:
"Tramps will have to find somewhere else to sleep now. The bulldozers will be moving in soon."
There was no suggestion that the council might attempt to find accommodation for these homeless persons.
The human remains in the graveyard would be transferred to the borough cemetery in Rainford Road.
These would include Lt. Colonel George Mackay who served with Wellington in many of his battles.
And also the remains of Rev. Dr. William Finch, a former vicar of the parish church (1786 - 1815), who had introduced vaccine inoculation to the St Helens district.
Annie Eden was pictured in the Reporter having closed her little general store in College Street after 42 years.
Known as "Auntie Annie" to generations of children, Mrs Eden had been forced to leave her home through the impending demolition and redevelopment of Gerards Bridge.
Annie told the Reporter: "I love this little shop. It's given me a good living all these years. And it's sad to see such a splendid place as Gerards Bridge emptying. All my old customers and friends have either gone or they're going."
There was an advert in the paper for a new "Las Vegas" amusement arcade at 57 Ormskirk Street.
The attractions included kiddies' rides, rifle ranges, pin tables, fruit machines, football games and a snack bar.
Also in Ormskirk Street was The Baccardi Club and they were promoting their 'Crazy Dazy Disco' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Membership cost 10/6.
Next week's stories will include a bus smash in Corporation Street, the strange behaviour of a Haydock newsagent, St Helens teenagers cast their vote for the first time, the polluted Carr Mill Dam and a claim that unmarried mothers were losing their shame.
Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Leslie Spriggs, the MP for St Helens from 1958 until 1983
Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Leslie Spriggs, St Helens MP 1958 to 1983
Leslie Spriggs MP for St Helens 1958 - 83
St Helens then only had one seat, which would be contested by the incumbent Labour MP Leslie Spriggs and Ian McGaw for the Tories.
At the previous election in 1966, the Labour Party had a majority of 19,549.
Mr Spriggs – who lived in Thornton Cleveleys – had been adopted as the official Labour candidate for a record fifth time.
Rainford was then part of the Ormskirk constituency and it would also be a two-horse race.
The Conservative candidate Harold Soref was being opposed by an unknown lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool called Robert Kilroy-Silk.
The 28-year-old's talk show 'Kilroy' was still some 16 years away! Of the forty-six election candidates within the Merseyside district, only one was a woman.
The council's Amenities Committee met on the 8th and decided against allowing organised sport on council owned pitches on Sundays.
Their Director of Parks, Sidney Adamson, told the committee that Leigh and Wigan both allowed Sunday sport in the afternoon – although the latter charged clubs £50 for the season.
Widnes was like St Helens and did not permit it at all on the Sabbath. Mr Adamson explained that council playing fields were already overworked and playing extra games during a continued spell of bad weather could "mutilate" them.
Also meeting on that day was the St Helens Building Committee and their members were told of increased vandalism on the Kendal Drive and Fleet Lane sites where new houses were being built.
Building Manager Joe Appleton cited one example where all the electric wiring had been ripped out of a house and left piled on the floor. "It must have taken them at least an hour", Mr Appleton complained.
The committee also heard about council house tenants who refused to carry out the most minor of repair work without asking Town Hall workmen to come and do it for them.
One tenant had moaned for weeks that a screw was missing from the lock on his front door.
In the end a rent collector borrowed a screwdriver and a screw from the tenant and did the job in two minutes.
The Mayor, Eric Kerr, then cited the case of a tenant who complained that his front door lock would not work.
"Have you tried releasing the catch?", asked an inspector who visited the house. And the lock worked perfectly when he did!
A weights and measures inspector had found that the yellow paint on a magnetic fishing rod used in a game sold by Woolies contained 20 times more lead than was allowed.
Clint Eastwood's western 'Hang 'Em High' began five days of screenings at the Capitol Cinema from the 8th, with a Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow film called 'John and Mary' playing at the Savoy.
On the 9th the Liverpool Echo profiled a St Helens group called 'The Gravy Train', who they said had "got their feet on the first rung of the ladder to fame and fortune".
The foursome had just been booked for a 6-week tour of the USA and had their first album and single coming out soon.
The band comprised Norman Barratt from Newton, Les Williams from Sutton, Barry Davenport from Rainford and John Hughes from Huyton.
Also on the 9th a man was pulled semi-conscious out of Carr Mill Dam after getting into difficulties while swimming.
Brian Rowley and Ruth Holmes had saved the life of 24-year-old David Rimmer, who had been cooling off in the hot weather.
Plumber Brian from Nutgrove Hall Drive in Thatto Heath spent five minutes struggling with the panic-stricken swimmer before he and Mrs Holmes managed to pull him to safety.
Commenting on Ruth's role, the St Helens Reporter wrote: "A mini-skirted mother of five stripped down to her bra and briefs to help save a drowning man."
The 33-year-old – who had not swum for more than ten years – told the Reporter: "It's no use blushing when someone is drowning. I just stripped off and went in."
David Rimmer was taken to Providence Hospital, where after treatment for shock he was allowed to go home.
Two of the three glass men jailed for three months for wounding and intimidation during the Pilkington strike had their sentences suspended by an appeal court on the 10th.
On the following day Pilkingtons agreed to stop deducting 2/6 weekly "subs" from former members of the General and Municipal Workers Union.
As many as 4,000 of the glassworkers had signed forms, contracting out of the union.
The Spinners returned to the Theatre Royal for two nights from the 11th with the Brighouse and Rastrick Prize Band making their debut in Corporation Street on the 13th.
A big story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 12th bore the headline "Families in Fear of a Rat Plague" and began:
"Fear is hanging over a luxury housing estate – because of a plague of rats. For in Westminster Drive, Haydock, mothers are terrified that when their toddlers are out playing they may find a dead rat or be bitten by one of the pests.
"Recently rats have been seen in gardens, around dustbins and sitting on front pathways. Pet dogs and cats have taken them into houses. Families even have to keep the bedroom windows of their bungalows shut for fear a rat may jump in."
A nearby scrap metal yard was considered the likely source of the vermin but Haydock's Medical Officer said he could find no evidence of rat infestation in the yard.
Richard Watkin, Haydock's Public Health Inspector, also downplayed the problem saying it was "common for an odd rat" to found in places like Westminster Drive, but there was definitely no infestation.
However his rodent inspector had been round with poison and would visit the estate again in a few weeks.
Pilkington strike convenor Gerry Caughey was spotlighted in the Reporter, denying rumours of profiting from the dispute.
The 36-year-old from Sutton Manor claimed to be the victim of a smear campaign, having been accused of buying a new car and moving into a £10,000 bungalow.
Mr Caughey blamed the General and Municipal Workers Union for spreading lies about him and told the paper:
"The truth is that the strike has financially crippled me. The union are trying to break up the solidarity among the people who have been on strike. They are trying to make my name mud. I am the figurehead, and they are trying to knock me down."
The leader of the Rank and File Committee also claimed to have slept in a park when he took a delegation to London to meet Vic Feather of the TUC.
A spokesman for the GMWU completely denied Gerry Caughey's allegation of a whispering campaign.
A letter in the Reporter from Charles Hartley of Harris Street attacked Mr Caughey and his Rank and File Committee.
His son was one of 240 Triplex workers made redundant as a result of orders that had been lost through the 7-week strike.
This was despite the fact that Mr Hartley’s son had reported for work on three occasions during the dispute.
He wrote: "It is time the law was able to deal with the scoundrels responsible for the strike, and life imprisonment is a lenient punishment for the misery and suffering they are responsible for."
The old St Helens Church graveyard and grave of Rev. William Finch, the minister and vaccine pioneer
The old St Helens Church graveyard and grave of Rev. William Finch
The grave of Rev. William Finch
This would mean that the "tramps and down-and-outs" that used the site would have to relocate, as a Town Hall spokesman explained:
"Tramps will have to find somewhere else to sleep now. The bulldozers will be moving in soon."
There was no suggestion that the council might attempt to find accommodation for these homeless persons.
The human remains in the graveyard would be transferred to the borough cemetery in Rainford Road.
These would include Lt. Colonel George Mackay who served with Wellington in many of his battles.
And also the remains of Rev. Dr. William Finch, a former vicar of the parish church (1786 - 1815), who had introduced vaccine inoculation to the St Helens district.
Annie Eden was pictured in the Reporter having closed her little general store in College Street after 42 years.
Known as "Auntie Annie" to generations of children, Mrs Eden had been forced to leave her home through the impending demolition and redevelopment of Gerards Bridge.
Annie told the Reporter: "I love this little shop. It's given me a good living all these years. And it's sad to see such a splendid place as Gerards Bridge emptying. All my old customers and friends have either gone or they're going."
There was an advert in the paper for a new "Las Vegas" amusement arcade at 57 Ormskirk Street.
The attractions included kiddies' rides, rifle ranges, pin tables, fruit machines, football games and a snack bar.
Also in Ormskirk Street was The Baccardi Club and they were promoting their 'Crazy Dazy Disco' on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Membership cost 10/6.
Next week's stories will include a bus smash in Corporation Street, the strange behaviour of a Haydock newsagent, St Helens teenagers cast their vote for the first time, the polluted Carr Mill Dam and a claim that unmarried mothers were losing their shame.