FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th March 1969)
This week's 20 stories include a wave of Rainford telephone robberies, the end of the BICC strike in Prescot, the Nutgrove Brownies pedlars' parade, Haydock Lodge mental hospital is given away, the Thatto Heath church that held services in a disused pit, the Parr man's "publicity gag" for the Black and White Minstrels and Sooty returns to the Theatre Royal.
We begin on the 11th with the announcement that Parkside Colliery in Newton had produced 17,200 tons of coal during the past week. The mine's output of 47 cwt per man shift was a national productivity record, 2 cwt higher than the national average.
On the same day the month-long unofficial strike by 2,500 employees at the BICC factory in Prescot ended with a resumption of work. The workers had been demanding a minimum wage of £15 a week and it was agreed that negotiations would continue based on proposals put forward by the management.
The decision to return to work had been taken two days earlier at a mass meeting held on Prescot Town's ground. The majority in favour was only about 100 and after the result was announced, there was angry shouting and some men tore up their union cards.
It was reported on the 11th that the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board had finally accepted Dr John Wootton's offer to give them Haydock Lodge. This was described as one of the largest private mental hospitals in Lancashire and twelve months earlier the Board had rejected the 88-year-old's offer.
However they had now changed their minds, seemingly because a large sum had been spent making improvements to the building. The hospital on Warrington Road in Haydock stood in 80 acres of woodland and was valued at over £500,000. Dr Wootton had taken over Haydock Lodge 54 years earlier and the Holiday Inn now occupies the site.
Spring might just be around the corner but the bad winter continued in St Helens. A sudden blizzard struck the town during the evening of the 12th, causing two lorries to collide on the East Lancs. Fortunately nobody was hurt and more snow fell on the following day.
The Council's proposals to increase the rates by a shilling brought a furious response from the St Helens Chamber of Trade. Their President, William Barrow, called the planned rise "ridiculous", pointing out that there were large areas of waste land in the borough that were not bringing in rates. Liberal leader Allan Lycett was also critical, saying the increase would be "wrong in principle and morally wrong".
This week Ravenhead Glass launched a new range of whisky tumblers called 'Diamonds' that they claimed were comparable to crystal in their brilliance and clarity. A set of six was available for 14s 11d.
Joe Smith appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on the 12th seeking compensation from the National Coal Board for "most painful and alarming injuries". The 35-year-old had worked at Parkside Colliery and in 1965 was struck by what he claimed had been a metal bar protruding from an underground locomotive. As a result Joe – from Pennington Lane in Parr – had to have forty-seven stiches in his groin and he spent twelve days in Providence Hospital.
Last year an article in the St Helens Reporter had stated that Joe had joined the Black and White Minstrels as a stand in for star performer Dai Francis. However he admitted in court that much of what had been written was an exaggerated "publicity gag" and he had in fact failed the audition. The judge decided the NCB were not liable and dismissed the claim.
Howard Cubitt, the St Helens Director of Education, placed two advertisements in the Guardian on the 13th. He was looking to recruit an assistant mistress to teach French throughout the Cowley Girls School within its large, modern language department. Currently a grammar school, Cowley would become a comprehensive in 1970 as part of the St Helens education reorganisation scheme.
Mr Cubitt was also looking for an assistant teacher to teach maths to CSE and O level at the Central Secondary School in College Street. This was a new school of sorts, as the former Central boys' and girls' secondary modern schools had combined last year.
Primary school teacher Kathleen Fletcher gave birth to triplets in the early hours of the 13th. The two boys and a girl were the first threesome to be born at the new maternity wing at Billinge Hospital. The 26-year-old said she had been told she was expecting triplets in January and when she rang her husband Harry to tell him, he was so stunned he had to ring off to recover!
Six-year-old twins Julie and Linda McDermott of Ramford Street were pictured in the Liverpool Echo on the 13th. They were entrants in a contest to find the top twins on Merseyside, with the winners set to perform the opening of the new twin cinema at the Odeon in Liverpool.
Multiplex cinemas were more than fifteen years away and so doubling the number of screens in a picture house was an exciting event. Twins Carole and Lynn Chisnall from Mendip Grove in Parr had also previously been pictured in the Echo.
It was announced this week that two new roads in Haydock were being named after a headmaster and a council clerk. Whiteside Road, off Wagon Lane, was named after the late Harry Whiteside MBE, who had been head at St James junior school for 32 years before retiring in 1950. Clifford Road, off Old Whint Road, no longer appears to exist but it was being named after Clifford Ledger, who had been clerk to Haydock Council for 38 years.
Surprisingly Rainford only had five telephone kiosks in 1969. This is stated in an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 14th that revealed that four of them were out of action. This was as a result of thieves having used crowbars to wrench coin boxes out of kiosks and in the process equipment had been damaged.
It was expected to take some time for the telephones to be repaired as a GPO spokesman said parts were in short supply. In the meantime local pubs were allowing people to use their telephones. The GPO also stated that four weeks earlier the telephone receiver in the kiosk outside the village hall had been ripped out and thrown into a garden.
The danger of challenging telephone vandals was described in a letter published in the Reporter by Mrs V. Arnold. She wrote of the misery that she had endured since her husband had chased after some youths who had been smashing the windows of a kiosk in Newton Road.
Since then the vandals had been banging on their front door and ringing their doorbell until after 10pm. Matters had worsened during the past fortnight and four panes of glass in their house had been smashed. Mrs Arnold wrote: "If this is the torture one has to put up with for being public spirited, it is the last time that I will interfere with these vandals."
Also in the Reporter was an account of the history of the Independent Methodist (Zion Free Gospel) Church in West Street, Thatto Heath, as written by Alderman William Burrows. It was another example of nonconformist church members having met in strange places in their early days.
Originally services had been held in a small terraced house in Fidler Street before moving to the disused winding engine house high up at the old Royal Colliery. Consequently it was nicknamed the "Up Steps Chapel".
Their history is reminiscent of the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel in Lancots Lane, which in its early days was dubbed the "Hole in the Wall" church. That was because services were held in a storeroom at Crone and Taylor's fertiliser factory and the congregation gained access by climbing through a hole in the surrounding wall!
On the 13th the 37th St Helens Brownies held an unusual afternoon tea at Nutgrove Methodist Hall in Govett Road. It took the form of a "pedlars' parade" with the Brownies in traditional costume representing the street cries of old London. They moved amongst the visitors selling their wares from trays, with the £30 proceeds in aid of pack funds and to provide an Easter treat for a children's home.
On the 15th J. B. & B. Leach was advertising Lincoln House in the Guardian for lease as a departmental store showroom "with excellent 125 ft window display". The Corporation Street building was also described as a "splendid modern Sales /Showroom built 1964 and fully equipped". At what point Lincoln House was acquired by St Helens Corporation, I cannot yet say.
Later that day over one hundred members and friends of the Thatto Heath Ornithological Society held their annual dinner and presentations at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street held a St Patrick's Night Dance on the 17th featuring the Kentuckians. Tickets were 7/6 and a hot pot supper was available. Rainhill Labour Club in Warburton Hey Road also held a dance on "St Paddy's" night, with John on the organ and Tommy on the drums – plus supporting artist.
At the Capitol for three days from the 17th there was a James Bond double-header with screenings of 'Thunderball' and 'Goldfinger' featuring Sean Connery as 007.
It's quite a thought that Sooty is now in his 70s, having been created by Harry Corbett back in 1948. For six nights from the 17th the popular glove puppet was entertaining the kids at the Theatre Royal in 'The Sooty Show ’69'.
Sweep, Soo and the Yorkshire accented snake Ramsbottom were also giving Sooty a hand – so to speak! Admission was 3/6 or 5/-. Harry Corbett used to travel by caravan and when he was performing in the district would park it outside the Wheatsheaf in Rainford.
Next week's stories will include the river of mud in Walkers Lane, Dirty Gert at the Geraldo, new baths for Scotchbarn Lane, the labour shortage in St Helens, criticism of the facilities at Hamblett Open Air School, a car wash for Carr Mill and the Prescot Road man who attacked his wife is fined just a fiver.
We begin on the 11th with the announcement that Parkside Colliery in Newton had produced 17,200 tons of coal during the past week. The mine's output of 47 cwt per man shift was a national productivity record, 2 cwt higher than the national average.
On the same day the month-long unofficial strike by 2,500 employees at the BICC factory in Prescot ended with a resumption of work. The workers had been demanding a minimum wage of £15 a week and it was agreed that negotiations would continue based on proposals put forward by the management.
The decision to return to work had been taken two days earlier at a mass meeting held on Prescot Town's ground. The majority in favour was only about 100 and after the result was announced, there was angry shouting and some men tore up their union cards.
It was reported on the 11th that the Liverpool Regional Hospital Board had finally accepted Dr John Wootton's offer to give them Haydock Lodge. This was described as one of the largest private mental hospitals in Lancashire and twelve months earlier the Board had rejected the 88-year-old's offer.
However they had now changed their minds, seemingly because a large sum had been spent making improvements to the building. The hospital on Warrington Road in Haydock stood in 80 acres of woodland and was valued at over £500,000. Dr Wootton had taken over Haydock Lodge 54 years earlier and the Holiday Inn now occupies the site.
Spring might just be around the corner but the bad winter continued in St Helens. A sudden blizzard struck the town during the evening of the 12th, causing two lorries to collide on the East Lancs. Fortunately nobody was hurt and more snow fell on the following day.
The Council's proposals to increase the rates by a shilling brought a furious response from the St Helens Chamber of Trade. Their President, William Barrow, called the planned rise "ridiculous", pointing out that there were large areas of waste land in the borough that were not bringing in rates. Liberal leader Allan Lycett was also critical, saying the increase would be "wrong in principle and morally wrong".
This week Ravenhead Glass launched a new range of whisky tumblers called 'Diamonds' that they claimed were comparable to crystal in their brilliance and clarity. A set of six was available for 14s 11d.
Joe Smith appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on the 12th seeking compensation from the National Coal Board for "most painful and alarming injuries". The 35-year-old had worked at Parkside Colliery and in 1965 was struck by what he claimed had been a metal bar protruding from an underground locomotive. As a result Joe – from Pennington Lane in Parr – had to have forty-seven stiches in his groin and he spent twelve days in Providence Hospital.
Last year an article in the St Helens Reporter had stated that Joe had joined the Black and White Minstrels as a stand in for star performer Dai Francis. However he admitted in court that much of what had been written was an exaggerated "publicity gag" and he had in fact failed the audition. The judge decided the NCB were not liable and dismissed the claim.
Howard Cubitt, the St Helens Director of Education, placed two advertisements in the Guardian on the 13th. He was looking to recruit an assistant mistress to teach French throughout the Cowley Girls School within its large, modern language department. Currently a grammar school, Cowley would become a comprehensive in 1970 as part of the St Helens education reorganisation scheme.
Mr Cubitt was also looking for an assistant teacher to teach maths to CSE and O level at the Central Secondary School in College Street. This was a new school of sorts, as the former Central boys' and girls' secondary modern schools had combined last year.
These advertisements for Manweb, North West Gas and UDEC were published in the Liverpool Echo this week
These advertisements were published in the Liverpool Echo this week
Ads in the Liverpool Echo this week
Six-year-old twins Julie and Linda McDermott of Ramford Street were pictured in the Liverpool Echo on the 13th. They were entrants in a contest to find the top twins on Merseyside, with the winners set to perform the opening of the new twin cinema at the Odeon in Liverpool.
Multiplex cinemas were more than fifteen years away and so doubling the number of screens in a picture house was an exciting event. Twins Carole and Lynn Chisnall from Mendip Grove in Parr had also previously been pictured in the Echo.
It was announced this week that two new roads in Haydock were being named after a headmaster and a council clerk. Whiteside Road, off Wagon Lane, was named after the late Harry Whiteside MBE, who had been head at St James junior school for 32 years before retiring in 1950. Clifford Road, off Old Whint Road, no longer appears to exist but it was being named after Clifford Ledger, who had been clerk to Haydock Council for 38 years.
Surprisingly Rainford only had five telephone kiosks in 1969. This is stated in an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 14th that revealed that four of them were out of action. This was as a result of thieves having used crowbars to wrench coin boxes out of kiosks and in the process equipment had been damaged.
It was expected to take some time for the telephones to be repaired as a GPO spokesman said parts were in short supply. In the meantime local pubs were allowing people to use their telephones. The GPO also stated that four weeks earlier the telephone receiver in the kiosk outside the village hall had been ripped out and thrown into a garden.
The danger of challenging telephone vandals was described in a letter published in the Reporter by Mrs V. Arnold. She wrote of the misery that she had endured since her husband had chased after some youths who had been smashing the windows of a kiosk in Newton Road.
Since then the vandals had been banging on their front door and ringing their doorbell until after 10pm. Matters had worsened during the past fortnight and four panes of glass in their house had been smashed. Mrs Arnold wrote: "If this is the torture one has to put up with for being public spirited, it is the last time that I will interfere with these vandals."
Also in the Reporter was an account of the history of the Independent Methodist (Zion Free Gospel) Church in West Street, Thatto Heath, as written by Alderman William Burrows. It was another example of nonconformist church members having met in strange places in their early days.
Originally services had been held in a small terraced house in Fidler Street before moving to the disused winding engine house high up at the old Royal Colliery. Consequently it was nicknamed the "Up Steps Chapel".
Their history is reminiscent of the Sutton Oak Welsh Chapel in Lancots Lane, which in its early days was dubbed the "Hole in the Wall" church. That was because services were held in a storeroom at Crone and Taylor's fertiliser factory and the congregation gained access by climbing through a hole in the surrounding wall!
On the 13th the 37th St Helens Brownies held an unusual afternoon tea at Nutgrove Methodist Hall in Govett Road. It took the form of a "pedlars' parade" with the Brownies in traditional costume representing the street cries of old London. They moved amongst the visitors selling their wares from trays, with the £30 proceeds in aid of pack funds and to provide an Easter treat for a children's home.
On the 15th J. B. & B. Leach was advertising Lincoln House in the Guardian for lease as a departmental store showroom "with excellent 125 ft window display". The Corporation Street building was also described as a "splendid modern Sales /Showroom built 1964 and fully equipped". At what point Lincoln House was acquired by St Helens Corporation, I cannot yet say.
Later that day over one hundred members and friends of the Thatto Heath Ornithological Society held their annual dinner and presentations at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street.
The Geraldo Club in Lord Street held a St Patrick's Night Dance on the 17th featuring the Kentuckians. Tickets were 7/6 and a hot pot supper was available. Rainhill Labour Club in Warburton Hey Road also held a dance on "St Paddy's" night, with John on the organ and Tommy on the drums – plus supporting artist.
At the Capitol for three days from the 17th there was a James Bond double-header with screenings of 'Thunderball' and 'Goldfinger' featuring Sean Connery as 007.
It's quite a thought that Sooty is now in his 70s, having been created by Harry Corbett back in 1948. For six nights from the 17th the popular glove puppet was entertaining the kids at the Theatre Royal in 'The Sooty Show ’69'.
Sweep, Soo and the Yorkshire accented snake Ramsbottom were also giving Sooty a hand – so to speak! Admission was 3/6 or 5/-. Harry Corbett used to travel by caravan and when he was performing in the district would park it outside the Wheatsheaf in Rainford.
Next week's stories will include the river of mud in Walkers Lane, Dirty Gert at the Geraldo, new baths for Scotchbarn Lane, the labour shortage in St Helens, criticism of the facilities at Hamblett Open Air School, a car wash for Carr Mill and the Prescot Road man who attacked his wife is fined just a fiver.