FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (21st - 27th NOVEMBER 1972)
This week's stories include the successful letting of the town's new shopping centre, the dog called Blue that was set to patrol Taylor Park, a veteran St Helens publican pulls his last pint, the Gravy Train hits the buffers, the St Helens food shops with poor hygiene practices, the death of a St Helens ice-cream maker and plans for an illuminated cross on Rainford Church are rejected.
We begin on the 21st with the sad recovery of the body of John Casey from Carr Mill Dam. The 74-year-old of Bassenthwaite Avenue in St Helens had been missing from home since the previous day.
Also on the 21st the Liverpool Echo reported on some ornamental thefts from the Golden Lion at Rainford – seemingly by their own customers. Missing from a wall outside the pub's dining room was what was described as a Red Indian chief's head in brass, measuring 18 inches square and valued at £100 (about £1,500 in today's money). Also stolen were a 12-inch high brass vase worth £60, a pair of brass candlesticks and a brass bell on a stand.
Licensee Tom Cowing said: "All the items were taken during opening hours. We think they were taken at night and probably by the same people." The Nags Head Hotel – on the corner of Eccleston Street and Boundary Road in St Helens – also this week reported the loss of two copper jugs.
This week former ice-cream maker Dominic Randolph died in Providence Hospital at the age of 59. Mr Randolph of Prescot Road in St Helens had run the business with his brother Horace in Claughton Street until three years ago. The firm had originally been started by their father in Waterloo Street towards the end of the 19th century – but was dissolved before WW2. When the brothers came out of the army after serving in the war, they decided to renew the business. The death of Alfred Nock was also announced. He had owned Northern Footwear – which made slippers and sandals in City Road in St Helens – but had sold out in 1953.
At Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes committee meeting on the 22nd, it was decided that two ponds near a housing estate should be filled in. One of them on the Old Hall estate was described as a "bottomless pit" and members were concerned about the danger they posed to children.
The Rainford Planning Committee also met this week and decided by a vote of 4 to 2 to refuse permission for a 7-foot high neon cross to be installed on the tower of Rainford Parish Church (pictured above). The reason was that the cross was seen as an advert for Christianity! Lancashire County planning officials had previously told the councillors that the cross needed to be classified in the same category as neon advertising signs, which were strictly controlled in rural areas. The Vicar of Rainford, the Rev. Thomas Bishop, had then angrily told the Reporter: "It is ridiculous that a cross should be put in the same class as commercial advertising. The cross is the symbol of our faith, and we want it to shine out into the night."
The council's Health Committee also met and decided that litter louts in Rainford would receive a friendly warning if caught dropping rubbish in the street. The letter from their Chief Public Health Inspector, John Wilde, would remind the litter dropper of their "civic duty" – rather than make them pay a fine. The committee decided on the polite plan after Mr Wilde had expressed concern at the amount of litter being dropped at the northern end of Church Road.
The St Helens Reporter on the 24th described how the re-development of the town's shopping centre to create a new market surrounded by shops and served by car parks accommodating 1,000 vehicles was proving popular. That was on the basis that every unit in the first stage of the market development had already been let. The paper said:
"More than 30 different shops will soon move into the Market Centre development – and 75 per cent. of them are newcomers. Traders were so keen to snap up sites that a spokesman for the letting agents forecast yesterday: “St. Helens will be a 100 per cent. better shopping town when we have finished”."
The second stage of the development was due to be completed by October 1975 and the spokesman predicted: "If our experience so far is anything to go by, the second stage will also be fully let when it opens." There had been many complaints made by the existing market traders in St Helens over the last few months – but Ald. Joe Hughes said the disruption to them had been inevitable:
"We regretted disturbing traders in the old market and shops but you can't launch a massive scheme of this kind without upheaval. We wanted to give St. Helens shoppers the best – to make life easier for the housewife. These new shops will be modern, roomy, brighter and warmer in Winter. Obviously the rents will be fairly high but we are making St. Helens attractive to traders and they are coming."
The Reporter carried out their own mini-survey of food shops in St Helens – and they were not impressed with their findings. They found that shop assistants were guilty of risking food contamination, with the following examples stated:
• There was the "shop girl" who wiped her nose on the back of her hand. • The assistant who coughed heavily before packing tomatoes into a bag with the same hand that had shielded her mouth. • And the butchers' assistants cutting meat with plaster on their hands. • There was also the girl selling cooked meat who constantly combed her hair with her fingers. "Each time the shop emptied", wrote the Reporter, "she tidied her crowning glory with her hands, using a long mirror on the shop wall."
The paper was also critical of the owners and managers of shops for letting their staff handle both food and money – which could prove a source of contamination. The Reporter's concern over food hygiene had been stimulated by the comments of the Lancashire Medical Officer of Health. Dr Charles Wade had criticised low standards of food care in his annual report and called for more education, blaming Lancashire's soaring food poisoning figures on poor practices in small shops.
The St Helens band called the Gravy Train was featured in the Reporter appealing to their fans to look out for their stolen gear. £5,000 worth of equipment had been taken from their van while members of the group were enjoying a drink in an Exchange Street pub. It didn't appear that the band had been insured, as their manager Ray Makin told the Reporter:
"What we need now is a fairy godmother. We just can't think where to start building up again. The replacement value of the stuff is well over £5,000. If we can't get help from somewhere, the group will be finished." The Gravy Train was due to release their third album shortly and consisted of Les Williams of Irwin Road, George Lynan from Rudd Avenue, Russ Caldwell from Up Holland and John Hughes and Norman Barrett both from Earlestown.
The Reporter also described how Gerry Barnes of the Star Inn in Rainford was about to retire after 10 years as mine host and a near-lifetime in the industry. As a young man Gerry had been the last landlord of the Mill House Inn in Rainford – which was just across the road from the Star Inn – when it closed in 1936. He then took over the Washington Inn in Lowe Street in St Helens and, after the war, became landlord of the Prince of Wales in Junction Lane.
"They were happy days in Sutton," he remarked. "We worked hard, but did a lot for the old folk. We sent them on Summer outings and gave them Christmas parties. This social work gave us a lot of pleasure." Reflecting on his long years in the pub trade, Gerry said: "The thing I’ve enjoyed most about my work was meeting people. I just love folk." Replacing Gerry at the Star Inn was going to be George McCarroll, formerly of the George Hotel in St Helens.
Under the headline "Kevin And His New Pal Go On Patrol", the Reporter described the arrival in Taylor Park (pictured above) of a dog called Blue: "Park ranger Kevin Toole got a new work-mate this week . . . an Alsatian. Together they will patrol Taylor Park, St. Helens. Kevin, 36, who was the victim of a bottle attack 18 months ago, hopes that Blue will help protect the park and himself from vandals.
"Lancashire County Police chose the 10-month-old long-haired Alsatian for St. Helens Corporation, from more than 30 dogs for the job. Now the couple are to be put through police training. Then they will guard the park by day, and Blue will be kennelled at Kevin's park lodge home at night. Said Kevin: “We are getting to know each other now. Blue is fairly friendly with me, but he is ready to have a go at any troublemakers.”"
Four more St Helens folk were awarded the Freedom of the Borough this week, taking the total that had been given the honour to 17. The awards went to Ald. Tom Hignett, Ald. Joe Waring, retired JP Rachael Houghton and industrialist Alfred Coe. In a packed council chamber, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Allan Lycett, presented caskets containing the freedom scrolls to each of the four award-winners.
On the 26th the ABC Savoy began screening 'Sweden's Language of Love', which their advert in the Reporter called: "The most explicit sex educational film. Explains frankly and fully the techniques of love." If you did not want to be titillated – sorry educated! – you could be frightened out of your wits at the Capitol with a double bill of 'Doctor Terror's House of Horrors' and 'Jack The Ripper'. Meanwhile on the 26th, the St Helens Round Table were promoting the Johnny Dankworth Big Band at the Theatre Royal and the annual concert of Grange Park Male Voice Choir was being held at the Town Hall.
And finally, the Guardian reported on the 27th that public health inspectors in London were concerned that they had been detecting sulphur levels in the atmosphere "very nearly as high as those in industrial areas like St. Helens, Lancashire, and Runcorn." The culprit was believed to be the central heating of office blocks which were oil-burning and possessed a high sulphur content. There was no mention of concern for St Helens folk that had to breathe the stuff every day!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the Sutton vicar's war on pornography, proposals for a children's zoo in Rainford, a call to clean up Cowley Hill, Candlewick Green wins Opportunity Knocks and Redgate Boys Silver Band open their new HQ.
We begin on the 21st with the sad recovery of the body of John Casey from Carr Mill Dam. The 74-year-old of Bassenthwaite Avenue in St Helens had been missing from home since the previous day.
Also on the 21st the Liverpool Echo reported on some ornamental thefts from the Golden Lion at Rainford – seemingly by their own customers. Missing from a wall outside the pub's dining room was what was described as a Red Indian chief's head in brass, measuring 18 inches square and valued at £100 (about £1,500 in today's money). Also stolen were a 12-inch high brass vase worth £60, a pair of brass candlesticks and a brass bell on a stand.
Licensee Tom Cowing said: "All the items were taken during opening hours. We think they were taken at night and probably by the same people." The Nags Head Hotel – on the corner of Eccleston Street and Boundary Road in St Helens – also this week reported the loss of two copper jugs.
This week former ice-cream maker Dominic Randolph died in Providence Hospital at the age of 59. Mr Randolph of Prescot Road in St Helens had run the business with his brother Horace in Claughton Street until three years ago. The firm had originally been started by their father in Waterloo Street towards the end of the 19th century – but was dissolved before WW2. When the brothers came out of the army after serving in the war, they decided to renew the business. The death of Alfred Nock was also announced. He had owned Northern Footwear – which made slippers and sandals in City Road in St Helens – but had sold out in 1953.
At Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes committee meeting on the 22nd, it was decided that two ponds near a housing estate should be filled in. One of them on the Old Hall estate was described as a "bottomless pit" and members were concerned about the danger they posed to children.
The council's Health Committee also met and decided that litter louts in Rainford would receive a friendly warning if caught dropping rubbish in the street. The letter from their Chief Public Health Inspector, John Wilde, would remind the litter dropper of their "civic duty" – rather than make them pay a fine. The committee decided on the polite plan after Mr Wilde had expressed concern at the amount of litter being dropped at the northern end of Church Road.
The St Helens Reporter on the 24th described how the re-development of the town's shopping centre to create a new market surrounded by shops and served by car parks accommodating 1,000 vehicles was proving popular. That was on the basis that every unit in the first stage of the market development had already been let. The paper said:
"More than 30 different shops will soon move into the Market Centre development – and 75 per cent. of them are newcomers. Traders were so keen to snap up sites that a spokesman for the letting agents forecast yesterday: “St. Helens will be a 100 per cent. better shopping town when we have finished”."
The second stage of the development was due to be completed by October 1975 and the spokesman predicted: "If our experience so far is anything to go by, the second stage will also be fully let when it opens." There had been many complaints made by the existing market traders in St Helens over the last few months – but Ald. Joe Hughes said the disruption to them had been inevitable:
"We regretted disturbing traders in the old market and shops but you can't launch a massive scheme of this kind without upheaval. We wanted to give St. Helens shoppers the best – to make life easier for the housewife. These new shops will be modern, roomy, brighter and warmer in Winter. Obviously the rents will be fairly high but we are making St. Helens attractive to traders and they are coming."
The Reporter carried out their own mini-survey of food shops in St Helens – and they were not impressed with their findings. They found that shop assistants were guilty of risking food contamination, with the following examples stated:
• There was the "shop girl" who wiped her nose on the back of her hand. • The assistant who coughed heavily before packing tomatoes into a bag with the same hand that had shielded her mouth. • And the butchers' assistants cutting meat with plaster on their hands. • There was also the girl selling cooked meat who constantly combed her hair with her fingers. "Each time the shop emptied", wrote the Reporter, "she tidied her crowning glory with her hands, using a long mirror on the shop wall."
The paper was also critical of the owners and managers of shops for letting their staff handle both food and money – which could prove a source of contamination. The Reporter's concern over food hygiene had been stimulated by the comments of the Lancashire Medical Officer of Health. Dr Charles Wade had criticised low standards of food care in his annual report and called for more education, blaming Lancashire's soaring food poisoning figures on poor practices in small shops.
The St Helens band called the Gravy Train was featured in the Reporter appealing to their fans to look out for their stolen gear. £5,000 worth of equipment had been taken from their van while members of the group were enjoying a drink in an Exchange Street pub. It didn't appear that the band had been insured, as their manager Ray Makin told the Reporter:
"What we need now is a fairy godmother. We just can't think where to start building up again. The replacement value of the stuff is well over £5,000. If we can't get help from somewhere, the group will be finished." The Gravy Train was due to release their third album shortly and consisted of Les Williams of Irwin Road, George Lynan from Rudd Avenue, Russ Caldwell from Up Holland and John Hughes and Norman Barrett both from Earlestown.
The Reporter also described how Gerry Barnes of the Star Inn in Rainford was about to retire after 10 years as mine host and a near-lifetime in the industry. As a young man Gerry had been the last landlord of the Mill House Inn in Rainford – which was just across the road from the Star Inn – when it closed in 1936. He then took over the Washington Inn in Lowe Street in St Helens and, after the war, became landlord of the Prince of Wales in Junction Lane.
"They were happy days in Sutton," he remarked. "We worked hard, but did a lot for the old folk. We sent them on Summer outings and gave them Christmas parties. This social work gave us a lot of pleasure." Reflecting on his long years in the pub trade, Gerry said: "The thing I’ve enjoyed most about my work was meeting people. I just love folk." Replacing Gerry at the Star Inn was going to be George McCarroll, formerly of the George Hotel in St Helens.
"Lancashire County Police chose the 10-month-old long-haired Alsatian for St. Helens Corporation, from more than 30 dogs for the job. Now the couple are to be put through police training. Then they will guard the park by day, and Blue will be kennelled at Kevin's park lodge home at night. Said Kevin: “We are getting to know each other now. Blue is fairly friendly with me, but he is ready to have a go at any troublemakers.”"
Four more St Helens folk were awarded the Freedom of the Borough this week, taking the total that had been given the honour to 17. The awards went to Ald. Tom Hignett, Ald. Joe Waring, retired JP Rachael Houghton and industrialist Alfred Coe. In a packed council chamber, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Allan Lycett, presented caskets containing the freedom scrolls to each of the four award-winners.
On the 26th the ABC Savoy began screening 'Sweden's Language of Love', which their advert in the Reporter called: "The most explicit sex educational film. Explains frankly and fully the techniques of love." If you did not want to be titillated – sorry educated! – you could be frightened out of your wits at the Capitol with a double bill of 'Doctor Terror's House of Horrors' and 'Jack The Ripper'. Meanwhile on the 26th, the St Helens Round Table were promoting the Johnny Dankworth Big Band at the Theatre Royal and the annual concert of Grange Park Male Voice Choir was being held at the Town Hall.
And finally, the Guardian reported on the 27th that public health inspectors in London were concerned that they had been detecting sulphur levels in the atmosphere "very nearly as high as those in industrial areas like St. Helens, Lancashire, and Runcorn." The culprit was believed to be the central heating of office blocks which were oil-burning and possessed a high sulphur content. There was no mention of concern for St Helens folk that had to breathe the stuff every day!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the Sutton vicar's war on pornography, proposals for a children's zoo in Rainford, a call to clean up Cowley Hill, Candlewick Green wins Opportunity Knocks and Redgate Boys Silver Band open their new HQ.
This week's stories include the successful letting of the town's new shopping centre, the dog called Blue that was set to patrol Taylor Park, a veteran St Helens publican pulls his last pint, the Gravy Train hits the buffers, the St Helens food shops with poor hygiene practices, the death of a St Helens ice-cream maker and plans for an illuminated cross on Rainford Church are rejected.
We begin on the 21st with the sad recovery of the body of John Casey from Carr Mill Dam.
The 74-year-old of Bassenthwaite Avenue in St Helens had been missing from home since the previous day.
Also on the 21st the Liverpool Echo reported on some ornamental thefts from the Golden Lion at Rainford – seemingly by their own customers.
Missing from a wall outside the pub's dining room was what was described as a Red Indian chief's head in brass, measuring 18 inches square and valued at £100 (about £1,500 in today's money).
Also stolen were a 12-inch high brass vase worth £60, a pair of brass candlesticks and a brass bell on a stand.
Licensee Tom Cowing said: "All the items were taken during opening hours. We think they were taken at night and probably by the same people."
The Nags Head Hotel – on the corner of Eccleston Street and Boundary Road in St Helens – also this week reported the loss of two copper jugs.
This week former ice-cream maker Dominic Randolph died in Providence Hospital at the age of 59.
Mr Randolph of Prescot Road in St Helens had run the business with his brother Horace in Claughton Street until three years ago.
The firm had originally been started by their father in Waterloo Street towards the end of the 19th century – but was dissolved before WW2.
When the brothers came out of the army after serving in the war, they decided to renew the business.
The death of Alfred Nock was also announced. He had owned Northern Footwear – which made slippers and sandals in City Road in St Helens – but had sold out in 1953.
At Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes committee meeting on the 22nd, it was decided that two ponds near a housing estate should be filled in.
One of them on the Old Hall estate was described as a "bottomless pit" and members were concerned about the danger they posed to children.
The Rainford Planning Committee also met this week and decided by a vote of 4 to 2 to refuse permission for a 7-foot high neon cross to be installed on the tower of Rainford Parish Church (pictured above).
The reason was that the cross was seen as an advert for Christianity!
Lancashire County planning officials had previously told the councillors that the cross needed to be classified in the same category as neon advertising signs, which were strictly controlled in rural areas.
The Vicar of Rainford, the Rev. Thomas Bishop, had then angrily told the Reporter:
"It is ridiculous that a cross should be put in the same class as commercial advertising. The cross is the symbol of our faith, and we want it to shine out into the night."
The council's Health Committee also met and decided that litter louts in Rainford would receive a friendly warning if caught dropping rubbish in the street.
The letter from their Chief Public Health Inspector, John Wilde, would remind the litter dropper of their "civic duty" – rather than make them pay a fine.
The committee decided on the polite plan after Mr Wilde had expressed concern at the amount of litter being dropped at the northern end of Church Road.
The St Helens Reporter on the 24th described how the re-development of the town's shopping centre to create a new market surrounded by shops and served by car parks accommodating 1,000 vehicles was proving popular.
That was on the basis that every unit in the first stage of the market development had already been let. The paper said:
"More than 30 different shops will soon move into the Market Centre development – and 75 per cent. of them are newcomers. Traders were so keen to snap up sites that a spokesman for the letting agents forecast yesterday: “St. Helens will be a 100 per cent. better shopping town when we have finished”."
The second stage of the development was due to be completed by October 1975 and the spokesman predicted:
"If our experience so far is anything to go by, the second stage will also be fully let when it opens."
There had been many complaints made by the existing market traders in St Helens over the last few months – but Ald. Joe Hughes said the disruption to them had been inevitable:
"We regretted disturbing traders in the old market and shops but you can't launch a massive scheme of this kind without upheaval.
"We wanted to give St. Helens shoppers the best – to make life easier for the housewife. These new shops will be modern, roomy, brighter and warmer in Winter.
"Obviously the rents will be fairly high but we are making St. Helens attractive to traders and they are coming."
The Reporter carried out their own mini-survey of food shops in St Helens – and they were not impressed with their findings.
They found that shop assistants were guilty of risking food contamination, with the following examples stated:
• There was the "shop girl" who wiped her nose on the back of her hand.
• The assistant who coughed heavily before packing tomatoes into a bag with the same hand that had shielded her mouth.
• And the butchers' assistants cutting meat with plaster on their hands.
• There was also the girl selling cooked meat who constantly combed her hair with her fingers. "Each time the shop emptied", wrote the Reporter, "she tidied her crowning glory with her hands, using a long mirror on the shop wall."
The paper was also critical of the owners and managers of shops for letting their staff handle both food and money – which could prove a source of contamination.
The Reporter's concern over food hygiene had been stimulated by the comments of the Lancashire Medical Officer of Health.
Dr Charles Wade had criticised low standards of food care in his annual report and called for more education, blaming Lancashire's soaring food poisoning figures on poor practices in small shops.
The St Helens band called the Gravy Train was featured in the Reporter appealing to their fans to look out for their stolen gear.
£5,000 worth of equipment had been taken from their van while members of the group were enjoying a drink in an Exchange Street pub.
It didn't appear that the band had been insured, as their manager Ray Makin told the Reporter:
"What we need now is a fairy godmother. We just can't think where to start building up again. The replacement value of the stuff is well over £5,000. If we can't get help from somewhere, the group will be finished."
The Gravy Train was due to release their third album shortly and consisted of Les Williams of Irwin Road, George Lynan from Rudd Avenue, Russ Caldwell from Up Holland and John Hughes and Norman Barrett both from Earlestown.
The Reporter also described how Gerry Barnes of the Star Inn in Rainford was about to retire after 10 years as mine host and a near-lifetime in the industry.
As a young man Gerry had been the last landlord of the Mill House Inn in Rainford – which was just across the road from the Star Inn – when it closed in 1936.
He then took over the Washington Inn in Lowe Street in St Helens and, after the war, became landlord of the Prince of Wales in Junction Lane.
"They were happy days in Sutton," he remarked. "We worked hard, but did a lot for the old folk. We sent them on Summer outings and gave them Christmas parties. This social work gave us a lot of pleasure."
Reflecting on his long years in the pub trade, Gerry said: "The thing I’ve enjoyed most about my work was meeting people. I just love folk."
Replacing Gerry at the Star Inn was going to be George McCarroll, formerly of the George Hotel in St Helens.
Under the headline "Kevin And His New Pal Go On Patrol", the Reporter described the arrival in Taylor Park (pictured above) of a dog called Blue:
"Park ranger Kevin Toole got a new work-mate this week . . . an Alsatian. Together they will patrol Taylor Park, St. Helens.
"Kevin, 36, who was the victim of a bottle attack 18 months ago, hopes that Blue will help protect the park and himself from vandals.
"Lancashire County Police chose the 10-month-old long-haired Alsatian for St. Helens Corporation, from more than 30 dogs for the job. Now the couple are to be put through police training.
"Then they will guard the park by day, and Blue will be kennelled at Kevin's park lodge home at night.
"Said Kevin: “We are getting to know each other now. Blue is fairly friendly with me, but he is ready to have a go at any troublemakers.”"
Four more St Helens folk were awarded the Freedom of the Borough this week, taking the total that had been given the honour to 17.
The awards went to Ald. Tom Hignett, Ald. Joe Waring, retired JP Rachael Houghton and industrialist Alfred Coe.
In a packed council chamber, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Allan Lycett, presented caskets containing the freedom scrolls to each of the four award-winners.
On the 26th the ABC Savoy began screening 'Sweden's Language of Love', which their advert in the Reporter called:
"The most explicit sex educational film. Explains frankly and fully the techniques of love."
If you did not want to be titillated – sorry educated! – you could be frightened out of your wits at the Capitol with a double bill of 'Doctor Terror's House of Horrors' and 'Jack The Ripper'.
Meanwhile on the 26th, the St Helens Round Table were promoting the Johnny Dankworth Big Band at the Theatre Royal and the annual concert of Grange Park Male Voice Choir was being held at the Town Hall.
And finally, the Guardian reported on the 27th that public health inspectors in London were concerned that they had been detecting sulphur levels in the atmosphere "very nearly as high as those in industrial areas like St. Helens, Lancashire, and Runcorn."
The culprit was believed to be the central heating of office blocks which were oil-burning and possessed a high sulphur content.
There was no mention of concern for St Helens folk that had to breathe the stuff every day!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the Sutton vicar's war on pornography, proposals for a children's zoo in Rainford, a call to clean up Cowley Hill, Candlewick Green wins Opportunity Knocks and Redgate Boys Silver Band open their new HQ.
We begin on the 21st with the sad recovery of the body of John Casey from Carr Mill Dam.
The 74-year-old of Bassenthwaite Avenue in St Helens had been missing from home since the previous day.
Also on the 21st the Liverpool Echo reported on some ornamental thefts from the Golden Lion at Rainford – seemingly by their own customers.
Missing from a wall outside the pub's dining room was what was described as a Red Indian chief's head in brass, measuring 18 inches square and valued at £100 (about £1,500 in today's money).
Also stolen were a 12-inch high brass vase worth £60, a pair of brass candlesticks and a brass bell on a stand.
Licensee Tom Cowing said: "All the items were taken during opening hours. We think they were taken at night and probably by the same people."
The Nags Head Hotel – on the corner of Eccleston Street and Boundary Road in St Helens – also this week reported the loss of two copper jugs.
This week former ice-cream maker Dominic Randolph died in Providence Hospital at the age of 59.
Mr Randolph of Prescot Road in St Helens had run the business with his brother Horace in Claughton Street until three years ago.
The firm had originally been started by their father in Waterloo Street towards the end of the 19th century – but was dissolved before WW2.
When the brothers came out of the army after serving in the war, they decided to renew the business.
The death of Alfred Nock was also announced. He had owned Northern Footwear – which made slippers and sandals in City Road in St Helens – but had sold out in 1953.
At Rainford Council's Management and General Purposes committee meeting on the 22nd, it was decided that two ponds near a housing estate should be filled in.
One of them on the Old Hall estate was described as a "bottomless pit" and members were concerned about the danger they posed to children.
The reason was that the cross was seen as an advert for Christianity!
Lancashire County planning officials had previously told the councillors that the cross needed to be classified in the same category as neon advertising signs, which were strictly controlled in rural areas.
The Vicar of Rainford, the Rev. Thomas Bishop, had then angrily told the Reporter:
"It is ridiculous that a cross should be put in the same class as commercial advertising. The cross is the symbol of our faith, and we want it to shine out into the night."
The council's Health Committee also met and decided that litter louts in Rainford would receive a friendly warning if caught dropping rubbish in the street.
The letter from their Chief Public Health Inspector, John Wilde, would remind the litter dropper of their "civic duty" – rather than make them pay a fine.
The committee decided on the polite plan after Mr Wilde had expressed concern at the amount of litter being dropped at the northern end of Church Road.
The St Helens Reporter on the 24th described how the re-development of the town's shopping centre to create a new market surrounded by shops and served by car parks accommodating 1,000 vehicles was proving popular.
That was on the basis that every unit in the first stage of the market development had already been let. The paper said:
"More than 30 different shops will soon move into the Market Centre development – and 75 per cent. of them are newcomers. Traders were so keen to snap up sites that a spokesman for the letting agents forecast yesterday: “St. Helens will be a 100 per cent. better shopping town when we have finished”."
The second stage of the development was due to be completed by October 1975 and the spokesman predicted:
"If our experience so far is anything to go by, the second stage will also be fully let when it opens."
There had been many complaints made by the existing market traders in St Helens over the last few months – but Ald. Joe Hughes said the disruption to them had been inevitable:
"We regretted disturbing traders in the old market and shops but you can't launch a massive scheme of this kind without upheaval.
"We wanted to give St. Helens shoppers the best – to make life easier for the housewife. These new shops will be modern, roomy, brighter and warmer in Winter.
"Obviously the rents will be fairly high but we are making St. Helens attractive to traders and they are coming."
The Reporter carried out their own mini-survey of food shops in St Helens – and they were not impressed with their findings.
They found that shop assistants were guilty of risking food contamination, with the following examples stated:
• There was the "shop girl" who wiped her nose on the back of her hand.
• The assistant who coughed heavily before packing tomatoes into a bag with the same hand that had shielded her mouth.
• And the butchers' assistants cutting meat with plaster on their hands.
• There was also the girl selling cooked meat who constantly combed her hair with her fingers. "Each time the shop emptied", wrote the Reporter, "she tidied her crowning glory with her hands, using a long mirror on the shop wall."
The paper was also critical of the owners and managers of shops for letting their staff handle both food and money – which could prove a source of contamination.
The Reporter's concern over food hygiene had been stimulated by the comments of the Lancashire Medical Officer of Health.
Dr Charles Wade had criticised low standards of food care in his annual report and called for more education, blaming Lancashire's soaring food poisoning figures on poor practices in small shops.
The St Helens band called the Gravy Train was featured in the Reporter appealing to their fans to look out for their stolen gear.
£5,000 worth of equipment had been taken from their van while members of the group were enjoying a drink in an Exchange Street pub.
It didn't appear that the band had been insured, as their manager Ray Makin told the Reporter:
"What we need now is a fairy godmother. We just can't think where to start building up again. The replacement value of the stuff is well over £5,000. If we can't get help from somewhere, the group will be finished."
The Gravy Train was due to release their third album shortly and consisted of Les Williams of Irwin Road, George Lynan from Rudd Avenue, Russ Caldwell from Up Holland and John Hughes and Norman Barrett both from Earlestown.
The Reporter also described how Gerry Barnes of the Star Inn in Rainford was about to retire after 10 years as mine host and a near-lifetime in the industry.
As a young man Gerry had been the last landlord of the Mill House Inn in Rainford – which was just across the road from the Star Inn – when it closed in 1936.
He then took over the Washington Inn in Lowe Street in St Helens and, after the war, became landlord of the Prince of Wales in Junction Lane.
"They were happy days in Sutton," he remarked. "We worked hard, but did a lot for the old folk. We sent them on Summer outings and gave them Christmas parties. This social work gave us a lot of pleasure."
Reflecting on his long years in the pub trade, Gerry said: "The thing I’ve enjoyed most about my work was meeting people. I just love folk."
Replacing Gerry at the Star Inn was going to be George McCarroll, formerly of the George Hotel in St Helens.
"Park ranger Kevin Toole got a new work-mate this week . . . an Alsatian. Together they will patrol Taylor Park, St. Helens.
"Kevin, 36, who was the victim of a bottle attack 18 months ago, hopes that Blue will help protect the park and himself from vandals.
"Lancashire County Police chose the 10-month-old long-haired Alsatian for St. Helens Corporation, from more than 30 dogs for the job. Now the couple are to be put through police training.
"Then they will guard the park by day, and Blue will be kennelled at Kevin's park lodge home at night.
"Said Kevin: “We are getting to know each other now. Blue is fairly friendly with me, but he is ready to have a go at any troublemakers.”"
Four more St Helens folk were awarded the Freedom of the Borough this week, taking the total that had been given the honour to 17.
The awards went to Ald. Tom Hignett, Ald. Joe Waring, retired JP Rachael Houghton and industrialist Alfred Coe.
In a packed council chamber, the Mayor of St Helens, Cllr. Allan Lycett, presented caskets containing the freedom scrolls to each of the four award-winners.
On the 26th the ABC Savoy began screening 'Sweden's Language of Love', which their advert in the Reporter called:
"The most explicit sex educational film. Explains frankly and fully the techniques of love."
If you did not want to be titillated – sorry educated! – you could be frightened out of your wits at the Capitol with a double bill of 'Doctor Terror's House of Horrors' and 'Jack The Ripper'.
Meanwhile on the 26th, the St Helens Round Table were promoting the Johnny Dankworth Big Band at the Theatre Royal and the annual concert of Grange Park Male Voice Choir was being held at the Town Hall.
And finally, the Guardian reported on the 27th that public health inspectors in London were concerned that they had been detecting sulphur levels in the atmosphere "very nearly as high as those in industrial areas like St. Helens, Lancashire, and Runcorn."
The culprit was believed to be the central heating of office blocks which were oil-burning and possessed a high sulphur content.
There was no mention of concern for St Helens folk that had to breathe the stuff every day!
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next week's stories will include the Sutton vicar's war on pornography, proposals for a children's zoo in Rainford, a call to clean up Cowley Hill, Candlewick Green wins Opportunity Knocks and Redgate Boys Silver Band open their new HQ.