FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (16th - 22nd DECEMBER 1969)
This week's stories include the Sutton Manor pitmen with "bombs" in their grates, the seas of mud in Haydock, a new policy for smoking on one-man buses, the move to a pedestrian-only town centre and the heating of the planned Beth Avenue estate in Sutton.
We begin on the 16th when 200 pupils at Robins Lane infants' school staged a musical production of 'Peter Pan'. Christopher Hiles played the title role, Jacqueline McGuire was Wendy and Paul Brennan played Captain Hook.
A Sutton Parish carol and coffee evening was held on the 17th at an unusual venue. The event was held at 126 New Street, as that was the home of the Rev. Brian Robinson, the curate-in-charge of All Saints Church. The proceeds went to the school building fund.
A snowstorm hit St Helens on the 17th and three gritting machines worked 24 hours a day for three days gritting roads and footpaths and laying down about 100 tons of salt.
James and Bobby Purify ("direct from America") appeared at the Plaza Theatre Club (pictured above) on the same day, with Marty Wilde performing in Duke Street on the 19th and 20th.
Haydock's Highways, Buildings and Parks Committee also met on the 17th and discussed two "seas of mud" in Station Road and Wagon Lane. The muddy conditions and potholes had been generating many complaints from residents and the committee decided on steps to deal with them. These included removing the mud, laying down ash or tarmac, clearing the gullies and filling the potholes in Wagon Lane with cinders.
Lady Pilkington opened a new £22,000 clubhouse at Ruskin Drive on the 17th for use by Pilkingtons' women pensioners. Inside was a clubroom, a stage, a quiet room for relaxation, a kitchen and offices. Almost half of Pilkingtons 150 female pensioners had already signed up and events such as bingo, dominoes and hot pot suppers were being planned.
This week the St Helens Transport Committee announced that it was changing its strategy as regards smoking on single-decker one-man buses. These had been introduced in November 1968 and notices were then put up asking people to refrain from smoking. However the Transport Department had received complaints that smokers were still lighting up. So the committee decided to be pragmatic and install new signs requesting smokers sit at the rear of the bus.
The lead story in the Reporter on the 19th was titled "Pitmen in Storm Over 'Bombs' in Their Grates" in which Sutton Manor miners complained of poor quality concessionary fuel. The paper wrote that their families were being "bombarded in their homes by flying pieces of red-hot coke" that were leaping out of their fires.
Dozens of living room rugs had been scarred by burn marks and Tom Rigby of Milton Street showed the Reporter journalist his glasses, which had been marked by a flying coke fragment. Paul Bannister said his wife Dorothy had a scar above her lips where she'd been hit by a piece of fuel that had shot out of their fire. Paul from Forest Road told the Reporter: "It's just like being under fire" and said fireguards were no protection.
Some families were breaking smokeless zone laws by burning coal as well as coke to keep their terraced homes warm. That was partly because the pitmen believed that the concessionary smokeless coke did not give out as much heat as ordinary coal. The coal board said the union had approved the fuel – which was called gas coke – but they would meet their representatives to sort out their problems.
Maxis were all the rage and Yvonne Eden from Chester Lane was pictured on the front page of the paper wearing a maxi coat. The 18-year-old shorthand typist was described as showing how a "girl can be right up to the minute fashion-wise and nice and snug at the same time."
The Reporter also described how St Helens was making its first moves towards a traffic-free town centre. From January when road works were completed, only buses coming from the Sutton direction would be permitted to travel into Church Street. Cars would instead be directed onto the Inner Ring Road.
The Deputy Borough Engineer, Kenneth Perks, said this was the first step towards becoming a pedestrianised town centre. He said the Ring Road had so far not been used to its fullest advantage and the new scheme would take traffic on to the road and away from the centre of the town.
However Church Street shopkeepers were fearful of losing business, saying they were already struggling after the introduction of double-yellow lines and car parking charges. Alexandre's tailors forecast a 20% drop in trade and Betty Roberts, the manageress of Bellman's wool shop, said: "This will make St. Helens dead".
There were lots of pictures of nativity plays and Christmas parties in the Reporter. Mark Harrison was pictured wearing outsize ears in Parr Mount School's nativity play. This confused the Reporter's photographer, who wondered what a bunny was doing in a nativity. The indignant four-year-old replied: "I'm not a rabbit, I'm an ass. Looking after the manger, you know."
Engineering firm William Neil & Son of Bold date back to 1859 and so it's surprising that their Christmas party was the first they'd hosted for the children of their staff. Many of the youngsters were pictured enjoying themselves, as were some of the 220 kids of the employees of Sperryn and Co. of Delta Road, Parr, who had attended their party.
Another photo showed some of the 150 boys and girls at the party held by Geest Industries of Walkers Lane. This was held at West Sutton Labour Club and all received presents from Father Christmas. I wonder if they were given any bananas! Rockware had to hold two Christmas parties in order to accommodate all the 350 children that wanted to attend and each was presented with a toy.
The "old folk" at Dentons Green Darby and Joan Club held their Christmas "do" at Windleshaw Road and were entertained by members of St Helens Amateur Operatic Society. And Peasley Cross Derby and Joan Club held their party in the Church Hall in Sherdley Road.
Christmas telegrams were seemingly quite popular in 1969. I base this statement purely on the length of the detailed instructions in the Reporter, which contained deadline dates for sending inland, overseas and British forces' telegrams, as well as radio telegrams to ships.
The Reporter also wrote that Councillor Harry Williams had lost his battle to get the new homes off Gerards Lane heated by solid fuel. Harry spent fifty years working at Sutton Manor Colliery and tried to persuade St Helens Council's housing committee to opt for solid fuel and warm-air central heating, with either gas or electricity for cooking.
However the committee instead plumped for gas central heating, with a choice of electricity or gas for cooking. That was for the 750 new homes that were set to cost over £2.5 million (around £42m in today's money) and be built on a 49-acre site bounded by New Street and Gerards Lane. This would become known as the Beth Avenue estate.
There was also a photo of a large Christmas hamper being presented to St Helens Society for the Deaf. It came from the milkmen at Hansons Dairies, who had clubbed together to buy it. The milkies also paid for a second hamper that they despatched to Providence Hospital. The idea came from Gerald Gaskell of Philip Grove in Sutton who said he thought it would make a nice Christmas gesture.
The Reporter devoted a page to Christmas greetings from retailers and there were many long-gone names. These included Walter Broderick (gents' hairdresser), corner of King Street & Rigby Street; J. Brunskill & Associates (photographers), Corporation Street; Myatt Shaver Centre, George Street; Woolworths, Church Street; Go Gay (cards & gifts), Westfield Street; Fairway Motors, Junction Lane; Roberts & Son (upholsterers), Peter Street and Grosvenor House ("man's shop"), Duke Street.
There was also Casey Brothers (electrical etc.), Boundary Road & Westfield Street; Pat Grady (car hire), Bickerstaffe Street; Fitzgerald (footwear), Parr Stocks Road; Turley's (furnishers), George Street; Tom Collins & Sons (motorbikes), Boundary Road and the following TV dealers: Walter Hughes, Westfield Street; Frank Waring, Church Street, Duke Street & Parr Stocks Road and Harold Stott, Westfield Street.
On the 20th at 11am the church bells rang for an hour in St Helens town centre as Red Cross collectors mingled with shoppers to raise funds for people in Biafra who were suffering through the Nigerian Civil War.
Every year a special service was held at St Matthew's in Thatto Heath in which the congregation brought in toys for the NSPCC. This year's Toy Service was held on the 21st and the large collection was passed onto local under-privileged children who received few gifts on Christmas Day.
On the 21st the Mayor and Mayoress, Tom and Edith Wilcock, helped members of Thatto Heath Old Men's Benevolent Fund distribute Christmas cash, gifts, tea and coffee to parishioners.
On the same day a massive protest at the Burtonwood Army Base by the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam proved to be a wash out. The torrential rain meant that there more police than protestors and plans to burn the American flag were shelved.
And finally from the 22nd, the Capitol started screening a John Mills drama called 'Run Wild, Run Free'. Meanwhile the Christmas week films at the ABC Savoy were two Westerns. These were 'Shane' starring Alan Ladd and 'Sons of Katie Elder', featuring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Not particularly Christmassy but great films!
Next week's stories will include the toy doctor from Nutgrove, a new shopping precinct for Fingerpost, the dark and dangerous mornings in Walkers Lane, the one trip beer bottles of Rockware Glass and there is a special feature on New Year babies in the Reporter.
We begin on the 16th when 200 pupils at Robins Lane infants' school staged a musical production of 'Peter Pan'. Christopher Hiles played the title role, Jacqueline McGuire was Wendy and Paul Brennan played Captain Hook.
A Sutton Parish carol and coffee evening was held on the 17th at an unusual venue. The event was held at 126 New Street, as that was the home of the Rev. Brian Robinson, the curate-in-charge of All Saints Church. The proceeds went to the school building fund.
A snowstorm hit St Helens on the 17th and three gritting machines worked 24 hours a day for three days gritting roads and footpaths and laying down about 100 tons of salt.
Haydock's Highways, Buildings and Parks Committee also met on the 17th and discussed two "seas of mud" in Station Road and Wagon Lane. The muddy conditions and potholes had been generating many complaints from residents and the committee decided on steps to deal with them. These included removing the mud, laying down ash or tarmac, clearing the gullies and filling the potholes in Wagon Lane with cinders.
Lady Pilkington opened a new £22,000 clubhouse at Ruskin Drive on the 17th for use by Pilkingtons' women pensioners. Inside was a clubroom, a stage, a quiet room for relaxation, a kitchen and offices. Almost half of Pilkingtons 150 female pensioners had already signed up and events such as bingo, dominoes and hot pot suppers were being planned.
The lead story in the Reporter on the 19th was titled "Pitmen in Storm Over 'Bombs' in Their Grates" in which Sutton Manor miners complained of poor quality concessionary fuel. The paper wrote that their families were being "bombarded in their homes by flying pieces of red-hot coke" that were leaping out of their fires.
Dozens of living room rugs had been scarred by burn marks and Tom Rigby of Milton Street showed the Reporter journalist his glasses, which had been marked by a flying coke fragment. Paul Bannister said his wife Dorothy had a scar above her lips where she'd been hit by a piece of fuel that had shot out of their fire. Paul from Forest Road told the Reporter: "It's just like being under fire" and said fireguards were no protection.
Some families were breaking smokeless zone laws by burning coal as well as coke to keep their terraced homes warm. That was partly because the pitmen believed that the concessionary smokeless coke did not give out as much heat as ordinary coal. The coal board said the union had approved the fuel – which was called gas coke – but they would meet their representatives to sort out their problems.
Maxis were all the rage and Yvonne Eden from Chester Lane was pictured on the front page of the paper wearing a maxi coat. The 18-year-old shorthand typist was described as showing how a "girl can be right up to the minute fashion-wise and nice and snug at the same time."
The Reporter also described how St Helens was making its first moves towards a traffic-free town centre. From January when road works were completed, only buses coming from the Sutton direction would be permitted to travel into Church Street. Cars would instead be directed onto the Inner Ring Road.
The Deputy Borough Engineer, Kenneth Perks, said this was the first step towards becoming a pedestrianised town centre. He said the Ring Road had so far not been used to its fullest advantage and the new scheme would take traffic on to the road and away from the centre of the town.
However Church Street shopkeepers were fearful of losing business, saying they were already struggling after the introduction of double-yellow lines and car parking charges. Alexandre's tailors forecast a 20% drop in trade and Betty Roberts, the manageress of Bellman's wool shop, said: "This will make St. Helens dead".
There were lots of pictures of nativity plays and Christmas parties in the Reporter. Mark Harrison was pictured wearing outsize ears in Parr Mount School's nativity play. This confused the Reporter's photographer, who wondered what a bunny was doing in a nativity. The indignant four-year-old replied: "I'm not a rabbit, I'm an ass. Looking after the manger, you know."
Engineering firm William Neil & Son of Bold date back to 1859 and so it's surprising that their Christmas party was the first they'd hosted for the children of their staff. Many of the youngsters were pictured enjoying themselves, as were some of the 220 kids of the employees of Sperryn and Co. of Delta Road, Parr, who had attended their party.
Another photo showed some of the 150 boys and girls at the party held by Geest Industries of Walkers Lane. This was held at West Sutton Labour Club and all received presents from Father Christmas. I wonder if they were given any bananas! Rockware had to hold two Christmas parties in order to accommodate all the 350 children that wanted to attend and each was presented with a toy.
The "old folk" at Dentons Green Darby and Joan Club held their Christmas "do" at Windleshaw Road and were entertained by members of St Helens Amateur Operatic Society. And Peasley Cross Derby and Joan Club held their party in the Church Hall in Sherdley Road.
Christmas telegrams were seemingly quite popular in 1969. I base this statement purely on the length of the detailed instructions in the Reporter, which contained deadline dates for sending inland, overseas and British forces' telegrams, as well as radio telegrams to ships.
The Reporter also wrote that Councillor Harry Williams had lost his battle to get the new homes off Gerards Lane heated by solid fuel. Harry spent fifty years working at Sutton Manor Colliery and tried to persuade St Helens Council's housing committee to opt for solid fuel and warm-air central heating, with either gas or electricity for cooking.
However the committee instead plumped for gas central heating, with a choice of electricity or gas for cooking. That was for the 750 new homes that were set to cost over £2.5 million (around £42m in today's money) and be built on a 49-acre site bounded by New Street and Gerards Lane. This would become known as the Beth Avenue estate.
There was also a photo of a large Christmas hamper being presented to St Helens Society for the Deaf. It came from the milkmen at Hansons Dairies, who had clubbed together to buy it. The milkies also paid for a second hamper that they despatched to Providence Hospital. The idea came from Gerald Gaskell of Philip Grove in Sutton who said he thought it would make a nice Christmas gesture.
The Reporter devoted a page to Christmas greetings from retailers and there were many long-gone names. These included Walter Broderick (gents' hairdresser), corner of King Street & Rigby Street; J. Brunskill & Associates (photographers), Corporation Street; Myatt Shaver Centre, George Street; Woolworths, Church Street; Go Gay (cards & gifts), Westfield Street; Fairway Motors, Junction Lane; Roberts & Son (upholsterers), Peter Street and Grosvenor House ("man's shop"), Duke Street.
There was also Casey Brothers (electrical etc.), Boundary Road & Westfield Street; Pat Grady (car hire), Bickerstaffe Street; Fitzgerald (footwear), Parr Stocks Road; Turley's (furnishers), George Street; Tom Collins & Sons (motorbikes), Boundary Road and the following TV dealers: Walter Hughes, Westfield Street; Frank Waring, Church Street, Duke Street & Parr Stocks Road and Harold Stott, Westfield Street.
On the 20th at 11am the church bells rang for an hour in St Helens town centre as Red Cross collectors mingled with shoppers to raise funds for people in Biafra who were suffering through the Nigerian Civil War.
Every year a special service was held at St Matthew's in Thatto Heath in which the congregation brought in toys for the NSPCC. This year's Toy Service was held on the 21st and the large collection was passed onto local under-privileged children who received few gifts on Christmas Day.
On the 21st the Mayor and Mayoress, Tom and Edith Wilcock, helped members of Thatto Heath Old Men's Benevolent Fund distribute Christmas cash, gifts, tea and coffee to parishioners.
On the same day a massive protest at the Burtonwood Army Base by the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam proved to be a wash out. The torrential rain meant that there more police than protestors and plans to burn the American flag were shelved.
And finally from the 22nd, the Capitol started screening a John Mills drama called 'Run Wild, Run Free'. Meanwhile the Christmas week films at the ABC Savoy were two Westerns. These were 'Shane' starring Alan Ladd and 'Sons of Katie Elder', featuring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Not particularly Christmassy but great films!
Next week's stories will include the toy doctor from Nutgrove, a new shopping precinct for Fingerpost, the dark and dangerous mornings in Walkers Lane, the one trip beer bottles of Rockware Glass and there is a special feature on New Year babies in the Reporter.