FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (11th - 17th JULY 1972)
This week's stories include the petrol bomb craze in Clinkham Wood, complaints over the taste of St Helens drinking water, two firemen are injured fighting a town centre blaze, the Stoves' strike at Rainhill and Reporter profiles of supermarket boss Terence Lennon and bookie Matty Coan.
Some weeks ago the level of chlorine in drinking water supplied to St Helens homes had been raised from 0.05 parts per million to 0.2. That change had led to many complaints from residents from all over the town who claimed that the taste of their water supply had subsequently been affected. "You can't make a good cup of tea with it," complained Alderman Thomas Hignett, at this week's Water Committee meeting. As a result the St Helens Water Engineer appealed for the public to supply his department with samples of any water that tasted odd.
The water boffins were baffled, as normally chlorine could not be tasted in water until it reached 0.5 ppm, that's 2½ times its present level. Ald. Hignett told the meeting that he had received a number of complaints from the Dentons Green area of the town and since June, seventeen people had raised the matter directly with the Water Department. The chlorine had been added to the water supply to reduce levels of infection and pollution – although some people were confusing it with fluoride. That was a controversial subject during the ‘70s with some concerned that there might be health risks if added to water supplies. However, Fraser Millar, the Water Engineer, stated that adding chlorine to water ensured there'd be no bacteria in it and doing so made H20 safer than ever to drink.
Mr Millar also told the committee that domestic consumption of water in St Helens had greatly increased over the last few months, leading to concern over future supplies. Not only were many new houses being built that consumed more water – but demand had been boosted by homeowners in old properties without baths taking advantage of grants to have bathrooms installed. Fraser Millar told the committee members: "The water table is dropping, and we’re having to find new sources of supply all the time."
A dispute over a bus shelter outside St Helens Hospital occupied the attention of councillors at the monthly Town Council meeting on the 19th. Cllr. Pat Gill claimed that buses were ignoring traffic regulations by stopping within the white zig-zag lines that led to the pelican crossing near the hospital entrance. "The bus shelter should be moved to a safer place," he said.
However, the chairman of the Transport Committee, Cllr. Joseph Mulcrow, explained that the buses were permitted to stop on the crossing, adding that the shelter had been there first and had already been moved about 1½ yards on the advice of the Chief Safety Officer. "No matter where the shelter is put it will be an obstruction", he added. After the meeting Cllr. Gill said he was still not satisfied, stating: "The shelter should be moved some distance down the road towards the town centre where there is a bus lay-by."
A big story in the Reporter on the 14th was a claim that a "petrol bomb craze" had broken out on a St Helens council estate, mimicking the rioting that was taking place in Northern Ireland. Boys were reported to have been hurling the bottles containing petrol against buildings on a construction site at Kendal Drive in Clinkham Wood. Building manager Joe Appleton said:
"Petrol has been taken from a cement mixer on the site and put into bottles for petrol-type bombs. The vandals have then thrown these at the gable end of a building on the site. But no damage has been done and none of the bombs has exploded." A police spokesman said: "This is extremely dangerous, not only to property, but to the children themselves. They could be seriously injured. We will be making every effort to stamp it out."
Two injured fireman scrambled for their lives this week after tons of masonry came crashing down on them as they fought a blaze in St Helens. The fire was at the old Royal Standard Hotel in Naylor Street. David Atherton and Brian Lowe were battling to stop the flames spreading to Redman's grocery shop next door when a wall suddenly collapsed. 22-year-old David was detained in Providence Hospital with arm and ankle injuries but Brian was allowed home after receiving treatment for a broken arm.
Station Officer Austin Curran said: "The Royal Standard was going like a torch when we got there. The heat was so intense it set fire to temporary barriers erected in the roadway by demolition men." The cause of the fire was not yet known but was not thought to have been arson.
A preview of next week's St Helens Show was featured in the Reporter, which promised to be "bigger, brighter and better than ever" – but then didn't it always? The army had been due to take part in a big parade to launch the Show, led by two members of the Household Cavalry and which would also feature armoured vehicles.
After taking the salute from the Town Hall steps, the Mayor, Cllr. Allan Lycett, planned to step inside a horse-driven carriage to join the procession to Sherdley Park. But since the plans had been made, the army units involved had received orders to go to Northern Ireland and so the procession had been cancelled. However, the two riders from the Household Cavalry would still be galloping through the town.
When the first official St Helens Show began in 1969, a kiosk was set up outside Burton's shop to promote the event and sell advance programmes. This year Susan Critchley of Nicholl Road in Eccleston was selling programmes and tickets from a kiosk in Victoria Square. Then, when the show began, the 16-year-old would be manning the inquiry box at the Showground.
The organisers would, no doubt, have been hoping that the heatwave, which hit St Helens this week, would continue during the Show. As a result of the hot weather people were being asked not to swim in the stretch of the St Helens Canal known as The Hotties. Until safety patrols had been introduced at that spot in 1968, a number of drownings had occurred there.
Pretty much every week in 1972 the Reporter described some new industrial dispute in the district – and this week's was at Stoves in Stoney Lane in Rainhill. Seventy foundrymen had been on an unofficial strike for the past week and the firm said that unless they returned to work, the rest of the 500 workers employed at the cooker factory would be laid off. Already 120 men had been told to stay home and the strikers were hoping that their union would make their strike over pay official.
Last week Jack Nevin had been interviewed in the Reporter as part of an advertising feature. This week it was his rival supermarket supremo Terence Lennon who was spotlighted in the paper. Of course, big advertisers that regularly booked full pages in newspapers needed careful, if not ingratiating, treatment and the Reporter's piece began:
"There have been few success stories in recent years which can parallel that of the amazing growth of the Lennon Supermarket empire. It is a tale of far-sightedness above the ordinary, of courage in adopting new methods in food retailing and of an ability to adapt and change."
Although Terence Lennon has always been seen as the personification of the chain store, the grocery firm had been established by his father Frank and inherited by him and his brother Dennis, who preferred to remain in the background. The pair had opened their first supermarket in Widnes in 1958 after travelling to America to study the new method of retailing. Some questioned whether the US style of "pile it high and sell it cheap" would work here – but their supermarket was instantly successful and a second was opened in St Helens in 1959.
Now the pair had 28 supermarkets in Lancashire and Cheshire with four more due to open – as well as 56 off-licences. And a new £500,000 office complex in Corporation Street, which would include a wines and spirits warehouse, was being planned. Deep-freeze foods were seen as a big growth area for the firm - but not "fancy foods". Terence Lennon described northern folk as conservative in their food buying habits and said they preferred "plain, traditional stuff".
Last December the Reporter's lead story in the paper said: "A mystery tycoon is master-minding a deal to build a giant night-life complex costing half a million pounds. A casino, luxury nightclub and monster motel will take the place of swings and roundabouts on the edge of Carr Mill Dam, St. Helens." The go-between in the new venture was St Helens betting shop owner and former miner Matty Coan, whose real name was John Smith.
This week the 34-year-old bookie was interviewed by the Reporter and said he hoped that work on the complex in Carr Mill would begin later in the month and be finished by next March. That would be stage one of the giant lakeside project, which would include a plush hotel and conference centre. Then work would begin on stage two involving the building of a nightclub and, in two years time, the casino would be next.
John Smith had spent eight years working as a miner down Ravenhead Colliery before moving to Pilkingtons. Then betting shops became legal and after learning the ropes working for one company, John opened his own business in Crossley Road in Thatto Heath under the name of Matty Coan. That had since expanded to 5 shops in St Helens, two more had opened this week (hence the interview) and John had plans to open five more betting establishments by August.
Next week's stories will include plans to clean up the eyesore Kimmicks, Saints captain Kel Coslett is "kidnapped", more complaints about the Four Acre Lane council estate and good news for those on the telephone waiting list.
Some weeks ago the level of chlorine in drinking water supplied to St Helens homes had been raised from 0.05 parts per million to 0.2. That change had led to many complaints from residents from all over the town who claimed that the taste of their water supply had subsequently been affected. "You can't make a good cup of tea with it," complained Alderman Thomas Hignett, at this week's Water Committee meeting. As a result the St Helens Water Engineer appealed for the public to supply his department with samples of any water that tasted odd.
The water boffins were baffled, as normally chlorine could not be tasted in water until it reached 0.5 ppm, that's 2½ times its present level. Ald. Hignett told the meeting that he had received a number of complaints from the Dentons Green area of the town and since June, seventeen people had raised the matter directly with the Water Department. The chlorine had been added to the water supply to reduce levels of infection and pollution – although some people were confusing it with fluoride. That was a controversial subject during the ‘70s with some concerned that there might be health risks if added to water supplies. However, Fraser Millar, the Water Engineer, stated that adding chlorine to water ensured there'd be no bacteria in it and doing so made H20 safer than ever to drink.
Mr Millar also told the committee that domestic consumption of water in St Helens had greatly increased over the last few months, leading to concern over future supplies. Not only were many new houses being built that consumed more water – but demand had been boosted by homeowners in old properties without baths taking advantage of grants to have bathrooms installed. Fraser Millar told the committee members: "The water table is dropping, and we’re having to find new sources of supply all the time."
A dispute over a bus shelter outside St Helens Hospital occupied the attention of councillors at the monthly Town Council meeting on the 19th. Cllr. Pat Gill claimed that buses were ignoring traffic regulations by stopping within the white zig-zag lines that led to the pelican crossing near the hospital entrance. "The bus shelter should be moved to a safer place," he said.
However, the chairman of the Transport Committee, Cllr. Joseph Mulcrow, explained that the buses were permitted to stop on the crossing, adding that the shelter had been there first and had already been moved about 1½ yards on the advice of the Chief Safety Officer. "No matter where the shelter is put it will be an obstruction", he added. After the meeting Cllr. Gill said he was still not satisfied, stating: "The shelter should be moved some distance down the road towards the town centre where there is a bus lay-by."
A big story in the Reporter on the 14th was a claim that a "petrol bomb craze" had broken out on a St Helens council estate, mimicking the rioting that was taking place in Northern Ireland. Boys were reported to have been hurling the bottles containing petrol against buildings on a construction site at Kendal Drive in Clinkham Wood. Building manager Joe Appleton said:
"Petrol has been taken from a cement mixer on the site and put into bottles for petrol-type bombs. The vandals have then thrown these at the gable end of a building on the site. But no damage has been done and none of the bombs has exploded." A police spokesman said: "This is extremely dangerous, not only to property, but to the children themselves. They could be seriously injured. We will be making every effort to stamp it out."
Two injured fireman scrambled for their lives this week after tons of masonry came crashing down on them as they fought a blaze in St Helens. The fire was at the old Royal Standard Hotel in Naylor Street. David Atherton and Brian Lowe were battling to stop the flames spreading to Redman's grocery shop next door when a wall suddenly collapsed. 22-year-old David was detained in Providence Hospital with arm and ankle injuries but Brian was allowed home after receiving treatment for a broken arm.
Station Officer Austin Curran said: "The Royal Standard was going like a torch when we got there. The heat was so intense it set fire to temporary barriers erected in the roadway by demolition men." The cause of the fire was not yet known but was not thought to have been arson.
A preview of next week's St Helens Show was featured in the Reporter, which promised to be "bigger, brighter and better than ever" – but then didn't it always? The army had been due to take part in a big parade to launch the Show, led by two members of the Household Cavalry and which would also feature armoured vehicles.
After taking the salute from the Town Hall steps, the Mayor, Cllr. Allan Lycett, planned to step inside a horse-driven carriage to join the procession to Sherdley Park. But since the plans had been made, the army units involved had received orders to go to Northern Ireland and so the procession had been cancelled. However, the two riders from the Household Cavalry would still be galloping through the town.
When the first official St Helens Show began in 1969, a kiosk was set up outside Burton's shop to promote the event and sell advance programmes. This year Susan Critchley of Nicholl Road in Eccleston was selling programmes and tickets from a kiosk in Victoria Square. Then, when the show began, the 16-year-old would be manning the inquiry box at the Showground.
The organisers would, no doubt, have been hoping that the heatwave, which hit St Helens this week, would continue during the Show. As a result of the hot weather people were being asked not to swim in the stretch of the St Helens Canal known as The Hotties. Until safety patrols had been introduced at that spot in 1968, a number of drownings had occurred there.
Pretty much every week in 1972 the Reporter described some new industrial dispute in the district – and this week's was at Stoves in Stoney Lane in Rainhill. Seventy foundrymen had been on an unofficial strike for the past week and the firm said that unless they returned to work, the rest of the 500 workers employed at the cooker factory would be laid off. Already 120 men had been told to stay home and the strikers were hoping that their union would make their strike over pay official.
"There have been few success stories in recent years which can parallel that of the amazing growth of the Lennon Supermarket empire. It is a tale of far-sightedness above the ordinary, of courage in adopting new methods in food retailing and of an ability to adapt and change."
Although Terence Lennon has always been seen as the personification of the chain store, the grocery firm had been established by his father Frank and inherited by him and his brother Dennis, who preferred to remain in the background. The pair had opened their first supermarket in Widnes in 1958 after travelling to America to study the new method of retailing. Some questioned whether the US style of "pile it high and sell it cheap" would work here – but their supermarket was instantly successful and a second was opened in St Helens in 1959.
Now the pair had 28 supermarkets in Lancashire and Cheshire with four more due to open – as well as 56 off-licences. And a new £500,000 office complex in Corporation Street, which would include a wines and spirits warehouse, was being planned. Deep-freeze foods were seen as a big growth area for the firm - but not "fancy foods". Terence Lennon described northern folk as conservative in their food buying habits and said they preferred "plain, traditional stuff".
Last December the Reporter's lead story in the paper said: "A mystery tycoon is master-minding a deal to build a giant night-life complex costing half a million pounds. A casino, luxury nightclub and monster motel will take the place of swings and roundabouts on the edge of Carr Mill Dam, St. Helens." The go-between in the new venture was St Helens betting shop owner and former miner Matty Coan, whose real name was John Smith.
This week the 34-year-old bookie was interviewed by the Reporter and said he hoped that work on the complex in Carr Mill would begin later in the month and be finished by next March. That would be stage one of the giant lakeside project, which would include a plush hotel and conference centre. Then work would begin on stage two involving the building of a nightclub and, in two years time, the casino would be next.
John Smith had spent eight years working as a miner down Ravenhead Colliery before moving to Pilkingtons. Then betting shops became legal and after learning the ropes working for one company, John opened his own business in Crossley Road in Thatto Heath under the name of Matty Coan. That had since expanded to 5 shops in St Helens, two more had opened this week (hence the interview) and John had plans to open five more betting establishments by August.
Next week's stories will include plans to clean up the eyesore Kimmicks, Saints captain Kel Coslett is "kidnapped", more complaints about the Four Acre Lane council estate and good news for those on the telephone waiting list.
This week's stories include the petrol bomb craze in Clinkham Wood, complaints over the taste of St Helens drinking water, two firemen are injured fighting a town centre blaze, the Stoves' strike at Rainhill and Reporter profiles of supermarket boss Terence Lennon and bookie Matty Coan.
Some weeks ago the level of chlorine in drinking water supplied to St Helens homes had been raised from 0.05 parts per million to 0.2.
That change had led to many complaints from residents from all over the town who claimed that the taste of their water supply had subsequently been affected.
"You can't make a good cup of tea with it," complained Alderman Thomas Hignett, at this week's Water Committee meeting.
As a result the St Helens Water Engineer appealed for the public to supply his department with samples of any water that tasted odd.
The water boffins were baffled, as normally chlorine could not be tasted in water until it reached 0.5 ppm, that's 2½ times its present level.
Ald. Hignett told the meeting that he had received a number of complaints from the Dentons Green area of the town and since June, seventeen people had raised the matter directly with the Water Department.
The chlorine had been added to the water supply to reduce levels of infection and pollution – although some people were confusing it with fluoride.
That was a controversial subject during the ‘70s with some concerned that there might be health risks if added to water supplies.
However, Fraser Millar, the Water Engineer, stated that adding chlorine to water ensured there'd be no bacteria in it and doing so made H20 safer than ever to drink.
Mr Millar also told the committee that domestic consumption of water in St Helens had greatly increased over the last few months, leading to concern over future supplies.
Not only were many new houses being built that consumed more water – but demand had been boosted by homeowners in old properties without baths taking advantage of grants to have bathrooms installed.
Fraser Millar told the committee members: "The water table is dropping, and we’re having to find new sources of supply all the time."
A dispute over a bus shelter outside St Helens Hospital occupied the attention of councillors at the monthly Town Council meeting on the 19th.
Cllr. Pat Gill claimed that buses were ignoring traffic regulations by stopping within the white zig-zag lines that led to the pelican crossing near the hospital entrance. "The bus shelter should be moved to a safer place," he said.
However, the chairman of the Transport Committee, Cllr. Joseph Mulcrow, explained that the buses were permitted to stop on the crossing, adding that the shelter had been there first and had already been moved about 1½ yards on the advice of the Chief Safety Officer.
"No matter where the shelter is put it will be an obstruction", he added.
After the meeting Cllr. Gill said he was still not satisfied, stating:
"The shelter should be moved some distance down the road towards the town centre where there is a bus lay-by."
A big story in the Reporter on the 14th was a claim that a "petrol bomb craze" had broken out on a St Helens council estate, mimicking the rioting that was taking place in Northern Ireland.
Boys were reported to have been hurling the bottles containing petrol against buildings on a construction site at Kendal Drive in Clinkham Wood. Building manager Joe Appleton said:
"Petrol has been taken from a cement mixer on the site and put into bottles for petrol-type bombs. The vandals have then thrown these at the gable end of a building on the site. But no damage has been done and none of the bombs has exploded."
A police spokesman said: "This is extremely dangerous, not only to property, but to the children themselves. They could be seriously injured. We will be making every effort to stamp it out."
Two injured fireman scrambled for their lives this week after tons of masonry came crashing down on them as they fought a blaze in St Helens. The fire was at the old Royal Standard Hotel in Naylor Street.
David Atherton and Brian Lowe were battling to stop the flames spreading to Redman's grocery shop next door when a wall suddenly collapsed.
22-year-old David was detained in Providence Hospital with arm and ankle injuries but Brian was allowed home after receiving treatment for a broken arm. Station Officer Austin Curran said:
"The Royal Standard was going like a torch when we got there. The heat was so intense it set fire to temporary barriers erected in the roadway by demolition men."
The cause of the fire was not yet known but was not thought to have been arson.
A preview of next week's St Helens Show was featured in the Reporter, which promised to be "bigger, brighter and better than ever" – but then didn't it always?
The army had been due to take part in a big parade to launch the Show, led by two members of the Household Cavalry and which would also feature armoured vehicles.
After taking the salute from the Town Hall steps, the Mayor, Cllr. Allan Lycett, planned to step inside a horse-driven carriage to join the procession to Sherdley Park.
But since the plans had been made, the army units involved had received orders to go to Northern Ireland and so the procession had been cancelled.
However, the two riders from the Household Cavalry would still be galloping through the town.
When the first official St Helens Show began in 1969, a kiosk was set up outside Burton's shop to promote the event and sell advance programmes.
This year Susan Critchley of Nicholl Road in Eccleston was selling programmes and tickets from a kiosk in Victoria Square.
Then, when the show began, the 16-year-old would be manning the inquiry box at the Showground.
The organisers would, no doubt, have been hoping that the heatwave, which hit St Helens this week, would continue during the Show.
As a result of the hot weather people were being asked not to swim in the stretch of the St Helens Canal known as The Hotties.
Until safety patrols had been introduced at that spot in 1968, a number of drownings had occurred there.
Pretty much every week in 1972 the Reporter described some new industrial dispute in the district – and this week's was at Stoves in Stoney Lane in Rainhill.
Seventy foundrymen had been on an unofficial strike for the past week and the firm said that unless they returned to work, the rest of the 500 workers employed at the cooker factory would be laid off.
Already 120 men had been told to stay home and the strikers were hoping that their union would make their strike over pay official.
Last week Jack Nevin had been interviewed in the Reporter as part of an advertising feature.
This week it was his rival supermarket supremo Terence Lennon who was spotlighted in the paper.
Of course, big advertisers that regularly booked full pages in newspapers needed careful, if not ingratiating, treatment and the Reporter's piece began:
"There have been few success stories in recent years which can parallel that of the amazing growth of the Lennon Supermarket empire.
"It is a tale of far-sightedness above the ordinary, of courage in adopting new methods in food retailing and of an ability to adapt and change."
Although Terence Lennon has always been seen as the personification of the chain store, the grocery firm had been established by his father Frank and inherited by him and his brother Dennis, who preferred to remain in the background.
The pair had opened their first supermarket in Widnes in 1958 after travelling to America to study the new method of retailing.
Some questioned whether the US style of "pile it high and sell it cheap" would work here – but their supermarket was instantly successful and a second was opened in St Helens in 1959.
Now the pair had 28 supermarkets in Lancashire and Cheshire with four more due to open – as well as 56 off-licences.
And a new £500,000 office complex in Corporation Street, which would include a wines and spirits warehouse, was being planned.
Deep-freeze foods were seen as a big growth area for the firm - but not "fancy foods".
Terence Lennon described northern folk as conservative in their food buying habits and said they preferred "plain, traditional stuff".
Last December the Reporter's lead story in the paper said:
"A mystery tycoon is master-minding a deal to build a giant night-life complex costing half a million pounds. A casino, luxury nightclub and monster motel will take the place of swings and roundabouts on the edge of Carr Mill Dam, St. Helens."
The go-between in the new venture was St Helens betting shop owner and former miner Matty Coan, whose real name was John Smith.
This week the 34-year-old bookie was interviewed by the Reporter and said he hoped that work on the complex in Carr Mill would begin later in the month and be finished by next March.
That would be stage one of the giant lakeside project, which would include a plush hotel and conference centre.
Then work would begin on stage two involving the building of a nightclub and, in two years time, the casino would be next.
John Smith had spent eight years working as a miner down Ravenhead Colliery before moving to Pilkingtons.
Then betting shops became legal and after learning the ropes working for one company, John opened his own business in Crossley Road in Thatto Heath under the name of Matty Coan.
That had since expanded to 5 shops in St Helens, two more had opened this week (hence the interview) and John had plans to open five more betting establishments by August.
Next week's stories will include plans to clean up the eyesore Kimmicks, Saints captain Kel Coslett is "kidnapped", more complaints about the Four Acre Lane council estate and good news for those on the telephone waiting list.
Some weeks ago the level of chlorine in drinking water supplied to St Helens homes had been raised from 0.05 parts per million to 0.2.
That change had led to many complaints from residents from all over the town who claimed that the taste of their water supply had subsequently been affected.
"You can't make a good cup of tea with it," complained Alderman Thomas Hignett, at this week's Water Committee meeting.
As a result the St Helens Water Engineer appealed for the public to supply his department with samples of any water that tasted odd.
The water boffins were baffled, as normally chlorine could not be tasted in water until it reached 0.5 ppm, that's 2½ times its present level.
Ald. Hignett told the meeting that he had received a number of complaints from the Dentons Green area of the town and since June, seventeen people had raised the matter directly with the Water Department.
The chlorine had been added to the water supply to reduce levels of infection and pollution – although some people were confusing it with fluoride.
That was a controversial subject during the ‘70s with some concerned that there might be health risks if added to water supplies.
However, Fraser Millar, the Water Engineer, stated that adding chlorine to water ensured there'd be no bacteria in it and doing so made H20 safer than ever to drink.
Mr Millar also told the committee that domestic consumption of water in St Helens had greatly increased over the last few months, leading to concern over future supplies.
Not only were many new houses being built that consumed more water – but demand had been boosted by homeowners in old properties without baths taking advantage of grants to have bathrooms installed.
Fraser Millar told the committee members: "The water table is dropping, and we’re having to find new sources of supply all the time."
A dispute over a bus shelter outside St Helens Hospital occupied the attention of councillors at the monthly Town Council meeting on the 19th.
Cllr. Pat Gill claimed that buses were ignoring traffic regulations by stopping within the white zig-zag lines that led to the pelican crossing near the hospital entrance. "The bus shelter should be moved to a safer place," he said.
However, the chairman of the Transport Committee, Cllr. Joseph Mulcrow, explained that the buses were permitted to stop on the crossing, adding that the shelter had been there first and had already been moved about 1½ yards on the advice of the Chief Safety Officer.
"No matter where the shelter is put it will be an obstruction", he added.
After the meeting Cllr. Gill said he was still not satisfied, stating:
"The shelter should be moved some distance down the road towards the town centre where there is a bus lay-by."
A big story in the Reporter on the 14th was a claim that a "petrol bomb craze" had broken out on a St Helens council estate, mimicking the rioting that was taking place in Northern Ireland.
Boys were reported to have been hurling the bottles containing petrol against buildings on a construction site at Kendal Drive in Clinkham Wood. Building manager Joe Appleton said:
"Petrol has been taken from a cement mixer on the site and put into bottles for petrol-type bombs. The vandals have then thrown these at the gable end of a building on the site. But no damage has been done and none of the bombs has exploded."
A police spokesman said: "This is extremely dangerous, not only to property, but to the children themselves. They could be seriously injured. We will be making every effort to stamp it out."
Two injured fireman scrambled for their lives this week after tons of masonry came crashing down on them as they fought a blaze in St Helens. The fire was at the old Royal Standard Hotel in Naylor Street.
David Atherton and Brian Lowe were battling to stop the flames spreading to Redman's grocery shop next door when a wall suddenly collapsed.
22-year-old David was detained in Providence Hospital with arm and ankle injuries but Brian was allowed home after receiving treatment for a broken arm. Station Officer Austin Curran said:
"The Royal Standard was going like a torch when we got there. The heat was so intense it set fire to temporary barriers erected in the roadway by demolition men."
The cause of the fire was not yet known but was not thought to have been arson.
A preview of next week's St Helens Show was featured in the Reporter, which promised to be "bigger, brighter and better than ever" – but then didn't it always?
The army had been due to take part in a big parade to launch the Show, led by two members of the Household Cavalry and which would also feature armoured vehicles.
After taking the salute from the Town Hall steps, the Mayor, Cllr. Allan Lycett, planned to step inside a horse-driven carriage to join the procession to Sherdley Park.
But since the plans had been made, the army units involved had received orders to go to Northern Ireland and so the procession had been cancelled.
However, the two riders from the Household Cavalry would still be galloping through the town.
When the first official St Helens Show began in 1969, a kiosk was set up outside Burton's shop to promote the event and sell advance programmes.
This year Susan Critchley of Nicholl Road in Eccleston was selling programmes and tickets from a kiosk in Victoria Square.
Then, when the show began, the 16-year-old would be manning the inquiry box at the Showground.
The organisers would, no doubt, have been hoping that the heatwave, which hit St Helens this week, would continue during the Show.
As a result of the hot weather people were being asked not to swim in the stretch of the St Helens Canal known as The Hotties.
Until safety patrols had been introduced at that spot in 1968, a number of drownings had occurred there.
Pretty much every week in 1972 the Reporter described some new industrial dispute in the district – and this week's was at Stoves in Stoney Lane in Rainhill.
Seventy foundrymen had been on an unofficial strike for the past week and the firm said that unless they returned to work, the rest of the 500 workers employed at the cooker factory would be laid off.
Already 120 men had been told to stay home and the strikers were hoping that their union would make their strike over pay official.
This week it was his rival supermarket supremo Terence Lennon who was spotlighted in the paper.
Of course, big advertisers that regularly booked full pages in newspapers needed careful, if not ingratiating, treatment and the Reporter's piece began:
"There have been few success stories in recent years which can parallel that of the amazing growth of the Lennon Supermarket empire.
"It is a tale of far-sightedness above the ordinary, of courage in adopting new methods in food retailing and of an ability to adapt and change."
Although Terence Lennon has always been seen as the personification of the chain store, the grocery firm had been established by his father Frank and inherited by him and his brother Dennis, who preferred to remain in the background.
The pair had opened their first supermarket in Widnes in 1958 after travelling to America to study the new method of retailing.
Some questioned whether the US style of "pile it high and sell it cheap" would work here – but their supermarket was instantly successful and a second was opened in St Helens in 1959.
Now the pair had 28 supermarkets in Lancashire and Cheshire with four more due to open – as well as 56 off-licences.
And a new £500,000 office complex in Corporation Street, which would include a wines and spirits warehouse, was being planned.
Deep-freeze foods were seen as a big growth area for the firm - but not "fancy foods".
Terence Lennon described northern folk as conservative in their food buying habits and said they preferred "plain, traditional stuff".
Last December the Reporter's lead story in the paper said:
"A mystery tycoon is master-minding a deal to build a giant night-life complex costing half a million pounds. A casino, luxury nightclub and monster motel will take the place of swings and roundabouts on the edge of Carr Mill Dam, St. Helens."
The go-between in the new venture was St Helens betting shop owner and former miner Matty Coan, whose real name was John Smith.
This week the 34-year-old bookie was interviewed by the Reporter and said he hoped that work on the complex in Carr Mill would begin later in the month and be finished by next March.
That would be stage one of the giant lakeside project, which would include a plush hotel and conference centre.
Then work would begin on stage two involving the building of a nightclub and, in two years time, the casino would be next.
John Smith had spent eight years working as a miner down Ravenhead Colliery before moving to Pilkingtons.
Then betting shops became legal and after learning the ropes working for one company, John opened his own business in Crossley Road in Thatto Heath under the name of Matty Coan.
That had since expanded to 5 shops in St Helens, two more had opened this week (hence the interview) and John had plans to open five more betting establishments by August.
Next week's stories will include plans to clean up the eyesore Kimmicks, Saints captain Kel Coslett is "kidnapped", more complaints about the Four Acre Lane council estate and good news for those on the telephone waiting list.