FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th SEPTEMBER 1970)
This week's stories include the sex attacks in a dark Parr alley, the shopping binges at Tesco in Bridge Street, what drinkers in the Cuerdley Arms thought of the price of beer and Hurricane Higgins comes to Lowe House – and gets beaten!
We begin on the 21st when 900 unofficial strikers at Stoves of Rainhill returned to work. The strike had begun five days earlier after the gas cooker maker's management had insisted on the ending of a work to rule. The union demanded a £5 increase on basic pay but at a packed meeting at Rainhill Labour Club later in the week, their members settled for a £3 rise and a productivity deal.
In the Liverpool Echo on the 23rd St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a new fire station to be built in Millfields in Eccleston, which itself had only recently been completed.
There were plans to improve road safety at Windle Island and they were certainly needed with regular accidents taking place. On the 24th Martin Yearsley's car collided with a lorry at Windle traffic lights on the East I.ancs. The 21-year-old from Kingsley Road in Dentons Green was detained in Providence Hospital with head and arm injuries.
The Plaza's controversial 'Stag Night' took place during the evening of the 24th with the number of "exotic dancers" now expanded to twelve. There had been just one young lady when the weekly men-only events first began in 1968 but the number of strippers (sorry, exotic dancers!) – had slowly increased. The event was not controversial for what went on inside the Duke Street club but for the general racket that the residents of Oxford Street complained about when patrons left the building.
This week snooker star Alex Higgins played an exhibition match at the Lowe House Club and was beaten by their 1st team captain Tony Alcock 67 - 28. The 21-year-old "Hurricane" easily beat all other nine players in the ten-frame contest but could not overcome 35-year-old Tony from Moss Bank. Many in the crowd were disappointed by Higgins' general performance, with the event organiser George Abbott saying: "We have had the world professional champion – John Spencer – playing at the club and Alex is not in the same class. But he is a young lad and I certainly think he is one of the future world champions."
On the 24th the head of St Helens CID issued a description of a sex attacker who had struck four times in a dark 100-yard passageway between Brunswick Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue in Parr. Chief Inspector Bob Moores described the man that they sought as: "About 18, dresses like a “Greaser” in a leather-studded jacket and has long, dark hair with sideburns." Two of the victims were named in the St Helens Reporter (with addresses – although not house numbers). One woman was even persuaded to walk along the alley where the attack had taken place for a photograph.
Also on that day two 17-year-old youths and a 22-year-old man made brief appearances in court charged with causing £600 worth of damage to St Nicholas Church (shown above). All three were from Sutton and were alleged to have broken three stained glass windows and were also accused of committing various other offences. They were remanded on bail having to pay sureties of £20 and would return to court in October.
Full-page adverts in the St Helens Reporter were rare but Tesco took one out on the 25th to promote their Bridge Street store. The public still needed some educating about shopping trolleys and the lay-out of supermarkets, as this text shows:
"If you want the best for your family at prices you can afford then visit the Tesco supermarket at Bridge Street and join the “Tesco trolley traffic.” Walk in, take a trolley and then go on a “shopping binge”, selecting from shelves stacked with an amazing variety and range of first-class products. Making your selection is easy at Tesco. All goods are arranged in vertical blocks so the housewife can see at a glance where her family's favourite breakfast cereal or fruit is.
"And when it comes to prices, the store's system of price-marking lets the shopper know exactly what she has to pay. There is no rush and crush at Tesco. Aisles are kept clear for the free flow of the “trolley traffic” and shoppers find they can fill their baskets in double-quick time. The cashiers are fast and efficient, so, apart from peak shopping times, there is hardly any queuing at the paying points. Today's working wives, under pressure to get the best for their families in the shortest possible time, have cause to bless the efficient service available at Tesco." Tuesday was a good day to shop at the supermarket as they gave double Green Shield stamps on everything but cigarettes.
According to 1970s government stats, the average price of draught beer sold in public bars in the summer of 1970 was just over two shillings a pint. However the Reporter had some bad news for local drinkers: "The tap room tipplers of St. Helens tightened their belts this week and swallowed a bitter beer shock. For it was announced that beer could possibly go up by 4d a pint before Christmas. But undaunted, the men have given their verdict to “Carry on drinking” – even if it is a little less frequent."
The brewers had signalled their intention to add twopence to the price of the barrelled beer that publicans were charged. The Reporter reckoned that the licensees would then add a bit more to the price and with purchase tax (remember that?) it would lead to an increase of around 4d. So they sent a reporter and photographer into the Cuerdley Arms in Church Street to see what the boozers thought of the price rise. John Houltram of Mount Pleasant Avenue was not impressed:
"This increase is ridiculous. The brewers are making enough profits as it is. I drink about 15 pints a week but I'll have to cut down." Fred Procter of Lingmell Avenue said he would find the extra cash somehow, although he already spent more than £3 a week on drink: "I don't know how I do it as I only have about £2 to spend. I can't give up drinking and I'm not going to cut down. I'll find the extra money from somewhere."
Tom Atherton of Pennine Drive in Parr drank three or four pints a night. "But I'll have to cut down", he told the Reporter. "I'll stop in a bit more and watch the telly." Francis O’Toole of Birch Avenue said he would reduce his drinking from three pints a day to one. However Eileen Saxon – the wife of the licensee – was cynical of such attitudes, saying: "When there's a mention of an increase the customers grumble and say they won't be drinking as much. But in a few weeks it's all forgotten. They always find their beer money."
The Reporter also revealed that 100 full and part-time clerical workers at Practical Credit Services were going to be replaced by a computer. The College Street office was part of a national firm called the Provident Clothing and Supply Company and their Bradford-based HQ was being computerised, leading to many job losses within their branches.
Also on the 25th the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Eric Kerr, presented Satindra Dawar of Bentinck Street with a silver medal awarded by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. That was after the 14-year-old Robins Lane pupil had beaten 72 other competitors from twelve St Helens schools in a lifesaving competition at West Park.
In the Liverpool Echo on the same day four bedroomed dormer bungalows on the new Broad Oak estate in Haydock were being advertised for between £4,095 and £4,595. There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
The Echo also gave a very favourable review of the Pilkington Players latest production, writing:
"After a record-breaking professional season at the Theatre Royal, St. Helens the amateurs took over this week, and the first production by the Pilkington Players had a polish that some more experienced companies might envy. The play, Esther McCracken's “Quiet Week-end,” had one of the brightest and well-furnished settings (designed and painted by Slim Ingram) I have seen for some time, and there was hardly a weak member among the 13 characters. Patricia Hartley was outstanding as the mother who was not at all dismayed that a quiet week-end at their country cottage became rather hectic. She organised everybody at a breathless pace and never faltered for a moment."
Also in the Echo on the 25th St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a golf club house to be built in Sherdley Park. This would to act as a base for the new nine-hole golf course that was presently being completed.
That same evening the Archbishop of Liverpool, Dr George Beck, officially reopened Lowe House Church (pictured above) after six months of work to install a new altar. Worshippers had made use of the adjacent Parish Hall, which had been converted into a temporary church.
Next week's stories will include the sinking feeling at Garswood station, Calamity Jane and the Deadwood Stage arrive in St Helens, the reluctant postcode users and the new housing estates in St Helens.
We begin on the 21st when 900 unofficial strikers at Stoves of Rainhill returned to work. The strike had begun five days earlier after the gas cooker maker's management had insisted on the ending of a work to rule. The union demanded a £5 increase on basic pay but at a packed meeting at Rainhill Labour Club later in the week, their members settled for a £3 rise and a productivity deal.
In the Liverpool Echo on the 23rd St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a new fire station to be built in Millfields in Eccleston, which itself had only recently been completed.
There were plans to improve road safety at Windle Island and they were certainly needed with regular accidents taking place. On the 24th Martin Yearsley's car collided with a lorry at Windle traffic lights on the East I.ancs. The 21-year-old from Kingsley Road in Dentons Green was detained in Providence Hospital with head and arm injuries.
The Plaza's controversial 'Stag Night' took place during the evening of the 24th with the number of "exotic dancers" now expanded to twelve. There had been just one young lady when the weekly men-only events first began in 1968 but the number of strippers (sorry, exotic dancers!) – had slowly increased. The event was not controversial for what went on inside the Duke Street club but for the general racket that the residents of Oxford Street complained about when patrons left the building.
This week snooker star Alex Higgins played an exhibition match at the Lowe House Club and was beaten by their 1st team captain Tony Alcock 67 - 28. The 21-year-old "Hurricane" easily beat all other nine players in the ten-frame contest but could not overcome 35-year-old Tony from Moss Bank. Many in the crowd were disappointed by Higgins' general performance, with the event organiser George Abbott saying: "We have had the world professional champion – John Spencer – playing at the club and Alex is not in the same class. But he is a young lad and I certainly think he is one of the future world champions."
On the 24th the head of St Helens CID issued a description of a sex attacker who had struck four times in a dark 100-yard passageway between Brunswick Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue in Parr. Chief Inspector Bob Moores described the man that they sought as: "About 18, dresses like a “Greaser” in a leather-studded jacket and has long, dark hair with sideburns." Two of the victims were named in the St Helens Reporter (with addresses – although not house numbers). One woman was even persuaded to walk along the alley where the attack had taken place for a photograph.
Full-page adverts in the St Helens Reporter were rare but Tesco took one out on the 25th to promote their Bridge Street store. The public still needed some educating about shopping trolleys and the lay-out of supermarkets, as this text shows:
"If you want the best for your family at prices you can afford then visit the Tesco supermarket at Bridge Street and join the “Tesco trolley traffic.” Walk in, take a trolley and then go on a “shopping binge”, selecting from shelves stacked with an amazing variety and range of first-class products. Making your selection is easy at Tesco. All goods are arranged in vertical blocks so the housewife can see at a glance where her family's favourite breakfast cereal or fruit is.
"And when it comes to prices, the store's system of price-marking lets the shopper know exactly what she has to pay. There is no rush and crush at Tesco. Aisles are kept clear for the free flow of the “trolley traffic” and shoppers find they can fill their baskets in double-quick time. The cashiers are fast and efficient, so, apart from peak shopping times, there is hardly any queuing at the paying points. Today's working wives, under pressure to get the best for their families in the shortest possible time, have cause to bless the efficient service available at Tesco." Tuesday was a good day to shop at the supermarket as they gave double Green Shield stamps on everything but cigarettes.
According to 1970s government stats, the average price of draught beer sold in public bars in the summer of 1970 was just over two shillings a pint. However the Reporter had some bad news for local drinkers: "The tap room tipplers of St. Helens tightened their belts this week and swallowed a bitter beer shock. For it was announced that beer could possibly go up by 4d a pint before Christmas. But undaunted, the men have given their verdict to “Carry on drinking” – even if it is a little less frequent."
The brewers had signalled their intention to add twopence to the price of the barrelled beer that publicans were charged. The Reporter reckoned that the licensees would then add a bit more to the price and with purchase tax (remember that?) it would lead to an increase of around 4d. So they sent a reporter and photographer into the Cuerdley Arms in Church Street to see what the boozers thought of the price rise. John Houltram of Mount Pleasant Avenue was not impressed:
"This increase is ridiculous. The brewers are making enough profits as it is. I drink about 15 pints a week but I'll have to cut down." Fred Procter of Lingmell Avenue said he would find the extra cash somehow, although he already spent more than £3 a week on drink: "I don't know how I do it as I only have about £2 to spend. I can't give up drinking and I'm not going to cut down. I'll find the extra money from somewhere."
Tom Atherton of Pennine Drive in Parr drank three or four pints a night. "But I'll have to cut down", he told the Reporter. "I'll stop in a bit more and watch the telly." Francis O’Toole of Birch Avenue said he would reduce his drinking from three pints a day to one. However Eileen Saxon – the wife of the licensee – was cynical of such attitudes, saying: "When there's a mention of an increase the customers grumble and say they won't be drinking as much. But in a few weeks it's all forgotten. They always find their beer money."
The Reporter also revealed that 100 full and part-time clerical workers at Practical Credit Services were going to be replaced by a computer. The College Street office was part of a national firm called the Provident Clothing and Supply Company and their Bradford-based HQ was being computerised, leading to many job losses within their branches.
Also on the 25th the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Eric Kerr, presented Satindra Dawar of Bentinck Street with a silver medal awarded by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society. That was after the 14-year-old Robins Lane pupil had beaten 72 other competitors from twelve St Helens schools in a lifesaving competition at West Park.
In the Liverpool Echo on the same day four bedroomed dormer bungalows on the new Broad Oak estate in Haydock were being advertised for between £4,095 and £4,595. There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
The Echo also gave a very favourable review of the Pilkington Players latest production, writing:
"After a record-breaking professional season at the Theatre Royal, St. Helens the amateurs took over this week, and the first production by the Pilkington Players had a polish that some more experienced companies might envy. The play, Esther McCracken's “Quiet Week-end,” had one of the brightest and well-furnished settings (designed and painted by Slim Ingram) I have seen for some time, and there was hardly a weak member among the 13 characters. Patricia Hartley was outstanding as the mother who was not at all dismayed that a quiet week-end at their country cottage became rather hectic. She organised everybody at a breathless pace and never faltered for a moment."
Also in the Echo on the 25th St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a golf club house to be built in Sherdley Park. This would to act as a base for the new nine-hole golf course that was presently being completed.
Next week's stories will include the sinking feeling at Garswood station, Calamity Jane and the Deadwood Stage arrive in St Helens, the reluctant postcode users and the new housing estates in St Helens.
This week's stories include the sex attacks in a dark Parr alley, the shopping binges at Tesco in Bridge Street, what drinkers in the Cuerdley Arms thought of the price of beer and Hurricane Higgins comes to Lowe House – and gets beaten!
We begin on the 21st when 900 unofficial strikers at Stoves of Rainhill returned to work.
The strike had begun five days earlier after the gas cooker maker's management had insisted on the ending of a work to rule.
The union demanded a £5 increase on basic pay but at a packed meeting at Rainhill Labour Club later in the week, their members settled for a £3 rise and a productivity deal.
In the Liverpool Echo on the 23rd St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a new fire station to be built in Millfields in Eccleston, which itself had only recently been completed.
There were plans to improve road safety at Windle Island and they were certainly needed with regular accidents taking place.
On the 24th Martin Yearsley's car collided with a lorry at Windle traffic lights on the East I.ancs.
The 21-year-old from Kingsley Road in Dentons Green was detained in Providence Hospital with head and arm injuries.
The Plaza's controversial 'Stag Night' took place during the evening of the 24th with the number of "exotic dancers" now expanded to twelve.
There had been just one young lady when the weekly men-only events first began in 1968 but the number of strippers (sorry, exotic dancers!) – had slowly increased.
The event was not controversial for what went on inside the Duke Street club but for the general racket that the residents of Oxford Street complained about when patrons left the building.
This week snooker star Alex Higgins played an exhibition match at the Lowe House Club and was beaten by their 1st team captain Tony Alcock 67 - 28.
The 21-year-old "Hurricane" easily beat all other nine players in the ten-frame contest but could not overcome 35-year-old Tony from Moss Bank.
Many in the crowd were disappointed by Higgins' general performance, with the event organiser George Abbott saying:
"We have had the world professional champion – John Spencer – playing at the club and Alex is not in the same class. But he is a young lad and I certainly think he is one of the future world champions."
On the 24th the head of St Helens CID issued a description of a sex attacker who had struck four times in a dark 100-yard passageway between Brunswick Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue in Parr.
Chief Inspector Bob Moores described the man that they sought as: "About 18, dresses like a “Greaser” in a leather-studded jacket and has long, dark hair with sideburns."
Two of the victims were named in the St Helens Reporter (with addresses – although not house numbers).
One woman was even persuaded to walk along the alley where the attack had taken place for a photograph.
Also on that day two 17-year-old youths and a 22-year-old man made brief appearances in court charged with causing £600 worth of damage to St Nicholas Church (shown above).
All three were from Sutton and were alleged to have broken three stained glass windows and were also accused of committing various other offences.
They were remanded on bail having to pay sureties of £20 and would return to court in October.
Full-page adverts in the St Helens Reporter were rare but Tesco took one out on the 25th to promote their Bridge Street store.
The public still needed some educating about shopping trolleys and the lay-out of supermarkets, as this text shows:
"If you want the best for your family at prices you can afford then visit the Tesco supermarket at Bridge Street and join the “Tesco trolley traffic.” Walk in, take a trolley and then go on a “shopping binge”, selecting from shelves stacked with an amazing variety and range of first-class products.
"Making your selection is easy at Tesco. All goods are arranged in vertical blocks so the housewife can see at a glance where her family's favourite breakfast cereal or fruit is.
"And when it comes to prices, the store's system of price-marking lets the shopper know exactly what she has to pay. There is no rush and crush at Tesco. Aisles are kept clear for the free flow of the “trolley traffic” and shoppers find they can fill their baskets in double-quick time.
"The cashiers are fast and efficient, so, apart from peak shopping times, there is hardly any queuing at the paying points. Today's working wives, under pressure to get the best for their families in the shortest possible time, have cause to bless the efficient service available at Tesco."
Tuesday was a good day to shop at the supermarket as they gave double Green Shield stamps on everything but cigarettes.
According to 1970s government stats, the average price of draught beer sold in public bars in the summer of 1970 was just over two shillings a pint.
However the Reporter had some bad news for local drinkers:
"The tap room tipplers of St. Helens tightened their belts this week and swallowed a bitter beer shock. For it was announced that beer could possibly go up by 4d a pint before Christmas. But undaunted, the men have given their verdict to “Carry on drinking” – even if it is a little less frequent."
The brewers had signalled their intention to add twopence to the price of the barrelled beer that publicans were charged.
The Reporter reckoned that the licensees would then add a bit more to the price and with purchase tax (remember that?) it would lead to an increase of around 4d.
So they sent a reporter and photographer into the Cuerdley Arms in Church Street to see what the boozers thought of the price rise.
John Houltram of Mount Pleasant Avenue was not impressed:
"This increase is ridiculous. The brewers are making enough profits as it is. I drink about 15 pints a week but I'll have to cut down."
Fred Procter of Lingmell Avenue said he would find the extra cash somehow, although he already spent more than £3 a week on drink:
"I don't know how I do it as I only have about £2 to spend. I can't give up drinking and I'm not going to cut down. I'll find the extra money from somewhere."
Tom Atherton of Pennine Drive in Parr drank three or four pints a night.
"But I'll have to cut down", he told the Reporter. "I'll stop in a bit more and watch the telly."
Francis O’Toole of Birch Avenue said he would reduce his drinking from three pints a day to one.
However Eileen Saxon – the wife of the licensee – was cynical of such attitudes, saying:
"When there's a mention of an increase the customers grumble and say they won't be drinking as much. But in a few weeks it's all forgotten. They always find their beer money."
The Reporter also revealed that 100 full and part-time clerical workers at Practical Credit Services were going to be replaced by a computer.
The College Street office was part of a national firm called the Provident Clothing and Supply Company and their Bradford-based HQ was being computerised, leading to many job losses within their branches.
Also on the 25th the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Eric Kerr, presented Satindra Dawar of Bentinck Street with a silver medal awarded by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
That was after the 14-year-old Robins Lane pupil had beaten 72 other competitors from twelve St Helens schools in a lifesaving competition at West Park.
In the Liverpool Echo on the same day four bedroomed dormer bungalows on the new Broad Oak estate in Haydock were being advertised for between £4,095 and £4,595.
There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
The Echo also gave a very favourable review of the Pilkington Players latest production, writing:
"After a record-breaking professional season at the Theatre Royal, St. Helens the amateurs took over this week, and the first production by the Pilkington Players had a polish that some more experienced companies might envy.
"The play, Esther McCracken's “Quiet Week-end,” had one of the brightest and well-furnished settings (designed and painted by Slim Ingram) I have seen for some time, and there was hardly a weak member among the 13 characters.
"Patricia Hartley was outstanding as the mother who was not at all dismayed that a quiet week-end at their country cottage became rather hectic. She organised everybody at a breathless pace and never faltered for a moment."
Also in the Echo on the 25th St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a golf club house to be built in Sherdley Park.
This would to act as a base for the new nine-hole golf course that was presently being completed.
That same evening the Archbishop of Liverpool, Dr George Beck, officially reopened Lowe House Church (pictured above) after six months of work to install a new altar.
Worshippers had made use of the adjacent Parish Hall, which had been converted into a temporary church.
Next week's stories will include the sinking feeling at Garswood station, Calamity Jane and the Deadwood Stage arrive in St Helens, the reluctant postcode users and the new housing estates in St Helens.
We begin on the 21st when 900 unofficial strikers at Stoves of Rainhill returned to work.
The strike had begun five days earlier after the gas cooker maker's management had insisted on the ending of a work to rule.
The union demanded a £5 increase on basic pay but at a packed meeting at Rainhill Labour Club later in the week, their members settled for a £3 rise and a productivity deal.
In the Liverpool Echo on the 23rd St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a new fire station to be built in Millfields in Eccleston, which itself had only recently been completed.
There were plans to improve road safety at Windle Island and they were certainly needed with regular accidents taking place.
On the 24th Martin Yearsley's car collided with a lorry at Windle traffic lights on the East I.ancs.
The 21-year-old from Kingsley Road in Dentons Green was detained in Providence Hospital with head and arm injuries.
The Plaza's controversial 'Stag Night' took place during the evening of the 24th with the number of "exotic dancers" now expanded to twelve.
There had been just one young lady when the weekly men-only events first began in 1968 but the number of strippers (sorry, exotic dancers!) – had slowly increased.
The event was not controversial for what went on inside the Duke Street club but for the general racket that the residents of Oxford Street complained about when patrons left the building.
This week snooker star Alex Higgins played an exhibition match at the Lowe House Club and was beaten by their 1st team captain Tony Alcock 67 - 28.
The 21-year-old "Hurricane" easily beat all other nine players in the ten-frame contest but could not overcome 35-year-old Tony from Moss Bank.
Many in the crowd were disappointed by Higgins' general performance, with the event organiser George Abbott saying:
"We have had the world professional champion – John Spencer – playing at the club and Alex is not in the same class. But he is a young lad and I certainly think he is one of the future world champions."
On the 24th the head of St Helens CID issued a description of a sex attacker who had struck four times in a dark 100-yard passageway between Brunswick Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue in Parr.
Chief Inspector Bob Moores described the man that they sought as: "About 18, dresses like a “Greaser” in a leather-studded jacket and has long, dark hair with sideburns."
Two of the victims were named in the St Helens Reporter (with addresses – although not house numbers).
One woman was even persuaded to walk along the alley where the attack had taken place for a photograph.
All three were from Sutton and were alleged to have broken three stained glass windows and were also accused of committing various other offences.
They were remanded on bail having to pay sureties of £20 and would return to court in October.
Full-page adverts in the St Helens Reporter were rare but Tesco took one out on the 25th to promote their Bridge Street store.
The public still needed some educating about shopping trolleys and the lay-out of supermarkets, as this text shows:
"If you want the best for your family at prices you can afford then visit the Tesco supermarket at Bridge Street and join the “Tesco trolley traffic.” Walk in, take a trolley and then go on a “shopping binge”, selecting from shelves stacked with an amazing variety and range of first-class products.
"Making your selection is easy at Tesco. All goods are arranged in vertical blocks so the housewife can see at a glance where her family's favourite breakfast cereal or fruit is.
"And when it comes to prices, the store's system of price-marking lets the shopper know exactly what she has to pay. There is no rush and crush at Tesco. Aisles are kept clear for the free flow of the “trolley traffic” and shoppers find they can fill their baskets in double-quick time.
"The cashiers are fast and efficient, so, apart from peak shopping times, there is hardly any queuing at the paying points. Today's working wives, under pressure to get the best for their families in the shortest possible time, have cause to bless the efficient service available at Tesco."
Tuesday was a good day to shop at the supermarket as they gave double Green Shield stamps on everything but cigarettes.
According to 1970s government stats, the average price of draught beer sold in public bars in the summer of 1970 was just over two shillings a pint.
However the Reporter had some bad news for local drinkers:
"The tap room tipplers of St. Helens tightened their belts this week and swallowed a bitter beer shock. For it was announced that beer could possibly go up by 4d a pint before Christmas. But undaunted, the men have given their verdict to “Carry on drinking” – even if it is a little less frequent."
The brewers had signalled their intention to add twopence to the price of the barrelled beer that publicans were charged.
The Reporter reckoned that the licensees would then add a bit more to the price and with purchase tax (remember that?) it would lead to an increase of around 4d.
So they sent a reporter and photographer into the Cuerdley Arms in Church Street to see what the boozers thought of the price rise.
John Houltram of Mount Pleasant Avenue was not impressed:
"This increase is ridiculous. The brewers are making enough profits as it is. I drink about 15 pints a week but I'll have to cut down."
Fred Procter of Lingmell Avenue said he would find the extra cash somehow, although he already spent more than £3 a week on drink:
"I don't know how I do it as I only have about £2 to spend. I can't give up drinking and I'm not going to cut down. I'll find the extra money from somewhere."
Tom Atherton of Pennine Drive in Parr drank three or four pints a night.
"But I'll have to cut down", he told the Reporter. "I'll stop in a bit more and watch the telly."
Francis O’Toole of Birch Avenue said he would reduce his drinking from three pints a day to one.
However Eileen Saxon – the wife of the licensee – was cynical of such attitudes, saying:
"When there's a mention of an increase the customers grumble and say they won't be drinking as much. But in a few weeks it's all forgotten. They always find their beer money."
The Reporter also revealed that 100 full and part-time clerical workers at Practical Credit Services were going to be replaced by a computer.
The College Street office was part of a national firm called the Provident Clothing and Supply Company and their Bradford-based HQ was being computerised, leading to many job losses within their branches.
Also on the 25th the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Eric Kerr, presented Satindra Dawar of Bentinck Street with a silver medal awarded by the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
That was after the 14-year-old Robins Lane pupil had beaten 72 other competitors from twelve St Helens schools in a lifesaving competition at West Park.
In the Liverpool Echo on the same day four bedroomed dormer bungalows on the new Broad Oak estate in Haydock were being advertised for between £4,095 and £4,595.
There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
There were also three bedroomed semi-detached houses on the new Chain Lane estate in Blackbrook available, with "integral garage" priced at £3,875. Mortgages for 94% of the cost were available for both estates.
The Echo also gave a very favourable review of the Pilkington Players latest production, writing:
"After a record-breaking professional season at the Theatre Royal, St. Helens the amateurs took over this week, and the first production by the Pilkington Players had a polish that some more experienced companies might envy.
"The play, Esther McCracken's “Quiet Week-end,” had one of the brightest and well-furnished settings (designed and painted by Slim Ingram) I have seen for some time, and there was hardly a weak member among the 13 characters.
"Patricia Hartley was outstanding as the mother who was not at all dismayed that a quiet week-end at their country cottage became rather hectic. She organised everybody at a breathless pace and never faltered for a moment."
Also in the Echo on the 25th St Helens Council was advertising for tenders for a golf club house to be built in Sherdley Park.
This would to act as a base for the new nine-hole golf course that was presently being completed.
Worshippers had made use of the adjacent Parish Hall, which had been converted into a temporary church.
Next week's stories will include the sinking feeling at Garswood station, Calamity Jane and the Deadwood Stage arrive in St Helens, the reluctant postcode users and the new housing estates in St Helens.