FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (9th - 15th AUGUST 1971)
This week's many stories include a call for a ban on shopping at Woolies, the Exchange Street fruit merchant scam, the timetable for North Sea gas conversion is announced, Knowsley Safari Park drivers hit back at criticism, the tragic tale of Timothy the wandering tortoise and the rent-striking Parr tenants in unfit homes receive eviction notices.
There was increasing concern over the number of traffic accidents in the St Helens district. On the 9th eleven-year-old Nigel McDonald of Stevenson Road in Newton sustained head injuries in a collision with a car near Wargrave School and was taken to Warrington Infirmary. And late on the 10th, 23-year-old James Unsworth of Gore Street in St Helens and his 21-year-old brother Joseph, of Wynne Road, both suffered chest injuries after an accident.
Then on the following morning Wilfred Lucas of Hobart Street in Thatto Heath was taken to Providence Hospital with a back injury. The 16-year-old cyclist had collided with a car at the Bridge Street roundabout on the inner ring road. Then six-year-old Brian Burns was struck by a car in Granville Street in Parr and Hilda Parr of Argyle Street was struck down in Corporation Street. Both were discharged from hospital after treatment for leg injuries.
On the 11th in St Helens Magistrates Court, two men were charged with working a fiddle. An Exchange Street fruit merchant had employed one of the defendants as a delivery driver but he had clearly become suspicious of his employee stealing goods. So when the 40-year-old Haresfinch man went on his rounds, a police detective followed him. The officer saw him deliver potatoes, bananas, apples and oranges to a shop in Lingholme Road which was not a customer of the fruit merchant. Both men were fined £35.
During the evening a passing police constable and a neighbour tackled a fire at a house in Hillside Avenue in Dentons Green. The blaze caused damage to curtains and a window frame in the front living room but their prompt action prevented the blaze from spreading.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 13th and described on its front page how five Parr householders on a rent strike had been handed eviction notices. The tenants of Coal Board properties in Southport Street and Mersey Street complained that their homes suffered from damp and had no hot water or bathrooms. Their landlord accepted that the terraced houses were unfit for human habitation but thought it pointless to spend money on them.
The NCB, instead, wanted St Helens Corporation to rehouse their tenants and the 120-year-old houses pulling down. They would then donate the land to the council. However a Town Hall spokesman told the Reporter that they were not interested in such a deal: "The Coal Board have certain houses available. If they feel these houses are unfit for human habitation then let them rehouse the tenants. They are not our responsibility."
Originally the houses had been for the families of miners at local pits. However only one striking tenant had what was described as a remote connection with coal mining – demotivating the Coal Board even further from helping them. The Reporter wrote that the tenants were caught in a "tug of jaw" (groan!) between the NCB and council.
The paper also described how two mothers were calling for a housewives' boycott of Woolworth's in St Helens (pictured above). The Church Street store had recently introduced a pay-as-you-leave system and prams had been banned to prevent traffic jams in the aisles with the many shopping trollies that were in use. Linda Smith of New Cross Street and Judith Picton of Rodney Street did not appreciate being asked to leave Woolies and Mrs Picton told the Reporter:
"We can't carry babies when we're shopping and any mother would be too scared to leave a child in the street. I think every mother should blacklist the store as a protest against the ban." Woolie's manager Harold Waddell responded that there was space on each trolley for older babies to ride in.
Sandra Forshaw gave importance witness evidence at an inquest in Liverpool on the 13th. The typist from Syston Avenue in Haresfinch described how she had been watching a man in white overalls painting hazard arrows on the roadway near the Tate and Lyle transport offices in Liverpool. A tanker slowly approached, knocked over some warning cones that surrounded the man and ran over and killed him. A misadventure verdict was returned.
Do you remember the gas conversion of the ‘70s? The discovery of cheap and plentiful reserves of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965 led to a mammoth programme of adaptation. All gas cookers and gas heaters had to be converted to utilise this natural gas (mainly methane) instead of using manufactured gas. In total 40 million appliances were either converted or replaced between 1967 and 1976 – a massive and costly enterprise.
On the 13th the North Western Gas Board announced more details of their timetable for their conversion programme in the St Helens area. From January 1972 consumers in Wigan would be supplied with North Sea gas and then they would move "in an arc" to St Helens with conversions hopefully completed by October 1972.
Three men all of no fixed abode appeared before St Helens magistrates on the 13th. They were all charged with burglary and stealing copper and lead valued at £4.24 from an empty house in Cooper Street. The magistrates decided to remand all three in custody for a week. Upon began asked if they had anything to say about being remanded, one of them told the Bench: "Hell, we're better off inside than out anyway. You get more money and more food."
Last week I reported how 150 vehicles had broken down on the previous Sunday afternoon in Knowsley Safari Park. The reserve's manager, Laurence Tennant, blamed the breakdowns on poorly maintained cars, saying: "We just can't understand why people come here in cars like the ones that broke down. They should not have been on the road." However on the 13th a letter was published in the Echo in which a park visitor put the blame on the organisers:
"Sir, May I comment on the Knowsley Safari Park's blackest Sunday since opening (Echo, August 2). No wonder there were nearly 150 breakdowns due to overheating, etc., when one considers the inhuman way in which the Park's authority jammed the reserve with cars and occupants as if they were packing sardines in a can. If an equivalent number of animals had been crammed into the same space there would have been a national outcry.
"It took me three hours to complete the four-mile “trek” and my car was showing distinct signs of distress, even though it is only two years old and perfectly maintained, due to the continual nose-to-tail, double-lane congestion. A visitor to the Safari Park pays £1 admission, presumably in order to see the animals in their natural state, but if one dares to stop for a second or two, a patrol vehicle's loudspeaker urges: “Move along there, please; keep moving!” – J. Roberts, 15 Glenconner Road, Liverpool 16."
The Echo asked the Safari Park to respond and a spokesman said: "Sunday afternoon is our rush hour time; everybody seems to descend on us. No matter what precautions you take, if everybody comes at once you are bound to have a traffic jam. We do everything possible to discourage people from coming on Sunday afternoons. For the same reason, it was necessary to ask people as politely as possible to keep moving slowly through the park. But these instructions were only issued on Sunday afternoons."
Another visitor wrote: "Sir. – As one who has experienced the drive through the Knowsley Safari Park when the temperatures are in the seventies, I don't think the whole blame should be put on the motorists for the 150 cars which broke down in one day recently. The whole operation is about equal to a five-mile traffic jam, with a number of hills in between, which, with windows closed, can be a nightmare to the occupants of any car. Considering the huge space before the actual toll booths, surely a large lay-by could be made with, say, a large gantry-type notice saying “Please check petrol, water and oil.” – Robert H. Watson, 24 Cornelius Drive, Pensby, Wirral."
The reply from the Safari Park spokesman to that was: "We are continually reviewing ways of improving the traffic situation. We feel it is improving every day, but the suggestions will be noted. We would think that motorists would use their commonsense and check such things as petrol, oil and their radiators, before setting out on any journey. We are, however, planning to erect warning notices on these lines."
On the 14th the Echo reported that a start on the new St Helens Corporation-owned multi-storey car park would be made in November. It would be built on part of the inner ring road car park alongside what was formerly Collins wholesale warehouse. The new building would have an 80-yard-long frontage and be about 35 yards deep.
At present a total of 700 vehicles were able to use the existing surface car park. This figure would be reduced by about a third when the new project was completed – but the multi-storey park itself would hold 700 cars. Another multi-storey car park that would take 350 vehicles was currently being built at the end of Church Street, as part of the new town centre redevelopment scheme. This would become known as the Chalon Way car park (aka St Mary's), which was demolished last March.
Dr Francis (Frank) Mooney is remembered for his expertise as consultant pathologist to both St Helens and Providence Hospitals. He was also a music buff and used to play the organ at a St Helens church. On the 14th the Echo reported that Dr Mooney had become the new musical director to St Helens Catholic Amateur Gilbert and Sullivan Society. He was now working with the society on their production of 'My Dear Gilbert', which told the story of Gilbert and Sullivan. The show would be staged at the Theatre Royal for three nights at the beginning of September.
And finally, this story was published in the Echo this week: "This is the sad tale of Timothy the Tortoise. A story with a moral for all other tortoises that the slow lanes of motorways were just not designed for their kind. Timothy was spotted by Detective Chief Inspector Danny Hanberry, head of Warrington C.I.D., as he was driving along the motorway near Haydock. “I could hardly believe my eyes,” he said. “There he was – in the slow lane, of course – with what looked like a number plate on his back.”
"Motorway patrolmen breathed sceptically when the C.I.D. chief told them his tale. “Someone even suggested a breath test but a patrol went out anyway,” grinned the detective chief inspector. Sure enough, the patrolmen found Timothy, still ambling along the motorway with that slow but sure tortoise gait. “He has a sticker with a name and address on his back, so we were able to return him to his owner,” said a police spokesman.
"It was at this point that Timothy's story was taken up by Mrs. Joyce Williams, of 71 Southworth Avenue, Newton-le-Willows. Her four-years-old daughter, Ann, was given the tortoise as a pet two months ago. “We went on holiday about three weeks ago, leaving Timothy in the back garden with plenty of food,” she said.
"“Somehow he must have climbed through the fence and we never saw him again until the motorway accident unit rolled up to the house and handed him over. When we came to look at him we found that his shell had been badly cracked,” said Mrs. Williams. “We took him to the vet and it was decided to have him destroyed.” And so it seems motorway madness has claimed its latest victim."
Next week's stories will include the Sutton woman who was injured at the St Helens Show, the Washway Lane / East Lancs tunnel is given the thumbs-up and the St Helens fire chief warns of the dangers of children playing in derelict houses.
There was increasing concern over the number of traffic accidents in the St Helens district. On the 9th eleven-year-old Nigel McDonald of Stevenson Road in Newton sustained head injuries in a collision with a car near Wargrave School and was taken to Warrington Infirmary. And late on the 10th, 23-year-old James Unsworth of Gore Street in St Helens and his 21-year-old brother Joseph, of Wynne Road, both suffered chest injuries after an accident.
Then on the following morning Wilfred Lucas of Hobart Street in Thatto Heath was taken to Providence Hospital with a back injury. The 16-year-old cyclist had collided with a car at the Bridge Street roundabout on the inner ring road. Then six-year-old Brian Burns was struck by a car in Granville Street in Parr and Hilda Parr of Argyle Street was struck down in Corporation Street. Both were discharged from hospital after treatment for leg injuries.
On the 11th in St Helens Magistrates Court, two men were charged with working a fiddle. An Exchange Street fruit merchant had employed one of the defendants as a delivery driver but he had clearly become suspicious of his employee stealing goods. So when the 40-year-old Haresfinch man went on his rounds, a police detective followed him. The officer saw him deliver potatoes, bananas, apples and oranges to a shop in Lingholme Road which was not a customer of the fruit merchant. Both men were fined £35.
During the evening a passing police constable and a neighbour tackled a fire at a house in Hillside Avenue in Dentons Green. The blaze caused damage to curtains and a window frame in the front living room but their prompt action prevented the blaze from spreading.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 13th and described on its front page how five Parr householders on a rent strike had been handed eviction notices. The tenants of Coal Board properties in Southport Street and Mersey Street complained that their homes suffered from damp and had no hot water or bathrooms. Their landlord accepted that the terraced houses were unfit for human habitation but thought it pointless to spend money on them.
The NCB, instead, wanted St Helens Corporation to rehouse their tenants and the 120-year-old houses pulling down. They would then donate the land to the council. However a Town Hall spokesman told the Reporter that they were not interested in such a deal: "The Coal Board have certain houses available. If they feel these houses are unfit for human habitation then let them rehouse the tenants. They are not our responsibility."
Originally the houses had been for the families of miners at local pits. However only one striking tenant had what was described as a remote connection with coal mining – demotivating the Coal Board even further from helping them. The Reporter wrote that the tenants were caught in a "tug of jaw" (groan!) between the NCB and council.
"We can't carry babies when we're shopping and any mother would be too scared to leave a child in the street. I think every mother should blacklist the store as a protest against the ban." Woolie's manager Harold Waddell responded that there was space on each trolley for older babies to ride in.
Sandra Forshaw gave importance witness evidence at an inquest in Liverpool on the 13th. The typist from Syston Avenue in Haresfinch described how she had been watching a man in white overalls painting hazard arrows on the roadway near the Tate and Lyle transport offices in Liverpool. A tanker slowly approached, knocked over some warning cones that surrounded the man and ran over and killed him. A misadventure verdict was returned.
Do you remember the gas conversion of the ‘70s? The discovery of cheap and plentiful reserves of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965 led to a mammoth programme of adaptation. All gas cookers and gas heaters had to be converted to utilise this natural gas (mainly methane) instead of using manufactured gas. In total 40 million appliances were either converted or replaced between 1967 and 1976 – a massive and costly enterprise.
On the 13th the North Western Gas Board announced more details of their timetable for their conversion programme in the St Helens area. From January 1972 consumers in Wigan would be supplied with North Sea gas and then they would move "in an arc" to St Helens with conversions hopefully completed by October 1972.
Three men all of no fixed abode appeared before St Helens magistrates on the 13th. They were all charged with burglary and stealing copper and lead valued at £4.24 from an empty house in Cooper Street. The magistrates decided to remand all three in custody for a week. Upon began asked if they had anything to say about being remanded, one of them told the Bench: "Hell, we're better off inside than out anyway. You get more money and more food."
Last week I reported how 150 vehicles had broken down on the previous Sunday afternoon in Knowsley Safari Park. The reserve's manager, Laurence Tennant, blamed the breakdowns on poorly maintained cars, saying: "We just can't understand why people come here in cars like the ones that broke down. They should not have been on the road." However on the 13th a letter was published in the Echo in which a park visitor put the blame on the organisers:
"Sir, May I comment on the Knowsley Safari Park's blackest Sunday since opening (Echo, August 2). No wonder there were nearly 150 breakdowns due to overheating, etc., when one considers the inhuman way in which the Park's authority jammed the reserve with cars and occupants as if they were packing sardines in a can. If an equivalent number of animals had been crammed into the same space there would have been a national outcry.
"It took me three hours to complete the four-mile “trek” and my car was showing distinct signs of distress, even though it is only two years old and perfectly maintained, due to the continual nose-to-tail, double-lane congestion. A visitor to the Safari Park pays £1 admission, presumably in order to see the animals in their natural state, but if one dares to stop for a second or two, a patrol vehicle's loudspeaker urges: “Move along there, please; keep moving!” – J. Roberts, 15 Glenconner Road, Liverpool 16."
The Echo asked the Safari Park to respond and a spokesman said: "Sunday afternoon is our rush hour time; everybody seems to descend on us. No matter what precautions you take, if everybody comes at once you are bound to have a traffic jam. We do everything possible to discourage people from coming on Sunday afternoons. For the same reason, it was necessary to ask people as politely as possible to keep moving slowly through the park. But these instructions were only issued on Sunday afternoons."
Another visitor wrote: "Sir. – As one who has experienced the drive through the Knowsley Safari Park when the temperatures are in the seventies, I don't think the whole blame should be put on the motorists for the 150 cars which broke down in one day recently. The whole operation is about equal to a five-mile traffic jam, with a number of hills in between, which, with windows closed, can be a nightmare to the occupants of any car. Considering the huge space before the actual toll booths, surely a large lay-by could be made with, say, a large gantry-type notice saying “Please check petrol, water and oil.” – Robert H. Watson, 24 Cornelius Drive, Pensby, Wirral."
On the 14th the Echo reported that a start on the new St Helens Corporation-owned multi-storey car park would be made in November. It would be built on part of the inner ring road car park alongside what was formerly Collins wholesale warehouse. The new building would have an 80-yard-long frontage and be about 35 yards deep.
At present a total of 700 vehicles were able to use the existing surface car park. This figure would be reduced by about a third when the new project was completed – but the multi-storey park itself would hold 700 cars. Another multi-storey car park that would take 350 vehicles was currently being built at the end of Church Street, as part of the new town centre redevelopment scheme. This would become known as the Chalon Way car park (aka St Mary's), which was demolished last March.
Dr Francis (Frank) Mooney is remembered for his expertise as consultant pathologist to both St Helens and Providence Hospitals. He was also a music buff and used to play the organ at a St Helens church. On the 14th the Echo reported that Dr Mooney had become the new musical director to St Helens Catholic Amateur Gilbert and Sullivan Society. He was now working with the society on their production of 'My Dear Gilbert', which told the story of Gilbert and Sullivan. The show would be staged at the Theatre Royal for three nights at the beginning of September.
And finally, this story was published in the Echo this week: "This is the sad tale of Timothy the Tortoise. A story with a moral for all other tortoises that the slow lanes of motorways were just not designed for their kind. Timothy was spotted by Detective Chief Inspector Danny Hanberry, head of Warrington C.I.D., as he was driving along the motorway near Haydock. “I could hardly believe my eyes,” he said. “There he was – in the slow lane, of course – with what looked like a number plate on his back.”
"Motorway patrolmen breathed sceptically when the C.I.D. chief told them his tale. “Someone even suggested a breath test but a patrol went out anyway,” grinned the detective chief inspector. Sure enough, the patrolmen found Timothy, still ambling along the motorway with that slow but sure tortoise gait. “He has a sticker with a name and address on his back, so we were able to return him to his owner,” said a police spokesman.
"It was at this point that Timothy's story was taken up by Mrs. Joyce Williams, of 71 Southworth Avenue, Newton-le-Willows. Her four-years-old daughter, Ann, was given the tortoise as a pet two months ago. “We went on holiday about three weeks ago, leaving Timothy in the back garden with plenty of food,” she said.
"“Somehow he must have climbed through the fence and we never saw him again until the motorway accident unit rolled up to the house and handed him over. When we came to look at him we found that his shell had been badly cracked,” said Mrs. Williams. “We took him to the vet and it was decided to have him destroyed.” And so it seems motorway madness has claimed its latest victim."
Next week's stories will include the Sutton woman who was injured at the St Helens Show, the Washway Lane / East Lancs tunnel is given the thumbs-up and the St Helens fire chief warns of the dangers of children playing in derelict houses.
This week's many stories include a call for a ban on shopping at Woolies, the Exchange Street fruit merchant scam, the timetable for North Sea gas conversion is announced, Knowsley Safari Park drivers hit back at criticism, the tragic tale of Timothy the wandering tortoise and the rent-striking Parr tenants in unfit homes receive eviction notices.
There was increasing concern over the number of traffic accidents in the St Helens district.
On the 9th eleven-year-old Nigel McDonald of Stevenson Road in Newton sustained head injuries in a collision with a car near Wargrave School and was taken to Warrington Infirmary.
And late on the 10th, 23-year-old James Unsworth of Gore Street in St Helens and his 21-year-old brother Joseph, of Wynne Road, both suffered chest injuries after an accident.
Then on the following morning Wilfred Lucas of Hobart Street in Thatto Heath was taken to Providence Hospital with a back injury.
The 16-year-old cyclist had collided with a car at the Bridge Street roundabout on the inner ring road.
Then six-year-old Brian Burns was struck by a car in Granville Street in Parr and Hilda Parr of Argyle Street was struck down in Corporation Street. Both were discharged from hospital after treatment for leg injuries.
On the 11th in St Helens Magistrates Court, two men were charged with working a fiddle.
An Exchange Street fruit merchant had employed one of the defendants as a delivery driver but he had clearly become suspicious of his employee stealing goods.
So when the 40-year-old Haresfinch man went on his rounds, a police detective followed him.
The officer saw him deliver potatoes, bananas, apples and oranges to a shop in Lingholme Road which was not a customer of the fruit merchant. Both men were fined £35.
During the evening a passing police constable and a neighbour tackled a fire at a house in Hillside Avenue in Dentons Green.
The blaze caused damage to curtains and a window frame in the front living room but their prompt action prevented the blaze from spreading.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 13th and described on its front page how five Parr householders on a rent strike had been handed eviction notices.
The tenants of Coal Board properties in Southport Street and Mersey Street complained that their homes suffered from damp and had no hot water or bathrooms.
Their landlord accepted that the terraced houses were unfit for human habitation but thought it pointless to spend money on them.
The NCB, instead, wanted St Helens Corporation to rehouse their tenants and the 120-year-old houses pulling down. They would then donate the land to the council.
However a Town Hall spokesman told the Reporter that they were not interested in such a deal:
"The Coal Board have certain houses available. If they feel these houses are unfit for human habitation then let them rehouse the tenants. They are not our responsibility."
Originally the houses had been for the families of miners at local pits. However only one striking tenant had what was described as a remote connection with coal mining – demotivating the Coal Board even further from helping them.
The Reporter wrote that the tenants were caught in a "tug of jaw" (groan!) between the NCB and council.
The paper also described how two mothers were calling for a housewives' boycott of Woolworth's in St Helens (pictured above).
The Church Street store had recently introduced a pay-as-you-leave system and prams had been banned to prevent traffic jams in the aisles with the many shopping trollies that were in use.
Linda Smith of New Cross Street and Judith Picton of Rodney Street did not appreciate being asked to leave Woolies and Mrs Picton told the Reporter:
"We can't carry babies when we're shopping and any mother would be too scared to leave a child in the street. I think every mother should blacklist the store as a protest against the ban."
Woolie's manager Harold Waddell responded that there was space on each trolley for older babies to ride in.
Sandra Forshaw gave importance witness evidence at an inquest in Liverpool on the 13th.
The typist from Syston Avenue in Haresfinch described how she had been watching a man in white overalls painting hazard arrows on the roadway near the Tate and Lyle transport offices in Liverpool.
A tanker slowly approached, knocked over some warning cones that surrounded the man and ran over and killed him. A misadventure verdict was returned.
Do you remember the gas conversion of the ‘70s? The discovery of cheap and plentiful reserves of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965 led to a mammoth programme of adaptation.
All gas cookers and gas heaters had to be converted to utilise this natural gas (mainly methane) instead of using manufactured gas.
In total 40 million appliances were either converted or replaced between 1967 and 1976 – a massive and costly enterprise.
On the 13th the North Western Gas Board announced more details of their timetable for their conversion programme in the St Helens area.
From January 1972 consumers in Wigan would be supplied with North Sea gas and then they would move "in an arc" to St Helens with conversions hopefully completed by October 1972.
Three men all of no fixed abode appeared before St Helens magistrates on the 13th.
They were all charged with burglary and stealing copper and lead valued at £4.24 from an empty house in Cooper Street.
The magistrates decided to remand all three in custody for a week. Upon began asked if they had anything to say about being remanded, one of them told the Bench:
"Hell, we're better off inside than out anyway. You get more money and more food."
Last week I reported how 150 vehicles had broken down on the previous Sunday afternoon in Knowsley Safari Park.
The reserve's manager, Laurence Tennant, blamed the breakdowns on poorly maintained cars, saying:
"We just can't understand why people come here in cars like the ones that broke down. They should not have been on the road."
However on the 13th a letter was published in the Echo in which a park visitor put the blame on the organisers:
"Sir, May I comment on the Knowsley Safari Park's blackest Sunday since opening (Echo, August 2).
"No wonder there were nearly 150 breakdowns due to overheating, etc., when one considers the inhuman way in which the Park's authority jammed the reserve with cars and occupants as if they were packing sardines in a can.
"If an equivalent number of animals had been crammed into the same space there would have been a national outcry.
"It took me three hours to complete the four-mile “trek” and my car was showing distinct signs of distress, even though it is only two years old and perfectly maintained, due to the continual nose-to-tail, double-lane congestion.
"A visitor to the Safari Park pays £1 admission, presumably in order to see the animals in their natural state, but if one dares to stop for a second or two, a patrol vehicle's loudspeaker urges: “Move along there, please; keep moving!” – J. Roberts, 15 Glenconner Road, Liverpool 16."
The Echo asked the Safari Park to respond and a spokesman said: "Sunday afternoon is our rush hour time; everybody seems to descend on us.
"No matter what precautions you take, if everybody comes at once you are bound to have a traffic jam. We do everything possible to discourage people from coming on Sunday afternoons.
"For the same reason, it was necessary to ask people as politely as possible to keep moving slowly through the park. But these instructions were only issued on Sunday afternoons."
Another visitor wrote:
"Sir. – As one who has experienced the drive through the Knowsley Safari Park when the temperatures are in the seventies, I don't think the whole blame should be put on the motorists for the 150 cars which broke down in one day recently.
"The whole operation is about equal to a five-mile traffic jam, with a number of hills in between, which, with windows closed, can be a nightmare to the occupants of any car.
"Considering the huge space before the actual toll booths, surely a large lay-by could be made with, say, a large gantry-type notice saying “Please check petrol, water and oil.” – Robert H. Watson, 24 Cornelius Drive, Pensby, Wirral."
The reply from the Safari Park spokesman to that was:
"We are continually reviewing ways of improving the traffic situation. We feel it is improving every day, but the suggestions will be noted.
"We would think that motorists would use their commonsense and check such things as petrol, oil and their radiators, before setting out on any journey.
"We are, however, planning to erect warning notices on these lines."
On the 14th the Echo reported that a start on the new St Helens Corporation-owned multi-storey car park would be made in November.
It would be built on part of the inner ring road car park alongside what was formerly Collins wholesale warehouse.
The new building would have an 80-yard-long frontage and be about 35 yards deep.
At present a total of 700 vehicles were able to use the existing surface car park.
This figure would be reduced by about a third when the new project was completed – but the multi-storey park itself would hold 700 cars.
Another multi-storey car park that would take 350 vehicles was currently being built at the end of Church Street, as part of the new town centre redevelopment scheme.
This would become known as the Chalon Way car park (aka St Mary's), which was demolished last March.
And finally, this story was published in the Echo this week:
"This is the sad tale of Timothy the Tortoise. A story with a moral for all other tortoises that the slow lanes of motorways were just not designed for their kind.
"Timothy was spotted by Detective Chief Inspector Danny Hanberry, head of Warrington C.I.D., as he was driving along the motorway near Haydock.
"“I could hardly believe my eyes,” he said. “There he was – in the slow lane, of course – with what looked like a number plate on his back.”
"Motorway patrolmen breathed sceptically when the C.I.D. chief told them his tale. “Someone even suggested a breath test but a patrol went out anyway,” grinned the detective chief inspector.
"Sure enough, the patrolmen found Timothy, still ambling along the motorway with that slow but sure tortoise gait.
"“He has a sticker with a name and address on his back, so we were able to return him to his owner,” said a police spokesman.
"It was at this point that Timothy's story was taken up by Mrs. Joyce Williams, of 71 Southworth Avenue, Newton-le-Willows.
"Her four-years-old daughter, Ann, was given the tortoise as a pet two months ago. “We went on holiday about three weeks ago, leaving Timothy in the back garden with plenty of food,” she said.
"“Somehow he must have climbed through the fence and we never saw him again until the motorway accident unit rolled up to the house and handed him over.
"“When we came to look at him we found that his shell had been badly cracked,” said Mrs. Williams. “We took him to the vet and it was decided to have him destroyed.”
"And so it seems motorway madness has claimed its latest victim."
Next week's stories will include the Sutton woman who was injured at the St Helens Show, the Washway Lane / East Lancs tunnel is given the thumbs-up and the St Helens fire chief warns of the dangers of children playing in derelict houses.
There was increasing concern over the number of traffic accidents in the St Helens district.
On the 9th eleven-year-old Nigel McDonald of Stevenson Road in Newton sustained head injuries in a collision with a car near Wargrave School and was taken to Warrington Infirmary.
And late on the 10th, 23-year-old James Unsworth of Gore Street in St Helens and his 21-year-old brother Joseph, of Wynne Road, both suffered chest injuries after an accident.
Then on the following morning Wilfred Lucas of Hobart Street in Thatto Heath was taken to Providence Hospital with a back injury.
The 16-year-old cyclist had collided with a car at the Bridge Street roundabout on the inner ring road.
Then six-year-old Brian Burns was struck by a car in Granville Street in Parr and Hilda Parr of Argyle Street was struck down in Corporation Street. Both were discharged from hospital after treatment for leg injuries.
On the 11th in St Helens Magistrates Court, two men were charged with working a fiddle.
An Exchange Street fruit merchant had employed one of the defendants as a delivery driver but he had clearly become suspicious of his employee stealing goods.
So when the 40-year-old Haresfinch man went on his rounds, a police detective followed him.
The officer saw him deliver potatoes, bananas, apples and oranges to a shop in Lingholme Road which was not a customer of the fruit merchant. Both men were fined £35.
During the evening a passing police constable and a neighbour tackled a fire at a house in Hillside Avenue in Dentons Green.
The blaze caused damage to curtains and a window frame in the front living room but their prompt action prevented the blaze from spreading.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 13th and described on its front page how five Parr householders on a rent strike had been handed eviction notices.
The tenants of Coal Board properties in Southport Street and Mersey Street complained that their homes suffered from damp and had no hot water or bathrooms.
Their landlord accepted that the terraced houses were unfit for human habitation but thought it pointless to spend money on them.
The NCB, instead, wanted St Helens Corporation to rehouse their tenants and the 120-year-old houses pulling down. They would then donate the land to the council.
However a Town Hall spokesman told the Reporter that they were not interested in such a deal:
"The Coal Board have certain houses available. If they feel these houses are unfit for human habitation then let them rehouse the tenants. They are not our responsibility."
Originally the houses had been for the families of miners at local pits. However only one striking tenant had what was described as a remote connection with coal mining – demotivating the Coal Board even further from helping them.
The Reporter wrote that the tenants were caught in a "tug of jaw" (groan!) between the NCB and council.
The Church Street store had recently introduced a pay-as-you-leave system and prams had been banned to prevent traffic jams in the aisles with the many shopping trollies that were in use.
Linda Smith of New Cross Street and Judith Picton of Rodney Street did not appreciate being asked to leave Woolies and Mrs Picton told the Reporter:
"We can't carry babies when we're shopping and any mother would be too scared to leave a child in the street. I think every mother should blacklist the store as a protest against the ban."
Woolie's manager Harold Waddell responded that there was space on each trolley for older babies to ride in.
Sandra Forshaw gave importance witness evidence at an inquest in Liverpool on the 13th.
The typist from Syston Avenue in Haresfinch described how she had been watching a man in white overalls painting hazard arrows on the roadway near the Tate and Lyle transport offices in Liverpool.
A tanker slowly approached, knocked over some warning cones that surrounded the man and ran over and killed him. A misadventure verdict was returned.
Do you remember the gas conversion of the ‘70s? The discovery of cheap and plentiful reserves of natural gas in the North Sea in 1965 led to a mammoth programme of adaptation.
All gas cookers and gas heaters had to be converted to utilise this natural gas (mainly methane) instead of using manufactured gas.
In total 40 million appliances were either converted or replaced between 1967 and 1976 – a massive and costly enterprise.
On the 13th the North Western Gas Board announced more details of their timetable for their conversion programme in the St Helens area.
From January 1972 consumers in Wigan would be supplied with North Sea gas and then they would move "in an arc" to St Helens with conversions hopefully completed by October 1972.
Three men all of no fixed abode appeared before St Helens magistrates on the 13th.
They were all charged with burglary and stealing copper and lead valued at £4.24 from an empty house in Cooper Street.
The magistrates decided to remand all three in custody for a week. Upon began asked if they had anything to say about being remanded, one of them told the Bench:
"Hell, we're better off inside than out anyway. You get more money and more food."
Last week I reported how 150 vehicles had broken down on the previous Sunday afternoon in Knowsley Safari Park.
The reserve's manager, Laurence Tennant, blamed the breakdowns on poorly maintained cars, saying:
"We just can't understand why people come here in cars like the ones that broke down. They should not have been on the road."
However on the 13th a letter was published in the Echo in which a park visitor put the blame on the organisers:
"Sir, May I comment on the Knowsley Safari Park's blackest Sunday since opening (Echo, August 2).
"No wonder there were nearly 150 breakdowns due to overheating, etc., when one considers the inhuman way in which the Park's authority jammed the reserve with cars and occupants as if they were packing sardines in a can.
"If an equivalent number of animals had been crammed into the same space there would have been a national outcry.
"It took me three hours to complete the four-mile “trek” and my car was showing distinct signs of distress, even though it is only two years old and perfectly maintained, due to the continual nose-to-tail, double-lane congestion.
"A visitor to the Safari Park pays £1 admission, presumably in order to see the animals in their natural state, but if one dares to stop for a second or two, a patrol vehicle's loudspeaker urges: “Move along there, please; keep moving!” – J. Roberts, 15 Glenconner Road, Liverpool 16."
The Echo asked the Safari Park to respond and a spokesman said: "Sunday afternoon is our rush hour time; everybody seems to descend on us.
"No matter what precautions you take, if everybody comes at once you are bound to have a traffic jam. We do everything possible to discourage people from coming on Sunday afternoons.
"For the same reason, it was necessary to ask people as politely as possible to keep moving slowly through the park. But these instructions were only issued on Sunday afternoons."
Another visitor wrote:
"Sir. – As one who has experienced the drive through the Knowsley Safari Park when the temperatures are in the seventies, I don't think the whole blame should be put on the motorists for the 150 cars which broke down in one day recently.
"The whole operation is about equal to a five-mile traffic jam, with a number of hills in between, which, with windows closed, can be a nightmare to the occupants of any car.
"Considering the huge space before the actual toll booths, surely a large lay-by could be made with, say, a large gantry-type notice saying “Please check petrol, water and oil.” – Robert H. Watson, 24 Cornelius Drive, Pensby, Wirral."
"We are continually reviewing ways of improving the traffic situation. We feel it is improving every day, but the suggestions will be noted.
"We would think that motorists would use their commonsense and check such things as petrol, oil and their radiators, before setting out on any journey.
"We are, however, planning to erect warning notices on these lines."
On the 14th the Echo reported that a start on the new St Helens Corporation-owned multi-storey car park would be made in November.
It would be built on part of the inner ring road car park alongside what was formerly Collins wholesale warehouse.
The new building would have an 80-yard-long frontage and be about 35 yards deep.
At present a total of 700 vehicles were able to use the existing surface car park.
This figure would be reduced by about a third when the new project was completed – but the multi-storey park itself would hold 700 cars.
Another multi-storey car park that would take 350 vehicles was currently being built at the end of Church Street, as part of the new town centre redevelopment scheme.
This would become known as the Chalon Way car park (aka St Mary's), which was demolished last March.
And finally, this story was published in the Echo this week:
"This is the sad tale of Timothy the Tortoise. A story with a moral for all other tortoises that the slow lanes of motorways were just not designed for their kind.
"Timothy was spotted by Detective Chief Inspector Danny Hanberry, head of Warrington C.I.D., as he was driving along the motorway near Haydock.
"“I could hardly believe my eyes,” he said. “There he was – in the slow lane, of course – with what looked like a number plate on his back.”
"Motorway patrolmen breathed sceptically when the C.I.D. chief told them his tale. “Someone even suggested a breath test but a patrol went out anyway,” grinned the detective chief inspector.
"Sure enough, the patrolmen found Timothy, still ambling along the motorway with that slow but sure tortoise gait.
"“He has a sticker with a name and address on his back, so we were able to return him to his owner,” said a police spokesman.
"It was at this point that Timothy's story was taken up by Mrs. Joyce Williams, of 71 Southworth Avenue, Newton-le-Willows.
"Her four-years-old daughter, Ann, was given the tortoise as a pet two months ago. “We went on holiday about three weeks ago, leaving Timothy in the back garden with plenty of food,” she said.
"“Somehow he must have climbed through the fence and we never saw him again until the motorway accident unit rolled up to the house and handed him over.
"“When we came to look at him we found that his shell had been badly cracked,” said Mrs. Williams. “We took him to the vet and it was decided to have him destroyed.”
"And so it seems motorway madness has claimed its latest victim."
Next week's stories will include the Sutton woman who was injured at the St Helens Show, the Washway Lane / East Lancs tunnel is given the thumbs-up and the St Helens fire chief warns of the dangers of children playing in derelict houses.