FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (27th JAN. - 2nd FEB. 1970)
This week's stories include a naked prowler in Thatto Heath, what St Helens' women thought of the Pill, Blaster Bates is back in town, snooker champion John Spencer plays at Lowe House, the new Friendly Club for the over 40s and criticism of the police Panda car system as a crime wave hits the town.
We begin with an announcement by the Post Office that 9,800 households in St Helens now had their own telephones. The number of subscribers was predicted to increase to 29,000 by 1981 and so a new exchange was to be built in Marshalls Cross to support the main exchange in St Mary Street. The GPO also stated that a new post office would open in Bridge Street in 18 months' time to replace the existing office in Church Street.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 30th and people on the streets of St Helens were asked what they thought of the Pill. This had been introduced in 1961 but recently some side effects had been identified and some people felt it encouraged promiscuity. June Greenall argued that the Pill should be banned. The 23-year-old from Stanhope Street said she'd tried it for 16 months and it had made her terribly depressed. June told the Reporter: "I don't think it is safe. It needs a lot more testing before we should all be allowed to take it."
Edna Harrison from Campbell Street had tried the Pill for three months but then came off it. "I didn't like it", she said. "I hadn't any side effects with it, but I just didn't like it. I suppose I was a bit frightened of it." However Josephine Duggan of Laurel Road felt the Pill must bring peace of mind to the women who take it, adding: "I don't think it should be banned at all. But somehow I think it could do with a bit more investigation."
A crime wave in St Helens' shops was the lead story in the paper, with William Barrow of the Chamber of Trade putting the blame on the increased use of police Panda cars. Mr Barrow was also the General Manager of Hart's Stores and they'd been raided twice during the past month. He told the Reporter:
"In the last few weeks there have been a number of serious crimes at premises in the town centre. A lot has been said about the Panda car system and although they are marvellous for getting police from one point to another, they are no substitute for the man on the beat. I am not knocking the police, but I think there's a good case for more checking to be done on property during the hours of darkness instead of putting Panda cars forward as some kind of miraculous cure-all of crime."
As a result of last year's reorganisation of the police, St Helens had become part of the Lancashire force and this week their quarterly report was released. The Chief Constable, William Palfrey, addressed the issue of the Panda system, saying its critics were living in the past: "We are a country on wheels and the policeman walking about cannot fight criminals who are highly mobile."
Mr Palfrey added that if the Panda system was scrapped, the force would need at least 10 times as many officers to offer the same level of security. The Chief Constable also described how the crime rate in Lancashire was in decline: "During the past three years we have reduced crime by nearly 18 per cent and our detections have also increased." These days women represent 30% of the Merseyside police force. However in 1970 in the Lancashire force, females comprised just 5% of the officers.
"Blonde On Way To Work Meets Naked Prowler", was the disturbing headline to another article in the Reporter. The piece described how girls in Portico and Thatto Heath were "living in terror" of men that prowled the streets in the early morning. Joyce Foster told the paper how a naked man had confronted her while she was walking down Scholes Lane:
"It was about 7.30 a.m. and still quite dark when I left the house for work. I had just passed the school when a man came out in front of me. He didn't have a thing on. He took a step forward and tried to grab me. He touched my shoulder and I screamed – then he ran off up an entry towards St. Matthew's playing field." Other incidents involving prowlers had also been reported in Portico.
The Reporter revealed that John Henderson – the landlord of the Pig and Whistle in Sherdley Road – was considering standing for election to St Helens Council. John had been fighting proposals to set up a permanent gipsy camp off Sherdley Road, which would accommodate some of the travellers that were presently on land in Reginald Road.
A petition containing the names of 700 residents had been sent to the council and John was angry that he had received no response. The proposed site would be near a new housing estate and John thought a gipsy site should be well away from people's homes. The council said the scheme had already been approved and loan sanction had been received to cover the £5,000 cost.
John Spencer was pictured in the Reporter at Lowe House Men's Club in Crab Street. The world professional snooker champion took on the club's top seven players in a series of exhibition matches. The event was a fundraiser for Lowe House Boxing Club and the Reporter wrote that Spencer "delighted a large and appreciative crowd with an amazing display of snooker and trick shots."
Also in the paper there was an appeal for men to join a new club for the over 40s. This was being organised by Edith Gardiner from Owen Street and a Mrs Murray Garrett of Howards Lane. The latter told the paper that once you get past 40 you tend to "stop living just a little". So an advert had been placed in the Reporter and a meeting held at the Alexandra Hotel in Thatto Heath and the Friendly Club formed.
Fourteen people had turned up but only one was a man. "We made him chairman", said Mr Garrett, "and he was really very brave to stay with all the women there. Now we are hoping that more men will come along to the meetings. There are lots of widowed, divorced or separated people in St. Helens who would benefit from this club. We hope to arrange theatre parties, social functions and even trips out. It will bridge a big gap in many people's lives."
Derek "Blaster" Bates always made good copy for the Reporter. Whenever he came to St Helens to blow up a chimney there would be photogenic images published of it dropping to the ground. Then Blaster would stand on top of a long trail of bricks in his "classical victory pose" – as the paper called it – standing there long enough for a picture to be taken.
The 46-year-old also provided good quotes about his work. This week he'd demolished a 90-foot chimney on the old Rainford Potteries site and told the Reporter that it had been a difficult job: "As they go, this was a nasty one. You see, it was square – and they’re the worst kind. You have to use more explosive and blow the entire base out." Last year Blaster had demolished a 100 ft. high chimney at the old Roughdales brickworks in Jackson Street. With the town going through a period of redevelopment, the dynamite king would no doubt soon return to St Helens.
Sutton Parish Church and St Mark's in North Road were appealing in the Reporter for the donation of pianos in reasonably good condition. Rev. Paul Conder wanted a piano for Sutton Parish Hall and the Rev. Gordon Williams needed one for church events.
It was a week for appeals as the Vicar of St Peter's in Parr urged his parishioners to contribute more regularly to his church. The Rev. Stanley Thorne said that when a new church was built at Blackbrook, money would have to be found for furniture, fixtures and the stipend of a minister. In addition £2,000 was still owed on St Peter's Hall.
The vicar complained of the pressure caused by "constantly rising prices". Rev. Thorne would not, of course, have known that matters were going to get much worse. Inflation in 1970 was 6.4%, which would be the lowest figure for the decade, with the highest being 24.2% in 1975.
On the 30th the North West's largest model railway show opened at the Town Hall (pictured above). There were twenty working layouts that covered the whole of the floor and stage of the assembly hall and 7,000 visitors attended over the weekend. During the evening Terry Gore's Jazzmen performed in Rainford Village Hall. It was a fundraiser for 'Carnival ‘70', which the village would be holding on August 30th.
The word “Giro" entered the lexicon of social security claimants from February 2nd. That was when those on supplementary benefit in St Helens began receiving their payments by Giro order. These were sent to claimants by post with the new system brought in to reduce overcrowding in Social Security offices.
A week of performances of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Ni**ers' began at the Theatre Royal from the 2nd. The play starred Shirley Anne Field and Edward Chapman, who is mainly remembered for playing opposite Norman Wisdom in a number of films. There were numerous other actors that had many TV shows on their CVs – including 'Z Cars', 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Compact'. This led to the Theatre Royal's manager Jim Lovelace saying: "This is the first time so many stars have appeared together in the theatre."
From the same day at the ABC Savoy, 'Carry On Again Doctor' was screened for the first of six days and the Capitol started showing a spaghetti Western called 'Five Giants from Texas'.
Next week's stories will include vandalism at Allanson Street School, a new maternity unit for Whiston Hospital, what St Helens' folk thought of sending Valentines, support for the Sherdley Road gipsy camp, a profile of conductresses on St Helens' buses and the new Century House is ready for occupation.
We begin with an announcement by the Post Office that 9,800 households in St Helens now had their own telephones. The number of subscribers was predicted to increase to 29,000 by 1981 and so a new exchange was to be built in Marshalls Cross to support the main exchange in St Mary Street. The GPO also stated that a new post office would open in Bridge Street in 18 months' time to replace the existing office in Church Street.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 30th and people on the streets of St Helens were asked what they thought of the Pill. This had been introduced in 1961 but recently some side effects had been identified and some people felt it encouraged promiscuity. June Greenall argued that the Pill should be banned. The 23-year-old from Stanhope Street said she'd tried it for 16 months and it had made her terribly depressed. June told the Reporter: "I don't think it is safe. It needs a lot more testing before we should all be allowed to take it."
Edna Harrison from Campbell Street had tried the Pill for three months but then came off it. "I didn't like it", she said. "I hadn't any side effects with it, but I just didn't like it. I suppose I was a bit frightened of it." However Josephine Duggan of Laurel Road felt the Pill must bring peace of mind to the women who take it, adding: "I don't think it should be banned at all. But somehow I think it could do with a bit more investigation."
A crime wave in St Helens' shops was the lead story in the paper, with William Barrow of the Chamber of Trade putting the blame on the increased use of police Panda cars. Mr Barrow was also the General Manager of Hart's Stores and they'd been raided twice during the past month. He told the Reporter:
"In the last few weeks there have been a number of serious crimes at premises in the town centre. A lot has been said about the Panda car system and although they are marvellous for getting police from one point to another, they are no substitute for the man on the beat. I am not knocking the police, but I think there's a good case for more checking to be done on property during the hours of darkness instead of putting Panda cars forward as some kind of miraculous cure-all of crime."
As a result of last year's reorganisation of the police, St Helens had become part of the Lancashire force and this week their quarterly report was released. The Chief Constable, William Palfrey, addressed the issue of the Panda system, saying its critics were living in the past: "We are a country on wheels and the policeman walking about cannot fight criminals who are highly mobile."
Mr Palfrey added that if the Panda system was scrapped, the force would need at least 10 times as many officers to offer the same level of security. The Chief Constable also described how the crime rate in Lancashire was in decline: "During the past three years we have reduced crime by nearly 18 per cent and our detections have also increased." These days women represent 30% of the Merseyside police force. However in 1970 in the Lancashire force, females comprised just 5% of the officers.
"Blonde On Way To Work Meets Naked Prowler", was the disturbing headline to another article in the Reporter. The piece described how girls in Portico and Thatto Heath were "living in terror" of men that prowled the streets in the early morning. Joyce Foster told the paper how a naked man had confronted her while she was walking down Scholes Lane:
"It was about 7.30 a.m. and still quite dark when I left the house for work. I had just passed the school when a man came out in front of me. He didn't have a thing on. He took a step forward and tried to grab me. He touched my shoulder and I screamed – then he ran off up an entry towards St. Matthew's playing field." Other incidents involving prowlers had also been reported in Portico.
The Reporter revealed that John Henderson – the landlord of the Pig and Whistle in Sherdley Road – was considering standing for election to St Helens Council. John had been fighting proposals to set up a permanent gipsy camp off Sherdley Road, which would accommodate some of the travellers that were presently on land in Reginald Road.
A petition containing the names of 700 residents had been sent to the council and John was angry that he had received no response. The proposed site would be near a new housing estate and John thought a gipsy site should be well away from people's homes. The council said the scheme had already been approved and loan sanction had been received to cover the £5,000 cost.
John Spencer was pictured in the Reporter at Lowe House Men's Club in Crab Street. The world professional snooker champion took on the club's top seven players in a series of exhibition matches. The event was a fundraiser for Lowe House Boxing Club and the Reporter wrote that Spencer "delighted a large and appreciative crowd with an amazing display of snooker and trick shots."
Also in the paper there was an appeal for men to join a new club for the over 40s. This was being organised by Edith Gardiner from Owen Street and a Mrs Murray Garrett of Howards Lane. The latter told the paper that once you get past 40 you tend to "stop living just a little". So an advert had been placed in the Reporter and a meeting held at the Alexandra Hotel in Thatto Heath and the Friendly Club formed.
Fourteen people had turned up but only one was a man. "We made him chairman", said Mr Garrett, "and he was really very brave to stay with all the women there. Now we are hoping that more men will come along to the meetings. There are lots of widowed, divorced or separated people in St. Helens who would benefit from this club. We hope to arrange theatre parties, social functions and even trips out. It will bridge a big gap in many people's lives."
Derek "Blaster" Bates always made good copy for the Reporter. Whenever he came to St Helens to blow up a chimney there would be photogenic images published of it dropping to the ground. Then Blaster would stand on top of a long trail of bricks in his "classical victory pose" – as the paper called it – standing there long enough for a picture to be taken.
The 46-year-old also provided good quotes about his work. This week he'd demolished a 90-foot chimney on the old Rainford Potteries site and told the Reporter that it had been a difficult job: "As they go, this was a nasty one. You see, it was square – and they’re the worst kind. You have to use more explosive and blow the entire base out." Last year Blaster had demolished a 100 ft. high chimney at the old Roughdales brickworks in Jackson Street. With the town going through a period of redevelopment, the dynamite king would no doubt soon return to St Helens.
St Mark's Church in North Road and the Theatre Royal where performances of an Agatha Christie play took place
St Mark's Church in North Road and the Theatre Royal in St Helens
St Mark's Church in North Road
It was a week for appeals as the Vicar of St Peter's in Parr urged his parishioners to contribute more regularly to his church. The Rev. Stanley Thorne said that when a new church was built at Blackbrook, money would have to be found for furniture, fixtures and the stipend of a minister. In addition £2,000 was still owed on St Peter's Hall.
The vicar complained of the pressure caused by "constantly rising prices". Rev. Thorne would not, of course, have known that matters were going to get much worse. Inflation in 1970 was 6.4%, which would be the lowest figure for the decade, with the highest being 24.2% in 1975.
The word “Giro" entered the lexicon of social security claimants from February 2nd. That was when those on supplementary benefit in St Helens began receiving their payments by Giro order. These were sent to claimants by post with the new system brought in to reduce overcrowding in Social Security offices.
A week of performances of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Ni**ers' began at the Theatre Royal from the 2nd. The play starred Shirley Anne Field and Edward Chapman, who is mainly remembered for playing opposite Norman Wisdom in a number of films. There were numerous other actors that had many TV shows on their CVs – including 'Z Cars', 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Compact'. This led to the Theatre Royal's manager Jim Lovelace saying: "This is the first time so many stars have appeared together in the theatre."
From the same day at the ABC Savoy, 'Carry On Again Doctor' was screened for the first of six days and the Capitol started showing a spaghetti Western called 'Five Giants from Texas'.
Next week's stories will include vandalism at Allanson Street School, a new maternity unit for Whiston Hospital, what St Helens' folk thought of sending Valentines, support for the Sherdley Road gipsy camp, a profile of conductresses on St Helens' buses and the new Century House is ready for occupation.
This week's stories include a naked prowler in Thatto Heath, what St Helens' women thought of the Pill, Blaster Bates is back in town, snooker champion John Spencer plays at Lowe House, the new Friendly Club for the over 40s and criticism of the police Panda car system as a crime wave hits the town.
We begin with an announcement by the Post Office that 9,800 households in St Helens now had their own telephones.
The number of subscribers was predicted to increase to 29,000 by 1981 and so a new exchange was to be built in Marshalls Cross to support the main exchange in St Mary Street.
The GPO also stated that a new post office would open in Bridge Street in 18 months' time to replace the existing one in Church Street.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 30th and people on the streets of St Helens were asked what they thought of the Pill.
This had been introduced in 1961 but recently some side effects had been identified and some people felt it encouraged promiscuity.
June Greenall argued that the Pill should be banned. The 23-year-old from Stanhope Street said she'd tried it for 16 months and it had made her terribly depressed.
June told the Reporter: "I don't think it is safe. It needs a lot more testing before we should all be allowed to take it."
Edna Harrison from Campbell Street had tried the Pill for three months but then came off it.
"I didn't like it", she said. "I hadn't any side effects with it, but I just didn't like it. I suppose I was a bit frightened of it."
However Josephine Duggan of Laurel Road felt the Pill must bring peace of mind to the women who take it, adding:
"I don't think it should be banned at all. But somehow I think it could do with a bit more investigation."
A crime wave in St Helens' shops was the lead story in the paper, with William Barrow of the Chamber of Trade putting the blame on the increased use of police Panda cars.
Mr Barrow was also the General Manager of Hart's Stores and they'd been raided twice during the past month. He told the Reporter:
"In the last few weeks there have been a number of serious crimes at premises in the town centre. A lot has been said about the Panda car system and although they are marvellous for getting police from one point to another, they are no substitute for the man on the beat.
“I am not knocking the police, but I think there's a good case for more checking to be done on property during the hours of darkness instead of putting Panda cars forward as some kind of miraculous cure-all of crime."
As a result of last year's reorganisation of the police, St Helens had become part of the Lancashire force and this week their quarterly report was released.
The Chief Constable, William Palfrey, addressed the issue of the Panda system, saying its critics were living in the past:
"We are a country on wheels and the policeman walking about cannot fight criminals who are highly mobile."
Mr Palfrey added that if the Panda system was scrapped, the force would need at least 10 times as many officers to offer the same level of security.
The Chief Constable also described how the crime rate in Lancashire was in decline:
"During the past three years we have reduced crime by nearly 18 per cent and our detections have also increased."
These days women represent 30% of the Merseyside police force. However in 1970 in the Lancashire force, females comprised just 5% of the officers.
"Blonde On Way To Work Meets Naked Prowler", was the disturbing headline to another article in the Reporter.
The piece described how girls in Portico and Thatto Heath were "living in terror" of men that prowled the streets in the early morning.
Joyce Foster told the paper how a naked man had confronted her while she was walking down Scholes Lane:
"It was about 7.30 a.m. and still quite dark when I left the house for work. I had just passed the school when a man came out in front of me. He didn't have a thing on.
“He took a step forward and tried to grab me. He touched my shoulder and I screamed – then he ran off up an entry towards St. Matthew's playing field."
Other incidents involving prowlers had also been reported in Portico.
The Reporter revealed that John Henderson – the landlord of the Pig and Whistle in Sherdley Road – was considering standing for election to St Helens Council.
John had been fighting proposals to set up a permanent gipsy camp off Sherdley Road, which would accommodate some of the travellers that were presently on land in Reginald Road.
A petition containing the names of 700 residents had been sent to the council and John was angry that he had received no response.
The proposed site would be near a new housing estate and John thought a gipsy site should be well away from people's homes.
The council said the scheme had already been approved and loan sanction had been received to cover the £5,000 cost.
John Spencer was pictured in the Reporter at Lowe House Men's Club in Crab Street.
The world professional snooker champion took on the club's top seven players in a series of exhibition matches.
The event was a fundraiser for Lowe House Boxing Club and the Reporter wrote that Spencer "delighted a large and appreciative crowd with an amazing display of snooker and trick shots."
Also in the paper there was an appeal for men to join a new club for the over 40s. This was being organised by Edith Gardiner from Owen Street and a Mrs Murray Garrett of Howards Lane.
The latter told the paper that once you get past 40 you tend to "stop living just a little".
So an advert had been placed in the Reporter and a meeting held at the Alexandra Hotel in Thatto Heath and the Friendly Club formed. Fourteen people had turned up but only one was a man.
"We made him chairman", said Mr Garrett, "and he was really very brave to stay with all the women there. Now we are hoping that more men will come along to the meetings.
"There are lots of widowed, divorced or separated people in St. Helens who would benefit from this club. We hope to arrange theatre parties, social functions and even trips out. It will bridge a big gap in many people's lives."
Derek "Blaster" Bates always made good copy for the Reporter.
Whenever he came to St Helens to blow up a chimney there would be photogenic images published of it dropping to the ground.
Then Blaster would stand on top of a long trail of bricks in his "classical victory pose" – as the paper called it – standing there long enough for a picture to be taken.
The 46-year-old also provided good quotes about his work. This week he'd demolished a 90-foot chimney on the old Rainford Potteries site and told the Reporter that it had been a difficult job:
"As they go, this was a nasty one. You see, it was square – and they’re the worst kind. You have to use more explosive and blow the entire base out."
Last year Blaster had demolished a 100 ft. high chimney at the old Roughdales brickworks in Jackson Street.
With the town going through a period of redevelopment, the dynamite king would no doubt soon return to St Helens.
Sutton Parish Church and St Mark's in North Road were appealing in the Reporter for the donation of pianos in reasonably good condition.
Rev. Paul Conder wanted a piano for Sutton Parish Hall and the Rev. Gordon Williams needed one for church events.
It was a week for appeals as the Vicar of St Peter's in Parr urged his parishioners to contribute more regularly to his church.
The Rev. Stanley Thorne said that when a new church was built at Blackbrook, money would have to be found for furniture, fixtures and the stipend of a minister.
In addition £2,000 was still owed on St Peter's Hall.
The vicar complained of the pressure caused by "constantly rising prices".
Rev. Thorne would not, of course, have known that matters were going to get much worse.
Inflation in 1970 was 6.4%, which would be the lowest figure for the decade, with the highest being 24.2% in 1975.
On the 30th the North West's largest model railway show opened at the Town Hall (pictured above).
There were twenty working layouts that covered the whole of the floor and stage of the assembly hall and 7,000 visitors attended over the weekend.
During the evening Terry Gore's Jazzmen performed in Rainford Village Hall.
It was a fundraiser for 'Carnival ‘70', which the village would be holding on August 30th.
The word "giro" entered the lexicon of social security claimants from February 2nd.
That was when those on supplementary benefit in St Helens began receiving their payments by Giro order.
These were sent to claimants by post with the new system brought in to reduce overcrowding in Social Security offices.
A week of performances of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Ni**ers' began at the Theatre Royal from the 2nd.
The play starred Shirley Anne Field and Edward Chapman, who is mainly remembered for playing opposite Norman Wisdom in a number of films.
There were numerous other actors that had many TV shows on their CVs – including 'Z Cars', 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Compact'.
This led to the Theatre Royal's manager Jim Lovelace saying: "This is the first time so many stars have appeared together in the theatre."
From the same day at the ABC Savoy, 'Carry On Again Doctor' was screened for the first of six days and the Capitol started showing a spaghetti Western called 'Five Giants from Texas'.
Next week's stories will include vandalism at Allanson Street School, a new maternity unit for Whiston Hospital, what St Helens' folk thought of sending Valentines, support for the Sherdley Road gipsy camp, a profile of conductresses on St Helens' buses and the new Century House is ready for occupation.
We begin with an announcement by the Post Office that 9,800 households in St Helens now had their own telephones.
The number of subscribers was predicted to increase to 29,000 by 1981 and so a new exchange was to be built in Marshalls Cross to support the main exchange in St Mary Street.
The GPO also stated that a new post office would open in Bridge Street in 18 months' time to replace the existing one in Church Street.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 30th and people on the streets of St Helens were asked what they thought of the Pill.
This had been introduced in 1961 but recently some side effects had been identified and some people felt it encouraged promiscuity.
June Greenall argued that the Pill should be banned. The 23-year-old from Stanhope Street said she'd tried it for 16 months and it had made her terribly depressed.
June told the Reporter: "I don't think it is safe. It needs a lot more testing before we should all be allowed to take it."
Edna Harrison from Campbell Street had tried the Pill for three months but then came off it.
"I didn't like it", she said. "I hadn't any side effects with it, but I just didn't like it. I suppose I was a bit frightened of it."
However Josephine Duggan of Laurel Road felt the Pill must bring peace of mind to the women who take it, adding:
"I don't think it should be banned at all. But somehow I think it could do with a bit more investigation."
A crime wave in St Helens' shops was the lead story in the paper, with William Barrow of the Chamber of Trade putting the blame on the increased use of police Panda cars.
Mr Barrow was also the General Manager of Hart's Stores and they'd been raided twice during the past month. He told the Reporter:
"In the last few weeks there have been a number of serious crimes at premises in the town centre. A lot has been said about the Panda car system and although they are marvellous for getting police from one point to another, they are no substitute for the man on the beat.
“I am not knocking the police, but I think there's a good case for more checking to be done on property during the hours of darkness instead of putting Panda cars forward as some kind of miraculous cure-all of crime."
As a result of last year's reorganisation of the police, St Helens had become part of the Lancashire force and this week their quarterly report was released.
The Chief Constable, William Palfrey, addressed the issue of the Panda system, saying its critics were living in the past:
"We are a country on wheels and the policeman walking about cannot fight criminals who are highly mobile."
Mr Palfrey added that if the Panda system was scrapped, the force would need at least 10 times as many officers to offer the same level of security.
The Chief Constable also described how the crime rate in Lancashire was in decline:
"During the past three years we have reduced crime by nearly 18 per cent and our detections have also increased."
These days women represent 30% of the Merseyside police force. However in 1970 in the Lancashire force, females comprised just 5% of the officers.
"Blonde On Way To Work Meets Naked Prowler", was the disturbing headline to another article in the Reporter.
The piece described how girls in Portico and Thatto Heath were "living in terror" of men that prowled the streets in the early morning.
Joyce Foster told the paper how a naked man had confronted her while she was walking down Scholes Lane:
"It was about 7.30 a.m. and still quite dark when I left the house for work. I had just passed the school when a man came out in front of me. He didn't have a thing on.
“He took a step forward and tried to grab me. He touched my shoulder and I screamed – then he ran off up an entry towards St. Matthew's playing field."
Other incidents involving prowlers had also been reported in Portico.
The Reporter revealed that John Henderson – the landlord of the Pig and Whistle in Sherdley Road – was considering standing for election to St Helens Council.
John had been fighting proposals to set up a permanent gipsy camp off Sherdley Road, which would accommodate some of the travellers that were presently on land in Reginald Road.
A petition containing the names of 700 residents had been sent to the council and John was angry that he had received no response.
The proposed site would be near a new housing estate and John thought a gipsy site should be well away from people's homes.
The council said the scheme had already been approved and loan sanction had been received to cover the £5,000 cost.
John Spencer was pictured in the Reporter at Lowe House Men's Club in Crab Street.
The world professional snooker champion took on the club's top seven players in a series of exhibition matches.
The event was a fundraiser for Lowe House Boxing Club and the Reporter wrote that Spencer "delighted a large and appreciative crowd with an amazing display of snooker and trick shots."
Also in the paper there was an appeal for men to join a new club for the over 40s. This was being organised by Edith Gardiner from Owen Street and a Mrs Murray Garrett of Howards Lane.
The latter told the paper that once you get past 40 you tend to "stop living just a little".
So an advert had been placed in the Reporter and a meeting held at the Alexandra Hotel in Thatto Heath and the Friendly Club formed. Fourteen people had turned up but only one was a man.
"We made him chairman", said Mr Garrett, "and he was really very brave to stay with all the women there. Now we are hoping that more men will come along to the meetings.
"There are lots of widowed, divorced or separated people in St. Helens who would benefit from this club. We hope to arrange theatre parties, social functions and even trips out. It will bridge a big gap in many people's lives."
Derek "Blaster" Bates always made good copy for the Reporter.
Whenever he came to St Helens to blow up a chimney there would be photogenic images published of it dropping to the ground.
Then Blaster would stand on top of a long trail of bricks in his "classical victory pose" – as the paper called it – standing there long enough for a picture to be taken.
The 46-year-old also provided good quotes about his work. This week he'd demolished a 90-foot chimney on the old Rainford Potteries site and told the Reporter that it had been a difficult job:
"As they go, this was a nasty one. You see, it was square – and they’re the worst kind. You have to use more explosive and blow the entire base out."
Last year Blaster had demolished a 100 ft. high chimney at the old Roughdales brickworks in Jackson Street.
With the town going through a period of redevelopment, the dynamite king would no doubt soon return to St Helens.
St Mark's Church in North Road and the Theatre Royal where performances of an Agatha Christie play took place
St Mark's Church in North Road and the Theatre Royal in St Helens
St Mark's Church in North Road
Rev. Paul Conder wanted a piano for Sutton Parish Hall and the Rev. Gordon Williams needed one for church events.
It was a week for appeals as the Vicar of St Peter's in Parr urged his parishioners to contribute more regularly to his church.
The Rev. Stanley Thorne said that when a new church was built at Blackbrook, money would have to be found for furniture, fixtures and the stipend of a minister.
In addition £2,000 was still owed on St Peter's Hall.
The vicar complained of the pressure caused by "constantly rising prices".
Rev. Thorne would not, of course, have known that matters were going to get much worse.
Inflation in 1970 was 6.4%, which would be the lowest figure for the decade, with the highest being 24.2% in 1975.
There were twenty working layouts that covered the whole of the floor and stage of the assembly hall and 7,000 visitors attended over the weekend.
During the evening Terry Gore's Jazzmen performed in Rainford Village Hall.
It was a fundraiser for 'Carnival ‘70', which the village would be holding on August 30th.
The word "giro" entered the lexicon of social security claimants from February 2nd.
That was when those on supplementary benefit in St Helens began receiving their payments by Giro order.
These were sent to claimants by post with the new system brought in to reduce overcrowding in Social Security offices.
A week of performances of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Ni**ers' began at the Theatre Royal from the 2nd.
The play starred Shirley Anne Field and Edward Chapman, who is mainly remembered for playing opposite Norman Wisdom in a number of films.
There were numerous other actors that had many TV shows on their CVs – including 'Z Cars', 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'Compact'.
This led to the Theatre Royal's manager Jim Lovelace saying: "This is the first time so many stars have appeared together in the theatre."
From the same day at the ABC Savoy, 'Carry On Again Doctor' was screened for the first of six days and the Capitol started showing a spaghetti Western called 'Five Giants from Texas'.
Next week's stories will include vandalism at Allanson Street School, a new maternity unit for Whiston Hospital, what St Helens' folk thought of sending Valentines, support for the Sherdley Road gipsy camp, a profile of conductresses on St Helens' buses and the new Century House is ready for occupation.