FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 18 - 24 MARCH 1974
This week's many stories include the 28-year wait for a council house, a Parr streaker receives a big fine, the 95-year-old from Clinkham Wood who had her gas meter ripped out, why ex-miners were flocking back to the pits and the brave postman who fought off attackers in Ormskirk Street.
We begin with the new Salvation Army hostel that was opened this week in Parr Street in St Helens, although its official title was the Men's Social Services Centre at Salisbury House. The building had been constructed by St Helens Corporation for the Salvation Army in a joint venture and offered accommodation for 120 men in either single rooms or four-bed dormitories.
In a '50 Years Ago' article in January 1973 I wrote: "St Cuthbert's School in Berrys Lane was the latest venue in St Helens to face the wrath of youth. The Reporter revealed that 43 windows had been smashed over the two previous weekends, with headmaster Mr Grundy telling the paper: “It's sheer vandalism and it's sickening us all at the school. All these repairs have to be paid for and it's getting out of hand”." This week vandals had started a fire within the school's art department, which brought serious disruption to classes mainly through smoke damage.
Last week I mentioned how the streaking craze had reached Prescot when two naked lads had startled customers by dashing past a chip shop in Warrington Road. Fortunately for them they'd kept running and consequently managed to escape the clutches of the law. Not so lucky was Stephen Brennan who a bobby had seen streaking with his mate along Allanson Street in Parr.
The officer gave chase and Stephen was nabbed – although his naked pal got away. This week the 17-year-old from Cherry Tree Drive became the first streaker to appear before St Helens magistrates. Stephen pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting behaviour and was given a stiff fine of £50 – that’s around £750 in today's money.
There was more good news about Saints player Tony Atherton of Grizedale Avenue in Carr Mill, who'd almost died after fracturing his skull in an ‘A’ team game. The 20-year-old had undergone a three-hour operation at Walton Hospital to remove four pieces of bone that were pressing on his skull and had even been given the last rites.
The St Helens Reporter on the 22nd said there’d been a great improvement in Tony's condition and the hospital described him as being quite comfortable. And West Park centre Jim Newcombe had last Saturday suffered a double fracture of his jaw. But the 32-year-old from Hodder Close in Green Leach had been well enough to be discharged from hospital two days later.
The Reporter described how a couple from Sutton had been on St Helens Corporation's council house waiting list for 28 years – and now their two-up, two-down home in Nelson Street was going to be demolished. Robert and Irene Brown claimed to be victims of a council policy that prioritised lodgers over those that had their own place, no matter how small and crowded it was.
They said their five daughters had had to crowd together in a single bedroom and the council had only ever offered them two properties, neither of which was suitable. But now the Brown's home – that shared its back yard with five others – was under a Compulsory Purchase Order and they feared for their future. The Corporation's housing department told the Reporter that their policy had now changed and they hoped to be able to find a new home for the Browns soon.
Coin-operated gas and electricity meters were largely phased out during the 1980s and ‘90s when prepayment meters using cards or keys replaced them. During the 1970s coin meters – that required regular emptying by the electricity and gas boards – were widespread in St Helens and created fears of break-ins among the elderly.
An article published in the St Helens Reporter in May 1972 described how burglars were finding meters full of silver to be "sitting targets", causing elderly folk to dread "the long wait" for the gas or electricity man to come and empty them. Not only were they worried about a break-in and their cash being stolen – but householders knew that the gas or electricity board would still hold them responsible for payment.
This week the Reporter described the case of Alice Holland from Clinkham Wood. The 95-year-old's home had been entered and her gas meter ripped out leaving a dangerous gas pipe behind. For nearly two days Mrs Holland – who lived alone in Kentmere Avenue – was left without gas to cook or heat her home.
And as the meter had not been emptied for 5 months, the sum of £40 had accrued which she would have to repay. A spokesman for the gas board said: "Tenants are legally responsible for the money in the gas meter." Speaking of the effect of the break-in on her mother, Mrs Holland's daughter Margaret Gibbons told the Reporter: "It was a terrible thing to do. My mother is a very independent and active lady but this has completely unnerved her."
Although it is often stated that Royal Mail doesn't mind whether St Helens' residents write Lancashire or Merseyside on their addressed letters, that was certainly not the official position in 1974. The Reporter stated this week that the Post Office were insisting that people switched from writing "St. Helens, Lancs" to "St. Helens, Merseyside" from the beginning of July in order to "fit in with the local government changes".
The report added that a total of around 500,000 people in the North West would be changing addresses and that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" until July 1975. Whether that was a bluff or from that date they would actually reject a letter sent to a St Helens address with Lancashire on it instead of Merseyside, I can't say.
A full-page advert in the Reporter bore the headline "We're On Your Wavelength – April 2nd" and began: "On 261 metres medium wave, Piccadilly Radio 261 takes to the air, loaded with fun for everyone in Manchester." One might have thought that in spending so heavily promoting the first commercial radio station that could be heard in St Helens (not counting Luxembourg and the old pirates), the station might have localised their text better.
Buried in the brief write-up was a mention that Piccadilly would also be broadcasting in stereo on 97 Mhz VHF, as FM was then known. But as most listeners were then using medium wave – particularly car drivers – the emphasis was firmly on selling its 261-metre wavelength.
Also on the 22nd postman John Cannon received a bravery award from a top Post Office official in London. The 54-year-old from Elton Head Road in St Helens had foiled a six-man attempt to snatch his mailbag in a daylight raid. Mr Cannon had been walking along Ormskirk Street when six youths claiming they were armed made for his bag. One of them yelled: "Get hold of him and we'll knife him".
The brave mailman knocked one of his attackers to the ground and an off-duty policeman, seeing what was happening, ran to his assistance and the youths fled empty handed. Mr Cannon received a commendation, a cheque for £50 and an engraved wallet, with his 79-year-old mother Agnes Cannon telling the Reporter "I'm really proud of him".
On the 23rd the Liverpool Echo described how in the wake of a new pay deal for mineworkers those who'd previously left the pits were flooding back. 45-year-old Albert Bate of Croft End in Parr was going to work at Sutton Manor Colliery and he told the Echo:
"I have been out of the pits for six years and the thing I missed the most was the comradeship. There really is nothing like it among miners. I'm very pleased to be going back. The job will now see my lifetime out." And Michael Blanchfield, aged 36, of Barwell Avenue in Carr Mill said: "I left in 1969. But now the money and future are better than ever, so I'm going back because I like working in the pits."
Also on the 23rd the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs of St Helens jointly presented a Grand Spring Fair in St Helens Town Hall, with a "celebrity opening" by Judith Barker, who played Janet Barlow in Coronation Street.
And finally, it was all change at St Helens cinemas from Sunday 24th. Both the Cap and the Savoy changed their films for the week, although they were both screening police thrillers. The ABC Savoy was showing John Wayne in 'McQ' and Clint Eastwood's 'Magnum Force' – the second in his Dirty Harry series – was being shown at the Capitol.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of Four Acre Library, the football pitches at Brown Edge on top of a reservoir, the lengthy bus pass queues and there's victory for the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association in their dangerous flues dispute.
We begin with the new Salvation Army hostel that was opened this week in Parr Street in St Helens, although its official title was the Men's Social Services Centre at Salisbury House. The building had been constructed by St Helens Corporation for the Salvation Army in a joint venture and offered accommodation for 120 men in either single rooms or four-bed dormitories.
In a '50 Years Ago' article in January 1973 I wrote: "St Cuthbert's School in Berrys Lane was the latest venue in St Helens to face the wrath of youth. The Reporter revealed that 43 windows had been smashed over the two previous weekends, with headmaster Mr Grundy telling the paper: “It's sheer vandalism and it's sickening us all at the school. All these repairs have to be paid for and it's getting out of hand”." This week vandals had started a fire within the school's art department, which brought serious disruption to classes mainly through smoke damage.
Last week I mentioned how the streaking craze had reached Prescot when two naked lads had startled customers by dashing past a chip shop in Warrington Road. Fortunately for them they'd kept running and consequently managed to escape the clutches of the law. Not so lucky was Stephen Brennan who a bobby had seen streaking with his mate along Allanson Street in Parr.
The officer gave chase and Stephen was nabbed – although his naked pal got away. This week the 17-year-old from Cherry Tree Drive became the first streaker to appear before St Helens magistrates. Stephen pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting behaviour and was given a stiff fine of £50 – that’s around £750 in today's money.
There was more good news about Saints player Tony Atherton of Grizedale Avenue in Carr Mill, who'd almost died after fracturing his skull in an ‘A’ team game. The 20-year-old had undergone a three-hour operation at Walton Hospital to remove four pieces of bone that were pressing on his skull and had even been given the last rites.
The St Helens Reporter on the 22nd said there’d been a great improvement in Tony's condition and the hospital described him as being quite comfortable. And West Park centre Jim Newcombe had last Saturday suffered a double fracture of his jaw. But the 32-year-old from Hodder Close in Green Leach had been well enough to be discharged from hospital two days later.
The Reporter described how a couple from Sutton had been on St Helens Corporation's council house waiting list for 28 years – and now their two-up, two-down home in Nelson Street was going to be demolished. Robert and Irene Brown claimed to be victims of a council policy that prioritised lodgers over those that had their own place, no matter how small and crowded it was.
They said their five daughters had had to crowd together in a single bedroom and the council had only ever offered them two properties, neither of which was suitable. But now the Brown's home – that shared its back yard with five others – was under a Compulsory Purchase Order and they feared for their future. The Corporation's housing department told the Reporter that their policy had now changed and they hoped to be able to find a new home for the Browns soon.
Coin-operated gas and electricity meters were largely phased out during the 1980s and ‘90s when prepayment meters using cards or keys replaced them. During the 1970s coin meters – that required regular emptying by the electricity and gas boards – were widespread in St Helens and created fears of break-ins among the elderly.
An article published in the St Helens Reporter in May 1972 described how burglars were finding meters full of silver to be "sitting targets", causing elderly folk to dread "the long wait" for the gas or electricity man to come and empty them. Not only were they worried about a break-in and their cash being stolen – but householders knew that the gas or electricity board would still hold them responsible for payment.
This week the Reporter described the case of Alice Holland from Clinkham Wood. The 95-year-old's home had been entered and her gas meter ripped out leaving a dangerous gas pipe behind. For nearly two days Mrs Holland – who lived alone in Kentmere Avenue – was left without gas to cook or heat her home.
And as the meter had not been emptied for 5 months, the sum of £40 had accrued which she would have to repay. A spokesman for the gas board said: "Tenants are legally responsible for the money in the gas meter." Speaking of the effect of the break-in on her mother, Mrs Holland's daughter Margaret Gibbons told the Reporter: "It was a terrible thing to do. My mother is a very independent and active lady but this has completely unnerved her."
Although it is often stated that Royal Mail doesn't mind whether St Helens' residents write Lancashire or Merseyside on their addressed letters, that was certainly not the official position in 1974. The Reporter stated this week that the Post Office were insisting that people switched from writing "St. Helens, Lancs" to "St. Helens, Merseyside" from the beginning of July in order to "fit in with the local government changes".
The report added that a total of around 500,000 people in the North West would be changing addresses and that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" until July 1975. Whether that was a bluff or from that date they would actually reject a letter sent to a St Helens address with Lancashire on it instead of Merseyside, I can't say.
A full-page advert in the Reporter bore the headline "We're On Your Wavelength – April 2nd" and began: "On 261 metres medium wave, Piccadilly Radio 261 takes to the air, loaded with fun for everyone in Manchester." One might have thought that in spending so heavily promoting the first commercial radio station that could be heard in St Helens (not counting Luxembourg and the old pirates), the station might have localised their text better.
Buried in the brief write-up was a mention that Piccadilly would also be broadcasting in stereo on 97 Mhz VHF, as FM was then known. But as most listeners were then using medium wave – particularly car drivers – the emphasis was firmly on selling its 261-metre wavelength.
Also on the 22nd postman John Cannon received a bravery award from a top Post Office official in London. The 54-year-old from Elton Head Road in St Helens had foiled a six-man attempt to snatch his mailbag in a daylight raid. Mr Cannon had been walking along Ormskirk Street when six youths claiming they were armed made for his bag. One of them yelled: "Get hold of him and we'll knife him".
The brave mailman knocked one of his attackers to the ground and an off-duty policeman, seeing what was happening, ran to his assistance and the youths fled empty handed. Mr Cannon received a commendation, a cheque for £50 and an engraved wallet, with his 79-year-old mother Agnes Cannon telling the Reporter "I'm really proud of him".
"I have been out of the pits for six years and the thing I missed the most was the comradeship. There really is nothing like it among miners. I'm very pleased to be going back. The job will now see my lifetime out." And Michael Blanchfield, aged 36, of Barwell Avenue in Carr Mill said: "I left in 1969. But now the money and future are better than ever, so I'm going back because I like working in the pits."
Also on the 23rd the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs of St Helens jointly presented a Grand Spring Fair in St Helens Town Hall, with a "celebrity opening" by Judith Barker, who played Janet Barlow in Coronation Street.
And finally, it was all change at St Helens cinemas from Sunday 24th. Both the Cap and the Savoy changed their films for the week, although they were both screening police thrillers. The ABC Savoy was showing John Wayne in 'McQ' and Clint Eastwood's 'Magnum Force' – the second in his Dirty Harry series – was being shown at the Capitol.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of Four Acre Library, the football pitches at Brown Edge on top of a reservoir, the lengthy bus pass queues and there's victory for the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association in their dangerous flues dispute.
This week's many stories include the 28-year wait for a council house, a Parr streaker receives a big fine, the 95-year-old from Clinkham Wood who had her gas meter ripped out, why ex-miners were flocking back to the pits and the brave postman who fought off attackers in Ormskirk Street.
We begin with the new Salvation Army hostel that was opened this week in Parr Street in St Helens, although its official title was the Men's Social Services Centre at Salisbury House.
The building had been constructed by St Helens Corporation for the Salvation Army in a joint venture and offered accommodation for 120 men in either single rooms or four-bed dormitories.
In a '50 Years Ago' article in January 1973 I wrote:
"St Cuthbert's School in Berrys Lane was the latest venue in St Helens to face the wrath of youth. The Reporter revealed that 43 windows had been smashed over the two previous weekends, with headmaster Mr Grundy telling the paper: “It's sheer vandalism and it's sickening us all at the school. All these repairs have to be paid for and it's getting out of hand”."
This week vandals had started a fire within the school's art department, which brought serious disruption to classes mainly through smoke damage.
Last week I mentioned how the streaking craze had reached Prescot when two naked lads had startled customers by dashing past a chip shop in Warrington Road.
Fortunately for them they'd kept running and consequently managed to escape the clutches of the law.
Not so lucky was Stephen Brennan who a bobby had seen streaking with his mate along Allanson Street in Parr.
The officer gave chase and Stephen was nabbed – although his naked pal got away.
This week the 17-year-old from Cherry Tree Drive became the first streaker to appear before St Helens magistrates.
Stephen pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting behaviour and was given a stiff fine of £50 – that’s around £750 in today's money.
There was more good news about Saints player Tony Atherton of Grizedale Avenue in Carr Mill, who'd almost died after fracturing his skull in an ‘A’ team game.
The 20-year-old had undergone a three-hour operation at Walton Hospital to remove four pieces of bone that were pressing on his skull and had even been given the last rites.
The St Helens Reporter on the 22nd said there’d been a great improvement in Tony's condition and the hospital described him as being quite comfortable.
And West Park centre Jim Newcombe had last Saturday suffered a double fracture of his jaw.
But the 32-year-old from Hodder Close in Green Leach had been well enough to be discharged from hospital two days later.
The Reporter described how a couple from Sutton had been on St Helens Corporation's council house waiting list for 28 years – and now their two-up, two-down home in Nelson Street was going to be demolished.
Robert and Irene Brown claimed to be victims of a council policy that prioritised lodgers over those that had their own place, no matter how small and crowded it was.
They said their five daughters had had to crowd together in a single bedroom and the council had only ever offered them two properties, neither of which was suitable.
But now the Brown's home – that shared its back yard with five others – was under a Compulsory Purchase Order and they feared for their future.
The Corporation's housing department told the Reporter that their policy had now changed and they hoped to be able to find a new home for the Browns soon.
Coin-operated gas and electricity meters were largely phased out during the 1980s and ‘90s when prepayment meters using cards or keys replaced them.
During the 1970s coin meters – that required regular emptying by the electricity and gas boards – were widespread in St Helens and created fears of break-ins among the elderly.
An article published in the St Helens Reporter in May 1972 described how burglars were finding meters full of silver to be "sitting targets", causing elderly folk to dread "the long wait" for the gas or electricity man to come and empty them.
Not only were they worried about a break-in and their cash being stolen – but householders knew that the gas or electricity board would still hold them responsible for payment.
This week the Reporter described the case of Alice Holland from Clinkham Wood. The 95-year-old's home had been entered and her gas meter ripped out leaving a dangerous gas pipe behind.
For nearly two days Mrs Holland – who lived alone in Kentmere Avenue – was left without gas to cook or heat her home.
And as the meter had not been emptied for 5 months, the sum of £40 had accrued which she would have to repay.
A spokesman for the gas board said: "Tenants are legally responsible for the money in the gas meter."
Speaking of the effect of the break-in on her mother, Mrs Holland's daughter Margaret Gibbons told the Reporter:
"It was a terrible thing to do. My mother is a very independent and active lady but this has completely unnerved her."
Although it is often stated that Royal Mail doesn't mind whether St Helens' residents write Lancashire or Merseyside on their addressed letters, that was certainly not the official position in 1974.
The Reporter stated this week that the Post Office were insisting that people switched from writing "St. Helens, Lancs" to "St. Helens, Merseyside" from the beginning of July in order to "fit in with the local government changes".
The report added that a total of around 500,000 people in the North West would be changing addresses and that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" until July 1975.
Whether that was a bluff or from that date they would actually reject a letter sent to a St Helens address with Lancashire on it instead of Merseyside, I can't say.
A full-page advert in the Reporter bore the headline "We're On Your Wavelength – April 2nd" and began:
"On 261 metres medium wave, Piccadilly Radio 261 takes to the air, loaded with fun for everyone in Manchester."
One might have thought that in spending so heavily promoting the first commercial radio station that could be heard in St Helens (not counting Luxembourg and the old pirates), the station might have localised their text better.
Buried in the brief write-up was a mention that Piccadilly would also be broadcasting in stereo on 97 Mhz VHF, as FM was then known.
But as most listeners were then using medium wave – particularly car drivers – the emphasis was firmly on selling its 261-metre wavelength.
Also on the 22nd postman John Cannon received a bravery award from a top Post Office official in London.
The 54-year-old from Elton Head Road in St Helens had foiled a six-man attempt to snatch his mailbag in a daylight raid.
Mr Cannon had been walking along Ormskirk Street when six youths claiming they were armed made for his bag. One of them yelled: "Get hold of him and we'll knife him".
The brave mailman knocked one of his attackers to the ground and an off-duty policeman, seeing what was happening, ran to his assistance and the youths fled empty handed.
Mr Cannon received a commendation, a cheque for £50 and an engraved wallet, with his 79-year-old mother Agnes Cannon telling the Reporter "I'm really proud of him".
On the 23rd the Liverpool Echo described how in the wake of a new pay deal for mineworkers those who'd previously left the pits were flooding back.
45-year-old Albert Bate of Croft End in Parr was going to work at Sutton Manor Colliery and he told the Echo:
"I have been out of the pits for six years and the thing I missed the most was the comradeship. There really is nothing like it among miners. I'm very pleased to be going back. The job will now see my lifetime out."
And Michael Blanchfield, aged 36, of Barwell Avenue in Carr Mill said: "I left in 1969. But now the money and future are better than ever, so I'm going back because I like working in the pits."
Also on the 23rd the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs of St Helens jointly presented a Grand Spring Fair in St Helens Town Hall, with a "celebrity opening" by Judith Barker, who played Janet Barlow in Coronation Street.
And finally, it was all change at St Helens cinemas from Sunday 24th. Both the Cap and the Savoy changed their films for the week, although they were both screening police thrillers.
The ABC Savoy was showing John Wayne in 'McQ' and Clint Eastwood's 'Magnum Force' – the second in his Dirty Harry series – was being shown at the Capitol.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of Four Acre Library, the football pitches at Brown Edge on top of a reservoir, the lengthy bus pass queues and there's victory for the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association in their dangerous flues dispute
We begin with the new Salvation Army hostel that was opened this week in Parr Street in St Helens, although its official title was the Men's Social Services Centre at Salisbury House.
The building had been constructed by St Helens Corporation for the Salvation Army in a joint venture and offered accommodation for 120 men in either single rooms or four-bed dormitories.
In a '50 Years Ago' article in January 1973 I wrote:
"St Cuthbert's School in Berrys Lane was the latest venue in St Helens to face the wrath of youth. The Reporter revealed that 43 windows had been smashed over the two previous weekends, with headmaster Mr Grundy telling the paper: “It's sheer vandalism and it's sickening us all at the school. All these repairs have to be paid for and it's getting out of hand”."
This week vandals had started a fire within the school's art department, which brought serious disruption to classes mainly through smoke damage.
Last week I mentioned how the streaking craze had reached Prescot when two naked lads had startled customers by dashing past a chip shop in Warrington Road.
Fortunately for them they'd kept running and consequently managed to escape the clutches of the law.
Not so lucky was Stephen Brennan who a bobby had seen streaking with his mate along Allanson Street in Parr.
The officer gave chase and Stephen was nabbed – although his naked pal got away.
This week the 17-year-old from Cherry Tree Drive became the first streaker to appear before St Helens magistrates.
Stephen pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting behaviour and was given a stiff fine of £50 – that’s around £750 in today's money.
There was more good news about Saints player Tony Atherton of Grizedale Avenue in Carr Mill, who'd almost died after fracturing his skull in an ‘A’ team game.
The 20-year-old had undergone a three-hour operation at Walton Hospital to remove four pieces of bone that were pressing on his skull and had even been given the last rites.
The St Helens Reporter on the 22nd said there’d been a great improvement in Tony's condition and the hospital described him as being quite comfortable.
And West Park centre Jim Newcombe had last Saturday suffered a double fracture of his jaw.
But the 32-year-old from Hodder Close in Green Leach had been well enough to be discharged from hospital two days later.
The Reporter described how a couple from Sutton had been on St Helens Corporation's council house waiting list for 28 years – and now their two-up, two-down home in Nelson Street was going to be demolished.
Robert and Irene Brown claimed to be victims of a council policy that prioritised lodgers over those that had their own place, no matter how small and crowded it was.
They said their five daughters had had to crowd together in a single bedroom and the council had only ever offered them two properties, neither of which was suitable.
But now the Brown's home – that shared its back yard with five others – was under a Compulsory Purchase Order and they feared for their future.
The Corporation's housing department told the Reporter that their policy had now changed and they hoped to be able to find a new home for the Browns soon.
Coin-operated gas and electricity meters were largely phased out during the 1980s and ‘90s when prepayment meters using cards or keys replaced them.
During the 1970s coin meters – that required regular emptying by the electricity and gas boards – were widespread in St Helens and created fears of break-ins among the elderly.
An article published in the St Helens Reporter in May 1972 described how burglars were finding meters full of silver to be "sitting targets", causing elderly folk to dread "the long wait" for the gas or electricity man to come and empty them.
Not only were they worried about a break-in and their cash being stolen – but householders knew that the gas or electricity board would still hold them responsible for payment.
This week the Reporter described the case of Alice Holland from Clinkham Wood. The 95-year-old's home had been entered and her gas meter ripped out leaving a dangerous gas pipe behind.
For nearly two days Mrs Holland – who lived alone in Kentmere Avenue – was left without gas to cook or heat her home.
And as the meter had not been emptied for 5 months, the sum of £40 had accrued which she would have to repay.
A spokesman for the gas board said: "Tenants are legally responsible for the money in the gas meter."
Speaking of the effect of the break-in on her mother, Mrs Holland's daughter Margaret Gibbons told the Reporter:
"It was a terrible thing to do. My mother is a very independent and active lady but this has completely unnerved her."
Although it is often stated that Royal Mail doesn't mind whether St Helens' residents write Lancashire or Merseyside on their addressed letters, that was certainly not the official position in 1974.
The Reporter stated this week that the Post Office were insisting that people switched from writing "St. Helens, Lancs" to "St. Helens, Merseyside" from the beginning of July in order to "fit in with the local government changes".
The report added that a total of around 500,000 people in the North West would be changing addresses and that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" until July 1975.
Whether that was a bluff or from that date they would actually reject a letter sent to a St Helens address with Lancashire on it instead of Merseyside, I can't say.
A full-page advert in the Reporter bore the headline "We're On Your Wavelength – April 2nd" and began:
"On 261 metres medium wave, Piccadilly Radio 261 takes to the air, loaded with fun for everyone in Manchester."
One might have thought that in spending so heavily promoting the first commercial radio station that could be heard in St Helens (not counting Luxembourg and the old pirates), the station might have localised their text better.
Buried in the brief write-up was a mention that Piccadilly would also be broadcasting in stereo on 97 Mhz VHF, as FM was then known.
But as most listeners were then using medium wave – particularly car drivers – the emphasis was firmly on selling its 261-metre wavelength.
Also on the 22nd postman John Cannon received a bravery award from a top Post Office official in London.
The 54-year-old from Elton Head Road in St Helens had foiled a six-man attempt to snatch his mailbag in a daylight raid.
Mr Cannon had been walking along Ormskirk Street when six youths claiming they were armed made for his bag. One of them yelled: "Get hold of him and we'll knife him".
The brave mailman knocked one of his attackers to the ground and an off-duty policeman, seeing what was happening, ran to his assistance and the youths fled empty handed.
Mr Cannon received a commendation, a cheque for £50 and an engraved wallet, with his 79-year-old mother Agnes Cannon telling the Reporter "I'm really proud of him".
On the 23rd the Liverpool Echo described how in the wake of a new pay deal for mineworkers those who'd previously left the pits were flooding back.
45-year-old Albert Bate of Croft End in Parr was going to work at Sutton Manor Colliery and he told the Echo:
"I have been out of the pits for six years and the thing I missed the most was the comradeship. There really is nothing like it among miners. I'm very pleased to be going back. The job will now see my lifetime out."
And Michael Blanchfield, aged 36, of Barwell Avenue in Carr Mill said: "I left in 1969. But now the money and future are better than ever, so I'm going back because I like working in the pits."
Also on the 23rd the Rotary and Inner Wheel Clubs of St Helens jointly presented a Grand Spring Fair in St Helens Town Hall, with a "celebrity opening" by Judith Barker, who played Janet Barlow in Coronation Street.
And finally, it was all change at St Helens cinemas from Sunday 24th. Both the Cap and the Savoy changed their films for the week, although they were both screening police thrillers.
The ABC Savoy was showing John Wayne in 'McQ' and Clint Eastwood's 'Magnum Force' – the second in his Dirty Harry series – was being shown at the Capitol.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the opening of Four Acre Library, the football pitches at Brown Edge on top of a reservoir, the lengthy bus pass queues and there's victory for the Chain Lane Ratepayers Association in their dangerous flues dispute