FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (17th - 23rd MAY 1971)
This week's many stories include the shocking vandalism at Christ Church in Eccleston, 300 "militant mothers" barricade the road in Rainhill, Ken Loach's play on the Pilkington strike is shown on BBC1 and the parents' fury over 11-plus failures at St Aidan's school in Clock Face.
We begin on the 17th when it was announced that Redgate Boys' Silver Band was to fly to Rimini in August for a tour of Italy. The St Helens boys were renowned as the most travelled junior band in the country and they would be spending a fortnight visiting Venice, Rome and Florence.
Jimmy Jewel is probably best remembered for his role in TV show 'Nearest and Dearest' with Hylda Baker and throughout this week the comic performed at the Theatre Royal in a comedy drama called "The Fickle Fly". I think "break a leg" is the thespian greeting for wishing a performer good luck in their performance. Jimmy took the expression literally – well almost, as he broke two toes while on stage. The accident occurred halfway through the show but the comic carried on regardless and the audience were unaware of his agony until an announcement was made at the end.
On the following morning Jewel was admitted to St Helens Hospital to undergo an operation to have his toes re-set. That night's performance was cancelled but then his understudy, Frank Marlborough, took over the starring role. He would go on to appear in TV shows like 'Worzel Gummidge'. However Jimmy Jewel did return for the final two nights of the show's engagement in St Helens.
Meanwhile the Rainhill Garrick Society presented a new musical at the Village Hall called 'A Face In The Crowd' for six nights from the 17th. Based on a Liverpool-Irish comedy, the songs were written by Sheila Donnahey from Roby.
In October 1968 the St Helens Reporter described how vandalism and theft had led to an increasing number of churches in the town ending open access and bolting their doors. The Rev. J. G. Williams of St Mark's in North Road told the Reporter: "We have had a terrible amount of trouble", and in a single year £700 worth of damage had been done.
Meanwhile in Parr the Rev. A. S. Thorne, the Vicar of St Peter's, said his lockout had been in force for two years. Brasses had been stolen from the altar and headstones damaged in the graveyard. He claimed that parents even sent their kids to play in the churchyard, instead of nearby Gaskell Park. And Rev. Harry Bradshaw, the Vicar of St Thomas's in Westfield Street, had closed his doors through the daubing of obscene writing inside the church.
There was no mention in the article of Christ Church in Eccleston (pictured above) and they seemingly were still allowing daytime worship. However I expect open access to the beautiful little church stopped after its experience on May 17th when they felt the wrath of vandals. The orgy of destruction led to over 1,000 Bibles, hymn and prayer books being torn apart and church furniture – including a communion table that dated back to 1605 – being damaged. The church Bible was torn from its lectern and ripped to pieces, a piano was smashed up and a brass lectern weighing seven cwt. was toppled. The vicar's vestry and the choir vestry were completely wrecked and a case full of bottles of communion wine was spilled over the floors and ceiling. Ink and cleaning materials were thrown over cassocks and surplices and church documents and maps were destroyed.
During the month the church has been holding a special missionary exhibition with six displays representing the work of various missions abroad. These had been set up in the porch and in the sanctuary. All these displays were knocked over and large pictures on the walls inside the church were pulled down and smashed. "Nothing seems to have escaped the vandals," said the vicar, Rev James Hamilton. "It is obvious the wreckers spent several hours inside the church." Lancashire police using tracker-dogs were hunting the wreckers and with much fingerprint and other forensic evidence collected, it was anticipated that there could be an early arrest.
The Liverpool Echo wrote on the 18th that Prescot Round Table had five sets of brothers among their membership, which they believed was a record among Round Table groups in Britain. The siblings comprised Geoff Slater of Mill Lane in Rainhill and his brother Gordon of Portreath Way in Windle. The Echo quipped that they were also "brothers-in-law" as both men were solicitors.
Also in the Round Table were laboratory manager Reg Lowe from Lincoln Way in Rainhill and his brother Gordon, a retail stationer of Warrington Road in Rainhill. There was fruiterer Gilbert Gornall of Cross Pit Lane in Rainford and his funeral director brother Lionel of Clarkes Crescent in Eccleston. The other brothers were turf accountants Tony and Paul Grant from Rainford and Prescot and Ian and Paul Mawdsley from Prescot.
On the 20th a play called 'The Rank and File' written by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach was shown on BBC1. The film was made on location in Stoke and concerned a company called Wilkinson. However it was obvious that the town depicted was St Helens and that the film was a portrayal of the Pilkington strike of 1970. The drama even began with an on-screen caption that read: "A film based principally on events that took place in Lancashire in the Spring of 1970". But the reviews were not good. The Echo wrote:
"Last night's BBC1 play The Rank and File only succeeded in giving a cardboard impression of the real-life seven-week strike drama at St. Helens in the heat of last summer. For those who live in St. Helens the strike is so indelibly impressed on their minds it seems almost impossible to believe that it is now a year since it took place. Talented director Ken Loach of “Cathy Come Home” fame has built up a high reputation for depicting harsh realism which makes compulsive viewing, but somehow he last night failed to score."
There was more bad news on the jobs front on the 20th when the latest unemployment stats were released. In St Helens the rate of unemployment had been 3.3% in March and 3.6% in April but had now worsened to 3.7%, meaning 2,154 people were out of work. Ronald Kerr, the area manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange in College Street, said there were few indications of an immediate improvement in the situation. The number of jobs available in the area would, he said, be adversely affected by the already announced redundancies in glass container manufacturing and coal mining.
Also on the 20th the Cubs of the 18th St Helens pack were presented with the "Top Pack" flag by the St Helens and District Cub Scout association. Attached to St James Church in Haydock, the boys were considered best in St Helens for discipline, turn-out, badge work, map reading and general Cub activities.
On three consecutive evenings several weeks ago, pram-pushing mothers at Rainhill had brought traffic to a halt on Warrington Road near the Ship Hotel. They wanted the speed limit reduced from 40 to 30 mph after a six-year-old girl had received fatal injuries on that stretch of road. On the morning of the 21st, 300 "militant mothers" – as they were described – again blocked the road at Loyola Hall.
The police – who had been notified about the demo in advance – set up diversions but for many motorists it meant a detour of several miles, causing many to be late for work. Buses were also caught up in the chaos and many passengers chose to get off and walk. The latest demonstration came because of dissatisfaction with the speed of progress in reducing the speed limit and installing zebra crossings. Ray Ferguson of Dunbeath Avenue in Rainhill was chairman of the Parents Action Committee and told reporters:
"We were promised three weeks ago by Ministry of Transport officials that they would let us know by Monday of this week definitely whether or not the speed limit would be lowered. They failed to give us this assurance and we will be staging further demonstrations until the limit is reduced. When the present 40 mph signs were put up this was a main road through a rural area. Now it is a built-up area with about 3,000 new homes in the vicinity. Because of the danger many mothers have stopped their children attending evening activities such as the Scouts and Guides."
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 21st and its lead story described anger over the level of 11-plus failures at St Aidan's school in Clock Face (pictured above). None of the thirteen candidates had passed the exam this year and there had been only four passes out of eighteen entries in 1970. Parents blamed overcrowding for the low success rate, which led to pupils having to eat their meals at their desks.
Lily Campbell of Bridge Road, off Clock Face Road, claimed that when her two children left St Aidan's and started attending a secondary school, teachers slated them: "They were criticised because they didn't know fractions. But they had never been taught them." And Doreen Martin of Abbots Hall Avenue complained that she'd had to employ a private tutor for her son: "He failed the 11-plus this year and I brought a tutor in. He says Gerard is two years behind for his age and has ability which hasn't been brought out."
Porter Colin Barton was also featured on the front page of the Reporter after spending an hour talking to a patient at Whiston Hospital. The 30-year-old woman had climbed out of a window onto the roof of the psychiatric ward and Colin from Baxters Lane went up a ladder to sit with her and keep her calm. Two firemen from Whiston – Vincent Quinn and Walter Lyon – then joined him and eventually a hydraulic platform brought the woman down.
Members of the McArthur family of Higher Lane in Rainford were pictured in the Echo on the 21st. They were about to fly out to Canada to begin a new life, however, the paper reported concern that their six-year-old son Charlie might be disappointed:
"He expected to be greeted by cowboys and indians having watched TV films of “anything west of Britain,” said his mother, Eileen, aged 26. “I hope he's not going to be too disappointed,” said grandma 60-years-old Mrs. Mary McArthur, who is flying with the family to join her son and son-in-law. “We are going out to join my daughter's husband who is working as a chemist in Ottawa”, she said. Young Charlie added: "“I'm really looking forward to having dinner on an aeroplane. It's ever so big, isn't it.”"
And finally the town went cup final crazy this week as Saints took on Wigan in the Championship Trophy Final. The Guardian wrote: "Taken on the whole, the football produced in the match was not particularly good or exciting, but there was enough drama packed into the last 10 minutes to keep tongues wagging through the summer months ahead." At that point 70 minutes into the game Saints were 6 - 12 down and had their ace forward John Mantle sent off. However Wigan relaxed their grip and Bob Blackwood and Billy Benyon both scored tries for the St Helens side to turn the game on its head.
Next week's stories will include the closure of Haydock's Wood Pit, more on the militant mothers of Rainhill, the Eccleston church wrecker is arrested, the productive Bold Colliery miners and why a judge wished a young Newton couple well in their marriage.
We begin on the 17th when it was announced that Redgate Boys' Silver Band was to fly to Rimini in August for a tour of Italy. The St Helens boys were renowned as the most travelled junior band in the country and they would be spending a fortnight visiting Venice, Rome and Florence.
Jimmy Jewel is probably best remembered for his role in TV show 'Nearest and Dearest' with Hylda Baker and throughout this week the comic performed at the Theatre Royal in a comedy drama called "The Fickle Fly". I think "break a leg" is the thespian greeting for wishing a performer good luck in their performance. Jimmy took the expression literally – well almost, as he broke two toes while on stage. The accident occurred halfway through the show but the comic carried on regardless and the audience were unaware of his agony until an announcement was made at the end.
On the following morning Jewel was admitted to St Helens Hospital to undergo an operation to have his toes re-set. That night's performance was cancelled but then his understudy, Frank Marlborough, took over the starring role. He would go on to appear in TV shows like 'Worzel Gummidge'. However Jimmy Jewel did return for the final two nights of the show's engagement in St Helens.
Meanwhile the Rainhill Garrick Society presented a new musical at the Village Hall called 'A Face In The Crowd' for six nights from the 17th. Based on a Liverpool-Irish comedy, the songs were written by Sheila Donnahey from Roby.
In October 1968 the St Helens Reporter described how vandalism and theft had led to an increasing number of churches in the town ending open access and bolting their doors. The Rev. J. G. Williams of St Mark's in North Road told the Reporter: "We have had a terrible amount of trouble", and in a single year £700 worth of damage had been done.
Meanwhile in Parr the Rev. A. S. Thorne, the Vicar of St Peter's, said his lockout had been in force for two years. Brasses had been stolen from the altar and headstones damaged in the graveyard. He claimed that parents even sent their kids to play in the churchyard, instead of nearby Gaskell Park. And Rev. Harry Bradshaw, the Vicar of St Thomas's in Westfield Street, had closed his doors through the daubing of obscene writing inside the church.
During the month the church has been holding a special missionary exhibition with six displays representing the work of various missions abroad. These had been set up in the porch and in the sanctuary. All these displays were knocked over and large pictures on the walls inside the church were pulled down and smashed. "Nothing seems to have escaped the vandals," said the vicar, Rev James Hamilton. "It is obvious the wreckers spent several hours inside the church." Lancashire police using tracker-dogs were hunting the wreckers and with much fingerprint and other forensic evidence collected, it was anticipated that there could be an early arrest.
The Liverpool Echo wrote on the 18th that Prescot Round Table had five sets of brothers among their membership, which they believed was a record among Round Table groups in Britain. The siblings comprised Geoff Slater of Mill Lane in Rainhill and his brother Gordon of Portreath Way in Windle. The Echo quipped that they were also "brothers-in-law" as both men were solicitors.
Also in the Round Table were laboratory manager Reg Lowe from Lincoln Way in Rainhill and his brother Gordon, a retail stationer of Warrington Road in Rainhill. There was fruiterer Gilbert Gornall of Cross Pit Lane in Rainford and his funeral director brother Lionel of Clarkes Crescent in Eccleston. The other brothers were turf accountants Tony and Paul Grant from Rainford and Prescot and Ian and Paul Mawdsley from Prescot.
On the 20th a play called 'The Rank and File' written by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach was shown on BBC1. The film was made on location in Stoke and concerned a company called Wilkinson. However it was obvious that the town depicted was St Helens and that the film was a portrayal of the Pilkington strike of 1970. The drama even began with an on-screen caption that read: "A film based principally on events that took place in Lancashire in the Spring of 1970". But the reviews were not good. The Echo wrote:
"Last night's BBC1 play The Rank and File only succeeded in giving a cardboard impression of the real-life seven-week strike drama at St. Helens in the heat of last summer. For those who live in St. Helens the strike is so indelibly impressed on their minds it seems almost impossible to believe that it is now a year since it took place. Talented director Ken Loach of “Cathy Come Home” fame has built up a high reputation for depicting harsh realism which makes compulsive viewing, but somehow he last night failed to score."
There was more bad news on the jobs front on the 20th when the latest unemployment stats were released. In St Helens the rate of unemployment had been 3.3% in March and 3.6% in April but had now worsened to 3.7%, meaning 2,154 people were out of work. Ronald Kerr, the area manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange in College Street, said there were few indications of an immediate improvement in the situation. The number of jobs available in the area would, he said, be adversely affected by the already announced redundancies in glass container manufacturing and coal mining.
Also on the 20th the Cubs of the 18th St Helens pack were presented with the "Top Pack" flag by the St Helens and District Cub Scout association. Attached to St James Church in Haydock, the boys were considered best in St Helens for discipline, turn-out, badge work, map reading and general Cub activities.
On three consecutive evenings several weeks ago, pram-pushing mothers at Rainhill had brought traffic to a halt on Warrington Road near the Ship Hotel. They wanted the speed limit reduced from 40 to 30 mph after a six-year-old girl had received fatal injuries on that stretch of road. On the morning of the 21st, 300 "militant mothers" – as they were described – again blocked the road at Loyola Hall.
The police – who had been notified about the demo in advance – set up diversions but for many motorists it meant a detour of several miles, causing many to be late for work. Buses were also caught up in the chaos and many passengers chose to get off and walk. The latest demonstration came because of dissatisfaction with the speed of progress in reducing the speed limit and installing zebra crossings. Ray Ferguson of Dunbeath Avenue in Rainhill was chairman of the Parents Action Committee and told reporters:
"We were promised three weeks ago by Ministry of Transport officials that they would let us know by Monday of this week definitely whether or not the speed limit would be lowered. They failed to give us this assurance and we will be staging further demonstrations until the limit is reduced. When the present 40 mph signs were put up this was a main road through a rural area. Now it is a built-up area with about 3,000 new homes in the vicinity. Because of the danger many mothers have stopped their children attending evening activities such as the Scouts and Guides."
Lily Campbell of Bridge Road, off Clock Face Road, claimed that when her two children left St Aidan's and started attending a secondary school, teachers slated them: "They were criticised because they didn't know fractions. But they had never been taught them." And Doreen Martin of Abbots Hall Avenue complained that she'd had to employ a private tutor for her son: "He failed the 11-plus this year and I brought a tutor in. He says Gerard is two years behind for his age and has ability which hasn't been brought out."
Porter Colin Barton was also featured on the front page of the Reporter after spending an hour talking to a patient at Whiston Hospital. The 30-year-old woman had climbed out of a window onto the roof of the psychiatric ward and Colin from Baxters Lane went up a ladder to sit with her and keep her calm. Two firemen from Whiston – Vincent Quinn and Walter Lyon – then joined him and eventually a hydraulic platform brought the woman down.
Members of the McArthur family of Higher Lane in Rainford were pictured in the Echo on the 21st. They were about to fly out to Canada to begin a new life, however, the paper reported concern that their six-year-old son Charlie might be disappointed:
"He expected to be greeted by cowboys and indians having watched TV films of “anything west of Britain,” said his mother, Eileen, aged 26. “I hope he's not going to be too disappointed,” said grandma 60-years-old Mrs. Mary McArthur, who is flying with the family to join her son and son-in-law. “We are going out to join my daughter's husband who is working as a chemist in Ottawa”, she said. Young Charlie added: "“I'm really looking forward to having dinner on an aeroplane. It's ever so big, isn't it.”"
And finally the town went cup final crazy this week as Saints took on Wigan in the Championship Trophy Final. The Guardian wrote: "Taken on the whole, the football produced in the match was not particularly good or exciting, but there was enough drama packed into the last 10 minutes to keep tongues wagging through the summer months ahead." At that point 70 minutes into the game Saints were 6 - 12 down and had their ace forward John Mantle sent off. However Wigan relaxed their grip and Bob Blackwood and Billy Benyon both scored tries for the St Helens side to turn the game on its head.
Next week's stories will include the closure of Haydock's Wood Pit, more on the militant mothers of Rainhill, the Eccleston church wrecker is arrested, the productive Bold Colliery miners and why a judge wished a young Newton couple well in their marriage.
This week's many stories include the shocking vandalism at Christ Church in Eccleston, 300 "militant mothers" barricade the road in Rainhill, Ken Loach's play on the Pilkington strike is shown on BBC1 and the parents' fury over 11-plus failures at St Aidan's school in Clock Face.
We begin on the 17th when it was announced that Redgate Boys' Silver Band was to fly to Rimini in August for a tour of Italy.
The St Helens boys were renowned as the most travelled junior band in the country and they would be spending a fortnight visiting Venice, Rome and Florence.
Jimmy Jewel is probably best remembered for his role in TV show 'Nearest and Dearest' with Hylda Baker and throughout this week the comic performed at the Theatre Royal in a comedy drama called "The Fickle Fly".
I think "break a leg" is the thespian greeting for wishing a performer good luck in their performance.
Jimmy took the expression literally – well almost, as he broke two toes while on stage.
The accident occurred halfway through the show but the comic carried on regardless and the audience were unaware of his agony until an announcement was made at the end.
On the following morning Jewel was admitted to St Helens Hospital to undergo an operation to have his toes re-set.
That night's performance was cancelled but then his understudy, Frank Marlborough, took over the starring role. He would go on to appear in TV shows like 'Worzel Gummidge'.
However Jimmy Jewel did return for the final two nights of the show's engagement in St Helens.
Meanwhile the Rainhill Garrick Society presented a new musical at the Village Hall called 'A Face In The Crowd' for six nights from the 17th.
Based on a Liverpool-Irish comedy, the songs were written by Sheila Donnahey from Roby.
In October 1968 the St Helens Reporter described how vandalism and theft had led to an increasing number of churches in the town ending open access and bolting their doors.
The Rev. J. G. Williams of St Mark's in North Road told the Reporter: "We have had a terrible amount of trouble", and in a single year £700 worth of damage had been done.
Meanwhile in Parr the Rev. A. S. Thorne, the Vicar of St Peter's, said his lockout had been in force for two years.
Brasses had been stolen from the altar and headstones damaged in the graveyard. He claimed that parents even sent their kids to play in the churchyard, instead of nearby Gaskell Park.
And Rev. Harry Bradshaw, the Vicar of St Thomas's in Westfield Street, had closed his doors through the daubing of obscene writing inside the church.
There was no mention in the article of Christ Church in Eccleston (pictured above) and they seemingly were still allowing daytime worship.
However I expect open access to the beautiful little church stopped after its experience on May 17th when they felt the wrath of vandals.
The orgy of destruction led to over 1,000 Bibles, hymn and prayer books being torn apart and church furniture – including a communion table that dated back to 1605 – being damaged.
The church Bible was torn from its lectern and ripped to pieces, a piano was smashed up and a brass lectern weighing seven cwt. was toppled.
The vicar's vestry and the choir vestry were completely wrecked and a case full of bottles of communion wine was spilled over the floors and ceiling.
Ink and cleaning materials were thrown over cassocks and surplices and church documents and maps were destroyed.
During the month the church has been holding a special missionary exhibition with six displays representing the work of various missions abroad.
These had been set up in the porch and in the sanctuary. All these displays were knocked over and large pictures on the walls inside the church were pulled down and smashed.
"Nothing seems to have escaped the vandals," said the vicar, Rev James Hamilton. "It is obvious the wreckers spent several hours inside the church."
Lancashire police using tracker-dogs were hunting the wreckers and with much fingerprint and other forensic evidence collected, it was anticipated that there could be an early arrest.
The Liverpool Echo wrote on the 18th that Prescot Round Table had five sets of brothers among their membership, which they believed was a record among Round Table groups in Britain.
The siblings comprised Geoff Slater of Mill Lane in Rainhill and his brother Gordon of Portreath Way in Windle. The Echo quipped that they were also "brothers-in-law" as both men were solicitors.
Also in the Round Table were laboratory manager Reg Lowe from Lincoln Way in Rainhill and his brother Gordon, a retail stationer of Warrington Road in Rainhill.
There was fruiterer Gilbert Gornall of Cross Pit Lane in Rainford and his funeral director brother Lionel of Clarkes Crescent in Eccleston.
The other brothers were turf accountants Tony and Paul Grant from Rainford and Prescot and Ian and Paul Mawdsley from Prescot.
On the 20th a play called 'The Rank and File' written by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach was shown on BBC1.
The film was made on location in Stoke and concerned a company called Wilkinson.
However it was obvious that the town depicted was St Helens and that the film was a portrayal of the Pilkington strike of 1970.
The drama even began with an on-screen caption that read: "A film based principally on events that took place in Lancashire in the Spring of 1970". But the reviews were not good. The Echo wrote:
"Last night's BBC1 play The Rank and File only succeeded in giving a cardboard impression of the real-life seven-week strike drama at St. Helens in the heat of last summer.
"For those who live in St. Helens the strike is so indelibly impressed on their minds it seems almost impossible to believe that it is now a year since it took place.
"Talented director Ken Loach of “Cathy Come Home” fame has built up a high reputation for depicting harsh realism which makes compulsive viewing, but somehow he last night failed to score."
There was more bad news on the jobs front on the 20th when the latest unemployment stats were released.
In St Helens the rate of unemployment had been 3.3% in March and 3.6% in April but had now worsened to 3.7%, meaning 2,154 people were out of work.
Ronald Kerr, the area manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange in College Street, said there were few indications of an immediate improvement in the situation.
The number of jobs available in the area would, he said, be adversely affected by the already announced redundancies in glass container manufacturing and coal mining.
Also on the 20th the Cubs of the 18th St Helens pack were presented with the "Top Pack" flag by the St Helens and District Cub Scout association.
Attached to St James Church in Haydock, the boys were considered best in St Helens for discipline, turn-out, badge work, map reading and general Cub activities.
On three consecutive evenings several weeks ago, pram-pushing mothers at Rainhill had brought traffic to a halt on Warrington Road near the Ship Hotel.
They wanted the speed limit reduced from 40 to 30 mph after a six-year-old girl had received fatal injuries on that stretch of road.
On the morning of the 21st, 300 "militant mothers" – as they were described – again blocked the road at Loyola Hall.
The police – who had been notified about the demo in advance – set up diversions but for many motorists it meant a detour of several miles, causing many to be late for work.
Buses were also caught up in the chaos and many passengers chose to get off and walk.
The latest demonstration came because of dissatisfaction with the speed of progress in reducing the speed limit and installing zebra crossings.
Ray Ferguson of Dunbeath Avenue in Rainhill was chairman of the Parents Action Committee and told reporters:
"We were promised three weeks ago by Ministry of Transport officials that they would let us know by Monday of this week definitely whether or not the speed limit would be lowered. They failed to give us this assurance and we will be staging further demonstrations until the limit is reduced.
"When the present 40 mph signs were put up this was a main road through a rural area. Now it is a built-up area with about 3,000 new homes in the vicinity.
"Because of the danger many mothers have stopped their children attending evening activities such as the Scouts and Guides."
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 21st and its lead story described anger over the level of 11-plus failures at St Aidan's school in Clock Face (pictured above).
None of the thirteen candidates had passed the exam this year and there had been only four passes out of eighteen entries in 1970.
Parents blamed overcrowding for the low success rate, which led to pupils having to eat their meals at their desks.
Lily Campbell of Bridge Road, off Clock Face Road, claimed that when her two children left St Aidan's and started attending a secondary school, teachers slated them:
"They were criticised because they didn't know fractions. But they had never been taught them."
And Doreen Martin of Abbots Hall Avenue complained that she'd had to employ a private tutor for her son:
"He failed the 11-plus this year and I brought a tutor in. He says Gerard is two years behind for his age and has ability which hasn't been brought out."
Porter Colin Barton was also featured on the front page of the Reporter after spending an hour talking to a patient at Whiston Hospital.
The 30-year-old woman had climbed out of a window onto the roof of the psychiatric ward and Colin from Baxters Lane went up a ladder to sit with her and keep her calm.
Two firemen from Whiston – Vincent Quinn and Walter Lyon – then joined him and eventually a hydraulic platform brought the woman down.
Members of the McArthur family of Higher Lane in Rainford were pictured in the Echo on the 21st.
They were about to fly out to Canada to begin a new life, however, the paper reported concern that their six-year-old son Charlie might be disappointed:
"He expected to be greeted by cowboys and indians having watched TV films of “anything west of Britain,” said his mother, Eileen, aged 26.
"“I hope he's not going to be too disappointed,” said grandma 60-years-old Mrs. Mary McArthur, who is flying with the family to join her son and son-in-law. “We are going out to join my daughter's husband who is working as a chemist in Ottawa”, she said.
Young Charlie added: "“I'm really looking forward to having dinner on an aeroplane. It's ever so big, isn't it.”"
And finally the town went cup final crazy this week as Saints took on Wigan in the Championship Trophy Final.
The Guardian wrote: "Taken on the whole, the football produced in the match was not particularly good or exciting, but there was enough drama packed into the last 10 minutes to keep tongues wagging through the summer months ahead."
At that point 70 minutes into the game Saints were 6 - 12 down and had their ace forward John Mantle sent off. However Wigan relaxed their grip and Bob Blackwood and Billy Benyon both scored tries for the St Helens side to turn the game on its head.
Next week's stories will include the closure of Haydock's Wood Pit, more on the militant mothers of Rainhill, the Eccleston church wrecker is arrested, the productive Bold Colliery miners and why a judge wished a young Newton couple well in their marriage.
We begin on the 17th when it was announced that Redgate Boys' Silver Band was to fly to Rimini in August for a tour of Italy.
The St Helens boys were renowned as the most travelled junior band in the country and they would be spending a fortnight visiting Venice, Rome and Florence.
Jimmy Jewel is probably best remembered for his role in TV show 'Nearest and Dearest' with Hylda Baker and throughout this week the comic performed at the Theatre Royal in a comedy drama called "The Fickle Fly".
I think "break a leg" is the thespian greeting for wishing a performer good luck in their performance.
Jimmy took the expression literally – well almost, as he broke two toes while on stage.
The accident occurred halfway through the show but the comic carried on regardless and the audience were unaware of his agony until an announcement was made at the end.
On the following morning Jewel was admitted to St Helens Hospital to undergo an operation to have his toes re-set.
That night's performance was cancelled but then his understudy, Frank Marlborough, took over the starring role. He would go on to appear in TV shows like 'Worzel Gummidge'.
However Jimmy Jewel did return for the final two nights of the show's engagement in St Helens.
Meanwhile the Rainhill Garrick Society presented a new musical at the Village Hall called 'A Face In The Crowd' for six nights from the 17th.
Based on a Liverpool-Irish comedy, the songs were written by Sheila Donnahey from Roby.
In October 1968 the St Helens Reporter described how vandalism and theft had led to an increasing number of churches in the town ending open access and bolting their doors.
The Rev. J. G. Williams of St Mark's in North Road told the Reporter: "We have had a terrible amount of trouble", and in a single year £700 worth of damage had been done.
Meanwhile in Parr the Rev. A. S. Thorne, the Vicar of St Peter's, said his lockout had been in force for two years.
Brasses had been stolen from the altar and headstones damaged in the graveyard. He claimed that parents even sent their kids to play in the churchyard, instead of nearby Gaskell Park.
And Rev. Harry Bradshaw, the Vicar of St Thomas's in Westfield Street, had closed his doors through the daubing of obscene writing inside the church.
However I expect open access to the beautiful little church stopped after its experience on May 17th when they felt the wrath of vandals.
The orgy of destruction led to over 1,000 Bibles, hymn and prayer books being torn apart and church furniture – including a communion table that dated back to 1605 – being damaged.
The church Bible was torn from its lectern and ripped to pieces, a piano was smashed up and a brass lectern weighing seven cwt. was toppled.
The vicar's vestry and the choir vestry were completely wrecked and a case full of bottles of communion wine was spilled over the floors and ceiling.
Ink and cleaning materials were thrown over cassocks and surplices and church documents and maps were destroyed.
During the month the church has been holding a special missionary exhibition with six displays representing the work of various missions abroad.
These had been set up in the porch and in the sanctuary. All these displays were knocked over and large pictures on the walls inside the church were pulled down and smashed.
"Nothing seems to have escaped the vandals," said the vicar, Rev James Hamilton. "It is obvious the wreckers spent several hours inside the church."
Lancashire police using tracker-dogs were hunting the wreckers and with much fingerprint and other forensic evidence collected, it was anticipated that there could be an early arrest.
The Liverpool Echo wrote on the 18th that Prescot Round Table had five sets of brothers among their membership, which they believed was a record among Round Table groups in Britain.
The siblings comprised Geoff Slater of Mill Lane in Rainhill and his brother Gordon of Portreath Way in Windle. The Echo quipped that they were also "brothers-in-law" as both men were solicitors.
Also in the Round Table were laboratory manager Reg Lowe from Lincoln Way in Rainhill and his brother Gordon, a retail stationer of Warrington Road in Rainhill.
There was fruiterer Gilbert Gornall of Cross Pit Lane in Rainford and his funeral director brother Lionel of Clarkes Crescent in Eccleston.
The other brothers were turf accountants Tony and Paul Grant from Rainford and Prescot and Ian and Paul Mawdsley from Prescot.
On the 20th a play called 'The Rank and File' written by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach was shown on BBC1.
The film was made on location in Stoke and concerned a company called Wilkinson.
However it was obvious that the town depicted was St Helens and that the film was a portrayal of the Pilkington strike of 1970.
The drama even began with an on-screen caption that read: "A film based principally on events that took place in Lancashire in the Spring of 1970". But the reviews were not good. The Echo wrote:
"Last night's BBC1 play The Rank and File only succeeded in giving a cardboard impression of the real-life seven-week strike drama at St. Helens in the heat of last summer.
"For those who live in St. Helens the strike is so indelibly impressed on their minds it seems almost impossible to believe that it is now a year since it took place.
"Talented director Ken Loach of “Cathy Come Home” fame has built up a high reputation for depicting harsh realism which makes compulsive viewing, but somehow he last night failed to score."
There was more bad news on the jobs front on the 20th when the latest unemployment stats were released.
In St Helens the rate of unemployment had been 3.3% in March and 3.6% in April but had now worsened to 3.7%, meaning 2,154 people were out of work.
Ronald Kerr, the area manager of the St Helens Employment Exchange in College Street, said there were few indications of an immediate improvement in the situation.
The number of jobs available in the area would, he said, be adversely affected by the already announced redundancies in glass container manufacturing and coal mining.
Also on the 20th the Cubs of the 18th St Helens pack were presented with the "Top Pack" flag by the St Helens and District Cub Scout association.
Attached to St James Church in Haydock, the boys were considered best in St Helens for discipline, turn-out, badge work, map reading and general Cub activities.
On three consecutive evenings several weeks ago, pram-pushing mothers at Rainhill had brought traffic to a halt on Warrington Road near the Ship Hotel.
They wanted the speed limit reduced from 40 to 30 mph after a six-year-old girl had received fatal injuries on that stretch of road.
On the morning of the 21st, 300 "militant mothers" – as they were described – again blocked the road at Loyola Hall.
The police – who had been notified about the demo in advance – set up diversions but for many motorists it meant a detour of several miles, causing many to be late for work.
Buses were also caught up in the chaos and many passengers chose to get off and walk.
The latest demonstration came because of dissatisfaction with the speed of progress in reducing the speed limit and installing zebra crossings.
Ray Ferguson of Dunbeath Avenue in Rainhill was chairman of the Parents Action Committee and told reporters:
"We were promised three weeks ago by Ministry of Transport officials that they would let us know by Monday of this week definitely whether or not the speed limit would be lowered. They failed to give us this assurance and we will be staging further demonstrations until the limit is reduced.
"When the present 40 mph signs were put up this was a main road through a rural area. Now it is a built-up area with about 3,000 new homes in the vicinity.
"Because of the danger many mothers have stopped their children attending evening activities such as the Scouts and Guides."
None of the thirteen candidates had passed the exam this year and there had been only four passes out of eighteen entries in 1970.
Parents blamed overcrowding for the low success rate, which led to pupils having to eat their meals at their desks.
Lily Campbell of Bridge Road, off Clock Face Road, claimed that when her two children left St Aidan's and started attending a secondary school, teachers slated them:
"They were criticised because they didn't know fractions. But they had never been taught them."
And Doreen Martin of Abbots Hall Avenue complained that she'd had to employ a private tutor for her son:
"He failed the 11-plus this year and I brought a tutor in. He says Gerard is two years behind for his age and has ability which hasn't been brought out."
Porter Colin Barton was also featured on the front page of the Reporter after spending an hour talking to a patient at Whiston Hospital.
The 30-year-old woman had climbed out of a window onto the roof of the psychiatric ward and Colin from Baxters Lane went up a ladder to sit with her and keep her calm.
Two firemen from Whiston – Vincent Quinn and Walter Lyon – then joined him and eventually a hydraulic platform brought the woman down.
Members of the McArthur family of Higher Lane in Rainford were pictured in the Echo on the 21st.
They were about to fly out to Canada to begin a new life, however, the paper reported concern that their six-year-old son Charlie might be disappointed:
"He expected to be greeted by cowboys and indians having watched TV films of “anything west of Britain,” said his mother, Eileen, aged 26.
"“I hope he's not going to be too disappointed,” said grandma 60-years-old Mrs. Mary McArthur, who is flying with the family to join her son and son-in-law. “We are going out to join my daughter's husband who is working as a chemist in Ottawa”, she said.
Young Charlie added: "“I'm really looking forward to having dinner on an aeroplane. It's ever so big, isn't it.”"
And finally the town went cup final crazy this week as Saints took on Wigan in the Championship Trophy Final.
The Guardian wrote: "Taken on the whole, the football produced in the match was not particularly good or exciting, but there was enough drama packed into the last 10 minutes to keep tongues wagging through the summer months ahead."
At that point 70 minutes into the game Saints were 6 - 12 down and had their ace forward John Mantle sent off. However Wigan relaxed their grip and Bob Blackwood and Billy Benyon both scored tries for the St Helens side to turn the game on its head.
Next week's stories will include the closure of Haydock's Wood Pit, more on the militant mothers of Rainhill, the Eccleston church wrecker is arrested, the productive Bold Colliery miners and why a judge wished a young Newton couple well in their marriage.