FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th January 1969)
This week's 20 stories include plans for a "mini-Manhattan" town centre skyline, proposals for the Beth Avenue estate in Sutton, Rainford's railway rubbish, a scheme to modernise 5,000 council homes, good news for the town's bin men, a robbery of an elderly Newton shopkeeper, a new hostel for the Sally Army and a new baby clinic for Rainford.
However we begin at the dog track in Park Road. For some reason the names of the greyhounds always intrigue me and on the 21st they included Sooty, Zombie, Dandy, Gentle Jim, Firecracker, Moonshot, Fiddler, Liver Wire, Organ Boy, Strongbow and Stumpy. I don't think I'd want to put my money on a dog called Stumpy. I'd want to be sure it had four good legs!
Also on the 21st the first meeting of a new 'Eighteen-Plus' club was held in the Lamb Hotel in College Street. Although the movement dated back to 1939, it had recently been reinvented and was expanding fast. Eighteen-Plus groups were described as filling the social and recreational gap for those too old for youth clubs but too young for Darby and Joan memberships.
Councillor Audrey Berry told a meeting of Rainford Council's Heath Committee on the 21st that the disused railway line at Cross Pit Lane was an "eyesore" because of the amount of rubbish being dumped there. The committee decided to write to British Rail to demand that the line and banking be cleared within a month. If they failed to do so the council would undertake the work and then invoice the company.
St Helens Council's Works Committee decided on the 22nd to ask the Chief Constable Archibald Atherton to look into banning parking in Tolver Street until 8pm. This had been requested by the town's Transport Manager who said his buses were experiencing difficulty in turning into the department's workshops because of parked cars.
It was also revealed at the meeting that 2,000 bigger and lighter dustbins were going to be ordered within the next 12 months. The bin's capacity would be increased from the present 2½ cu ft to 3¼ cu ft. but would be five pounds lighter. Welcome news for the bin men for whom refuse collection was backbreaking work, although the decision had to be ratified by the full council.
Wheelie bins had already been invented but didn't come into general use until the late 1980s when automatic mechanisms to pick up and empty bins had been installed on refuse lorries.
It was announced this week that St Helens Corporation was going to build a £100,000 hostel for the Salvation Army to replace their existing premises in Salisbury Street. The council owned the building but needed to knock it down as part of the first phase of their redevelopment plans for the town.
So a new hostel accommodating 120 persons would be built at the rear of College Street at Gerards Bridge. The new building would also cater for long-distance lorry drivers, unlike the present hostel.
Pilkington’s also announced that they would be going metric next year to roughly coincide with the decimalisation of currency. Since the beginning of 1969 all flat glass made by Pilks had been in metric thicknesses, although measurements on invoices would continue to be expressed in imperial units until October 1st 1970.
Over the last few years there had been considerable development in what is known as Rainford North End. Many young couples had moved onto new estates and after having children were faced with a two-mile trip to the clinic in the Village Hall. So on the 22nd a new child welfare clinic was officially opened by Jimmy Blackburn, the Chairman of Rainford Council.
It was situated within the premises of the North End Football Club, although for the time being the clinic would only open every other Wednesday. Councillor Blackburn was pictured in the St Helens Reporter holding four-week-old Timothy Daw, the first baby to be signed in at the clinic, along with his mother Erica Daw from Kendal Drive.
It was 'Beat Night' at Ashton-in-Makerfield Public Hall during the evening of the 22nd with Chapter Six ("Liverpool's latest recording group") and the Polka Dot Train, plus "latest records, spot prizes, free records. Admission 4/6d."
Stag night was back at the Plaza Club in Duke Street on the 23rd with the usual eight exotic dancers along with Ronnie C. Smith, described as "Manchester's top comic". A free Ribble coach was provided for members in Liverpool, leaving from and returning to Skelhorne Street.
It was also 'Dolly Night' again at the Carnival Discotheque in the Royal Raven in Church Street. If women were prepared to suffer the indignity of being called a "dolly", they could save half-a-crown on what the men had to pay for admission.
The St Helens Wesley Drama Group presented 'Gaslight' during the same evening in the Wesley Methodist Church Hall in Corporation Street. The Victorian thriller starred Marjorie Pugh, Ethel and William Dickinson, Bernice Winstanley and Frank Ensor.
It was announced this week that the town's unemployment rate had edged upwards to 1,116 compared to 1,027 in December. However it was considered a seasonal blip, as the number of unfilled adult vacancies (particularly in glass works) has been on the increase in recent months.
On the 24th thieves attacked and robbed a 68-year-old shopkeeper from Newton-le-Willows of £60. Elizabeth McClymont had closed her small general store in Crow Lane West at 7.30pm and had just barred the front door and was about to lock the back. In the darkness a man suddenly put his hand over Elizabeth's face and punched her in the back before snatching a basket in which she kept her handbag containing the money.
Saints match away at Hull in the first round of the Rugby League Challenge Cup on the 25th was shown on 'Grandstand'. Other programmes that day on BBC1 were 'Dr Who' (with Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines), 'Tom and Jerry', 'Here's Lucy', 'Rolf Harris Show', 'Lulu Sings a Song for Europe', 'Till Death Us Do Part' and 'Braden's Week'.
On its front page on the 25th the Reporter announced: "St. Helens has now received its blueprint to march into the seventies with a mini-Manhattan-style town centre skyline." They were referring to Anthony Greenwood, the Minister of Housing and Local Government, approving the first phase of the Corporation's 15-year, three-phase plan to transform the centre of St Helens.
This would involve eighty-eight acres of land being comprehensively redeveloped for shopping, car parks, offices and new roads. Some of this land would involve compulsory purchases by the council.
The St Helens Reporter also revealed that work was likely to start next year on a new £2 million scheme to build 600 council houses between New Street and Gerards Lane in Sutton. This was on what the late local historian Frank Bamber described as a "beautiful hillside of farmland and wild life". The creation of the estate, he added, was "goodbye to peace and beauty".
One of the reasons behind the new development was that the council thought it likely that they would otherwise have a shortfall of 200 homes a year. The Housing Committee had now decided to ask architects to submit plans for dwellings on the 48-acre site, which would become known as the 'Beth Avenue' estate.
The houses were also given the nickname of “Legoland” and their distinctive build was believed to be a factor in the high crime rate in the area. One St Helens newspaper (shown above) dubbed the district “Downtown Morocco”. During the 1990s the three-storey / bungalow combination houses within the estate were demolished and the distinctive tops of the remaining houses were removed and replaced by traditional roofs.
A further development announced in the Reporter was a £5m scheme (about £85m in today's money) to bring up to modern standards around 5,000 pre-war council homes. The properties involved would be three-bedroom houses and one-bedroom bungalows. The St Helens Building Manager J. H. Appleton said it would be a colossal task costing £1,000 per home.
In some of these houses bathrooms would be moved upstairs and unless extensions were built, these tenants would have to lose a bedroom. Many of these homes did not have power points in their bedrooms, denying them electric fires and blankets. The council's Housing Committee asked Mr Appleton to report back to their next meeting with proposals.
The Reporter canvassed tenants of such homes and the majority welcomed the news. However there were fears that their rents would rise. Christine Woodward had lived in Ellison Drive in Eccleston for 36 years and paid £2 3s 5d rent per week and felt that was enough. Mrs Woodward said she and her husband had done most of the work improving their house but would welcome St Helens Corporation modernising their home if they didn't have to pay more rent.
John Gaffney from Mulberry Avenue said: "They will have to increase our rents. These alterations will cost money, and the council will have to get the money back some way." Mr Gaffney added that most people living in his row were old people who would prefer to have their bathrooms downstairs.
The Liverpool Echo would regularly award 'Echolades' to various unsung persons within Merseyside. Computer programmer Trevor Price from Forest Grove, Eccleston Park, was the award-winner on the 27th.
Despite considerable discouragement over a period of twenty years, Trevor had fought to get the disabled into employment. He had been responsible for the world's first course for disabled computer programmers at Queen Elizabeth's Training College for the Disabled in Leatherhead.
And finally a film guide. The 'Guns of Navarone' starring Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn began a three-day run at the Capitol on the 27th. Meanwhile down Bridge Street 'The Detective' starring Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick was being shown.
Next week's stories will include the house where five slept in one bed, a claim that the Corporation was killing off the residents of Princess Avenue, a married couple are wanted at Windle island, a Thatto Heath toy collection for under-privileged children, a new dancing school in Prescot Road, Crank School prepares for decimalisation and a call for a new old people's hut for Gaskell Park.
However we begin at the dog track in Park Road. For some reason the names of the greyhounds always intrigue me and on the 21st they included Sooty, Zombie, Dandy, Gentle Jim, Firecracker, Moonshot, Fiddler, Liver Wire, Organ Boy, Strongbow and Stumpy. I don't think I'd want to put my money on a dog called Stumpy. I'd want to be sure it had four good legs!
Also on the 21st the first meeting of a new 'Eighteen-Plus' club was held in the Lamb Hotel in College Street. Although the movement dated back to 1939, it had recently been reinvented and was expanding fast. Eighteen-Plus groups were described as filling the social and recreational gap for those too old for youth clubs but too young for Darby and Joan memberships.
Councillor Audrey Berry told a meeting of Rainford Council's Heath Committee on the 21st that the disused railway line at Cross Pit Lane was an "eyesore" because of the amount of rubbish being dumped there. The committee decided to write to British Rail to demand that the line and banking be cleared within a month. If they failed to do so the council would undertake the work and then invoice the company.
St Helens Council's Works Committee decided on the 22nd to ask the Chief Constable Archibald Atherton to look into banning parking in Tolver Street until 8pm. This had been requested by the town's Transport Manager who said his buses were experiencing difficulty in turning into the department's workshops because of parked cars.
It was also revealed at the meeting that 2,000 bigger and lighter dustbins were going to be ordered within the next 12 months. The bin's capacity would be increased from the present 2½ cu ft to 3¼ cu ft. but would be five pounds lighter. Welcome news for the bin men for whom refuse collection was backbreaking work, although the decision had to be ratified by the full council.
Wheelie bins had already been invented but didn't come into general use until the late 1980s when automatic mechanisms to pick up and empty bins had been installed on refuse lorries.
It was announced this week that St Helens Corporation was going to build a £100,000 hostel for the Salvation Army to replace their existing premises in Salisbury Street. The council owned the building but needed to knock it down as part of the first phase of their redevelopment plans for the town.
So a new hostel accommodating 120 persons would be built at the rear of College Street at Gerards Bridge. The new building would also cater for long-distance lorry drivers, unlike the present hostel.
Pilkington’s also announced that they would be going metric next year to roughly coincide with the decimalisation of currency. Since the beginning of 1969 all flat glass made by Pilks had been in metric thicknesses, although measurements on invoices would continue to be expressed in imperial units until October 1st 1970.
Over the last few years there had been considerable development in what is known as Rainford North End. Many young couples had moved onto new estates and after having children were faced with a two-mile trip to the clinic in the Village Hall. So on the 22nd a new child welfare clinic was officially opened by Jimmy Blackburn, the Chairman of Rainford Council.
It was situated within the premises of the North End Football Club, although for the time being the clinic would only open every other Wednesday. Councillor Blackburn was pictured in the St Helens Reporter holding four-week-old Timothy Daw, the first baby to be signed in at the clinic, along with his mother Erica Daw from Kendal Drive.
These advertisements for Triplex and UD Engineering were published in the Liverpool Echo this week
These advertisements were published in the Liverpool Echo this week
Ads in the Liverpool Echo this week
Stag night was back at the Plaza Club in Duke Street on the 23rd with the usual eight exotic dancers along with Ronnie C. Smith, described as "Manchester's top comic". A free Ribble coach was provided for members in Liverpool, leaving from and returning to Skelhorne Street.
It was also 'Dolly Night' again at the Carnival Discotheque in the Royal Raven in Church Street. If women were prepared to suffer the indignity of being called a "dolly", they could save half-a-crown on what the men had to pay for admission.
The St Helens Wesley Drama Group presented 'Gaslight' during the same evening in the Wesley Methodist Church Hall in Corporation Street. The Victorian thriller starred Marjorie Pugh, Ethel and William Dickinson, Bernice Winstanley and Frank Ensor.
It was announced this week that the town's unemployment rate had edged upwards to 1,116 compared to 1,027 in December. However it was considered a seasonal blip, as the number of unfilled adult vacancies (particularly in glass works) has been on the increase in recent months.
On the 24th thieves attacked and robbed a 68-year-old shopkeeper from Newton-le-Willows of £60. Elizabeth McClymont had closed her small general store in Crow Lane West at 7.30pm and had just barred the front door and was about to lock the back. In the darkness a man suddenly put his hand over Elizabeth's face and punched her in the back before snatching a basket in which she kept her handbag containing the money.
Saints match away at Hull in the first round of the Rugby League Challenge Cup on the 25th was shown on 'Grandstand'. Other programmes that day on BBC1 were 'Dr Who' (with Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines), 'Tom and Jerry', 'Here's Lucy', 'Rolf Harris Show', 'Lulu Sings a Song for Europe', 'Till Death Us Do Part' and 'Braden's Week'.
On its front page on the 25th the Reporter announced: "St. Helens has now received its blueprint to march into the seventies with a mini-Manhattan-style town centre skyline." They were referring to Anthony Greenwood, the Minister of Housing and Local Government, approving the first phase of the Corporation's 15-year, three-phase plan to transform the centre of St Helens.
This would involve eighty-eight acres of land being comprehensively redeveloped for shopping, car parks, offices and new roads. Some of this land would involve compulsory purchases by the council.
The St Helens Reporter also revealed that work was likely to start next year on a new £2 million scheme to build 600 council houses between New Street and Gerards Lane in Sutton. This was on what the late local historian Frank Bamber described as a "beautiful hillside of farmland and wild life". The creation of the estate, he added, was "goodbye to peace and beauty".
One of the reasons behind the new development was that the council thought it likely that they would otherwise have a shortfall of 200 homes a year. The Housing Committee had now decided to ask architects to submit plans for dwellings on the 48-acre site, which would become known as the 'Beth Avenue' estate.
A further development announced in the Reporter was a £5m scheme (about £85m in today's money) to bring up to modern standards around 5,000 pre-war council homes. The properties involved would be three-bedroom houses and one-bedroom bungalows. The St Helens Building Manager J. H. Appleton said it would be a colossal task costing £1,000 per home.
In some of these houses bathrooms would be moved upstairs and unless extensions were built, these tenants would have to lose a bedroom. Many of these homes did not have power points in their bedrooms, denying them electric fires and blankets. The council's Housing Committee asked Mr Appleton to report back to their next meeting with proposals.
The Reporter canvassed tenants of such homes and the majority welcomed the news. However there were fears that their rents would rise. Christine Woodward had lived in Ellison Drive in Eccleston for 36 years and paid £2 3s 5d rent per week and felt that was enough. Mrs Woodward said she and her husband had done most of the work improving their house but would welcome St Helens Corporation modernising their home if they didn't have to pay more rent.
John Gaffney from Mulberry Avenue said: "They will have to increase our rents. These alterations will cost money, and the council will have to get the money back some way." Mr Gaffney added that most people living in his row were old people who would prefer to have their bathrooms downstairs.
The Liverpool Echo would regularly award 'Echolades' to various unsung persons within Merseyside. Computer programmer Trevor Price from Forest Grove, Eccleston Park, was the award-winner on the 27th.
Despite considerable discouragement over a period of twenty years, Trevor had fought to get the disabled into employment. He had been responsible for the world's first course for disabled computer programmers at Queen Elizabeth's Training College for the Disabled in Leatherhead.
Next week's stories will include the house where five slept in one bed, a claim that the Corporation was killing off the residents of Princess Avenue, a married couple are wanted at Windle island, a Thatto Heath toy collection for under-privileged children, a new dancing school in Prescot Road, Crank School prepares for decimalisation and a call for a new old people's hut for Gaskell Park.