FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16 - 22 OCTOBER 1973)
This week's many stories include the war of destruction in Derbyshire Hill, the golfers playing for free on the Sherdley Park municipal course, an update on the computer brain planned for Thatto Heath, the initial effect of the Middle East oil crisis on St Helens' buses, the forthcoming attractions at the Theatre Royal and the unique experiment that would be taking place on a new Gerards Bridge estate.
Bomb hoaxes in St Helens were becoming increasingly common, with the publicity they received in newspapers tempting others to do the same. And the copycats caused considerable inconvenience with their pranks. On the 16th 700 bingo players had to vacate St Helens Town's football club in Hoghton Road after receiving a warning that a bomb had been planted. The police searched the premises but nothing was found.
On the 18th St Helens Tech's Rag Week began with a dance at Rivington Hall barn. The proceeds from the event – as well as a flag day, plus 88-page student magazine – would go to Whiston Hospital.
One big problem for any "pay as you play" golf course without any membership fees is stopping people from sneaking onto the course to play a round for free. This week Ted Gallagher, the St Helens Director of Parks, revealed that since the town's municipal course had opened in Sherdley Park in the summer, one hundred cheats had so far been identified. And they had all been caught playing on the course on weekdays as early as 6am, two hours before the facility opened.
Mr Gallagher said: "There's a certain amount of this going on at any municipal course. But our staff have had to warn about 100 golfers on the Green to pay up their 30p. We believe that they're night workers who want a quick game before they get to bed."
However, there was better news on Sherdley Park's driving range. Earlier in the year it had reported a loss of 14,000 golf balls during the first 12 months since the facility had opened. Children had been blamed for nicking the balls before park staff could collect them and then selling them on. But they now possessed a mechanical ball gatherer driven by a Parks official that had considerably reduced the loss and floodlights had also been installed to allow staff to collect the balls at night.
"Prestige Brain Will Serve Industry", was the headline to an article in the Reporter on the 19th that provided an update on the new £7½ million computer centre planned for Scholes Park in Thatto Heath. It was set to open next July, and was being built by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The focal point of the complex would be a £1 million computer (about £15m in today's money) that would solve engineering design problems and prepare plans. Dr Alistair Soane of Bingham Blades and Partners of Scholes Hall told the Reporter: "There will be a few jobs available for local people when the centre opens. But the real value to St. Helens is the prestige. Businessmen will be coming from all over the country to use the computer."
The Reporter also wrote how "marauding bands of stone-throwing thugs" were "waging a war of destruction" on a council house estate in Derbyshire Hill and turning the place into a ghetto. The tenants had temporarily moved out of their homes while modernisation took place – but there'd been a delay before the improvements could start. One block of semi-detached houses in Winston Avenue was described as having been systematically wrecked.
Fires had gutted them; holes had been punched in their walls; their slates had been broken and fittings torn out. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs. Neighbour Joe Travis said: "These houses are a death trap for kids. They gather at night and just pull them to pieces. I work on demolition but they can beat the professionals hands down."
Seven 16 and 17-year-old Pilkington messenger girls were pictured in the Reporter in what the paper described as their "smart new dolly-girl smocks". The pink uniforms were considered more fashionable than their previous blue ones, as Joyce Round of Cartmell Avenue explained: "The old ones were straight and blue – awful. We look a lot better in these." A Pilkingtons spokesman said the girls had been given the opportunity of choosing the design of their new overalls, after complaining their old ones were not very fashionable.
The Reporter also described the initial impact of the developing oil crisis on St Helens. On October 6th the so-called Yom Kippur War had begun when Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions – and the conflict would continue until the 26th. The oil-exporting members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to punish the countries that supported Israel by initially reducing oil production and then imposing an embargo.
It was still early days in the crisis and the Reporter's article focused on its effect upon St Helens' buses. The town's Transport Department reported a "massive price increase" in what they had to pay for fuel. Half of their supplies of bus fuel came from Shell and the other half from Burmah, with Shell's price per gallon having risen by over 4p and Burmah by 2p. Of course, St Helens Corporation and the Reporter were not to know that those price hikes were tiny compared to what was soon to come.
The Reporter also described how a "unique experiment" would be taking place next week on a new estate in Gerards Bridge. One of the completed houses was being turned into an information centre, allowing potential tenants to preview the new homes. A team of volunteers and Corporation officials from the housing and social services departments would also be on hand to deal with queries about local services.
The three-storey house that was set to become a temporary information centre was at 1 Union Street, off Crab Street, and would be open to visitors for just one day. However, it was not fully furnished and was not intended as a showhouse. But prospective tenants on the 204-home estate would be able to find out about rent, rebates, heating, shopping, medical and other facilities.
No one had yet moved onto the estate, but the dwellings were expected to be ready to let within a few weeks. Kay Lathom, a Senior Welfare Officer, said: "This is a practical approach to the settling of a new community. The Social Services and Housing Departments, and churches are combining in an effort to welcome new tenants."
A month ago the new £200,000 St Helens police headquarters had opened in College Street. But it was announced this week that further alterations were needed. That was because in January 1974 the station was set to become an official police division, instead of its present status as a sub-division. The alterations included the replacement of ceilings in the detention room, raising the height of a boundary wall and the building of offices.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th previewed the start of the third series of The Onedin Line on BBC1 TV. It would include a new character called Leonora Biddulph played by Kate Nelligan, whose father was supposedly a wealthy colliery owner from St Helens.
For a week from the 22nd the St Helens Catholic Gilbert and Sullivan Society performed 'The Gondoliers' at the Theatre Royal. Also on that day the Echo previewed the theatre's new winter season and remarked: "The Theatre Royal, St Helens, justifiably attracting more and more people to its excellently varied programmes, has lined-up another programme of something for everyone."
The acts booked to perform in November and December included a variety bill headed by Jimmy Edwards and Joan Turner; a presentation of the 'Desert Song' starring John Hanson; Cicely Courtneidge in Agatha Christie's 'The Hollow'; comic Colin Crompton from The Comedians TV show; ventriloquist Ray Allen and Scottish singer Moira Anderson.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the lenient sentence on a two-time Thatto Heath rapist, a milk bottle shortage proves good news for UGB, the plastic coffin product developed in Rainford and an update on the pigeon raid in Marshalls Cross Road.
Bomb hoaxes in St Helens were becoming increasingly common, with the publicity they received in newspapers tempting others to do the same. And the copycats caused considerable inconvenience with their pranks. On the 16th 700 bingo players had to vacate St Helens Town's football club in Hoghton Road after receiving a warning that a bomb had been planted. The police searched the premises but nothing was found.
On the 18th St Helens Tech's Rag Week began with a dance at Rivington Hall barn. The proceeds from the event – as well as a flag day, plus 88-page student magazine – would go to Whiston Hospital.
One big problem for any "pay as you play" golf course without any membership fees is stopping people from sneaking onto the course to play a round for free. This week Ted Gallagher, the St Helens Director of Parks, revealed that since the town's municipal course had opened in Sherdley Park in the summer, one hundred cheats had so far been identified. And they had all been caught playing on the course on weekdays as early as 6am, two hours before the facility opened.
Mr Gallagher said: "There's a certain amount of this going on at any municipal course. But our staff have had to warn about 100 golfers on the Green to pay up their 30p. We believe that they're night workers who want a quick game before they get to bed."
However, there was better news on Sherdley Park's driving range. Earlier in the year it had reported a loss of 14,000 golf balls during the first 12 months since the facility had opened. Children had been blamed for nicking the balls before park staff could collect them and then selling them on. But they now possessed a mechanical ball gatherer driven by a Parks official that had considerably reduced the loss and floodlights had also been installed to allow staff to collect the balls at night.
"Prestige Brain Will Serve Industry", was the headline to an article in the Reporter on the 19th that provided an update on the new £7½ million computer centre planned for Scholes Park in Thatto Heath. It was set to open next July, and was being built by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The focal point of the complex would be a £1 million computer (about £15m in today's money) that would solve engineering design problems and prepare plans. Dr Alistair Soane of Bingham Blades and Partners of Scholes Hall told the Reporter: "There will be a few jobs available for local people when the centre opens. But the real value to St. Helens is the prestige. Businessmen will be coming from all over the country to use the computer."
The Reporter also wrote how "marauding bands of stone-throwing thugs" were "waging a war of destruction" on a council house estate in Derbyshire Hill and turning the place into a ghetto. The tenants had temporarily moved out of their homes while modernisation took place – but there'd been a delay before the improvements could start. One block of semi-detached houses in Winston Avenue was described as having been systematically wrecked.
Fires had gutted them; holes had been punched in their walls; their slates had been broken and fittings torn out. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs. Neighbour Joe Travis said: "These houses are a death trap for kids. They gather at night and just pull them to pieces. I work on demolition but they can beat the professionals hands down."
Seven 16 and 17-year-old Pilkington messenger girls were pictured in the Reporter in what the paper described as their "smart new dolly-girl smocks". The pink uniforms were considered more fashionable than their previous blue ones, as Joyce Round of Cartmell Avenue explained: "The old ones were straight and blue – awful. We look a lot better in these." A Pilkingtons spokesman said the girls had been given the opportunity of choosing the design of their new overalls, after complaining their old ones were not very fashionable.
The Reporter also described the initial impact of the developing oil crisis on St Helens. On October 6th the so-called Yom Kippur War had begun when Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions – and the conflict would continue until the 26th. The oil-exporting members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to punish the countries that supported Israel by initially reducing oil production and then imposing an embargo.
It was still early days in the crisis and the Reporter's article focused on its effect upon St Helens' buses. The town's Transport Department reported a "massive price increase" in what they had to pay for fuel. Half of their supplies of bus fuel came from Shell and the other half from Burmah, with Shell's price per gallon having risen by over 4p and Burmah by 2p. Of course, St Helens Corporation and the Reporter were not to know that those price hikes were tiny compared to what was soon to come.
The Reporter also described how a "unique experiment" would be taking place next week on a new estate in Gerards Bridge. One of the completed houses was being turned into an information centre, allowing potential tenants to preview the new homes. A team of volunteers and Corporation officials from the housing and social services departments would also be on hand to deal with queries about local services.
The three-storey house that was set to become a temporary information centre was at 1 Union Street, off Crab Street, and would be open to visitors for just one day. However, it was not fully furnished and was not intended as a showhouse. But prospective tenants on the 204-home estate would be able to find out about rent, rebates, heating, shopping, medical and other facilities.
No one had yet moved onto the estate, but the dwellings were expected to be ready to let within a few weeks. Kay Lathom, a Senior Welfare Officer, said: "This is a practical approach to the settling of a new community. The Social Services and Housing Departments, and churches are combining in an effort to welcome new tenants."
A month ago the new £200,000 St Helens police headquarters had opened in College Street. But it was announced this week that further alterations were needed. That was because in January 1974 the station was set to become an official police division, instead of its present status as a sub-division. The alterations included the replacement of ceilings in the detention room, raising the height of a boundary wall and the building of offices.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th previewed the start of the third series of The Onedin Line on BBC1 TV. It would include a new character called Leonora Biddulph played by Kate Nelligan, whose father was supposedly a wealthy colliery owner from St Helens.
The acts booked to perform in November and December included a variety bill headed by Jimmy Edwards and Joan Turner; a presentation of the 'Desert Song' starring John Hanson; Cicely Courtneidge in Agatha Christie's 'The Hollow'; comic Colin Crompton from The Comedians TV show; ventriloquist Ray Allen and Scottish singer Moira Anderson.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the lenient sentence on a two-time Thatto Heath rapist, a milk bottle shortage proves good news for UGB, the plastic coffin product developed in Rainford and an update on the pigeon raid in Marshalls Cross Road.
This week's many stories include the war of destruction in Derbyshire Hill, the golfers playing for free on the Sherdley Park municipal course, an update on the computer brain planned for Thatto Heath, the initial effect of the Middle East oil crisis on St Helens' buses, the forthcoming attractions at the Theatre Royal and the unique experiment that would be taking place on a new Gerards Bridge estate.
Bomb hoaxes in St Helens were becoming increasingly common, with the publicity they received in newspapers tempting others to do the same. And the copycats caused considerable inconvenience with their pranks.
On the 16th 700 bingo players had to vacate St Helens Town's football club in Hoghton Road after receiving a warning that a bomb had been planted. The police searched the premises but nothing was found.
On the 18th St Helens Tech's Rag Week began with a dance at Rivington Hall barn. The proceeds from the event – as well as a flag day, plus 88-page student magazine – would go to Whiston Hospital.
One big problem for any "pay as you play" golf course without any membership fees is stopping people from sneaking onto the course to play a round for free.
This week Ted Gallagher, the St Helens Director of Parks, revealed that since the town's municipal course had opened in Sherdley Park in the summer, one hundred cheats had so far been identified.
And they had all been caught playing on the course on weekdays as early as 6am, two hours before the facility opened. Mr Gallagher said:
"There's a certain amount of this going on at any municipal course. But our staff have had to warn about 100 golfers on the Green to pay up their 30p. We believe that they're night workers who want a quick game before they get to bed."
However, there was better news on Sherdley Park's driving range. Earlier in the year it had reported a loss of 14,000 golf balls during the first 12 months since the facility had opened.
Children had been blamed for nicking the balls before park staff could collect them and then selling them on.
But they now possessed a mechanical ball gatherer driven by a Parks official that had considerably reduced the loss and floodlights had also been installed to allow staff to collect the balls at night.
"Prestige Brain Will Serve Industry", was the headline to an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 19th that provided an update on the new £7½ million computer centre planned for Scholes Park in Thatto Heath.
It was set to open next July, and was being built by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The focal point of the complex would be a £1 million computer (about £15m in today's money) that would solve engineering design problems and prepare plans.
Dr Alistair Soane of Bingham Blades and Partners of Scholes Hall told the Reporter:
"There will be a few jobs available for local people when the centre opens. But the real value to St. Helens is the prestige. Businessmen will be coming from all over the country to use the computer."
The Reporter also wrote how "marauding bands of stone-throwing thugs" were "waging a war of destruction" on a council house estate in Derbyshire Hill and turning the place into a ghetto.
The tenants had temporarily moved out of their homes while modernisation took place – but there'd been a delay before the improvements could start.
One block of semi-detached houses in Winston Avenue was described as having been systematically wrecked.
Fires had gutted them; holes had been punched in their walls; their slates had been broken and fittings torn out. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs.
Neighbour Joe Travis said: "These houses are a death trap for kids. They gather at night and just pull them to pieces. I work on demolition but they can beat the professionals hands down."
Seven 16 and 17-year-old Pilkington messenger girls were pictured in the Reporter in what the paper described as their "smart new dolly-girl smocks".
The pink uniforms were considered more fashionable than their previous blue ones, as Joyce Round of Cartmell Avenue explained:
"The old ones were straight and blue – awful. We look a lot better in these."
A Pilkingtons spokesman said the girls had been given the opportunity of choosing the design of their new overalls, after complaining their old ones were not very fashionable.
The Reporter also described the initial impact of the developing oil crisis on St Helens.
On October 6th the so-called Yom Kippur War had begun when Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions – and the conflict would continue until the 26th.
The oil-exporting members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to punish the countries that supported Israel by initially reducing oil production and then imposing an embargo.
It was still early days in the crisis and the Reporter's article focused on its effect upon St Helens' buses.
The town's Transport Department reported a "massive price increase" in what they had to pay for fuel.
Half of their supplies of bus fuel came from Shell and the other half from Burmah, with Shell's price per gallon having risen by over 4p and Burmah by 2p.
Of course, St Helens Corporation and the Reporter were not to know that those price hikes were tiny compared to what was soon to come.
The Reporter also described how a "unique experiment" would be taking place next week on a new estate in Gerards Bridge.
One of the completed houses was being turned into an information centre, allowing potential tenants to preview the new homes.
A team of volunteers and Corporation officials from the housing and social services departments would also be on hand to deal with queries about local services.
The three-storey house that was set to become a temporary information centre was at 1 Union Street, off Crab Street, and would be open to visitors for just one day.
However, it was not fully furnished and was not intended as a showhouse.
But prospective tenants on the 204-home estate would be able to find out about rent, rebates, heating, shopping, medical and other facilities.
No one had yet moved onto the estate, but the dwellings were expected to be ready to let within a few weeks. Kay Lathom, a Senior Welfare Officer, said:
"This is a practical approach to the settling of a new community. The Social Services and Housing Departments, and churches are combining in an effort to welcome new tenants."
A month ago the new £200,000 St Helens police headquarters had opened in College Street.
But it was announced this week that further alterations were needed. That was because in January 1974 the station was set to become an official police division, instead of its present status as a sub-division.
The alterations included the replacement of ceilings in the detention room, raising the height of a boundary wall and the building of offices.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th previewed the start of the third series of The Onedin Line on BBC1 TV.
It would include a new character called Leonora Biddulph played by Kate Nelligan, whose father was supposedly a wealthy colliery owner from St Helens.
For a week from the 22nd the St Helens Catholic Gilbert and Sullivan Society performed 'The Gondoliers' at the Theatre Royal.
Also on that day the Echo previewed the theatre's new winter season and remarked:
"The Theatre Royal, St Helens, justifiably attracting more and more people to its excellently varied programmes, has lined-up another programme of something for everyone."
The acts booked to perform in November and December included a variety bill headed by Jimmy Edwards and Joan Turner; a presentation of the 'Desert Song' starring John Hanson; Cicely Courtneidge in Agatha Christie's 'The Hollow'; comic Colin Crompton from The Comedians TV show; ventriloquist Ray Allen and Scottish singer Moira Anderson.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the lenient sentence on a two-time Thatto Heath rapist, a milk bottle shortage proves good news for UGB, the plastic coffin product developed in Rainford and an update on the pigeon raid in Marshalls Cross Road.
Bomb hoaxes in St Helens were becoming increasingly common, with the publicity they received in newspapers tempting others to do the same. And the copycats caused considerable inconvenience with their pranks.
On the 16th 700 bingo players had to vacate St Helens Town's football club in Hoghton Road after receiving a warning that a bomb had been planted. The police searched the premises but nothing was found.
On the 18th St Helens Tech's Rag Week began with a dance at Rivington Hall barn. The proceeds from the event – as well as a flag day, plus 88-page student magazine – would go to Whiston Hospital.
One big problem for any "pay as you play" golf course without any membership fees is stopping people from sneaking onto the course to play a round for free.
This week Ted Gallagher, the St Helens Director of Parks, revealed that since the town's municipal course had opened in Sherdley Park in the summer, one hundred cheats had so far been identified.
And they had all been caught playing on the course on weekdays as early as 6am, two hours before the facility opened. Mr Gallagher said:
"There's a certain amount of this going on at any municipal course. But our staff have had to warn about 100 golfers on the Green to pay up their 30p. We believe that they're night workers who want a quick game before they get to bed."
However, there was better news on Sherdley Park's driving range. Earlier in the year it had reported a loss of 14,000 golf balls during the first 12 months since the facility had opened.
Children had been blamed for nicking the balls before park staff could collect them and then selling them on.
But they now possessed a mechanical ball gatherer driven by a Parks official that had considerably reduced the loss and floodlights had also been installed to allow staff to collect the balls at night.
"Prestige Brain Will Serve Industry", was the headline to an article in the St Helens Reporter on the 19th that provided an update on the new £7½ million computer centre planned for Scholes Park in Thatto Heath.
It was set to open next July, and was being built by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The focal point of the complex would be a £1 million computer (about £15m in today's money) that would solve engineering design problems and prepare plans.
Dr Alistair Soane of Bingham Blades and Partners of Scholes Hall told the Reporter:
"There will be a few jobs available for local people when the centre opens. But the real value to St. Helens is the prestige. Businessmen will be coming from all over the country to use the computer."
The Reporter also wrote how "marauding bands of stone-throwing thugs" were "waging a war of destruction" on a council house estate in Derbyshire Hill and turning the place into a ghetto.
The tenants had temporarily moved out of their homes while modernisation took place – but there'd been a delay before the improvements could start.
One block of semi-detached houses in Winston Avenue was described as having been systematically wrecked.
Fires had gutted them; holes had been punched in their walls; their slates had been broken and fittings torn out. Some of the homes had consequently been condemned as write-offs.
Neighbour Joe Travis said: "These houses are a death trap for kids. They gather at night and just pull them to pieces. I work on demolition but they can beat the professionals hands down."
Seven 16 and 17-year-old Pilkington messenger girls were pictured in the Reporter in what the paper described as their "smart new dolly-girl smocks".
The pink uniforms were considered more fashionable than their previous blue ones, as Joyce Round of Cartmell Avenue explained:
"The old ones were straight and blue – awful. We look a lot better in these."
A Pilkingtons spokesman said the girls had been given the opportunity of choosing the design of their new overalls, after complaining their old ones were not very fashionable.
The Reporter also described the initial impact of the developing oil crisis on St Helens.
On October 6th the so-called Yom Kippur War had begun when Egypt and Syria attacked Israeli positions – and the conflict would continue until the 26th.
The oil-exporting members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to punish the countries that supported Israel by initially reducing oil production and then imposing an embargo.
It was still early days in the crisis and the Reporter's article focused on its effect upon St Helens' buses.
The town's Transport Department reported a "massive price increase" in what they had to pay for fuel.
Half of their supplies of bus fuel came from Shell and the other half from Burmah, with Shell's price per gallon having risen by over 4p and Burmah by 2p.
Of course, St Helens Corporation and the Reporter were not to know that those price hikes were tiny compared to what was soon to come.
The Reporter also described how a "unique experiment" would be taking place next week on a new estate in Gerards Bridge.
One of the completed houses was being turned into an information centre, allowing potential tenants to preview the new homes.
A team of volunteers and Corporation officials from the housing and social services departments would also be on hand to deal with queries about local services.
The three-storey house that was set to become a temporary information centre was at 1 Union Street, off Crab Street, and would be open to visitors for just one day.
However, it was not fully furnished and was not intended as a showhouse.
But prospective tenants on the 204-home estate would be able to find out about rent, rebates, heating, shopping, medical and other facilities.
No one had yet moved onto the estate, but the dwellings were expected to be ready to let within a few weeks. Kay Lathom, a Senior Welfare Officer, said:
"This is a practical approach to the settling of a new community. The Social Services and Housing Departments, and churches are combining in an effort to welcome new tenants."
A month ago the new £200,000 St Helens police headquarters had opened in College Street.
But it was announced this week that further alterations were needed. That was because in January 1974 the station was set to become an official police division, instead of its present status as a sub-division.
The alterations included the replacement of ceilings in the detention room, raising the height of a boundary wall and the building of offices.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th previewed the start of the third series of The Onedin Line on BBC1 TV.
It would include a new character called Leonora Biddulph played by Kate Nelligan, whose father was supposedly a wealthy colliery owner from St Helens.
Also on that day the Echo previewed the theatre's new winter season and remarked:
"The Theatre Royal, St Helens, justifiably attracting more and more people to its excellently varied programmes, has lined-up another programme of something for everyone."
The acts booked to perform in November and December included a variety bill headed by Jimmy Edwards and Joan Turner; a presentation of the 'Desert Song' starring John Hanson; Cicely Courtneidge in Agatha Christie's 'The Hollow'; comic Colin Crompton from The Comedians TV show; ventriloquist Ray Allen and Scottish singer Moira Anderson.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the lenient sentence on a two-time Thatto Heath rapist, a milk bottle shortage proves good news for UGB, the plastic coffin product developed in Rainford and an update on the pigeon raid in Marshalls Cross Road.