FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th FEBRUARY 1972)
This week's many stories include the end of the miners' strike, worries over the water supply situation in St Helens, the church leaders gassed in Ormskirk Street, the Sutton explosion after a North Sea gas conversion, the vandalism of Haresfinch's public loos and the monster scheme on the East Lancs that was expected to cause monster hold-ups.
We begin with a meeting of Rainford Council's Management Committee in which it was revealed that their efforts to save Crank Post Office were being thwarted. In January the owner of the building from which the sub-post office was run had served his tenants with a notice to quit. That led to the council requesting a meeting with the postmaster at Warrington to discuss what could be done.
However, on the 22nd the councillors learnt that the postmaster had written saying that if the current premises were vacated, there would be no more sub-post office in Crank. Cllr. Dennis Collins was unimpressed, commenting: "We asked for a meeting and they send us a stereotyped reply. This is an essential service and we should press it further."
The council's clerk, Ken Isherwood, told the meeting that there were no suitable alternative premises in the district. However, it was decided that another attempt would be made to save the service and a sub-committee would attempt to arrange a meeting with the tenants and the Warrington postmaster.
Six men and a woman were rushed to Providence Hospital (pictured above) during the evening of the 22nd after being gassed by a church's central heating system. Two of the men collapsed outside the Congregational Church in Ormskirk Street and were discovered unconscious by its minister. The drama happened at the end of a meeting of church leaders – but all were allowed home after treatment.
Also this week there was an explosion in Edgeworth Street in Sutton that occurred two hours after Tom Tither's meter had been converted to North Sea gas. Upon noticing a smell of gas, the 86-year-old decided to investigate and while doing so lit a cigarette. Not, of course, a wise thing to do and seconds later what was described as a "river of flame" was running along his skirting boards and setting fire to Tom's bed. The Gas Board said they were conducting an investigation but did not think there was any connection between the conversion and fire. "It is possible", said a spokesman, "but very unlikely, and we are still looking into it."
The miners' strike finally appeared to be coming to an end after seven weeks. NUM leaders had agreed to a pay offer and on the 23rd its near-3,000 members in St Helens cast their votes on the deal. The men were expected to return to their jobs next week – but Manweb warned that a shortage of fuel would mean that the power cuts in St Helens would continue for some time to come.
There was also huge concern over domestic water supplies because of the power cuts. St Helens people were asked this week to reduce their consumption or risk having their supply cut off. St Helens Corporation was specifically asking locals to: • Ensure all taps were turned off when not in use. • Limit baths, possibly to one a week, and avoid filling the bath. • Minimise flushing toilets. • Avoid excessive use of running water for washing hands. • Notify the Corporation of any dripping taps or leakages.
If the situation worsened, their Water Department would introduce drastic pressure reductions. The ultimate action would be for the water supply in certain areas of the town to be cut off and replaced by mobile water tanks.
Another effect of the coal shortage was that kids were making a nuisance of themselves in town centre stores. With many St Helens schools closed because of a lack of heating, the youngsters were instead traipsing round town.
Mr P. W. Carmen of the St Helens Industrial Co-op Society complained of the problem at Helena House in Baldwin Street (pictured above): "One of our biggest headaches has been the number of children in the store. They have flooded in because, with no school they have nothing to do. I have had to appeal to parents to keep them out of the store."
Police also believed that thieves had taken advantage of a power blackout to enter Prescot Council offices unseen during the evening of the 23rd. They then used cutting gear to break open a safe in a strong room and stole £2,153.
The Reporter on the 25th described how the Pilkington strikers that had been sacked by the glass giant in 1970 were calling for a showdown meeting with the firm. The 70-or-so men had been on the dole for 19 months and last October, Pilks said they would adopt a "more flexible" approach to rehiring them once suitable vacancies occurred. But Jim Crosby, the spokesman for the men, said:
"Let's see once and for all if they are ever going to take us back. We are hounded at the Labour Exchange to get jobs, and people have hurled abuse in the street saying that we don't want to work. But we do." Some of the sacked strikers said they had applied for jobs at 40 firms in the North West without success. Pilkington's response was to say that they'd had no production or process jobs available over the past few months – but there would be some vacancies at their Ravenhead factory shortly.
Stephen Maher was pictured in the Reporter after three Alsatians had allegedly attacked him on his way home from school. The face of the 7-year-old was described as a mass of blood during the attack near his home in Colne Road, Burtonwood. Stephen's father said he intended to get the dogs destroyed. However, their owner claimed that her animals had simply knocked over the boy and had not bitten him.
Last November I described how a safety survey of the stretch of the East Lancs between Moss Bank and Carr Mill had revealed serious failings. Huge volumes of traffic over a long period had given the road a slippery shine and consequently tyres were losing their grip. So the Reporter announced that a two-mile stretch of the road would receive a "facelift", as it was then termed. However, improving the very busy East Lancs was much easier said than done.
This week the Reporter upgraded facelift to "monster scheme" and described how the £300,000 operation (around £5m in today's money) would begin in three months' time. The downside to the laying of resurfacing materials with anti-skid properties was that huge traffic jams were likely to build up. That was because 33,000 vehicles would be channelled onto a single carriageway of the East Lancs – possibly for as long as 2½ miles – and it would take nine months for the project to be completed.
As we know there are very few public toilets within St Helens these days. However, in the early 1970s, the town had seventeen. The cost of vandalism was one reason why they were closed. In February 1970 it was revealed that the Corporation's efforts to vandal-proof the public toilets in Haresfinch were proving unsuccessful. The windows had been smashed so often that special "brick-glass" panes had been installed.
However, the Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, had to reveal that some of the new anti-vandal windows had already been broken. This week it was revealed that vandalism to Haresfinch's public loos had cost £2,000 in repairs and alterations over the past two years. That's about £30,000 in today's money. As a result a concrete roof was now going to be installed and the pipework was being concealed. Somewhat appropriately, the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street began screenings of 'Carry On At Your Convenience' this week!
On the 26th the Liverpool Echo reported that Fred Houghton from Marshalls Cross Road in St Helens had been made a member of the Golden Shoe Safety Club. The 64-year-old machine operator at British Sidac had escaped unhurt when a 7 cwt. reel of cellulose film had slipped from a pulley and landed on his foot. Fred had escaped injury because he was wearing special steel toecap safety boots.
The Golden Shoe Safety Club was an offshoot of the Golden Helmet Club and designed to encourage workers to be more safety conscious. Club members were usually presented with a certificate, a badge and a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting 'Man with a Golden Helmet'. Although during the 1980s, experts concluded that the Dutch artist had not actually painted the artwork.
Next week's stories will include the obscene books in Bickerstaffe Street, the new trial of town centre taxi ranks, the boy “sniper” at a soldier's St Helens' wedding and the Carr Mill Service Station's concern over the monster East Lancs road scheme.
We begin with a meeting of Rainford Council's Management Committee in which it was revealed that their efforts to save Crank Post Office were being thwarted. In January the owner of the building from which the sub-post office was run had served his tenants with a notice to quit. That led to the council requesting a meeting with the postmaster at Warrington to discuss what could be done.
However, on the 22nd the councillors learnt that the postmaster had written saying that if the current premises were vacated, there would be no more sub-post office in Crank. Cllr. Dennis Collins was unimpressed, commenting: "We asked for a meeting and they send us a stereotyped reply. This is an essential service and we should press it further."
The council's clerk, Ken Isherwood, told the meeting that there were no suitable alternative premises in the district. However, it was decided that another attempt would be made to save the service and a sub-committee would attempt to arrange a meeting with the tenants and the Warrington postmaster.
Also this week there was an explosion in Edgeworth Street in Sutton that occurred two hours after Tom Tither's meter had been converted to North Sea gas. Upon noticing a smell of gas, the 86-year-old decided to investigate and while doing so lit a cigarette. Not, of course, a wise thing to do and seconds later what was described as a "river of flame" was running along his skirting boards and setting fire to Tom's bed. The Gas Board said they were conducting an investigation but did not think there was any connection between the conversion and fire. "It is possible", said a spokesman, "but very unlikely, and we are still looking into it."
The miners' strike finally appeared to be coming to an end after seven weeks. NUM leaders had agreed to a pay offer and on the 23rd its near-3,000 members in St Helens cast their votes on the deal. The men were expected to return to their jobs next week – but Manweb warned that a shortage of fuel would mean that the power cuts in St Helens would continue for some time to come.
There was also huge concern over domestic water supplies because of the power cuts. St Helens people were asked this week to reduce their consumption or risk having their supply cut off. St Helens Corporation was specifically asking locals to: • Ensure all taps were turned off when not in use. • Limit baths, possibly to one a week, and avoid filling the bath. • Minimise flushing toilets. • Avoid excessive use of running water for washing hands. • Notify the Corporation of any dripping taps or leakages.
If the situation worsened, their Water Department would introduce drastic pressure reductions. The ultimate action would be for the water supply in certain areas of the town to be cut off and replaced by mobile water tanks.
Another effect of the coal shortage was that kids were making a nuisance of themselves in town centre stores. With many St Helens schools closed because of a lack of heating, the youngsters were instead traipsing round town.
Police also believed that thieves had taken advantage of a power blackout to enter Prescot Council offices unseen during the evening of the 23rd. They then used cutting gear to break open a safe in a strong room and stole £2,153.
The Reporter on the 25th described how the Pilkington strikers that had been sacked by the glass giant in 1970 were calling for a showdown meeting with the firm. The 70-or-so men had been on the dole for 19 months and last October, Pilks said they would adopt a "more flexible" approach to rehiring them once suitable vacancies occurred. But Jim Crosby, the spokesman for the men, said:
"Let's see once and for all if they are ever going to take us back. We are hounded at the Labour Exchange to get jobs, and people have hurled abuse in the street saying that we don't want to work. But we do." Some of the sacked strikers said they had applied for jobs at 40 firms in the North West without success. Pilkington's response was to say that they'd had no production or process jobs available over the past few months – but there would be some vacancies at their Ravenhead factory shortly.
Stephen Maher was pictured in the Reporter after three Alsatians had allegedly attacked him on his way home from school. The face of the 7-year-old was described as a mass of blood during the attack near his home in Colne Road, Burtonwood. Stephen's father said he intended to get the dogs destroyed. However, their owner claimed that her animals had simply knocked over the boy and had not bitten him.
Last November I described how a safety survey of the stretch of the East Lancs between Moss Bank and Carr Mill had revealed serious failings. Huge volumes of traffic over a long period had given the road a slippery shine and consequently tyres were losing their grip. So the Reporter announced that a two-mile stretch of the road would receive a "facelift", as it was then termed. However, improving the very busy East Lancs was much easier said than done.
This week the Reporter upgraded facelift to "monster scheme" and described how the £300,000 operation (around £5m in today's money) would begin in three months' time. The downside to the laying of resurfacing materials with anti-skid properties was that huge traffic jams were likely to build up. That was because 33,000 vehicles would be channelled onto a single carriageway of the East Lancs – possibly for as long as 2½ miles – and it would take nine months for the project to be completed.
As we know there are very few public toilets within St Helens these days. However, in the early 1970s, the town had seventeen. The cost of vandalism was one reason why they were closed. In February 1970 it was revealed that the Corporation's efforts to vandal-proof the public toilets in Haresfinch were proving unsuccessful. The windows had been smashed so often that special "brick-glass" panes had been installed.
However, the Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, had to reveal that some of the new anti-vandal windows had already been broken. This week it was revealed that vandalism to Haresfinch's public loos had cost £2,000 in repairs and alterations over the past two years. That's about £30,000 in today's money. As a result a concrete roof was now going to be installed and the pipework was being concealed. Somewhat appropriately, the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street began screenings of 'Carry On At Your Convenience' this week!
On the 26th the Liverpool Echo reported that Fred Houghton from Marshalls Cross Road in St Helens had been made a member of the Golden Shoe Safety Club. The 64-year-old machine operator at British Sidac had escaped unhurt when a 7 cwt. reel of cellulose film had slipped from a pulley and landed on his foot. Fred had escaped injury because he was wearing special steel toecap safety boots.
The Golden Shoe Safety Club was an offshoot of the Golden Helmet Club and designed to encourage workers to be more safety conscious. Club members were usually presented with a certificate, a badge and a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting 'Man with a Golden Helmet'. Although during the 1980s, experts concluded that the Dutch artist had not actually painted the artwork.
Next week's stories will include the obscene books in Bickerstaffe Street, the new trial of town centre taxi ranks, the boy “sniper” at a soldier's St Helens' wedding and the Carr Mill Service Station's concern over the monster East Lancs road scheme.
This week's many stories include the end of the miners' strike, worries over the water supply situation in St Helens, the church leaders gassed in Ormskirk Street, the Sutton explosion after a North Sea gas conversion, the vandalism of Haresfinch's public loos and the monster scheme on the East Lancs that was expected to cause monster hold-ups.
We begin with a meeting of Rainford Council's Management Committee in which it was revealed that their efforts to save Crank Post Office were being thwarted.
In January the owner of the building from which the sub-post office was run had served his tenants with a notice to quit.
That led to the council requesting a meeting with the postmaster at Warrington to discuss what could be done.
However, on the 22nd the councillors learnt that the postmaster had written saying that if the current premises were vacated, there would be no more sub-post office in Crank.
Cllr. Dennis Collins was unimpressed, commenting: "We asked for a meeting and they send us a stereotyped reply. This is an essential service and we should press it further."
The council's clerk, Ken Isherwood, told the meeting that there were no suitable alternative premises in the district.
However, it was decided that another attempt would be made to save the service and a sub-committee would attempt to arrange a meeting with the tenants and the Warrington postmaster.
Six men and a woman were rushed to Providence Hospital (pictured above) during the evening of the 22nd after being gassed by a church's central heating system.
Two of the men collapsed outside the Congregational Church in Ormskirk Street and were discovered unconscious by its minister.
The drama happened at the end of a meeting of church leaders – but all were allowed home after treatment.
Also this week there was an explosion in Edgeworth Street in Sutton that occurred two hours after Tom Tither's meter had been converted to North Sea gas.
Upon noticing a smell of gas, the 86-year-old decided to investigate and while doing so lit a cigarette.
Not, of course, a wise thing to do and seconds later what was described as a "river of flame" was running along his skirting boards and setting fire to Tom's bed.
The Gas Board said they were conducting an investigation but did not think there was any connection between the conversion and fire.
"It is possible", said a spokesman, "but very unlikely, and we are still looking into it."
The miners' strike finally appeared to be coming to an end after seven weeks. NUM leaders had agreed to a pay offer and on the 23rd its near-3,000 members in St Helens cast their votes on the deal.
The men were expected to return to their jobs next week – but Manweb warned that a shortage of fuel would mean that the power cuts in St Helens would continue for some time to come.
There was also huge concern over domestic water supplies because of the power cuts. St Helens people were asked this week to reduce their consumption or risk having their supply cut off.
St Helens Corporation was specifically asking locals to:
• Ensure all taps were turned off when not in use.
• Limit baths, possibly to one a week, and avoid filling the bath.
• Minimise flushing toilets.
• Avoid excessive use of running water for washing hands.
• Notify the Corporation of any dripping taps or leakages.
If the situation worsened, their Water Department would introduce drastic pressure reductions.
The ultimate action would be for the water supply in certain areas of the town to be cut off and replaced by mobile water tanks.
Another effect of the coal shortage was that kids were making a nuisance of themselves in town centre stores.
With many St Helens schools closed because of a lack of heating, the youngsters were instead traipsing round town.
Mr P. W. Carmen of the St Helens Industrial Co-op Society complained of the problem at Helena House in Baldwin Street (pictured above):
"One of our biggest headaches has been the number of children in the store. They have flooded in because, with no school they have nothing to do. I have had to appeal to parents to keep them out of the store."
Police also believed that thieves had taken advantage of a power blackout to enter Prescot Council offices unseen during the evening of the 23rd.
They then used cutting gear to break open a safe in a strong room and stole £2,153.
The Reporter on the 25th described how the Pilkington strikers that had been sacked by the glass giant in 1970 were calling for a showdown meeting with the firm.
The 70-or-so men had been on the dole for 19 months and last October, Pilks said they would adopt a "more flexible" approach to rehiring them once suitable vacancies occurred. But Jim Crosby, the spokesman for the men, said:
"Let's see once and for all if they are ever going to take us back. We are hounded at the Labour Exchange to get jobs, and people have hurled abuse in the street saying that we don't want to work. But we do."
Some of the sacked strikers said they had applied for jobs at 40 firms in the North West without success.
Pilkington's response was to say that they'd had no production or process jobs available over the past few months – but there would be some vacancies at their Ravenhead factory shortly.
Stephen Maher was pictured in the Reporter after three Alsatians had allegedly attacked him on his way home from school.
The face of the 7-year-old was described as a mass of blood during the attack near his home in Colne Road, Burtonwood.
Stephen's father said he intended to get the dogs destroyed. However, their owner claimed that her animals had simply knocked over the boy and had not bitten him.
Last November I described how a safety survey of the stretch of the East Lancs between Moss Bank and Carr Mill had revealed serious failings.
Huge volumes of traffic over a long period had given the road a slippery shine and consequently tyres were losing their grip.
So the Reporter announced that a two-mile stretch of the road would receive a "facelift", as it was then termed.
However, improving the very busy East Lancs was much easier said than done.
This week the Reporter upgraded facelift to "monster scheme" and described how the £300,000 operation (around £5m in today's money) would begin in three months' time.
The downside to the laying of resurfacing materials with anti-skid properties was that huge traffic jams were likely to build up.
That was because 33,000 vehicles would be channelled onto a single carriageway of the East Lancs – possibly for as long as 2½ miles – and it would take nine months for the project to be completed.
As we know there are very few public toilets within St Helens these days. However, in the early 1970s, the town had seventeen. The cost of vandalism was one reason why they were closed.
In February 1970 it was revealed that the Corporation's efforts to vandal-proof the public toilets in Haresfinch were proving unsuccessful.
The windows had been smashed so often that special "brick-glass" panes had been installed.
However, the Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, had to reveal that some of the new anti-vandal windows had already been broken.
This week it was revealed that vandalism to Haresfinch's public loos had cost £2,000 in repairs and alterations over the past two years. That's about £30,000 in today's money.
As a result a concrete roof was now going to be installed and the pipework was being concealed.
Somewhat appropriately, the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street began screenings of 'Carry On At Your Convenience' this week!
On the 26th the Liverpool Echo reported that Fred Houghton from Marshalls Cross Road in St Helens had been made a member of the Golden Shoe Safety Club.
The 64-year-old machine operator at British Sidac had escaped unhurt when a 7 cwt. reel of cellulose film had slipped from a pulley and landed on his foot.
Fred had escaped injury because he was wearing special steel toecap safety boots.
The Golden Shoe Safety Club was an offshoot of the Golden Helmet Club and designed to encourage workers to be more safety conscious.
Club members were usually presented with a certificate, a badge and a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting 'Man with a Golden Helmet'.
Although during the 1980s, experts concluded that the Dutch artist had not actually painted the artwork.
Next Week's stories will include the obscene books in Bickerstaffe Street, the new trial of town centre taxi ranks, the boy “sniper” at a soldier's St Helens' wedding and the Carr Mill Service Station's concern over the monster East Lancs road scheme.
We begin with a meeting of Rainford Council's Management Committee in which it was revealed that their efforts to save Crank Post Office were being thwarted.
In January the owner of the building from which the sub-post office was run had served his tenants with a notice to quit.
That led to the council requesting a meeting with the postmaster at Warrington to discuss what could be done.
However, on the 22nd the councillors learnt that the postmaster had written saying that if the current premises were vacated, there would be no more sub-post office in Crank.
Cllr. Dennis Collins was unimpressed, commenting: "We asked for a meeting and they send us a stereotyped reply. This is an essential service and we should press it further."
The council's clerk, Ken Isherwood, told the meeting that there were no suitable alternative premises in the district.
However, it was decided that another attempt would be made to save the service and a sub-committee would attempt to arrange a meeting with the tenants and the Warrington postmaster.
Two of the men collapsed outside the Congregational Church in Ormskirk Street and were discovered unconscious by its minister.
The drama happened at the end of a meeting of church leaders – but all were allowed home after treatment.
Also this week there was an explosion in Edgeworth Street in Sutton that occurred two hours after Tom Tither's meter had been converted to North Sea gas.
Upon noticing a smell of gas, the 86-year-old decided to investigate and while doing so lit a cigarette.
Not, of course, a wise thing to do and seconds later what was described as a "river of flame" was running along his skirting boards and setting fire to Tom's bed.
The Gas Board said they were conducting an investigation but did not think there was any connection between the conversion and fire.
"It is possible", said a spokesman, "but very unlikely, and we are still looking into it."
The miners' strike finally appeared to be coming to an end after seven weeks. NUM leaders had agreed to a pay offer and on the 23rd its near-3,000 members in St Helens cast their votes on the deal.
The men were expected to return to their jobs next week – but Manweb warned that a shortage of fuel would mean that the power cuts in St Helens would continue for some time to come.
There was also huge concern over domestic water supplies because of the power cuts. St Helens people were asked this week to reduce their consumption or risk having their supply cut off.
St Helens Corporation was specifically asking locals to:
• Ensure all taps were turned off when not in use.
• Limit baths, possibly to one a week, and avoid filling the bath.
• Minimise flushing toilets.
• Avoid excessive use of running water for washing hands.
• Notify the Corporation of any dripping taps or leakages.
If the situation worsened, their Water Department would introduce drastic pressure reductions.
The ultimate action would be for the water supply in certain areas of the town to be cut off and replaced by mobile water tanks.
Another effect of the coal shortage was that kids were making a nuisance of themselves in town centre stores.
With many St Helens schools closed because of a lack of heating, the youngsters were instead traipsing round town.
"One of our biggest headaches has been the number of children in the store. They have flooded in because, with no school they have nothing to do. I have had to appeal to parents to keep them out of the store."
Police also believed that thieves had taken advantage of a power blackout to enter Prescot Council offices unseen during the evening of the 23rd.
They then used cutting gear to break open a safe in a strong room and stole £2,153.
The Reporter on the 25th described how the Pilkington strikers that had been sacked by the glass giant in 1970 were calling for a showdown meeting with the firm.
The 70-or-so men had been on the dole for 19 months and last October, Pilks said they would adopt a "more flexible" approach to rehiring them once suitable vacancies occurred. But Jim Crosby, the spokesman for the men, said:
"Let's see once and for all if they are ever going to take us back. We are hounded at the Labour Exchange to get jobs, and people have hurled abuse in the street saying that we don't want to work. But we do."
Some of the sacked strikers said they had applied for jobs at 40 firms in the North West without success.
Pilkington's response was to say that they'd had no production or process jobs available over the past few months – but there would be some vacancies at their Ravenhead factory shortly.
Stephen Maher was pictured in the Reporter after three Alsatians had allegedly attacked him on his way home from school.
The face of the 7-year-old was described as a mass of blood during the attack near his home in Colne Road, Burtonwood.
Stephen's father said he intended to get the dogs destroyed. However, their owner claimed that her animals had simply knocked over the boy and had not bitten him.
Last November I described how a safety survey of the stretch of the East Lancs between Moss Bank and Carr Mill had revealed serious failings.
Huge volumes of traffic over a long period had given the road a slippery shine and consequently tyres were losing their grip.
So the Reporter announced that a two-mile stretch of the road would receive a "facelift", as it was then termed.
However, improving the very busy East Lancs was much easier said than done.
This week the Reporter upgraded facelift to "monster scheme" and described how the £300,000 operation (around £5m in today's money) would begin in three months' time.
The downside to the laying of resurfacing materials with anti-skid properties was that huge traffic jams were likely to build up.
That was because 33,000 vehicles would be channelled onto a single carriageway of the East Lancs – possibly for as long as 2½ miles – and it would take nine months for the project to be completed.
As we know there are very few public toilets within St Helens these days. However, in the early 1970s, the town had seventeen. The cost of vandalism was one reason why they were closed.
In February 1970 it was revealed that the Corporation's efforts to vandal-proof the public toilets in Haresfinch were proving unsuccessful.
The windows had been smashed so often that special "brick-glass" panes had been installed.
However, the Corporation's Building Manager, Joseph Appleton, had to reveal that some of the new anti-vandal windows had already been broken.
This week it was revealed that vandalism to Haresfinch's public loos had cost £2,000 in repairs and alterations over the past two years. That's about £30,000 in today's money.
As a result a concrete roof was now going to be installed and the pipework was being concealed.
Somewhat appropriately, the ABC Savoy in Bridge Street began screenings of 'Carry On At Your Convenience' this week!
On the 26th the Liverpool Echo reported that Fred Houghton from Marshalls Cross Road in St Helens had been made a member of the Golden Shoe Safety Club.
The 64-year-old machine operator at British Sidac had escaped unhurt when a 7 cwt. reel of cellulose film had slipped from a pulley and landed on his foot.
Fred had escaped injury because he was wearing special steel toecap safety boots.
The Golden Shoe Safety Club was an offshoot of the Golden Helmet Club and designed to encourage workers to be more safety conscious.
Club members were usually presented with a certificate, a badge and a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting 'Man with a Golden Helmet'.
Although during the 1980s, experts concluded that the Dutch artist had not actually painted the artwork.
Next Week's stories will include the obscene books in Bickerstaffe Street, the new trial of town centre taxi ranks, the boy “sniper” at a soldier's St Helens' wedding and the Carr Mill Service Station's concern over the monster East Lancs road scheme.