FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (23rd - 29th MAY 1972)
This week's stories include a child's tragic death at Barton's Carpet store, the star-spangled Windle filling station, the poisoning of family pets in Billinge, the Clock Face home gazumping and the parent-led Children's Club in Gartons Lane.
We begin on the 23rd when an inquest was opened into the tragic death of a little girl at Barton's Carpets. Beverley Mather of Clipsley Crescent in Haydock had been with her mother and grandmother in the Duke Street store when a roll of lino fell on top of her. The three-year-old was rushed to Providence Hospital but was found to be dead on arrival. The six-foot-high roll weighing one cwt had been stacked on display when the accident occurred. Since then the firm had installed brackets and chains to prevent a recurrence. That, of course, would have been little comfort to Beverley's parents.
The St Helens Reporter's lead story on the 26th bore the headline "Shopping War in the High Street" and began: "Three of Britain's toughest chain store rivals are lining up for a battle over the St. Helens housewife. In hush-hush talks with St. Helens Corporation, Littlewoods, the country’s biggest private company, are understood to be negotiating to build on the site of Greenall's Brewery. Close by, Woolworths and Marks and Spencer are planning to extend backwards on the brewery site in Hall Street. At stake in the pending war: a large slice of the millions of pounds spent by the St. Helens housewife every year."
The paper also reported that gardeners in Billinge had been warned that they could be inadvertently poisoning family pets. That was after three cats and a dog had been found dead in Tennyson Drive. It was believed that a popular type of poisonous slug bait had been responsible for the deaths, after the pellets had been insufficiently covered when laid down. The Reporter said brothers Paul and Neil Dutton, aged eight and seven, were heartbroken after first their pet cat and then their dog had died of the poisoning.
Inside the paper, "The Big Day Loren Popped In For Petrol", was the headline to an article about the GBE garage at Windle Island that included the above photo. The Reporter wrote: "The star-spangled petrol filling station is going self-service. And pumpmen who have played “spot the VIP” for years will come out of the cold to man the indoor controls. Over the years, petrol jockeys at the G.B. and E. service station, on Windle junction of the East Lancashire Road, have rubbed shoulders and enjoyed a chat and gag with a list of top customers that reads like a showbiz Who's Who?
"The gorgeous Sophia Loren tanked up there once, on a visit to the Grand National. Adam (“Budgie”) Faith, Ken Dodd, Ringo Starr, the Coronation Street and Comedians bill-toppers, have also popped in for petrol. Then there were Jimmy Savile, Con Cluskey (of the Bachelors), laughter-maker Johnny Hackett, super-soccer star Alan Ball and TV wrestler Jackie Pallo. Eric Bracey, 33-year-old office and forecourt manager has been at the petrol point for 18 months. “Len Fairclough gave us a wink when he caught us staring at him through the office window,” he reports."
The Reporter also described how a demonstration against the Vietnam War had taken place at the US army base at Burtonwood. Almost 300 persons – some representing the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam – had wanted to present a petition to the American commanding officer but Col. Robert Vaughan had refused to meet them. The rather ambitious petition demanded an immediate cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces. It was in the end handed to an RAF squadron leader to pass on to the Americans.
The paper also stated that parents in the Clock Face and Sutton Manor district had decided to create their own Children's Club. This planned to meet once a week in St Theresa's Church Hall in Gartons Lane. Organiser Pat Clancy of Bentley Street said: "We're going to have an awful job trying to get established. But there are seven housing estates in this area with a great proportion of children and there's nothing for them at all. We've been forgotten."
During the summer holidays the group planned to operate during the day and provide children with activities, such as a hobbies corner, indoor and outdoor games and even form their own junior dramatic group. However, the club badly needed volunteer helpers and also appealed for donations of toys, games and equipment.
It was becoming increasingly routine for the Reporter to spotlight some unfortunate resident – usually a woman – who had become frightened in her own home by hooligans and vandals. This week Jean Harrison from Parr Street was described as living "in terror" of a brick coming through her living room window after the glass in her front door had been smashed. Mrs Harrison said: "I come originally from Harrogate, which is a lovely clean town, and have been in this area of St. Helens for nearly three years. In that time I have had trouble with the electric wiring in the house, gipsies across the road, and the latest are young vandals of 13 and 14 years old."
The problem was that a dozen empty houses in Parr Street were waiting to be demolished and gangs of youths were occupying them and causing a nuisance. According to Mrs Harrison, "the noise and trouble they cause is disgusting." However, she and her husband were expecting to be re-housed soon and were hoping to be able to put their bad experiences of St Helens behind them.
Another common complaint in the Reporter was that well-established St Helens businesses had over the last couple of years suddenly been troubled by vandalism and burglaries. Hairdresser Norma Whur told the paper this week that vandals were driving her away from the salon that she'd run for 10 years. The 31-year-old's business in Westfield Street in St Helens had endured six break-ins during the last 18 months and over the past 3 months five of her windows had been smashed.
"I'm frightened of leaving it every night," said Mrs Whur, "and if it goes on, I'll just have to pack the shop in." All the trouble had occurred at night when the salon was empty. Bricks had been thrown through the back windows, lead had been stolen from the roof and thieves were continually entering the building.
The paper also revealed that the 1,500 miners at Bold Colliery had agreed to accept a 5p reduction in their wages in order that a special treat fund for retired pitmen could be created.
Sandra Webster was pictured in the Reporter in the arms of Saints captain Kel Coslett. The 16-year-old from Standish Drive in Rainford had just been named the village's Carnival Queen and would be officially crowned at the event on August 25th. Sandra beat thirty other contestants to the title and received a cheque for £50.
The Snoopy Club in the Reporter had nothing to do with the pet beagle of Charlie Brown – instead Snoopy was a glove puppet penguin who could type! All children between the ages of four years and 11 were able to join the club and this week Snoopy featured a letter from little Sandra Pennington of Melford Drive in Billinge, who wrote:
"For the last three years we have had a May Queen. We don't spend the money we collect on pop, cakes and jellies. Our mums give us those goodies when we get home. Then, afterwards, we go up to the children's ward, at Billinge Hospital, or to the matron first and give her the money. This year we collected £5. As soon as the Sister has decided, she writes to tell us what the money was spent on. We think this is a lot better than keeping the money between us all."
There were often stories in the Reporter concerning young couples looking to buy their first home who complained of being gazumped. That term was in use from about 1971. However, the accusation of a price hike was not then usually made against individuals agreeing to sell their homes who had subsequently chosen a higher offer – but against the developers of newly-built estates.
This week Pamela Wain complained to the Reporter about the conduct of Daleholme Estates, who were building new homes in Clock Face Road. The 21-year-old student nurse claimed that the company had raised the price of their new home by £850 in less than two months. "We had to give it up. I was very disappointed", said Pamela, who had put down a £50 holding fee on the three bedroomed semi when it had been priced at £5,550.
Daleholme Estates told the Reporter from their Parr Street office that there never had been a definitive price quoted for the house. What Miss Wain had been told, they claimed, had only been a guide and until the house had been built, they were not in a position to state the exact figure. That was through fluctuations in the cost of labour and materials, and, no doubt, the cost of vandalism. Similar complaints from house buyers had appeared in the paper before and it appears that some of the developers were amiss in not giving prospective purchasers such pricing information in writing when deposits were placed on plots.
Next week's stories will include Prince Philip's visit to Grange Park, the drivers at Sutton's haulage firm go on strike, there's good news for the "mad mile" campaigners in Rainhill and it's the end of the line at the Railway Inn in Moss Bank.
We begin on the 23rd when an inquest was opened into the tragic death of a little girl at Barton's Carpets. Beverley Mather of Clipsley Crescent in Haydock had been with her mother and grandmother in the Duke Street store when a roll of lino fell on top of her. The three-year-old was rushed to Providence Hospital but was found to be dead on arrival. The six-foot-high roll weighing one cwt had been stacked on display when the accident occurred. Since then the firm had installed brackets and chains to prevent a recurrence. That, of course, would have been little comfort to Beverley's parents.
The St Helens Reporter's lead story on the 26th bore the headline "Shopping War in the High Street" and began: "Three of Britain's toughest chain store rivals are lining up for a battle over the St. Helens housewife. In hush-hush talks with St. Helens Corporation, Littlewoods, the country’s biggest private company, are understood to be negotiating to build on the site of Greenall's Brewery. Close by, Woolworths and Marks and Spencer are planning to extend backwards on the brewery site in Hall Street. At stake in the pending war: a large slice of the millions of pounds spent by the St. Helens housewife every year."
The paper also reported that gardeners in Billinge had been warned that they could be inadvertently poisoning family pets. That was after three cats and a dog had been found dead in Tennyson Drive. It was believed that a popular type of poisonous slug bait had been responsible for the deaths, after the pellets had been insufficiently covered when laid down. The Reporter said brothers Paul and Neil Dutton, aged eight and seven, were heartbroken after first their pet cat and then their dog had died of the poisoning.
"The gorgeous Sophia Loren tanked up there once, on a visit to the Grand National. Adam (“Budgie”) Faith, Ken Dodd, Ringo Starr, the Coronation Street and Comedians bill-toppers, have also popped in for petrol. Then there were Jimmy Savile, Con Cluskey (of the Bachelors), laughter-maker Johnny Hackett, super-soccer star Alan Ball and TV wrestler Jackie Pallo. Eric Bracey, 33-year-old office and forecourt manager has been at the petrol point for 18 months. “Len Fairclough gave us a wink when he caught us staring at him through the office window,” he reports."
The Reporter also described how a demonstration against the Vietnam War had taken place at the US army base at Burtonwood. Almost 300 persons – some representing the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam – had wanted to present a petition to the American commanding officer but Col. Robert Vaughan had refused to meet them. The rather ambitious petition demanded an immediate cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces. It was in the end handed to an RAF squadron leader to pass on to the Americans.
The paper also stated that parents in the Clock Face and Sutton Manor district had decided to create their own Children's Club. This planned to meet once a week in St Theresa's Church Hall in Gartons Lane. Organiser Pat Clancy of Bentley Street said: "We're going to have an awful job trying to get established. But there are seven housing estates in this area with a great proportion of children and there's nothing for them at all. We've been forgotten."
During the summer holidays the group planned to operate during the day and provide children with activities, such as a hobbies corner, indoor and outdoor games and even form their own junior dramatic group. However, the club badly needed volunteer helpers and also appealed for donations of toys, games and equipment.
It was becoming increasingly routine for the Reporter to spotlight some unfortunate resident – usually a woman – who had become frightened in her own home by hooligans and vandals. This week Jean Harrison from Parr Street was described as living "in terror" of a brick coming through her living room window after the glass in her front door had been smashed. Mrs Harrison said: "I come originally from Harrogate, which is a lovely clean town, and have been in this area of St. Helens for nearly three years. In that time I have had trouble with the electric wiring in the house, gipsies across the road, and the latest are young vandals of 13 and 14 years old."
The problem was that a dozen empty houses in Parr Street were waiting to be demolished and gangs of youths were occupying them and causing a nuisance. According to Mrs Harrison, "the noise and trouble they cause is disgusting." However, she and her husband were expecting to be re-housed soon and were hoping to be able to put their bad experiences of St Helens behind them.
Another common complaint in the Reporter was that well-established St Helens businesses had over the last couple of years suddenly been troubled by vandalism and burglaries. Hairdresser Norma Whur told the paper this week that vandals were driving her away from the salon that she'd run for 10 years. The 31-year-old's business in Westfield Street in St Helens had endured six break-ins during the last 18 months and over the past 3 months five of her windows had been smashed.
"I'm frightened of leaving it every night," said Mrs Whur, "and if it goes on, I'll just have to pack the shop in." All the trouble had occurred at night when the salon was empty. Bricks had been thrown through the back windows, lead had been stolen from the roof and thieves were continually entering the building.
The paper also revealed that the 1,500 miners at Bold Colliery had agreed to accept a 5p reduction in their wages in order that a special treat fund for retired pitmen could be created.
Sandra Webster was pictured in the Reporter in the arms of Saints captain Kel Coslett. The 16-year-old from Standish Drive in Rainford had just been named the village's Carnival Queen and would be officially crowned at the event on August 25th. Sandra beat thirty other contestants to the title and received a cheque for £50.
"For the last three years we have had a May Queen. We don't spend the money we collect on pop, cakes and jellies. Our mums give us those goodies when we get home. Then, afterwards, we go up to the children's ward, at Billinge Hospital, or to the matron first and give her the money. This year we collected £5. As soon as the Sister has decided, she writes to tell us what the money was spent on. We think this is a lot better than keeping the money between us all."
There were often stories in the Reporter concerning young couples looking to buy their first home who complained of being gazumped. That term was in use from about 1971. However, the accusation of a price hike was not then usually made against individuals agreeing to sell their homes who had subsequently chosen a higher offer – but against the developers of newly-built estates.
This week Pamela Wain complained to the Reporter about the conduct of Daleholme Estates, who were building new homes in Clock Face Road. The 21-year-old student nurse claimed that the company had raised the price of their new home by £850 in less than two months. "We had to give it up. I was very disappointed", said Pamela, who had put down a £50 holding fee on the three bedroomed semi when it had been priced at £5,550.
Daleholme Estates told the Reporter from their Parr Street office that there never had been a definitive price quoted for the house. What Miss Wain had been told, they claimed, had only been a guide and until the house had been built, they were not in a position to state the exact figure. That was through fluctuations in the cost of labour and materials, and, no doubt, the cost of vandalism. Similar complaints from house buyers had appeared in the paper before and it appears that some of the developers were amiss in not giving prospective purchasers such pricing information in writing when deposits were placed on plots.
Next week's stories will include Prince Philip's visit to Grange Park, the drivers at Sutton's haulage firm go on strike, there's good news for the "mad mile" campaigners in Rainhill and it's the end of the line at the Railway Inn in Moss Bank.
This week's stories include a child's tragic death at Barton's Carpet store, the star-spangled Windle filling station, the poisoning of family pets in Billinge, the Clock Face home gazumping and the parent-led Children's Club in Gartons Lane.
We begin on the 23rd when an inquest was opened into the tragic death of a little girl at Barton's Carpets.
Beverley Mather of Clipsley Crescent in Haydock had been with her mother and grandmother in the Duke Street store when a roll of lino fell on top of her.
The three-year-old was rushed to Providence Hospital but was found to be dead on arrival.
The six-foot-high roll weighing one cwt had been stacked on display when the accident occurred.
Since then the firm had installed brackets and chains to prevent a recurrence. That, of course, would have been little comfort to Beverley's parents.
The St Helens Reporter's lead story on the 26th bore the headline "Shopping War in the High Street" and began:
"Three of Britain's toughest chain store rivals are lining up for a battle over the St. Helens housewife. In hush-hush talks with St. Helens Corporation, Littlewoods, the country’s biggest private company, are understood to be negotiating to build on the site of Greenall's Brewery.
"Close by, Woolworths and Marks and Spencer are planning to extend backwards on the brewery site in Hall Street. At stake in the pending war: a large slice of the millions of pounds spent by the St. Helens housewife every year."
The paper also reported that gardeners in Billinge had been warned that they could be inadvertently poisoning family pets. That was after three cats and a dog had been found dead in Tennyson Drive.
It was believed that a popular type of poisonous slug bait had been responsible for the deaths, after the pellets had been insufficiently covered when laid down.
The Reporter said brothers Paul and Neil Dutton, aged eight and seven, were heartbroken after first their pet cat and then their dog had died of the poisoning.
Inside the paper, "The Big Day Loren Popped In For Petrol", was the headline to an article about the GBE garage at Windle Island that included the above photo. The Reporter wrote:
"The star-spangled petrol filling station is going self-service. And pumpmen who have played “spot the VIP” for years will come out of the cold to man the indoor controls.
"Over the years, petrol jockeys at the G.B. and E. service station, on Windle junction of the East Lancashire Road, have rubbed shoulders and enjoyed a chat and gag with a list of top customers that reads like a showbiz Who's Who?
"The gorgeous Sophia Loren tanked up there once, on a visit to the Grand National. Adam (“Budgie”) Faith, Ken Dodd, Ringo Starr, the Coronation Street and Comedians bill-toppers, have also popped in for petrol.
"Then there were Jimmy Savile, Con Cluskey (of the Bachelors), laughter-maker Johnny Hackett, super-soccer star Alan Ball and TV wrestler Jackie Pallo.
"Eric Bracey, 33-year-old office and forecourt manager has been at the petrol point for 18 months. “Len Fairclough gave us a wink when he caught us staring at him through the office window,” he reports."
The staff was concerned that the garage's move to self-service would reduce their contact with the stars.
The Reporter also described how a demonstration against the Vietnam War had taken place at the US army base at Burtonwood.
Almost 300 persons – some representing the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam – had wanted to present a petition to the American commanding officer but Col. Robert Vaughan had refused to meet them.
The rather ambitious petition demanded an immediate cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces.
It was in the end handed to an RAF squadron leader to pass on to the Americans.
The paper also stated that parents in the Clock Face and Sutton Manor district had decided to create their own Children's Club.
This planned to meet once a week in St Theresa's Church Hall in Gartons Lane. Organiser Pat Clancy of Bentley Street said:
"We're going to have an awful job trying to get established. But there are seven housing estates in this area with a great proportion of children and there's nothing for them at all. We've been forgotten."
During the summer holidays the group planned to operate during the day and provide children with activities, such as a hobbies corner, indoor and outdoor games and even form their own junior dramatic group.
However, the club badly needed volunteer helpers and also appealed for donations of toys, games and equipment.
It was becoming increasingly routine for the Reporter to spotlight some unfortunate resident – usually a woman – who had become frightened in her own home by hooligans and vandals.
This week Jean Harrison from Parr Street was described as living "in terror" of a brick coming through her living room window after the glass in her front door had been smashed.
Mrs Harrison said: "I come originally from Harrogate, which is a lovely clean town, and have been in this area of St. Helens for nearly three years. In that time I have had trouble with the electric wiring in the house, gipsies across the road, and the latest are young vandals of 13 and 14 years old."
The problem was that a dozen empty houses in Parr Street were waiting to be demolished and gangs of youths were occupying them and causing a nuisance.
According to Mrs Harrison, "the noise and trouble they cause is disgusting."
However, she and her husband were expecting to be re-housed soon and were hoping to be able to put their bad experiences of St Helens behind them.
Another common complaint in the Reporter was that well-established St Helens businesses had over the last couple of years suddenly been troubled by vandalism and burglaries.
Hairdresser Norma Whur told the paper this week that vandals were driving her away from the salon that she'd run for 10 years.
The 31-year-old's business in Westfield Street in St Helens had endured six break-ins during the last eighteen months and over the past three months five of her windows had been smashed.
"I'm frightened of leaving it every night," said Mrs Whur, "and if it goes on, I'll just have to pack the shop in."
All the trouble had occurred at night when the salon was empty. Bricks had been thrown through the back windows, lead had been stolen from the roof and thieves were continually entering the building.
The paper also revealed that the 1,500 miners at Bold Colliery had agreed to accept a 5p reduction in their wages in order that a special treat fund for retired pitmen could be created.
Sandra Webster was pictured in the Reporter in the arms of Saints captain Kel Coslett.
The 16-year-old from Standish Drive in Rainford had just been named the village's Carnival Queen and would be officially crowned at the event on August 25th.
Sandra beat thirty other contestants to the title and received a cheque for £50.
The Snoopy Club in the Reporter had nothing to do with the pet beagle of Charlie Brown – instead Snoopy was a glove puppet penguin who could type!
All children between the ages of four years and 11 were able to join the club and this week Snoopy featured a letter from little Sandra Pennington of Melford Drive in Billinge, who wrote:
"For the last three years we have had a May Queen. We don't spend the money we collect on pop, cakes and jellies. Our mums give us those goodies when we get home.
"Then, afterwards, we go up to the children's ward, at Billinge Hospital, or to the matron first and give her the money.
"This year we collected £5. As soon as the Sister has decided, she writes to tell us what the money was spent on. We think this is a lot better than keeping the money between us all."
There were often stories in the Reporter concerning young couples looking to buy their first home who complained of being gazumped.
That term was in use from about 1971. However, the accusation of a price hike was not then usually made against individuals agreeing to sell their homes who had subsequently chosen a higher offer – but against the developers of newly-built estates.
This week Pamela Wain complained to the Reporter about the conduct of Daleholme Estates, who were building new homes in Clock Face Road.
The 21-year-old student nurse claimed that the company had raised the price of their new home by £850 in less than two months.
"We had to give it up. I was very disappointed", said Pamela, who had put down a £50 holding fee on the three bedroomed semi when it had been priced at £5,550.
Daleholme Estates told the Reporter from their Parr Street office that there never had been a definitive price quoted for the house.
What Miss Wain had been told, they claimed, had only been a guide and until the house had been built, they were not in a position to state the exact figure.
That was through fluctuations in the cost of labour and materials, and, no doubt, the cost of vandalism.
Similar complaints from house buyers had appeared in the paper before and it appears that some of the developers were amiss in not giving prospective purchasers such pricing information in writing when deposits were placed on plots.
Next week's stories will include Prince Philip's visit to Grange Park, the drivers at Sutton's haulage firm go on strike, there's good news for the "mad mile" campaigners in Rainhill and it's the end of the line at the Railway Inn in Moss Bank.
We begin on the 23rd when an inquest was opened into the tragic death of a little girl at Barton's Carpets.
Beverley Mather of Clipsley Crescent in Haydock had been with her mother and grandmother in the Duke Street store when a roll of lino fell on top of her.
The three-year-old was rushed to Providence Hospital but was found to be dead on arrival.
The six-foot-high roll weighing one cwt had been stacked on display when the accident occurred.
Since then the firm had installed brackets and chains to prevent a recurrence. That, of course, would have been little comfort to Beverley's parents.
The St Helens Reporter's lead story on the 26th bore the headline "Shopping War in the High Street" and began:
"Three of Britain's toughest chain store rivals are lining up for a battle over the St. Helens housewife. In hush-hush talks with St. Helens Corporation, Littlewoods, the country’s biggest private company, are understood to be negotiating to build on the site of Greenall's Brewery.
"Close by, Woolworths and Marks and Spencer are planning to extend backwards on the brewery site in Hall Street. At stake in the pending war: a large slice of the millions of pounds spent by the St. Helens housewife every year."
The paper also reported that gardeners in Billinge had been warned that they could be inadvertently poisoning family pets. That was after three cats and a dog had been found dead in Tennyson Drive.
It was believed that a popular type of poisonous slug bait had been responsible for the deaths, after the pellets had been insufficiently covered when laid down.
The Reporter said brothers Paul and Neil Dutton, aged eight and seven, were heartbroken after first their pet cat and then their dog had died of the poisoning.
"The star-spangled petrol filling station is going self-service. And pumpmen who have played “spot the VIP” for years will come out of the cold to man the indoor controls.
"Over the years, petrol jockeys at the G.B. and E. service station, on Windle junction of the East Lancashire Road, have rubbed shoulders and enjoyed a chat and gag with a list of top customers that reads like a showbiz Who's Who?
"The gorgeous Sophia Loren tanked up there once, on a visit to the Grand National. Adam (“Budgie”) Faith, Ken Dodd, Ringo Starr, the Coronation Street and Comedians bill-toppers, have also popped in for petrol.
"Then there were Jimmy Savile, Con Cluskey (of the Bachelors), laughter-maker Johnny Hackett, super-soccer star Alan Ball and TV wrestler Jackie Pallo.
"Eric Bracey, 33-year-old office and forecourt manager has been at the petrol point for 18 months. “Len Fairclough gave us a wink when he caught us staring at him through the office window,” he reports."
The staff was concerned that the garage's move to self-service would reduce their contact with the stars.
The Reporter also described how a demonstration against the Vietnam War had taken place at the US army base at Burtonwood.
Almost 300 persons – some representing the St Helens Committee for Peace in Vietnam – had wanted to present a petition to the American commanding officer but Col. Robert Vaughan had refused to meet them.
The rather ambitious petition demanded an immediate cessation of the bombing of North Vietnam and the withdrawal of American forces.
It was in the end handed to an RAF squadron leader to pass on to the Americans.
The paper also stated that parents in the Clock Face and Sutton Manor district had decided to create their own Children's Club.
This planned to meet once a week in St Theresa's Church Hall in Gartons Lane. Organiser Pat Clancy of Bentley Street said:
"We're going to have an awful job trying to get established. But there are seven housing estates in this area with a great proportion of children and there's nothing for them at all. We've been forgotten."
During the summer holidays the group planned to operate during the day and provide children with activities, such as a hobbies corner, indoor and outdoor games and even form their own junior dramatic group.
However, the club badly needed volunteer helpers and also appealed for donations of toys, games and equipment.
It was becoming increasingly routine for the Reporter to spotlight some unfortunate resident – usually a woman – who had become frightened in her own home by hooligans and vandals.
This week Jean Harrison from Parr Street was described as living "in terror" of a brick coming through her living room window after the glass in her front door had been smashed.
Mrs Harrison said: "I come originally from Harrogate, which is a lovely clean town, and have been in this area of St. Helens for nearly three years. In that time I have had trouble with the electric wiring in the house, gipsies across the road, and the latest are young vandals of 13 and 14 years old."
The problem was that a dozen empty houses in Parr Street were waiting to be demolished and gangs of youths were occupying them and causing a nuisance.
According to Mrs Harrison, "the noise and trouble they cause is disgusting."
However, she and her husband were expecting to be re-housed soon and were hoping to be able to put their bad experiences of St Helens behind them.
Another common complaint in the Reporter was that well-established St Helens businesses had over the last couple of years suddenly been troubled by vandalism and burglaries.
Hairdresser Norma Whur told the paper this week that vandals were driving her away from the salon that she'd run for 10 years.
The 31-year-old's business in Westfield Street in St Helens had endured six break-ins during the last eighteen months and over the past three months five of her windows had been smashed.
"I'm frightened of leaving it every night," said Mrs Whur, "and if it goes on, I'll just have to pack the shop in."
All the trouble had occurred at night when the salon was empty. Bricks had been thrown through the back windows, lead had been stolen from the roof and thieves were continually entering the building.
The paper also revealed that the 1,500 miners at Bold Colliery had agreed to accept a 5p reduction in their wages in order that a special treat fund for retired pitmen could be created.
Sandra Webster was pictured in the Reporter in the arms of Saints captain Kel Coslett.
The 16-year-old from Standish Drive in Rainford had just been named the village's Carnival Queen and would be officially crowned at the event on August 25th.
Sandra beat thirty other contestants to the title and received a cheque for £50.
All children between the ages of four years and 11 were able to join the club and this week Snoopy featured a letter from little Sandra Pennington of Melford Drive in Billinge, who wrote:
"For the last three years we have had a May Queen. We don't spend the money we collect on pop, cakes and jellies. Our mums give us those goodies when we get home.
"Then, afterwards, we go up to the children's ward, at Billinge Hospital, or to the matron first and give her the money.
"This year we collected £5. As soon as the Sister has decided, she writes to tell us what the money was spent on. We think this is a lot better than keeping the money between us all."
There were often stories in the Reporter concerning young couples looking to buy their first home who complained of being gazumped.
That term was in use from about 1971. However, the accusation of a price hike was not then usually made against individuals agreeing to sell their homes who had subsequently chosen a higher offer – but against the developers of newly-built estates.
This week Pamela Wain complained to the Reporter about the conduct of Daleholme Estates, who were building new homes in Clock Face Road.
The 21-year-old student nurse claimed that the company had raised the price of their new home by £850 in less than two months.
"We had to give it up. I was very disappointed", said Pamela, who had put down a £50 holding fee on the three bedroomed semi when it had been priced at £5,550.
Daleholme Estates told the Reporter from their Parr Street office that there never had been a definitive price quoted for the house.
What Miss Wain had been told, they claimed, had only been a guide and until the house had been built, they were not in a position to state the exact figure.
That was through fluctuations in the cost of labour and materials, and, no doubt, the cost of vandalism.
Similar complaints from house buyers had appeared in the paper before and it appears that some of the developers were amiss in not giving prospective purchasers such pricing information in writing when deposits were placed on plots.
Next week's stories will include Prince Philip's visit to Grange Park, the drivers at Sutton's haulage firm go on strike, there's good news for the "mad mile" campaigners in Rainhill and it's the end of the line at the Railway Inn in Moss Bank.