FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 12 - 18 AUGUST 1974
This week's many stories include the abandoned house in Morris Street that was considered a danger to children, Lennon's record profits, the Pilkington Gala is described as a "mammoth wash-out", Rainford Cricket Club's compromise saves the village carnival, Four Acre Library's solution to prevent muddy carpets and the young volunteers helping the mentally ill in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 13th when the St Helens Newspaper said mystery hung over the sudden closure of one of St Helens most popular social clubs. The former Royal British Legion Club in Fingerpost had been "barred, bolted and shuttered" – but no one was saying why.
However, in the report's next line the paper provided a clue by mentioning that the club had been closed since the night in mid-July when a committee member had allegedly been murdered. Then the piece stated that the club was deeply in debt, especially to their brewery, which had installed shutters on the building's windows – and so there didn't appear to be all that much of a mystery.
The Newspaper also reported that the St Helens MP, Leslie Spriggs, was supporting local residents in Clock Face and Sutton Leach in their fight against Pilkington's proposed float glass plant near Gorsey Lane. The terms "green field" and "brown field" were not yet in very common usage and Mr Spriggs – who had met a group of objectors last week – said industry should use derelict land for their developments rather than build on agricultural land:
"We should conserve as much as possible the beauty of a town. It's my job to win over industry to a sympathetic point of view and get their support for matters involving the environment." The Tuesday paper also reported that the newly formed Clock Face and Sutton Leach Amenity Action Group had held its first meeting and was planning a campaign of action against the proposed float glass plant.
Last weekend's Pilkington Gala was reviewed by the Newspaper which they dubbed a "mammoth wash-out". An almost constant downpour had ruined the two-day event which had cost the company over £10,000. It had been hoped that the attendance figures would match the 25,000 of last year's gala. But the bad weather meant only 1,600 turned up on the Friday evening and 5,000 on Saturday.
A highlight of the second day was the carnival procession of floats. That had been held back for thirty minutes in the hope of brighter weather but eventually had to undergo its tour of the town in waterlogged lorries. The athletes came off the running track splattered with mud and a cricket match, karate exhibition and fireworks display all had to be cancelled through the weather.
And the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Band and Redgate Boys Silver Band had to call off their Saturday performances because their instruments were clogged up with water! This was the first gala that had been organised exclusively by employees of Pilkingtons but apart from the rain the event was considered to have gone well. The event co-ordinator, Ken Griffiths, said: "The Glass Princess turned out to be the highlight of the Show. The marquee had a seating capacity for 700, but we managed to get 1,200 in."
TV personality Stuart Hall had introduced the seven to ten-year-olds who participated in the Glass Princess contest. Each girl had a parent who worked at Pilkingtons and the winner was Claire Fairclough of Lynton Way in Windle whose dad worked at the Cowley Hill works. The 10-year-old received a clothing voucher for £50.
Last week the Reporter had described how this year's Rainford Carnival scheduled for August 24th was in doubt because the village cricket team was playing a vital match on the same day on part of the same field. The carnival was now held every two years on the recreation field behind the parish church. Just how after many months of organising the event it had not been realised that there was a double booking was not stated in the report.
But on the 16th the Reporter had better news after a compromise had been agreed. The top of the table cricket clash against Dalton in the Southport Second Division would still go ahead but the Rainford club had agreed to shorten its boundary to give the carnival organisers a bit more space. And they would carry out a collection from spectators in aid of the carnival committee.
There were two heart-warming stories in the Reporter about young volunteers helping the mentally ill in Rainhill Hospital (pictured above). Each year a number of young people from Europe, Africa and the Far East came to Rainhill at their own expense to take patients out on coach trips and socialise with those who didn't receive many visitors.
This week eleven volunteers from abroad had arrived at the hospital and the organiser of voluntary services at Rainhill, Charles Gordon, told the Reporter: "The patients are very glad to see these young people. This is the fourth year that we've had some over and we know that it is always a success."
But it was not just young people from abroad that were helping the patients. Rainhill Hospital also had a Young League of Friends who gave up much of their spare time to entertain many of the 1,000 patients that never received visits. They were aged between 16 and 26 and the hospital said their work was "priceless" in supporting the inmates. Organiser Margaret Rimmer said: "The patients look on many of the ‘Friends’ as grandchildren; they are their only contact with the outside world."
Chase Motor Factors had a full-page advert in the Reporter to mark their first 12 months of operation. Mike Hiley ran the garage in Ormande Street in Peasley Cross, which had established contracts with many firms, including Pilks and Heatons.
Germany has been a re-united country for so long now it seems a little odd to read in the Reporter how a St Helens choir would be performing in West Germany. Haydock Male Voice Choir were travelling to Stuttgart and making their first venture abroad after their success at the recent Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod.
Angry householders complaining bitterly about some aspect of their homes or neighbourhood were a regular feature in the Reporter. This week it was the turn of council tenants in Morris Street in Sutton who were concerned that an abandoned house on the corner of their road could collapse if the council did not immediately brick it up. The neighbours also claimed that they were sickened by foul smells from blocked drains near to the vacant property.
Resident John Foster said he had complained to the council over a dozen times but nothing had been done. The empty property had no front door, bricks hung perilously from its half-collapsed rear wall and the back door frame lay amid a pile of rubble. Bricks taken from its derelict yard were also being used to shatter windows in a nearby water pumping station.
The last tenants had only moved out six weeks earlier and the vandals had very quickly moved in. Mr Foster said the gas and electricity were still on in the house and children could be killed if nothing was done. "And I get fobbed off every time I go to the council offices," he complained.
Another neighbour Ellis Taylor said: "The house is full of little children every day and last weekend they started a fire in there." In response the council said there had been certain legal complications about ownership of the property but the house would be bricked up in the very near future.
When Four Acre Library had opened in March it had been the first library in the town to install fitted carpets. But in this week's Reporter it was revealed that the new floor covering had been in danger of being ruined by muddy footprints. These had puzzled staff until they realised that library users were making a shortcut across their flowerbeds.
However, this week the St Helens Leisure and Recreation Committee approved an application to erect screening and signing to deter soil tramplers. A spokesman for St Helens Libraries said: "People taking a short cut across a corner of the flowerbeds were ruining the carpets with their muddy feet. The screens will prevent them from doing this, and subject to Council approval they should be erected in a week or two."
On the 17th Granada TV's Brian Trueman opened the 12th Newton & District Annual Show at the Selwyn Jones High School. Then on the following day Gary Glitter's film 'Remember Me This Way' was replaced at the ABC Savoy by 'American Graffiti' and for one-day only the Capitol showed a Steve McQueen motorbike film called 'On Any Sunday'.
And finally, at the end of the week Lennons supermarkets reported record profits for 1973 - '74 of £904,628. That was up from £730,000 in the previous year with total sales of over £22 million. In today's money their turnover would equate to around £300 million. However, Terence Lennon – the chairman of the St Helens-based supermarket and off-licence chain – was not happy with the new rules controlling profit margins, saying:
"Before the Government regulations came in we were making 4p in the pound net profit. We will be able to make only 3p in the pound now. It will hold back firms like us from opening any new stores."
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include how hundreds of sightseers risked their lives to watch a huge fire, a mother donates a kidney to her son, Saints' board is in turmoil and the plans to turn Carr Mill Dam into a "public pleasure paradise".
We begin on the 13th when the St Helens Newspaper said mystery hung over the sudden closure of one of St Helens most popular social clubs. The former Royal British Legion Club in Fingerpost had been "barred, bolted and shuttered" – but no one was saying why.
However, in the report's next line the paper provided a clue by mentioning that the club had been closed since the night in mid-July when a committee member had allegedly been murdered. Then the piece stated that the club was deeply in debt, especially to their brewery, which had installed shutters on the building's windows – and so there didn't appear to be all that much of a mystery.
The Newspaper also reported that the St Helens MP, Leslie Spriggs, was supporting local residents in Clock Face and Sutton Leach in their fight against Pilkington's proposed float glass plant near Gorsey Lane. The terms "green field" and "brown field" were not yet in very common usage and Mr Spriggs – who had met a group of objectors last week – said industry should use derelict land for their developments rather than build on agricultural land:
"We should conserve as much as possible the beauty of a town. It's my job to win over industry to a sympathetic point of view and get their support for matters involving the environment." The Tuesday paper also reported that the newly formed Clock Face and Sutton Leach Amenity Action Group had held its first meeting and was planning a campaign of action against the proposed float glass plant.
Last weekend's Pilkington Gala was reviewed by the Newspaper which they dubbed a "mammoth wash-out". An almost constant downpour had ruined the two-day event which had cost the company over £10,000. It had been hoped that the attendance figures would match the 25,000 of last year's gala. But the bad weather meant only 1,600 turned up on the Friday evening and 5,000 on Saturday.
A highlight of the second day was the carnival procession of floats. That had been held back for thirty minutes in the hope of brighter weather but eventually had to undergo its tour of the town in waterlogged lorries. The athletes came off the running track splattered with mud and a cricket match, karate exhibition and fireworks display all had to be cancelled through the weather.
And the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Band and Redgate Boys Silver Band had to call off their Saturday performances because their instruments were clogged up with water! This was the first gala that had been organised exclusively by employees of Pilkingtons but apart from the rain the event was considered to have gone well. The event co-ordinator, Ken Griffiths, said: "The Glass Princess turned out to be the highlight of the Show. The marquee had a seating capacity for 700, but we managed to get 1,200 in."
TV personality Stuart Hall had introduced the seven to ten-year-olds who participated in the Glass Princess contest. Each girl had a parent who worked at Pilkingtons and the winner was Claire Fairclough of Lynton Way in Windle whose dad worked at the Cowley Hill works. The 10-year-old received a clothing voucher for £50.
Last week the Reporter had described how this year's Rainford Carnival scheduled for August 24th was in doubt because the village cricket team was playing a vital match on the same day on part of the same field. The carnival was now held every two years on the recreation field behind the parish church. Just how after many months of organising the event it had not been realised that there was a double booking was not stated in the report.
But on the 16th the Reporter had better news after a compromise had been agreed. The top of the table cricket clash against Dalton in the Southport Second Division would still go ahead but the Rainford club had agreed to shorten its boundary to give the carnival organisers a bit more space. And they would carry out a collection from spectators in aid of the carnival committee.
This week eleven volunteers from abroad had arrived at the hospital and the organiser of voluntary services at Rainhill, Charles Gordon, told the Reporter: "The patients are very glad to see these young people. This is the fourth year that we've had some over and we know that it is always a success."
But it was not just young people from abroad that were helping the patients. Rainhill Hospital also had a Young League of Friends who gave up much of their spare time to entertain many of the 1,000 patients that never received visits. They were aged between 16 and 26 and the hospital said their work was "priceless" in supporting the inmates. Organiser Margaret Rimmer said: "The patients look on many of the ‘Friends’ as grandchildren; they are their only contact with the outside world."
Chase Motor Factors had a full-page advert in the Reporter to mark their first 12 months of operation. Mike Hiley ran the garage in Ormande Street in Peasley Cross, which had established contracts with many firms, including Pilks and Heatons.
Germany has been a re-united country for so long now it seems a little odd to read in the Reporter how a St Helens choir would be performing in West Germany. Haydock Male Voice Choir were travelling to Stuttgart and making their first venture abroad after their success at the recent Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod.
Angry householders complaining bitterly about some aspect of their homes or neighbourhood were a regular feature in the Reporter. This week it was the turn of council tenants in Morris Street in Sutton who were concerned that an abandoned house on the corner of their road could collapse if the council did not immediately brick it up. The neighbours also claimed that they were sickened by foul smells from blocked drains near to the vacant property.
Resident John Foster said he had complained to the council over a dozen times but nothing had been done. The empty property had no front door, bricks hung perilously from its half-collapsed rear wall and the back door frame lay amid a pile of rubble. Bricks taken from its derelict yard were also being used to shatter windows in a nearby water pumping station.
The last tenants had only moved out six weeks earlier and the vandals had very quickly moved in. Mr Foster said the gas and electricity were still on in the house and children could be killed if nothing was done. "And I get fobbed off every time I go to the council offices," he complained.
Another neighbour Ellis Taylor said: "The house is full of little children every day and last weekend they started a fire in there." In response the council said there had been certain legal complications about ownership of the property but the house would be bricked up in the very near future.
When Four Acre Library had opened in March it had been the first library in the town to install fitted carpets. But in this week's Reporter it was revealed that the new floor covering had been in danger of being ruined by muddy footprints. These had puzzled staff until they realised that library users were making a shortcut across their flowerbeds.
However, this week the St Helens Leisure and Recreation Committee approved an application to erect screening and signing to deter soil tramplers. A spokesman for St Helens Libraries said: "People taking a short cut across a corner of the flowerbeds were ruining the carpets with their muddy feet. The screens will prevent them from doing this, and subject to Council approval they should be erected in a week or two."
On the 17th Granada TV's Brian Trueman opened the 12th Newton & District Annual Show at the Selwyn Jones High School. Then on the following day Gary Glitter's film 'Remember Me This Way' was replaced at the ABC Savoy by 'American Graffiti' and for one-day only the Capitol showed a Steve McQueen motorbike film called 'On Any Sunday'.
"Before the Government regulations came in we were making 4p in the pound net profit. We will be able to make only 3p in the pound now. It will hold back firms like us from opening any new stores."
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include how hundreds of sightseers risked their lives to watch a huge fire, a mother donates a kidney to her son, Saints' board is in turmoil and the plans to turn Carr Mill Dam into a "public pleasure paradise".
This week's many stories include the abandoned house in Morris Street that was considered a danger to children, Lennon's record profits, the Pilkington Gala is described as a "mammoth wash-out", Rainford Cricket Club's compromise saves the village carnival, Four Acre Library's solution to prevent muddy carpets and the young volunteers helping the mentally ill in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 13th when the St Helens Newspaper said mystery hung over the sudden closure of one of St Helens most popular social clubs.
The former Royal British Legion Club in Fingerpost had been "barred, bolted and shuttered" – but no one was saying why.
However, in the report's next line the paper provided a clue by mentioning that the club had been closed since the night in mid-July when a committee member had allegedly been murdered.
Then the piece stated that the club was deeply in debt, especially to their brewery, which had installed shutters on the building's windows – and so there didn't appear to be all that much of a mystery.
The Newspaper also reported that the St Helens MP, Leslie Spriggs, was supporting local residents in Clock Face and Sutton Leach in their fight against Pilkington's proposed float glass plant near Gorsey Lane.
The terms "green field" and "brown field" were not yet in very common usage and Mr Spriggs – who had met a group of objectors last week – said industry should use derelict land for their developments rather than build on agricultural land:
"We should conserve as much as possible the beauty of a town. It's my job to win over industry to a sympathetic point of view and get their support for matters involving the environment."
The Tuesday paper also reported that the newly formed Clock Face and Sutton Leach Amenity Action Group had held its first meeting and was planning a campaign of action against the proposed float glass plant.
Last weekend's Pilkington Gala was reviewed by the Newspaper which they dubbed a "mammoth wash-out".
An almost constant downpour had ruined the two-day event which had cost the company over £10,000.
It had been hoped that the attendance figures would match the 25,000 of last year's gala.
But the bad weather meant only 1,600 turned up on the Friday evening and 5,000 on Saturday.
A highlight of the second day was the carnival procession of floats. That had been held back for thirty minutes in the hope of brighter weather but eventually had to undergo its tour of the town in waterlogged lorries.
The athletes came off the running track splattered with mud and a cricket match, karate exhibition and fireworks display all had to be cancelled through the weather.
And the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Band and Redgate Boys Silver Band had to call off their Saturday performances because their instruments were clogged up with water!
This was the first gala that had been organised exclusively by employees of Pilkingtons but apart from the rain the event was considered to have gone well.
The event co-ordinator, Ken Griffiths, said: "The Glass Princess turned out to be the highlight of the Show. The marquee had a seating capacity for 700, but we managed to get 1,200 in."
TV personality Stuart Hall had introduced the seven to ten-year-olds who participated in the Glass Princess contest.
Each girl had a parent who worked at Pilkingtons and the winner was Claire Fairclough of Lynton Way in Windle whose dad worked at the Cowley Hill works. The 10-year-old received a clothing voucher for £50.
Last week the Reporter had described how this year's Rainford Carnival scheduled for August 24th was in doubt because the village cricket team was playing a vital match on the same day on part of the same field.
The carnival was now held every two years on the recreation field behind the parish church.
Just how after many months of organising the event it had not been realised that there was a double booking was not stated in the report.
But on the 16th the Reporter had better news after a compromise had been agreed.
The top of the table cricket clash against Dalton in the Southport Second Division would still go ahead but the Rainford club had agreed to shorten its boundary to give the carnival organisers a bit more space.
And they would carry out a collection from spectators in aid of the carnival committee.
There were two heart-warming stories in the Reporter about young volunteers helping the mentally ill in Rainhill Hospital (pictured above).
Each year a number of young people from Europe, Africa and the Far East came to Rainhill at their own expense to take patients out on coach trips and socialise with those who didn't receive many visitors.
This week eleven volunteers from abroad had arrived at the hospital and the organiser of voluntary services at Rainhill, Charles Gordon, told the Reporter:
"The patients are very glad to see these young people. This is the fourth year that we've had some over and we know that it is always a success."
But it was not just young people from abroad that were helping the patients.
Rainhill Hospital also had a Young League of Friends who gave up much of their spare time to entertain many of the 1,000 patients that never received visits.
They were aged between 16 and 26 and the hospital said their work was "priceless" in supporting the inmates.
Organiser Margaret Rimmer said: "The patients look on many of the ‘Friends’ as grandchildren; they are their only contact with the outside world."
Chase Motor Factors had a full-page advert in the Reporter to mark their first 12 months of operation.
Mike Hiley ran the garage in Ormande Street in Peasley Cross, which had established contracts with many firms, including Pilks and Heatons.
Germany has been a re-united country for so long now it seems a little odd to read in the Reporter how a St Helens choir would be performing in West Germany.
Haydock Male Voice Choir were travelling to Stuttgart and making their first venture abroad after their success at the recent Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod.
Angry householders complaining bitterly about some aspect of their homes or neighbourhood were a regular feature in the Reporter.
This week it was the turn of council tenants in Morris Street in Sutton who were concerned that an abandoned house on the corner of their road could collapse if the council did not immediately brick it up.
The neighbours also claimed that they were sickened by foul smells from blocked drains near to the vacant property.
Resident John Foster said he had complained to the council over a dozen times but nothing had been done.
The empty property had no front door, bricks hung perilously from its half-collapsed rear wall and the back door frame lay amid a pile of rubble.
Bricks taken from its derelict yard were also being used to shatter windows in a nearby water pumping station.
The last tenants had only moved out six weeks earlier and the vandals had very quickly moved in.
Mr Foster said the gas and electricity were still on in the house and children could be killed if nothing was done. "And I get fobbed off every time I go to the council offices," he complained.
Another neighbour Ellis Taylor said: "The house is full of little children every day and last weekend they started a fire in there."
In response the council said there had been certain legal complications about ownership of the property but the house would be bricked up in the very near future.
When Four Acre Library had opened in March it had been the first library in the town to install fitted carpets.
But in this week's Reporter it was revealed that the new floor covering had been in danger of being ruined by muddy footprints.
These had puzzled staff until they realised that library users were making a shortcut across their flowerbeds.
However, this week the St Helens Leisure and Recreation Committee approved an application to erect screening and signing to deter soil tramplers.
A spokesman for St Helens Libraries said: "People taking a short cut across a corner of the flowerbeds were ruining the carpets with their muddy feet.
"The screens will prevent them from doing this, and subject to Council approval they should be erected in a week or two."
On the 17th Granada TV's Brian Trueman opened the 12th Newton & District Annual Show at the Selwyn Jones High School.
Then on the following day Gary Glitter's film 'Remember Me This Way' was replaced at the ABC Savoy by 'American Graffiti' and for one-day only the Capitol showed a Steve McQueen motorbike film called 'On Any Sunday'.
And finally, at the end of the week Lennons supermarkets reported record profits for 1973 - '74 of £904,628.
That was up from £730,000 in the previous year with total sales of over £22 million. In today's money their turnover would equate to around £300 million.
However, Terence Lennon – the chairman of the St Helens-based supermarket and off-licence chain – was not happy with the new rules controlling profit margins, saying:
"Before the Government regulations came in we were making 4p in the pound net profit. We will be able to make only 3p in the pound now. It will hold back firms like us from opening any new stores."
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include how hundreds of sightseers risked their lives to watch a huge fire, a mother donates a kidney to her son, Saints' board is in turmoil and the plans to turn Carr Mill Dam into a "public pleasure paradise".
We begin on the 13th when the St Helens Newspaper said mystery hung over the sudden closure of one of St Helens most popular social clubs.
The former Royal British Legion Club in Fingerpost had been "barred, bolted and shuttered" – but no one was saying why.
However, in the report's next line the paper provided a clue by mentioning that the club had been closed since the night in mid-July when a committee member had allegedly been murdered.
Then the piece stated that the club was deeply in debt, especially to their brewery, which had installed shutters on the building's windows – and so there didn't appear to be all that much of a mystery.
The Newspaper also reported that the St Helens MP, Leslie Spriggs, was supporting local residents in Clock Face and Sutton Leach in their fight against Pilkington's proposed float glass plant near Gorsey Lane.
The terms "green field" and "brown field" were not yet in very common usage and Mr Spriggs – who had met a group of objectors last week – said industry should use derelict land for their developments rather than build on agricultural land:
"We should conserve as much as possible the beauty of a town. It's my job to win over industry to a sympathetic point of view and get their support for matters involving the environment."
The Tuesday paper also reported that the newly formed Clock Face and Sutton Leach Amenity Action Group had held its first meeting and was planning a campaign of action against the proposed float glass plant.
Last weekend's Pilkington Gala was reviewed by the Newspaper which they dubbed a "mammoth wash-out".
An almost constant downpour had ruined the two-day event which had cost the company over £10,000.
It had been hoped that the attendance figures would match the 25,000 of last year's gala.
But the bad weather meant only 1,600 turned up on the Friday evening and 5,000 on Saturday.
A highlight of the second day was the carnival procession of floats. That had been held back for thirty minutes in the hope of brighter weather but eventually had to undergo its tour of the town in waterlogged lorries.
The athletes came off the running track splattered with mud and a cricket match, karate exhibition and fireworks display all had to be cancelled through the weather.
And the Queen's Lancashire Regiment Band and Redgate Boys Silver Band had to call off their Saturday performances because their instruments were clogged up with water!
This was the first gala that had been organised exclusively by employees of Pilkingtons but apart from the rain the event was considered to have gone well.
The event co-ordinator, Ken Griffiths, said: "The Glass Princess turned out to be the highlight of the Show. The marquee had a seating capacity for 700, but we managed to get 1,200 in."
TV personality Stuart Hall had introduced the seven to ten-year-olds who participated in the Glass Princess contest.
Each girl had a parent who worked at Pilkingtons and the winner was Claire Fairclough of Lynton Way in Windle whose dad worked at the Cowley Hill works. The 10-year-old received a clothing voucher for £50.
Last week the Reporter had described how this year's Rainford Carnival scheduled for August 24th was in doubt because the village cricket team was playing a vital match on the same day on part of the same field.
The carnival was now held every two years on the recreation field behind the parish church.
Just how after many months of organising the event it had not been realised that there was a double booking was not stated in the report.
But on the 16th the Reporter had better news after a compromise had been agreed.
The top of the table cricket clash against Dalton in the Southport Second Division would still go ahead but the Rainford club had agreed to shorten its boundary to give the carnival organisers a bit more space.
And they would carry out a collection from spectators in aid of the carnival committee.
Each year a number of young people from Europe, Africa and the Far East came to Rainhill at their own expense to take patients out on coach trips and socialise with those who didn't receive many visitors.
This week eleven volunteers from abroad had arrived at the hospital and the organiser of voluntary services at Rainhill, Charles Gordon, told the Reporter:
"The patients are very glad to see these young people. This is the fourth year that we've had some over and we know that it is always a success."
But it was not just young people from abroad that were helping the patients.
Rainhill Hospital also had a Young League of Friends who gave up much of their spare time to entertain many of the 1,000 patients that never received visits.
They were aged between 16 and 26 and the hospital said their work was "priceless" in supporting the inmates.
Organiser Margaret Rimmer said: "The patients look on many of the ‘Friends’ as grandchildren; they are their only contact with the outside world."
Chase Motor Factors had a full-page advert in the Reporter to mark their first 12 months of operation.
Mike Hiley ran the garage in Ormande Street in Peasley Cross, which had established contracts with many firms, including Pilks and Heatons.
Germany has been a re-united country for so long now it seems a little odd to read in the Reporter how a St Helens choir would be performing in West Germany.
Haydock Male Voice Choir were travelling to Stuttgart and making their first venture abroad after their success at the recent Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod.
Angry householders complaining bitterly about some aspect of their homes or neighbourhood were a regular feature in the Reporter.
This week it was the turn of council tenants in Morris Street in Sutton who were concerned that an abandoned house on the corner of their road could collapse if the council did not immediately brick it up.
The neighbours also claimed that they were sickened by foul smells from blocked drains near to the vacant property.
Resident John Foster said he had complained to the council over a dozen times but nothing had been done.
The empty property had no front door, bricks hung perilously from its half-collapsed rear wall and the back door frame lay amid a pile of rubble.
Bricks taken from its derelict yard were also being used to shatter windows in a nearby water pumping station.
The last tenants had only moved out six weeks earlier and the vandals had very quickly moved in.
Mr Foster said the gas and electricity were still on in the house and children could be killed if nothing was done. "And I get fobbed off every time I go to the council offices," he complained.
Another neighbour Ellis Taylor said: "The house is full of little children every day and last weekend they started a fire in there."
In response the council said there had been certain legal complications about ownership of the property but the house would be bricked up in the very near future.
When Four Acre Library had opened in March it had been the first library in the town to install fitted carpets.
But in this week's Reporter it was revealed that the new floor covering had been in danger of being ruined by muddy footprints.
These had puzzled staff until they realised that library users were making a shortcut across their flowerbeds.
However, this week the St Helens Leisure and Recreation Committee approved an application to erect screening and signing to deter soil tramplers.
A spokesman for St Helens Libraries said: "People taking a short cut across a corner of the flowerbeds were ruining the carpets with their muddy feet.
"The screens will prevent them from doing this, and subject to Council approval they should be erected in a week or two."
On the 17th Granada TV's Brian Trueman opened the 12th Newton & District Annual Show at the Selwyn Jones High School.
Then on the following day Gary Glitter's film 'Remember Me This Way' was replaced at the ABC Savoy by 'American Graffiti' and for one-day only the Capitol showed a Steve McQueen motorbike film called 'On Any Sunday'.
That was up from £730,000 in the previous year with total sales of over £22 million. In today's money their turnover would equate to around £300 million.
However, Terence Lennon – the chairman of the St Helens-based supermarket and off-licence chain – was not happy with the new rules controlling profit margins, saying:
"Before the Government regulations came in we were making 4p in the pound net profit. We will be able to make only 3p in the pound now. It will hold back firms like us from opening any new stores."
St Helens Reporter and Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include how hundreds of sightseers risked their lives to watch a huge fire, a mother donates a kidney to her son, Saints' board is in turmoil and the plans to turn Carr Mill Dam into a "public pleasure paradise".