FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (17th - 23rd June 1969)
This week's stories include the dog that got stuck in a grid in Fleet Lane, claims that a Haydock tip was making children ill, complaints of teenage hooliganism on Sutton Heath play areas, St. Anne's in Sutton is "torn apart" by subsidence and the award-winning swimmers at Crank School.
We begin on the 17th when an unnamed clothing shop in Walmsley Road in Eccleston discovered that they'd been burgled, with £2,000 worth of stock taken (about £35,000 in today's money). On the same day St Helens firemen received an unusual call. They were asked to rescue a dog that had got itself stuck in a grid in Fleet Lane. The terrier had trapped its head in a sunken iron gas grid and the fire fighters had to do some scratching of their own heads to figure out what to do.
In a scene reminiscent of Dads Army – when Pike got his head stuck in railings – they decided to dig the grid up and take it and the dog back to the fire station. Eventually after two hours of carefully manoeuvring, the firemen managed to release the animal from the grid. A fire brigade spokesman told the Reporter: "We had to be very careful. We kept pulling the skin on the dog's head back a bit at a time, and managed to wriggle him free."
During the evening of the 17th the Fairey Aviation Brass Band appeared at the Theatre Royal conducted by the famous musical director and composer Harry Mortimer. Based at Heaton Chapel in Stockport, the band had originally been formed by aircraft factory workers. They are now known as the Fairey Band playing mainly acid brass. This fuses traditional brass band music with acid house and Detroit techno. The mind boggles!
The Central Electricity Board denied rumours this week that Bold Power Station would close once the larger Fiddlers Ferry station came online. "There is no truth whatsoever in the rumour", said a spokesman. "Bold is still capable of turning out a lot of power and there is no intention to close it."
Dixons Worldwide Travel of Baldwin Street told the North West Traffic Commissioners at a hearing on the 19th that a "new phenomena" had arisen. The firm said: "People, particularly in the North West, can now have weekend skiing holidays in Scotland at very reasonable prices." For some reason Dixons had to apply for a licence to run coaches to Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey and twelve other coach firms had objected, not appreciating the competition.
The Merton Bank School Show was held at the Theatre Royal on the 19th and 20th, with Jeffrey Hunter appearing on stage with an arm in plaster. The 11-year-old from Frodsham Drive – who played the part of a bridegroom – had broken his arm two days before the opening night. Jeffrey assumed that he would not be allowed to perform but his headmaster / producer Mr J. Hall still allowed him to appear in the show.
The St Helens Reporter on the 20th wrote that parents in Lenfield Drive in Haydock were blaming a rubbish tip opposite their homes for mystery illnesses affecting their children. Ivy Marsh at number 3 said her 20-month-old son Darren and 3-year-old daughter Donna had never been well since they'd moved into their house.
Both children had been in hospital and doctors did not know the cause of their illnesses. However Mrs Marsh thought she knew, as she told the Reporter: "They can pick up all sorts of diseases from the tip. It is a terrible hazard and attracts kiddies like flies". Margaret McNulty at no. 13 said her children had been unwell on a number of occasions. She told the paper she had seen dead rats on the roadway and in hot weather flies and bluebottles swarmed around.
Norman Johnson's two children at no. 16 had fallen down the embankment while playing on the tip and badly cut themselves. "The land is unsightly and a big danger", he said. Meanwhile Denise Hall at no. 1 told the Reporter that she kept a close watch on her children to prevent them going on the land. "Dustbins, mattresses and bottles have been tipped down there", she said. "Something should be done about it". A spokesman for Haydock Council said they would contact the landowner and ask them to erect a fence to stop unauthorised fly-tipping and children playing there.
Also up in arms were parents on the Sutton Heath council estate. They were complaining about "teenage hooligans" making a lot of noise on several play areas near their homes. Mary Davies from Welwyn Close said: "I have lived here for twelve months and it was lovely before they put the play area right opposite my back garden. As they use the swings, the teenagers look into my parlour. There is no privacy at all. The noise the youths make is terrible."
Nina Hitchen of Basildon Close told the Reporter: "The youths stay around the areas up to midnight. The teenagers leave a lot of rubbish behind them, too." Margaret Morrissey from Hempstead Close said: "There is no peace around here. The play area should be moved and then perhaps residents could live in peace." The Reporter was able to announce that St Helens Housing Committee had decided to do exactly that and remove the equipment to a single site farther away from houses.
The headline to another story in the paper was: "Priest Battles To Save Subsidence-Hit Church", with the subheading of "Where Blushing Brides Have an Uphill Walk To The Altar". They were referring to St. Anne's in Monastery Lane in Sutton (pictured above) which in 1934 had lost its spire and tower through mining subsidence.
Now the Reporter said the church that had been completed in 1851 was "gradually being torn apart" by the effects of mining operations. The Rector, Fr. Christopher Kelly, said there was an 18-inch drop at the back of the building and he had called in a surveyor to report on its condition.
"We have had to close down one part of the monastery where students lived, because of the dangerous condition", said Fr. Kelly. The centre aisle drops and you find yourself walking uphill. The benches at the back of the church have had to be raised on a platform to maintain a constant floor level." Once the surveyor had completed his report then the church would negotiate compensation with the National Coal Board.
Being summertime the Reporter's male photographers were out and about looking for attractive young women in bikinis or short skirts. It was a tough job but somebody had to do it! This week's photo was of Jean Pearson from Brendon Close in Parr. The bikini-clad 20-year-old with "vital statistics" of 34-24-36 "likes short skirts and mini-cars and dislikes bossy people".
Eileen White also had her picture in the paper after being chosen from seventeen others to represent Triplex in Pilkington's Miss Gala Girl contest at Ruskin Drive. The 20-year-old from Gladstone Street would now take part in the final in the Locarno Ballroom in Blackpool two days before the Gala took place in early August.
Another beauty contest winner was Linda Coleman from London Fields in Billinge who had become the 1969 Lancashire Miners Gala Queen. The 19-year-old's prize was a holiday in Italy for herself and her boyfriend John Fisher from College Street. She also received £25 spending money, which I don't think would last very long in Italy today!
The Reporter also revealed that every child over the age of seven at Crank School (pictured above) had been taught to swim by the headmaster Mr T. Hall. As a result of their 100% record over three years, the school had been awarded two trophies from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
It was the annual Rainford Village Walking Day on the 21st in which 500 children from the junior school processed in a mixture of bright sunshine and torrential rain. Leading the procession were Rainford Boys Silver Band and the Bedford Church Band from Leigh. The event is a longstanding tradition and fifty years earlier the "school treat" had taken place and the 2019 version was held last Saturday.
Wouldn't it be nice if bands played in the parks on Sundays like they used to? On the 22nd the St Helens Military Band performed in Sherdley Park with free admittance to a special enclosure. Their programme included selections from 'The Sound of Music' and 'Show Boat' as well as marches, polkas and waltzes.
There was another accident on the East Lancs at Windle on the 22nd. The two-car crash at the traffic lights led to one man being hospitalised and amongst those discharged after treatment was Raymond Masy from Willow Road, Haydock.
The 200 residents on a new Islands Brow estate decided on the 23rd to petition Whitehall for an emergency tap water supply. For the past eleven weeks they had not been able to properly wash, flush toilets or light fires because of the danger of back boiler explosions. While the problems were being fixed St Helens Corporation had provided water tankers for the residents but these had now been withdrawn because of a burst in another part of town.
From the 23rd 'The Graduate' starring Dustin Hoffmann and Anne Bancroft was screened at the Capitol. And at the ABC Savoy, the George Peppard thriller 'Pendulum' was shown. Saints also announced on that day that they had lost £832 last season – an improvement on the £5,070 loss during the previous year.
And finally a disturbing statement from Senior Inspector Alfred Drew of the St Helens and Wigan branch of the RSPCA, which the Liverpool Echo published on the 23rd: "It's quite common for people to ask us to put their dogs down because they are going on holiday. Or they come in with some lame excuse. The figures for the number of cases of dogs and cats put to sleep shoot up with a hell of a thump at holiday times. We have no option really. We know what would happen if we refused. They will have it done some way or other, and the animal may suffer."
Next week's stories will include the closure of St Mary's Secondary School, Coronation Street stars make personal appearances at Rothery Records, Saints propose summer rugby, a Sutton boy's bravery is rewarded, there's a table tennis marathon in Parr and Little Joe the mechanical black stocking salesman is at the Savoy.
We begin on the 17th when an unnamed clothing shop in Walmsley Road in Eccleston discovered that they'd been burgled, with £2,000 worth of stock taken (about £35,000 in today's money). On the same day St Helens firemen received an unusual call. They were asked to rescue a dog that had got itself stuck in a grid in Fleet Lane. The terrier had trapped its head in a sunken iron gas grid and the fire fighters had to do some scratching of their own heads to figure out what to do.
In a scene reminiscent of Dads Army – when Pike got his head stuck in railings – they decided to dig the grid up and take it and the dog back to the fire station. Eventually after two hours of carefully manoeuvring, the firemen managed to release the animal from the grid. A fire brigade spokesman told the Reporter: "We had to be very careful. We kept pulling the skin on the dog's head back a bit at a time, and managed to wriggle him free."
During the evening of the 17th the Fairey Aviation Brass Band appeared at the Theatre Royal conducted by the famous musical director and composer Harry Mortimer. Based at Heaton Chapel in Stockport, the band had originally been formed by aircraft factory workers. They are now known as the Fairey Band playing mainly acid brass. This fuses traditional brass band music with acid house and Detroit techno. The mind boggles!
The Central Electricity Board denied rumours this week that Bold Power Station would close once the larger Fiddlers Ferry station came online. "There is no truth whatsoever in the rumour", said a spokesman. "Bold is still capable of turning out a lot of power and there is no intention to close it."
Dixons Worldwide Travel of Baldwin Street told the North West Traffic Commissioners at a hearing on the 19th that a "new phenomena" had arisen. The firm said: "People, particularly in the North West, can now have weekend skiing holidays in Scotland at very reasonable prices." For some reason Dixons had to apply for a licence to run coaches to Aviemore and Grantown-on-Spey and twelve other coach firms had objected, not appreciating the competition.
The Merton Bank School Show was held at the Theatre Royal on the 19th and 20th, with Jeffrey Hunter appearing on stage with an arm in plaster. The 11-year-old from Frodsham Drive – who played the part of a bridegroom – had broken his arm two days before the opening night. Jeffrey assumed that he would not be allowed to perform but his headmaster / producer Mr J. Hall still allowed him to appear in the show.
The St Helens Reporter on the 20th wrote that parents in Lenfield Drive in Haydock were blaming a rubbish tip opposite their homes for mystery illnesses affecting their children. Ivy Marsh at number 3 said her 20-month-old son Darren and 3-year-old daughter Donna had never been well since they'd moved into their house.
Both children had been in hospital and doctors did not know the cause of their illnesses. However Mrs Marsh thought she knew, as she told the Reporter: "They can pick up all sorts of diseases from the tip. It is a terrible hazard and attracts kiddies like flies". Margaret McNulty at no. 13 said her children had been unwell on a number of occasions. She told the paper she had seen dead rats on the roadway and in hot weather flies and bluebottles swarmed around.
Norman Johnson's two children at no. 16 had fallen down the embankment while playing on the tip and badly cut themselves. "The land is unsightly and a big danger", he said. Meanwhile Denise Hall at no. 1 told the Reporter that she kept a close watch on her children to prevent them going on the land. "Dustbins, mattresses and bottles have been tipped down there", she said. "Something should be done about it". A spokesman for Haydock Council said they would contact the landowner and ask them to erect a fence to stop unauthorised fly-tipping and children playing there.
Also up in arms were parents on the Sutton Heath council estate. They were complaining about "teenage hooligans" making a lot of noise on several play areas near their homes. Mary Davies from Welwyn Close said: "I have lived here for twelve months and it was lovely before they put the play area right opposite my back garden. As they use the swings, the teenagers look into my parlour. There is no privacy at all. The noise the youths make is terrible."
Nina Hitchen of Basildon Close told the Reporter: "The youths stay around the areas up to midnight. The teenagers leave a lot of rubbish behind them, too." Margaret Morrissey from Hempstead Close said: "There is no peace around here. The play area should be moved and then perhaps residents could live in peace." The Reporter was able to announce that St Helens Housing Committee had decided to do exactly that and remove the equipment to a single site farther away from houses.
Now the Reporter said the church that had been completed in 1851 was "gradually being torn apart" by the effects of mining operations. The Rector, Fr. Christopher Kelly, said there was an 18-inch drop at the back of the building and he had called in a surveyor to report on its condition.
"We have had to close down one part of the monastery where students lived, because of the dangerous condition", said Fr. Kelly. The centre aisle drops and you find yourself walking uphill. The benches at the back of the church have had to be raised on a platform to maintain a constant floor level." Once the surveyor had completed his report then the church would negotiate compensation with the National Coal Board.
Being summertime the Reporter's male photographers were out and about looking for attractive young women in bikinis or short skirts. It was a tough job but somebody had to do it! This week's photo was of Jean Pearson from Brendon Close in Parr. The bikini-clad 20-year-old with "vital statistics" of 34-24-36 "likes short skirts and mini-cars and dislikes bossy people".
Eileen White also had her picture in the paper after being chosen from seventeen others to represent Triplex in Pilkington's Miss Gala Girl contest at Ruskin Drive. The 20-year-old from Gladstone Street would now take part in the final in the Locarno Ballroom in Blackpool two days before the Gala took place in early August.
Another beauty contest winner was Linda Coleman from London Fields in Billinge who had become the 1969 Lancashire Miners Gala Queen. The 19-year-old's prize was a holiday in Italy for herself and her boyfriend John Fisher from College Street. She also received £25 spending money, which I don't think would last very long in Italy today!
It was the annual Rainford Village Walking Day on the 21st in which 500 children from the junior school processed in a mixture of bright sunshine and torrential rain. Leading the procession were Rainford Boys Silver Band and the Bedford Church Band from Leigh. The event is a longstanding tradition and fifty years earlier the "school treat" had taken place and the 2019 version was held last Saturday.
Wouldn't it be nice if bands played in the parks on Sundays like they used to? On the 22nd the St Helens Military Band performed in Sherdley Park with free admittance to a special enclosure. Their programme included selections from 'The Sound of Music' and 'Show Boat' as well as marches, polkas and waltzes.
There was another accident on the East Lancs at Windle on the 22nd. The two-car crash at the traffic lights led to one man being hospitalised and amongst those discharged after treatment was Raymond Masy from Willow Road, Haydock.
The 200 residents on a new Islands Brow estate decided on the 23rd to petition Whitehall for an emergency tap water supply. For the past eleven weeks they had not been able to properly wash, flush toilets or light fires because of the danger of back boiler explosions. While the problems were being fixed St Helens Corporation had provided water tankers for the residents but these had now been withdrawn because of a burst in another part of town.
From the 23rd 'The Graduate' starring Dustin Hoffmann and Anne Bancroft was screened at the Capitol. And at the ABC Savoy, the George Peppard thriller 'Pendulum' was shown. Saints also announced on that day that they had lost £832 last season – an improvement on the £5,070 loss during the previous year.
And finally a disturbing statement from Senior Inspector Alfred Drew of the St Helens and Wigan branch of the RSPCA, which the Liverpool Echo published on the 23rd: "It's quite common for people to ask us to put their dogs down because they are going on holiday. Or they come in with some lame excuse. The figures for the number of cases of dogs and cats put to sleep shoot up with a hell of a thump at holiday times. We have no option really. We know what would happen if we refused. They will have it done some way or other, and the animal may suffer."
Next week's stories will include the closure of St Mary's Secondary School, Coronation Street stars make personal appearances at Rothery Records, Saints propose summer rugby, a Sutton boy's bravery is rewarded, there's a table tennis marathon in Parr and Little Joe the mechanical black stocking salesman is at the Savoy.