FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (18th - 24th February 1969)
This week's stories include the shame of a St Helens' bobby, a strike at BICC in Prescot, the residents of Woodville Street fear being "shaken to pieces" by Rockware Glass, there's a gas outage in Blackbrook, Pilks' announce expansion plans, the death of Kenneth Horne and communal TV is planned for council tenants in Berrys Lane and Pendlebury Street.
We begin on the 18th when a Prescot labourer was jailed for 3½ years at the Liverpool County Sessions. The 23-year-old from Mine's Avenue had received a letter from his brother in Australia saying he had a job lined up for him.
In order to pay for his passage the man went on a housebreaking spree in St Helens and Ormskirk and after being arrested failed to show up at court. Instead he boarded a ship to Fremantle but upon arrival was taken into custody by the Australian police and flown back to Britain.
Wives pushing prams joined 2,500 striking men in a two-mile march around the BICC factory in Prescot on the 18th. The women were supporting their husband's pay claim and many strikers carried banners bearing slogans such as "Productivity agreement means robbery" and "Food prices up, wages down."
The men at the wire works claimed that since the recent introduction of a productivity agreement they had been losing between £4 and £8 a week. The workers had been on unofficial strike for six days and wanted their wages increased to £15 per week.
A four-vehicle pile up took place on the East Lancs on the 18th. The crash took place between Windle island and the Royal Oak and one man had to be taken to hospital.
St Helens was going through a big freeze and the last thing that residents wanted was for their gas supplies to be cut off. However on the 18th three hundred people on the Chain Lane estate found that their gas cookers, kettles and central heating would not work.
The trouble began at 8:30am after a regulator froze and a sudden surge of pressure then blew out pilot lights in homes on the Blackbrook estate. The residents' gas supplies had to be cut off and checks made at each house before supplies could be restored.
If nobody was home then workmen had to dig down to outside pipes to cut off the gas, meaning some residents returned home in the evening to find a hole in their garden. Their supplies were finally turned back on at 9pm when the Gas Board judged it safe to do so.
The freezing weather had already led to 100 men at the UDEC bottle handling equipment plant at Bold walking out in protest after the central heating failed. And at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works, the men complained of the cold and so portable heating apparatus had to be brought in.
On the 19th the glass giant announced a £20 million expansion plan for Cowley Hill and for Pilks' two-year-old factory in Canada. The investment was being made because of increased demand for high quality float glass from the car and construction industries.
Pilkington's had already spent £20m re-equipping their Cowley Hill plant. This included an automatic warehouse that annually cut and handled the equivalent of 7,000 miles of float glass. Fifteen overseas manufacturers – including some in America, Europe, Japan and surprisingly, the Soviet Union – also produced float glass under licence from Pilks.
I don't recall the names Adam and Eve Sinclair but the Geraldo Club in Lord Street were advertising these "TV stars" in their "All Star Cabaret" on the 20th. Meanwhile at the Capitol on the same day, screenings of 'Zulu' began, starring Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and Michael Caine.
Greenall Whitley's annual meeting of shareholders was held on the 20th at the Fleece Hotel in Church Street. Their Chairman said the company's sales had been severely affected since the introduction of the breathalyser.
The spread of foot and mouth disease in the country districts had also had an impact on their business. However the Hall Street-based brewery still managed to make a good profit of £1.429 million.
The Guardian commented on the 21st that a 31-acre site at Haydock had been acquired by the Lyon Group to develop an industrial estate. This would house factory, warehouse and office accommodation. The first phase of construction would begin in March with the building of a 35,000 sq. ft. factory, together with two smaller factories of 6,000 sq. ft. each.
After fourteen years of coming out on a Saturday, the St Helens Reporter reverted to Friday as its day of publication in its edition of the 21st. A major story in the paper was a claim that the residents of Woodville Street were in fear of being "shaken to pieces".
They stated that four large compressors at the Rockware Glass works nearby (and pictured above) were shaking the foundations of their homes loose. Fred Hitchcock told the Reporter that the whole row of houses had been suffering for twelve months: "The beds we are sleeping in are shaken and in some houses windows and doors rattle."
Some residents were taking sleeping pills and one woman said she had only had two hours sleep in a week through the noise and vibration. It was also claimed that small ornaments were "walking" to the edge of pelmets and dropping onto the floor.
The company was not unsympathetic to the plight of the residents but a spokesman said in an industrial area there was bound to be noise and vibration. They had recently installed a new silencer and would look to make further improvements.
There was a brief tribute to radio and TV personality Kenneth Horne in the Reporter after his death at a TV awards ceremony during the previous week. The 'Round The Horne' star was a cousin of Lord Harry Pilkington and had worked for Triplex from 1928 until 1953. When the new Theatre Royal had opened, Ken had been the compere for the night.
There was also a letter from the Director of the National Equine Defence League who revealed that there were almost 2,000 pit ponies still being used down coalmines. It was the intention of the National Coal Board to withdraw them all by the end of 1970, but the League were concerned about the ponies' welfare. "Surely the majority of people will agree that ponies should have a fair crack of the whip?", the Director somewhat oddly said.
The Reporter also stated that Stanley Parr had been made Deputy Chief Constable for the new Lancashire County Constabulary – having at one time been the Chief Constable of Blackpool. His father Thomas had served on the St Helens force for thirty years and was a long-time resident of Robins Lane.
It was also revealed that the new council estates being built in Berrys Lane and Pendlebury Street would have communal television aerials. A meeting of the council's Housing Committee was told that a communal set-up would provide better TV reception for tenants.
It would also save them the expense of getting their own aerials and the scheme would cost the council £850 for the 141 dwellings in Berrys Lane and £870 for the 120 planned houses in Pendlebury Street.
Also in the Reporter Fairway Motors in Junction Lane in Sutton was advertising treble Green Shield stamps on four gallons of petrol. Their range of "quality used cars" included a Morris Oxford, Hillman Super Minx, Austin 1100 and a Vauxhall Viva.
The freezing weather led to Saints second round Challenge Cup match at Oldham that was scheduled for the 21st being called off. This was the fourth postponement of the game.
For seven days from the 23rd at the Savoy – or ABC St Helens, to give the Bridge Street cinema its correct name – 'Till Death Us Do Part' was being screened. BBC1 would remain in black and white until November, so the strap line in the Reporter's ad was: "On the big screen in glorious colour".
The thirty-eight greyhounds taking part in the eight races at Park Road during the evening of the 21st included 'Rocket Tom', 'Tom Thumb', 'Dirty Face', 'Chubby', 'Marlene's Pet', 'Jean's Joy', 'Beauty Spot', 'Druids', 'Golden Penny' and 'Hetty'.
Lord Pilkington opened a new Congregational Church in Eccleston on the 22nd at the junction of Kiln Lane and Bleak Hill. It had only taken nine months to build but they'd been planning it since 1934!
Two men from Litherland were remanded in custody on the 24th after appearing in court charged with murdering Brian Harrison from St Helens. The 34-year-old from Waterdale Crescent had worked in the office of the clerk to the Magistrates Court in St Helens and was stabbed after he'd been to a dance. There will be much more on this story soon.
At the Theatre Royal from the 24th was a pantomime production of 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves' by South West Lancs Amateur Operatic Society.
On the same day a young St Helens policeman was brought to book after admitting stealing from Oxley's department store. The 23-year-old from Windle Hall Drive had been on duty in Barrow Street when he discovered that the premises had been entered.
While searching inside along with other officers, the constable stole 25,000 Green Shield stamps and a bottle of perfume. Five days later he traded some of the stamps for a cigarette case at the Green Shield shop in St Helens, seemingly unaware that the stamps contained serial numbers. These were traced back to the ones stolen from Oxley's and in court he was fined £50 and no doubt thrown off the force.
Next week's stories will include an invasion of giant sewer rats in Sutton, Saints get into a row with Oldham, council workmen in Sutton Manor are nominated as the slowest wall builders on record, Greenall's upset St Helens Labour clubs and there's a feature on hairdressers in the Reporter (do you remember Hairport, Lockhart's, R. Du-Fay etc?).
We begin on the 18th when a Prescot labourer was jailed for 3½ years at the Liverpool County Sessions. The 23-year-old from Mine's Avenue had received a letter from his brother in Australia saying he had a job lined up for him.
In order to pay for his passage the man went on a housebreaking spree in St Helens and Ormskirk and after being arrested failed to show up at court. Instead he boarded a ship to Fremantle but upon arrival was taken into custody by the Australian police and flown back to Britain.
Wives pushing prams joined 2,500 striking men in a two-mile march around the BICC factory in Prescot on the 18th. The women were supporting their husband's pay claim and many strikers carried banners bearing slogans such as "Productivity agreement means robbery" and "Food prices up, wages down."
The men at the wire works claimed that since the recent introduction of a productivity agreement they had been losing between £4 and £8 a week. The workers had been on unofficial strike for six days and wanted their wages increased to £15 per week.
A four-vehicle pile up took place on the East Lancs on the 18th. The crash took place between Windle island and the Royal Oak and one man had to be taken to hospital.
St Helens was going through a big freeze and the last thing that residents wanted was for their gas supplies to be cut off. However on the 18th three hundred people on the Chain Lane estate found that their gas cookers, kettles and central heating would not work.
The trouble began at 8:30am after a regulator froze and a sudden surge of pressure then blew out pilot lights in homes on the Blackbrook estate. The residents' gas supplies had to be cut off and checks made at each house before supplies could be restored.
If nobody was home then workmen had to dig down to outside pipes to cut off the gas, meaning some residents returned home in the evening to find a hole in their garden. Their supplies were finally turned back on at 9pm when the Gas Board judged it safe to do so.
The freezing weather had already led to 100 men at the UDEC bottle handling equipment plant at Bold walking out in protest after the central heating failed. And at Pilkington's Cowley Hill works, the men complained of the cold and so portable heating apparatus had to be brought in.
On the 19th the glass giant announced a £20 million expansion plan for Cowley Hill and for Pilks' two-year-old factory in Canada. The investment was being made because of increased demand for high quality float glass from the car and construction industries.
Pilkington's had already spent £20m re-equipping their Cowley Hill plant. This included an automatic warehouse that annually cut and handled the equivalent of 7,000 miles of float glass. Fifteen overseas manufacturers – including some in America, Europe, Japan and surprisingly, the Soviet Union – also produced float glass under licence from Pilks.
I don't recall the names Adam and Eve Sinclair but the Geraldo Club in Lord Street were advertising these "TV stars" in their "All Star Cabaret" on the 20th. Meanwhile at the Capitol on the same day, screenings of 'Zulu' began, starring Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins and Michael Caine.
Left: Greenalls Brewery in Hall Street in the 1960s; Right: Kenneth Horne whose brief obituary was in the St Helens Reporter this week
Left: Greenalls Brewery in Hall Street pictured in the 1960s; Right: Kenneth Horne
Greenalls Brewery in Hall Street c.1960
The spread of foot and mouth disease in the country districts had also had an impact on their business. However the Hall Street-based brewery still managed to make a good profit of £1.429 million.
The Guardian commented on the 21st that a 31-acre site at Haydock had been acquired by the Lyon Group to develop an industrial estate. This would house factory, warehouse and office accommodation. The first phase of construction would begin in March with the building of a 35,000 sq. ft. factory, together with two smaller factories of 6,000 sq. ft. each.
After fourteen years of coming out on a Saturday, the St Helens Reporter reverted to Friday as its day of publication in its edition of the 21st. A major story in the paper was a claim that the residents of Woodville Street were in fear of being "shaken to pieces".
Some residents were taking sleeping pills and one woman said she had only had two hours sleep in a week through the noise and vibration. It was also claimed that small ornaments were "walking" to the edge of pelmets and dropping onto the floor.
The company was not unsympathetic to the plight of the residents but a spokesman said in an industrial area there was bound to be noise and vibration. They had recently installed a new silencer and would look to make further improvements.
There was a brief tribute to radio and TV personality Kenneth Horne in the Reporter after his death at a TV awards ceremony during the previous week. The 'Round The Horne' star was a cousin of Lord Harry Pilkington and had worked for Triplex from 1928 until 1953. When the new Theatre Royal had opened, Ken had been the compere for the night.
There was also a letter from the Director of the National Equine Defence League who revealed that there were almost 2,000 pit ponies still being used down coalmines. It was the intention of the National Coal Board to withdraw them all by the end of 1970, but the League were concerned about the ponies' welfare. "Surely the majority of people will agree that ponies should have a fair crack of the whip?", the Director somewhat oddly said.
The Reporter also stated that Stanley Parr had been made Deputy Chief Constable for the new Lancashire County Constabulary – having at one time been the Chief Constable of Blackpool. His father Thomas had served on the St Helens force for thirty years and was a long-time resident of Robins Lane.
It was also revealed that the new council estates being built in Berrys Lane and Pendlebury Street would have communal television aerials. A meeting of the council's Housing Committee was told that a communal set-up would provide better TV reception for tenants.
It would also save them the expense of getting their own aerials and the scheme would cost the council £850 for the 141 dwellings in Berrys Lane and £870 for the 120 planned houses in Pendlebury Street.
Also in the Reporter Fairway Motors in Junction Lane in Sutton was advertising treble Green Shield stamps on four gallons of petrol. Their range of "quality used cars" included a Morris Oxford, Hillman Super Minx, Austin 1100 and a Vauxhall Viva.
The freezing weather led to Saints second round Challenge Cup match at Oldham that was scheduled for the 21st being called off. This was the fourth postponement of the game.
For seven days from the 23rd at the Savoy – or ABC St Helens, to give the Bridge Street cinema its correct name – 'Till Death Us Do Part' was being screened. BBC1 would remain in black and white until November, so the strap line in the Reporter's ad was: "On the big screen in glorious colour".
The thirty-eight greyhounds taking part in the eight races at Park Road during the evening of the 21st included 'Rocket Tom', 'Tom Thumb', 'Dirty Face', 'Chubby', 'Marlene's Pet', 'Jean's Joy', 'Beauty Spot', 'Druids', 'Golden Penny' and 'Hetty'.
Lord Pilkington opened a new Congregational Church in Eccleston on the 22nd at the junction of Kiln Lane and Bleak Hill. It had only taken nine months to build but they'd been planning it since 1934!
Two men from Litherland were remanded in custody on the 24th after appearing in court charged with murdering Brian Harrison from St Helens. The 34-year-old from Waterdale Crescent had worked in the office of the clerk to the Magistrates Court in St Helens and was stabbed after he'd been to a dance. There will be much more on this story soon.
At the Theatre Royal from the 24th was a pantomime production of 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves' by South West Lancs Amateur Operatic Society.
On the same day a young St Helens policeman was brought to book after admitting stealing from Oxley's department store. The 23-year-old from Windle Hall Drive had been on duty in Barrow Street when he discovered that the premises had been entered.
While searching inside along with other officers, the constable stole 25,000 Green Shield stamps and a bottle of perfume. Five days later he traded some of the stamps for a cigarette case at the Green Shield shop in St Helens, seemingly unaware that the stamps contained serial numbers. These were traced back to the ones stolen from Oxley's and in court he was fined £50 and no doubt thrown off the force.
Next week's stories will include an invasion of giant sewer rats in Sutton, Saints get into a row with Oldham, council workmen in Sutton Manor are nominated as the slowest wall builders on record, Greenall's upset St Helens Labour clubs and there's a feature on hairdressers in the Reporter (do you remember Hairport, Lockhart's, R. Du-Fay etc?).