FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 25 NOV - 1 DEC 1974
This week's many stories include the disturbing dossier detailing poor living conditions in St Helens, Pilks' plans to build a factory at Greengate in Ravenhead, the St Helens Show's Western theme, the start of nursery provision in St Helens' schools, plans for a scrap metal business in Monastery Lane are rejected, an advertising feature on Cotham Street and the little boy that played with matches in Sutton Manor who was left with severe burns.
During the 1960s and ‘70s Coronation Street stars often appeared in plays at the Theatre Royal in St Helens. For six evening from the 25th, Peter Adamson and Alan Rothwell (aka Len Fairclough and David Barlow) starred in a comedy called 'The Mating Game'.
The St Helens Greyhound Track in Park Road had opened in 1932 and held two meetings each week. But on the evening of the 26th as the first race was about to begin, the lights went out and the meeting had to be abandoned. Between 400 and 500 persons from all over Lancashire and Merseyside had been in attendance. The trouble was caused by a cable fault that affected a nearby substation and the outage also blacked out 400 homes in the Blackbrook and Fingerpost area.
Also on the 26th St Helens Council's Planning Committee rejected Leslie Edwards' application to open a scrap metal business in Sutton. Mr Edwards from Blackdown Grove in Parr had done things the wrong way round. His £3,000 savings had been invested in a yard in Monastery Lane in which he had intended to store wrecked cars.
The yard was surfaced with hardcore and only after all the preparatory work was completed did he apply for planning permission. And the committee faced with a 900-signature petition against his business and opposition from Fr Eugene of Sutton Monastery had little choice but to turn him down.
The committee also heard how mining subsidence in Forest Road in Sutton Manor had left children walking through water. Councillor Paddy Gill said: "The footpaths are flooded. I've seen children wading through water going to school."
The loss of coal fires in the home and the general use of lighters by those that smoke has had one big blessing. Very rarely, these days, is a blaze blamed on children playing with matches, something that used to be very common. During the evening of the 26th, a little boy playing with matches in his parents' bedroom in Sutton Manor started a fire that left the 3-year-old with severe burns. The blaze in Hammersley Avenue also destroyed a bed and damaged walls and the boy's mother, Ann McBride, explained what happened:
"I had been upstairs to see if Stephen was okay. Five minutes later he rushed to the stairs screaming. I wrapped a curtain around his blazing body and put the flames out on the bed." As a result Mrs McBride suffered badly burned hands and required hospital treatment.
But little Stephen needed to be admitted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with burns to his chest, neck, shoulder and thigh. Later in the week the hospital described the boy's condition as "ill", although Stephen's parents were hopeful that he might be allowed home for Christmas.
The St Helens Reporter on the 29th revealed that Pilkington's had shelved their controversial plans for a £20m float glass plant in Gorsey Lane and had a new site lined up. That was at Greengate in Ravenhead, although everyone from the glass firm to council officials were being tight-lipped and refusing to confirm or deny the story.
A photograph of the proposed site was captioned a "moonscape panorama" and looking at it and reading the accompanying write-up makes one wonder why it had not been Pilks' first choice all along. Roughdales, the brickmakers, owned much of the land and it was available for the glass firm to buy. And siting industry on reclaimed brownfield land would attract hefty government grants and attract very little public opposition, unlike their first choice in Gorsey Lane.
The Reporter also described how councillors were considering a new traffic experiment in St Helens in which pedestrians would take precedence over cars. The streets that had been earmarked for the experiment were Church Street (pictured above) and, possibly, Hardshaw Street and Barrow Street.
In July there had been an outcry from some Labour councillors over an alleged military takeover of the St Helens Show. This week the Show's organiser, Ray Wright, said the role of the armed forces would be reduced in 1975 but denied the decision was connected to the row. "We had a hell of a lot of Army participation last year," he said. "This time we probably won't, because these things come and go in cycles. There's a good chance that the St. Helens Show will have a Western theme next year."
However, the idea of a cowboy-themed event was immediately criticised by Councillor Tony Harvey, who said: "The Show should be a mirror of the St. Helens atmosphere and attitudes, and I can't see how a Western show ties in with the community."
This was the introduction to another article in the Reporter: "Women these days are taking the initiative in running the world’s big wheels of commerce and industry and they are determined to do almost any job, even a man's. More than ever before, women recognise they can play an important role in business today. The married woman with a family particularly recognises this and has begun to act."
All well and good, of course, but the rest of the article was about encouraging such women to undertake a secretarial course at Newton College of Further Education, which did not appear to match the ambition of the intro.
The Reporter announced that councillors had approved plans for two new nurseries to be attached to schools, taking the total in St Helens to four. Currently none were in use, with nursery units at Allanson Street and Thatto Heath Infant Schools in the process of being built. The two additions would be at Derbyshire Hill School in Waring Avenue and Carr Mill Infants in Ullswater Avenue. The plans were part of the council's desire for all children to start school at the age of three.
What the Reporter described as "shock accusations of social injustice and inactivity" against St Helens Council had been lodged with Shelter in London. The paper said a housing expert had sent the association a "disturbing dossier" on local living conditions.
"He has catalogued the misery of people who live in houses where no repairs are done – and tells of the squalor of clearance areas where forgotten families exist in twilight conditions." The unnamed housing expert was critical of the council for not bringing any prosecutions of private landlords for ten years and not quickly resolving issues with their own housing stock.
Lucy Parr of Martindale Road in Carr Mill described the "running battle" to get the damp in her home repaired: "We have been trying to get something done since 1968 – but we have not been able to. It is disgraceful – we have to live in one room. We can hardly use the kitchen or the back place because it is so bad. I do not know how many times I have complained to the Public Health Department about this, but they know my face there. When I went into the offices, the girls would say to me: “Hasn't anything been done yet?”"
The Reporter also described how the 8:10 pm bus from Sutton to St Helens had got stuck in a sinkhole in Mill Lane. The driver had felt his bus sink as he was moving away from a stop and a breakdown vehicle and a replacement bus needed to be called out. It was thought that the building of a sewer under Mill Lane might have been the cause.
The Reporter had an advertising feature on Cotham Street, which they described as an "old name for a street with a spanking new image". It was described as one of the busiest shopping areas in the town centre and in recent years many of its old-style, narrow-fronted shops had disappeared to make way for "bright, modern stores with up-to-date merchandise".
These included the Tony Sampson male fashion shop that had been opened in 1964 by Tony and Eric Blott. The brothers now had a chain of such stores in other northern towns but Cotham Street had been their first. A few weeks ago the Blotts had ventured into the world of feminine fashion when they opened Gatsby Girl, a few doors further down from Tony Sampson in Cotham Street. That was described as "city styles at St. Helens prices".
The Corner Gift Shop was also profiled. Before the war the premises had housed an antiques business and in 1947 it became a lino and fancy goods store. Then in 1965 Marie Williams bought the business and now ran the shop with her daughter Mel.
Also in Cotham Street were Penmans jewellers, owned by Donald Fuller, and they were described as specialists in good quality diamonds. The business had begun in Corporation Street in 1949 and it moved to Cotham Street three years ago.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the strange child assault in Sherdley Park, the bakers' strike in St Helens, hopes rise that a longstanding Eccleston eyesore could be removed and the Clock Face boy who fell down a deep manhole.
During the 1960s and ‘70s Coronation Street stars often appeared in plays at the Theatre Royal in St Helens. For six evening from the 25th, Peter Adamson and Alan Rothwell (aka Len Fairclough and David Barlow) starred in a comedy called 'The Mating Game'.
The St Helens Greyhound Track in Park Road had opened in 1932 and held two meetings each week. But on the evening of the 26th as the first race was about to begin, the lights went out and the meeting had to be abandoned. Between 400 and 500 persons from all over Lancashire and Merseyside had been in attendance. The trouble was caused by a cable fault that affected a nearby substation and the outage also blacked out 400 homes in the Blackbrook and Fingerpost area.
Also on the 26th St Helens Council's Planning Committee rejected Leslie Edwards' application to open a scrap metal business in Sutton. Mr Edwards from Blackdown Grove in Parr had done things the wrong way round. His £3,000 savings had been invested in a yard in Monastery Lane in which he had intended to store wrecked cars.
The yard was surfaced with hardcore and only after all the preparatory work was completed did he apply for planning permission. And the committee faced with a 900-signature petition against his business and opposition from Fr Eugene of Sutton Monastery had little choice but to turn him down.
The committee also heard how mining subsidence in Forest Road in Sutton Manor had left children walking through water. Councillor Paddy Gill said: "The footpaths are flooded. I've seen children wading through water going to school."
The loss of coal fires in the home and the general use of lighters by those that smoke has had one big blessing. Very rarely, these days, is a blaze blamed on children playing with matches, something that used to be very common. During the evening of the 26th, a little boy playing with matches in his parents' bedroom in Sutton Manor started a fire that left the 3-year-old with severe burns. The blaze in Hammersley Avenue also destroyed a bed and damaged walls and the boy's mother, Ann McBride, explained what happened:
"I had been upstairs to see if Stephen was okay. Five minutes later he rushed to the stairs screaming. I wrapped a curtain around his blazing body and put the flames out on the bed." As a result Mrs McBride suffered badly burned hands and required hospital treatment.
But little Stephen needed to be admitted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with burns to his chest, neck, shoulder and thigh. Later in the week the hospital described the boy's condition as "ill", although Stephen's parents were hopeful that he might be allowed home for Christmas.
The St Helens Reporter on the 29th revealed that Pilkington's had shelved their controversial plans for a £20m float glass plant in Gorsey Lane and had a new site lined up. That was at Greengate in Ravenhead, although everyone from the glass firm to council officials were being tight-lipped and refusing to confirm or deny the story.
A photograph of the proposed site was captioned a "moonscape panorama" and looking at it and reading the accompanying write-up makes one wonder why it had not been Pilks' first choice all along. Roughdales, the brickmakers, owned much of the land and it was available for the glass firm to buy. And siting industry on reclaimed brownfield land would attract hefty government grants and attract very little public opposition, unlike their first choice in Gorsey Lane.
In July there had been an outcry from some Labour councillors over an alleged military takeover of the St Helens Show. This week the Show's organiser, Ray Wright, said the role of the armed forces would be reduced in 1975 but denied the decision was connected to the row. "We had a hell of a lot of Army participation last year," he said. "This time we probably won't, because these things come and go in cycles. There's a good chance that the St. Helens Show will have a Western theme next year."
However, the idea of a cowboy-themed event was immediately criticised by Councillor Tony Harvey, who said: "The Show should be a mirror of the St. Helens atmosphere and attitudes, and I can't see how a Western show ties in with the community."
This was the introduction to another article in the Reporter: "Women these days are taking the initiative in running the world’s big wheels of commerce and industry and they are determined to do almost any job, even a man's. More than ever before, women recognise they can play an important role in business today. The married woman with a family particularly recognises this and has begun to act."
All well and good, of course, but the rest of the article was about encouraging such women to undertake a secretarial course at Newton College of Further Education, which did not appear to match the ambition of the intro.
The Reporter announced that councillors had approved plans for two new nurseries to be attached to schools, taking the total in St Helens to four. Currently none were in use, with nursery units at Allanson Street and Thatto Heath Infant Schools in the process of being built. The two additions would be at Derbyshire Hill School in Waring Avenue and Carr Mill Infants in Ullswater Avenue. The plans were part of the council's desire for all children to start school at the age of three.
What the Reporter described as "shock accusations of social injustice and inactivity" against St Helens Council had been lodged with Shelter in London. The paper said a housing expert had sent the association a "disturbing dossier" on local living conditions.
"He has catalogued the misery of people who live in houses where no repairs are done – and tells of the squalor of clearance areas where forgotten families exist in twilight conditions." The unnamed housing expert was critical of the council for not bringing any prosecutions of private landlords for ten years and not quickly resolving issues with their own housing stock.
Lucy Parr of Martindale Road in Carr Mill described the "running battle" to get the damp in her home repaired: "We have been trying to get something done since 1968 – but we have not been able to. It is disgraceful – we have to live in one room. We can hardly use the kitchen or the back place because it is so bad. I do not know how many times I have complained to the Public Health Department about this, but they know my face there. When I went into the offices, the girls would say to me: “Hasn't anything been done yet?”"
The Reporter also described how the 8:10 pm bus from Sutton to St Helens had got stuck in a sinkhole in Mill Lane. The driver had felt his bus sink as he was moving away from a stop and a breakdown vehicle and a replacement bus needed to be called out. It was thought that the building of a sewer under Mill Lane might have been the cause.
The Reporter had an advertising feature on Cotham Street, which they described as an "old name for a street with a spanking new image". It was described as one of the busiest shopping areas in the town centre and in recent years many of its old-style, narrow-fronted shops had disappeared to make way for "bright, modern stores with up-to-date merchandise".
These included the Tony Sampson male fashion shop that had been opened in 1964 by Tony and Eric Blott. The brothers now had a chain of such stores in other northern towns but Cotham Street had been their first. A few weeks ago the Blotts had ventured into the world of feminine fashion when they opened Gatsby Girl, a few doors further down from Tony Sampson in Cotham Street. That was described as "city styles at St. Helens prices".
The Corner Gift Shop was also profiled. Before the war the premises had housed an antiques business and in 1947 it became a lino and fancy goods store. Then in 1965 Marie Williams bought the business and now ran the shop with her daughter Mel.
Also in Cotham Street were Penmans jewellers, owned by Donald Fuller, and they were described as specialists in good quality diamonds. The business had begun in Corporation Street in 1949 and it moved to Cotham Street three years ago.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the strange child assault in Sherdley Park, the bakers' strike in St Helens, hopes rise that a longstanding Eccleston eyesore could be removed and the Clock Face boy who fell down a deep manhole.
This week's many stories include the disturbing dossier detailing poor living conditions in St Helens, Pilks' plans to build a factory at Greengate in Ravenhead, the St Helens Show's Western theme, the start of nursery provision in St Helens' schools, plans for a scrap metal business in Monastery Lane are rejected, an advertising feature on Cotham Street and the little boy that played with matches in Sutton Manor who was left with severe burns.
During the 1960s and ‘70s Coronation Street stars often appeared in plays at the Theatre Royal in St Helens.
For six evening from the 25th, Peter Adamson and Alan Rothwell (aka Len Fairclough and David Barlow) starred in a comedy called 'The Mating Game'.
The St Helens Greyhound Track in Park Road had opened in 1932 and held two meetings each week.
But on the evening of the 26th as the first race was about to begin, the lights went out and the meeting had to be abandoned.
Between 400 and 500 persons from all over Lancashire and Merseyside had been in attendance.
The trouble was caused by a cable fault that affected a nearby substation and the outage also blacked out 400 homes in the Blackbrook and Fingerpost area.
Also on the 26th St Helens Council's Planning Committee rejected Leslie Edwards' application to open a scrap metal business in Sutton.
Mr Edwards from Blackdown Grove in Parr had done things the wrong way round.
His £3,000 savings had been invested in a yard in Monastery Lane in which he had intended to store wrecked cars.
The yard was surfaced with hardcore and only after all the preparatory work was completed did he apply for planning permission.
And the committee faced with a 900-signature petition against his business and opposition from Fr Eugene of Sutton Monastery had little choice but to turn him down.
The committee also heard how mining subsidence in Forest Road in Sutton Manor had left children walking through water. Councillor Paddy Gill said:
"The footpaths are flooded. I've seen children wading through water going to school."
The loss of coal fires in the home and the general use of lighters by those that smoke has had one big blessing.
Very rarely, these days, is a blaze blamed on children playing with matches, something that used to be very common.
During the evening of the 26th, a little boy playing with matches in his parents' bedroom in Sutton Manor started a fire that left the 3-year-old with severe burns.
The blaze in Hammersley Avenue also destroyed a bed and damaged walls and the boy's mother, Ann McBride, explained what happened:
"I had been upstairs to see if Stephen was okay. Five minutes later he rushed to the stairs screaming. I wrapped a curtain around his blazing body and put the flames out on the bed."
As a result Mrs McBride suffered badly burned hands and required hospital treatment.
But little Stephen needed to be admitted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with burns to his chest, neck, shoulder and thigh.
Later in the week the hospital described the boy's condition as "ill", although Stephen's parents were hopeful that he might be allowed home for Christmas.
The St Helens Reporter on the 29th revealed that Pilkington's had shelved their controversial plans for a £20m float glass plant in Gorsey Lane and had a new site lined up.
That was at Greengate in Ravenhead, although everyone from the glass firm to council officials were being tight-lipped and refusing to confirm or deny the story.
A photograph of the proposed site was captioned a "moonscape panorama" and looking at it and reading the accompanying write-up makes one wonder why it had not been Pilks' first choice all along.
Roughdales, the brickmakers, owned much of the land and it was available for the glass firm to buy.
And siting industry on reclaimed brownfield land would attract hefty government grants and attract very little public opposition, unlike their first choice in Gorsey Lane.
The Reporter also described how councillors were considering a new traffic experiment in St Helens in which pedestrians would take precedence over cars.
The streets that had been earmarked for the experiment were Church Street (pictured above) and, possibly, Hardshaw Street and Barrow Street.
In July there had been an outcry from some Labour councillors over an alleged military takeover of the St Helens Show.
This week the Show's organiser, Ray Wright, said the role of the armed forces would be reduced in 1975 but denied the decision was connected to the row.
"We had a hell of a lot of Army participation last year," he said. "This time we probably won't, because these things come and go in cycles. There's a good chance that the St. Helens Show will have a Western theme next year."
However, the idea of a cowboy-themed event was immediately criticised by Councillor Tony Harvey, who said:
"The Show should be a mirror of the St. Helens atmosphere and attitudes, and I can't see how a Western show ties in with the community."
This was the introduction to another article in the Reporter:
"Women these days are taking the initiative in running the world’s big wheels of commerce and industry and they are determined to do almost any job, even a man's.
"More than ever before, women recognise they can play an important role in business today. The married woman with a family particularly recognises this and has begun to act."
All well and good, of course, but the rest of the article was about encouraging such women to undertake a secretarial course at Newton College of Further Education, which did not appear to match the ambition of the intro.
The Reporter announced that councillors had approved plans for two new nurseries to be attached to schools, taking the total in St Helens to four.
Currently none were in use, with nursery units at Allanson Street and Thatto Heath Infant Schools in the process of being built.
The two additions would be at Derbyshire Hill School in Waring Avenue and Carr Mill Infants in Ullswater Avenue.
The plans were part of the council's desire for all children to start school at the age of three.
What the Reporter described as "shock accusations of social injustice and inactivity" against St Helens Council had been lodged with Shelter in London.
The paper said a housing expert had sent the association a "disturbing dossier" on local living conditions.
"He has catalogued the misery of people who live in houses where no repairs are done – and tells of the squalor of clearance areas where forgotten families exist in twilight conditions."
The unnamed housing expert was critical of the council for not bringing any prosecutions of private landlords for ten years and not quickly resolving issues with their own housing stock.
Lucy Parr of Martindale Road in Carr Mill described the "running battle" to get the damp in her home repaired:
"We have been trying to get something done since 1968 – but we have not been able to. It is disgraceful – we have to live in one room.
"We can hardly use the kitchen or the back place because it is so bad. I do not know how many times I have complained to the Public Health Department about this, but they know my face there.
"When I went into the offices, the girls would say to me: “Hasn't anything been done yet?”"
The Reporter also described how the 8:10 pm bus from Sutton to St Helens had got stuck in a sinkhole in Mill Lane.
The driver had felt his bus sink as he was moving away from a stop and a breakdown vehicle and a replacement bus needed to be called out.
It was thought that the building of a sewer under Mill Lane might have been the cause.
The Reporter had an advertising feature on Cotham Street, which they described as an "old name for a street with a spanking new image".
It was described as one of the busiest shopping areas in the town centre and in recent years many of its old-style, narrow-fronted shops had disappeared to make way for "bright, modern stores with up-to-date merchandise".
These included the Tony Sampson male fashion shop that had been opened in 1964 by Tony and Eric Blott.
The brothers now had a chain of such stores in other northern towns but Cotham Street had been their first.
A few weeks ago the Blotts had ventured into the world of feminine fashion when they opened Gatsby Girl, a few doors further down from Tony Sampson in Cotham Street. That was described as "city styles at St. Helens prices".
The Corner Gift Shop was also profiled. Before the war the premises had housed an antiques business and in 1947 it became a lino and fancy goods store.
Then in 1965 Marie Williams bought the business and now ran the shop with her daughter Mel.
Also in Cotham Street were Penmans jewellers, owned by Donald Fuller, and they were described as specialists in good quality diamonds.
The business had begun in Corporation Street in 1949 and it moved to Cotham Street three years ago.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the strange child assault in Sherdley Park, the bakers' strike in St Helens, hopes rise that a longstanding Eccleston eyesore could be removed and the Clock Face boy who fell down a deep manhole.
During the 1960s and ‘70s Coronation Street stars often appeared in plays at the Theatre Royal in St Helens.
For six evening from the 25th, Peter Adamson and Alan Rothwell (aka Len Fairclough and David Barlow) starred in a comedy called 'The Mating Game'.
The St Helens Greyhound Track in Park Road had opened in 1932 and held two meetings each week.
But on the evening of the 26th as the first race was about to begin, the lights went out and the meeting had to be abandoned.
Between 400 and 500 persons from all over Lancashire and Merseyside had been in attendance.
The trouble was caused by a cable fault that affected a nearby substation and the outage also blacked out 400 homes in the Blackbrook and Fingerpost area.
Also on the 26th St Helens Council's Planning Committee rejected Leslie Edwards' application to open a scrap metal business in Sutton.
Mr Edwards from Blackdown Grove in Parr had done things the wrong way round.
His £3,000 savings had been invested in a yard in Monastery Lane in which he had intended to store wrecked cars.
The yard was surfaced with hardcore and only after all the preparatory work was completed did he apply for planning permission.
And the committee faced with a 900-signature petition against his business and opposition from Fr Eugene of Sutton Monastery had little choice but to turn him down.
The committee also heard how mining subsidence in Forest Road in Sutton Manor had left children walking through water. Councillor Paddy Gill said:
"The footpaths are flooded. I've seen children wading through water going to school."
The loss of coal fires in the home and the general use of lighters by those that smoke has had one big blessing.
Very rarely, these days, is a blaze blamed on children playing with matches, something that used to be very common.
During the evening of the 26th, a little boy playing with matches in his parents' bedroom in Sutton Manor started a fire that left the 3-year-old with severe burns.
The blaze in Hammersley Avenue also destroyed a bed and damaged walls and the boy's mother, Ann McBride, explained what happened:
"I had been upstairs to see if Stephen was okay. Five minutes later he rushed to the stairs screaming. I wrapped a curtain around his blazing body and put the flames out on the bed."
As a result Mrs McBride suffered badly burned hands and required hospital treatment.
But little Stephen needed to be admitted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with burns to his chest, neck, shoulder and thigh.
Later in the week the hospital described the boy's condition as "ill", although Stephen's parents were hopeful that he might be allowed home for Christmas.
The St Helens Reporter on the 29th revealed that Pilkington's had shelved their controversial plans for a £20m float glass plant in Gorsey Lane and had a new site lined up.
That was at Greengate in Ravenhead, although everyone from the glass firm to council officials were being tight-lipped and refusing to confirm or deny the story.
A photograph of the proposed site was captioned a "moonscape panorama" and looking at it and reading the accompanying write-up makes one wonder why it had not been Pilks' first choice all along.
Roughdales, the brickmakers, owned much of the land and it was available for the glass firm to buy.
And siting industry on reclaimed brownfield land would attract hefty government grants and attract very little public opposition, unlike their first choice in Gorsey Lane.
The streets that had been earmarked for the experiment were Church Street (pictured above) and, possibly, Hardshaw Street and Barrow Street.
In July there had been an outcry from some Labour councillors over an alleged military takeover of the St Helens Show.
This week the Show's organiser, Ray Wright, said the role of the armed forces would be reduced in 1975 but denied the decision was connected to the row.
"We had a hell of a lot of Army participation last year," he said. "This time we probably won't, because these things come and go in cycles. There's a good chance that the St. Helens Show will have a Western theme next year."
However, the idea of a cowboy-themed event was immediately criticised by Councillor Tony Harvey, who said:
"The Show should be a mirror of the St. Helens atmosphere and attitudes, and I can't see how a Western show ties in with the community."
This was the introduction to another article in the Reporter:
"Women these days are taking the initiative in running the world’s big wheels of commerce and industry and they are determined to do almost any job, even a man's.
"More than ever before, women recognise they can play an important role in business today. The married woman with a family particularly recognises this and has begun to act."
All well and good, of course, but the rest of the article was about encouraging such women to undertake a secretarial course at Newton College of Further Education, which did not appear to match the ambition of the intro.
The Reporter announced that councillors had approved plans for two new nurseries to be attached to schools, taking the total in St Helens to four.
Currently none were in use, with nursery units at Allanson Street and Thatto Heath Infant Schools in the process of being built.
The two additions would be at Derbyshire Hill School in Waring Avenue and Carr Mill Infants in Ullswater Avenue.
The plans were part of the council's desire for all children to start school at the age of three.
What the Reporter described as "shock accusations of social injustice and inactivity" against St Helens Council had been lodged with Shelter in London.
The paper said a housing expert had sent the association a "disturbing dossier" on local living conditions.
"He has catalogued the misery of people who live in houses where no repairs are done – and tells of the squalor of clearance areas where forgotten families exist in twilight conditions."
The unnamed housing expert was critical of the council for not bringing any prosecutions of private landlords for ten years and not quickly resolving issues with their own housing stock.
Lucy Parr of Martindale Road in Carr Mill described the "running battle" to get the damp in her home repaired:
"We have been trying to get something done since 1968 – but we have not been able to. It is disgraceful – we have to live in one room.
"We can hardly use the kitchen or the back place because it is so bad. I do not know how many times I have complained to the Public Health Department about this, but they know my face there.
"When I went into the offices, the girls would say to me: “Hasn't anything been done yet?”"
The Reporter also described how the 8:10 pm bus from Sutton to St Helens had got stuck in a sinkhole in Mill Lane.
The driver had felt his bus sink as he was moving away from a stop and a breakdown vehicle and a replacement bus needed to be called out.
It was thought that the building of a sewer under Mill Lane might have been the cause.
The Reporter had an advertising feature on Cotham Street, which they described as an "old name for a street with a spanking new image".
It was described as one of the busiest shopping areas in the town centre and in recent years many of its old-style, narrow-fronted shops had disappeared to make way for "bright, modern stores with up-to-date merchandise".
These included the Tony Sampson male fashion shop that had been opened in 1964 by Tony and Eric Blott.
The brothers now had a chain of such stores in other northern towns but Cotham Street had been their first.
A few weeks ago the Blotts had ventured into the world of feminine fashion when they opened Gatsby Girl, a few doors further down from Tony Sampson in Cotham Street. That was described as "city styles at St. Helens prices".
The Corner Gift Shop was also profiled. Before the war the premises had housed an antiques business and in 1947 it became a lino and fancy goods store.
Then in 1965 Marie Williams bought the business and now ran the shop with her daughter Mel.
Also in Cotham Street were Penmans jewellers, owned by Donald Fuller, and they were described as specialists in good quality diamonds.
The business had begun in Corporation Street in 1949 and it moved to Cotham Street three years ago.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the strange child assault in Sherdley Park, the bakers' strike in St Helens, hopes rise that a longstanding Eccleston eyesore could be removed and the Clock Face boy who fell down a deep manhole.