FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 28 OCT - 3 NOV 1974
This week's many stories include the improving nature of the stinking brook, the many dogs within the St Helens district that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks, the newsagents offering a new Place The Ball service, the Helena House dividend stamp competition, why boxing champion John Conte would not be coming to St Helens and the kind volunteers that were visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 28th when Private Trevor Kay from Cotswold Grove in Parr was seriously injured in a bomb blast in County Down that killed two fellow soldiers and destroyed a canteen. A 300 lb bomb in a hijacked van had exploded while the soldiers were having their tea break. Pte Kay had joined the army in 1969 and been in Northern Ireland for 15 months. By the end of the week the 25-year-old's condition had improved and he was no longer considered seriously ill.
The Liverpool Echo on the 28th announced a new service for their Place The Ball competition entrants. As a result of increased postal charges, readers who wanted to put an 'X' on a still from a football match where they thought the ball might be located could drop their form off at a newsagent instead of posting it.
Those in St Helens that were participating in the scheme were Newsfare, 125 Higher Parr Street; Lockhearts, 157 Greenfield Road; Wainwrights, 129 Boundary Road, Gilligan Bros., 28 Waterdale Crescent, Sutton; Buckleys, 35 Duke Street; Davies, 92 Eccleston Street, St Helens; Billinge Newsagency, 196 Main Street, Billinge and Maltbys, 9 Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield. And how much did it cost to send a first-class letter in 1974? The answer is 4½p. It now costs £1.65!
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th described how three female cooks at St Helens Town Hall had launched a £3,000 appeal to send a girl to America for specialist medical treatment. Fourteen-year-old Tina Lyon of Arnside Avenue in Rainhill had suffered brain damage as a baby following an attack of viral pneumonia and was now a pupil at a special school in Huyton.
Tina's 22-year-old sister Catherine had launched the fund with Sylvia Betteley of Croxteth Drive in Rainford and Sue Hale of Rainhill Road. So far the threesome had collected £130. "We want to send Tina to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia", explained Sylvia. "Tina's father, Mr Ernest Lyon, started collecting money to help his daughter a few months ago, but he died in September."
On the 31st the Thatto Heath Annual Pleasure Fair in Elephant Lane opened "until further notice". Silcocks advert said: "Come early owing to closing early". That appeared to be because of complaints from residents of late night noise.
An unnamed Whiston vet was quoted in the St Helens Reporter on November 1st as stating that he treated or put down large numbers of animals that had been shot: "We get literally dozens of shot animals each year, and increasingly over the past four or five years."
The vet's remarks were made after Rose Harrison's four-year-old pedigree beagle had at least five pellets pumped into him. Mrs Harrison of Warrington Road in Rainhill had been visiting some friends to help out at their shop by Whiston Hospital. She had let her dog named Copper play on open ground behind the shop when the shooting occurred.
The pellets had blinded and otherwise wounded the dog and it needed to be put down. "What kind of people could do such a thing?", said Mrs Harrison. "I couldn't believe Copper had been shot. I just felt sick."
The Reporter announced that the new world light-heavyweight champion John Conte would no longer be able to open the Winter Fair of the St Helens branch of Save the Children. That was blamed on his increased commitments since winning the boxing title at the beginning of October. However, Irish singer Dana had now agreed to open the inaugural event, which would be held at the Deaf Institute on November 9th.
Helena House had an advert in the Reporter announcing the winners of their Autumn Festival dividend stamp competition that had recently been held in their Baldwin Street store over a two-week period. Mr and Mrs B. Lane from Burtonwood came first and won seven nights in a first class, four-star hotel in Benidorm. And Mr and Mrs T. Hunt of Burrows Lane in Eccleston won the second prize of seven nights in a three star hotel in Majorca. The Co-op said 9,000 of their customers had taken part in the contest.
It was also revealed in the Reporter that Rainhill Hospital (pictured above) had over 400 registered visitors who gave up their spare time in the evenings and at weekends to talk to patients – many of whom never received visits from family or friends. But the organiser of volunteer services, Charles Gordon, appealed to people to always register with them before beginning their walkabouts.
A couple had recently been visiting patients for two months without informing the authorities. Mr Gordon said: "Because of the size of the hospital this sort of thing has happened on several occasions. But we must know who voluntary visitors are. It must be done in an organised manner. We like to interview all individual volunteers, and, if we accept them, they will complete an application form and be registered."
The Reporter also said that Cowley Boys School was to have its first Parent Teachers Association. The decision had been taken at a preliminary meeting of about 200 parents and teachers at the school in which the headmaster Maurice Clifton had outlined the purpose and aims of a PTA.
The British Legion's poppy appeal also featured in the paper, as it was described as facing a crisis in St Helens because of a shortage of collectors. Charles Hughes was the secretary of the St Helens group of Legion branches, which included Prescot and Huyton, and he said they required at least 72 collectors for their appeal, which would take place this year between November 7th and 11th.
The Reporter described how the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's annual report contained a glimmer of hope for the "pollution-plagued" Sankey Brook. The document said: "There can be some confidence that the brook will no longer be a source of nuisance from smells, and thus a problem which has existed for more than 100 years is in sight of solution."
It was the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's final report as reorganisation had led to their work being taken over by the North West River Authority. But the Reporter felt it could not have signed off in a more positive light, writing: "The brook – a sore point with residents of Parr and Sutton for years – is known as “Stinking Brook” and has usually been the town's main claim to infamy in the authority’s annual reports."
The Liverpool Daily Post on November 1st reported that Pilkingtons had told a union action committee that they might be willing to sell part of its Sheet Works site to other industrial companies to make room for new industry. Along with Leslie Spriggs, the town's MP, the committee had met the glass giant's directors to discuss the dwindling number of jobs in the industry. About 350 men were currently being made redundant and a further 200 were expected to lose their jobs when Pilks eventually built their new £20m float glass plant.
Also on the 1st a lorry loaded with Mars bars was stolen from an industrial estate off Clipsley Lane in Haydock. Just how many bars were taken was not stated – but it must have been an awful lot as the chocolate was worth £11,500!
With increasing concern over safety, more organised Guy Fawkes Night celebrations were taking place within the St Helens district. On the 2nd Prescot and District Round Table held another bonfire in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital. The event was described as a "safety first firework display".
And it was all change at the town's two cinemas on the 3rd. At the ABC Savoy 'Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World' starring Jim Dale and Spike Milligan was replaced by 'That'll Be The Day'. The film starring David Essex and Rosemary Leach had Reg Varney's 'On The Buses' in support. And for 7 days from the 3rd, the Capitol was showing 'The House Of Whipcord'.
And finally, on the 3rd fire swept through a general shop in Gartons Lane in Clock Face owned by James Sherlock. Fortunately there were no serious injuries, although Mr Sherlock and his 12-year-old son had to be treated at St Helens Hospital for burns to their hands and for shock.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include St Helens-born Bernie Clifton's appearance on Opportunity Knocks, the plans to extend the golf course at Sherdley Park, the Eccleston ship in a bottle craftsman and a resolution of the St Helens College strike.
We begin on the 28th when Private Trevor Kay from Cotswold Grove in Parr was seriously injured in a bomb blast in County Down that killed two fellow soldiers and destroyed a canteen. A 300 lb bomb in a hijacked van had exploded while the soldiers were having their tea break. Pte Kay had joined the army in 1969 and been in Northern Ireland for 15 months. By the end of the week the 25-year-old's condition had improved and he was no longer considered seriously ill.
The Liverpool Echo on the 28th announced a new service for their Place The Ball competition entrants. As a result of increased postal charges, readers who wanted to put an 'X' on a still from a football match where they thought the ball might be located could drop their form off at a newsagent instead of posting it.
Those in St Helens that were participating in the scheme were Newsfare, 125 Higher Parr Street; Lockhearts, 157 Greenfield Road; Wainwrights, 129 Boundary Road, Gilligan Bros., 28 Waterdale Crescent, Sutton; Buckleys, 35 Duke Street; Davies, 92 Eccleston Street, St Helens; Billinge Newsagency, 196 Main Street, Billinge and Maltbys, 9 Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield. And how much did it cost to send a first-class letter in 1974? The answer is 4½p. It now costs £1.65!
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th described how three female cooks at St Helens Town Hall had launched a £3,000 appeal to send a girl to America for specialist medical treatment. Fourteen-year-old Tina Lyon of Arnside Avenue in Rainhill had suffered brain damage as a baby following an attack of viral pneumonia and was now a pupil at a special school in Huyton.
Tina's 22-year-old sister Catherine had launched the fund with Sylvia Betteley of Croxteth Drive in Rainford and Sue Hale of Rainhill Road. So far the threesome had collected £130. "We want to send Tina to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia", explained Sylvia. "Tina's father, Mr Ernest Lyon, started collecting money to help his daughter a few months ago, but he died in September."
On the 31st the Thatto Heath Annual Pleasure Fair in Elephant Lane opened "until further notice". Silcocks advert said: "Come early owing to closing early". That appeared to be because of complaints from residents of late night noise.
An unnamed Whiston vet was quoted in the St Helens Reporter on November 1st as stating that he treated or put down large numbers of animals that had been shot: "We get literally dozens of shot animals each year, and increasingly over the past four or five years."
The vet's remarks were made after Rose Harrison's four-year-old pedigree beagle had at least five pellets pumped into him. Mrs Harrison of Warrington Road in Rainhill had been visiting some friends to help out at their shop by Whiston Hospital. She had let her dog named Copper play on open ground behind the shop when the shooting occurred.
The pellets had blinded and otherwise wounded the dog and it needed to be put down. "What kind of people could do such a thing?", said Mrs Harrison. "I couldn't believe Copper had been shot. I just felt sick."
The Reporter announced that the new world light-heavyweight champion John Conte would no longer be able to open the Winter Fair of the St Helens branch of Save the Children. That was blamed on his increased commitments since winning the boxing title at the beginning of October. However, Irish singer Dana had now agreed to open the inaugural event, which would be held at the Deaf Institute on November 9th.
A couple had recently been visiting patients for two months without informing the authorities. Mr Gordon said: "Because of the size of the hospital this sort of thing has happened on several occasions. But we must know who voluntary visitors are. It must be done in an organised manner. We like to interview all individual volunteers, and, if we accept them, they will complete an application form and be registered."
The Reporter also said that Cowley Boys School was to have its first Parent Teachers Association. The decision had been taken at a preliminary meeting of about 200 parents and teachers at the school in which the headmaster Maurice Clifton had outlined the purpose and aims of a PTA.
The British Legion's poppy appeal also featured in the paper, as it was described as facing a crisis in St Helens because of a shortage of collectors. Charles Hughes was the secretary of the St Helens group of Legion branches, which included Prescot and Huyton, and he said they required at least 72 collectors for their appeal, which would take place this year between November 7th and 11th.
The Reporter described how the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's annual report contained a glimmer of hope for the "pollution-plagued" Sankey Brook. The document said: "There can be some confidence that the brook will no longer be a source of nuisance from smells, and thus a problem which has existed for more than 100 years is in sight of solution."
It was the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's final report as reorganisation had led to their work being taken over by the North West River Authority. But the Reporter felt it could not have signed off in a more positive light, writing: "The brook – a sore point with residents of Parr and Sutton for years – is known as “Stinking Brook” and has usually been the town's main claim to infamy in the authority’s annual reports."
The Liverpool Daily Post on November 1st reported that Pilkingtons had told a union action committee that they might be willing to sell part of its Sheet Works site to other industrial companies to make room for new industry. Along with Leslie Spriggs, the town's MP, the committee had met the glass giant's directors to discuss the dwindling number of jobs in the industry. About 350 men were currently being made redundant and a further 200 were expected to lose their jobs when Pilks eventually built their new £20m float glass plant.
Also on the 1st a lorry loaded with Mars bars was stolen from an industrial estate off Clipsley Lane in Haydock. Just how many bars were taken was not stated – but it must have been an awful lot as the chocolate was worth £11,500!
With increasing concern over safety, more organised Guy Fawkes Night celebrations were taking place within the St Helens district. On the 2nd Prescot and District Round Table held another bonfire in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital. The event was described as a "safety first firework display".
And it was all change at the town's two cinemas on the 3rd. At the ABC Savoy 'Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World' starring Jim Dale and Spike Milligan was replaced by 'That'll Be The Day'. The film starring David Essex and Rosemary Leach had Reg Varney's 'On The Buses' in support. And for 7 days from the 3rd, the Capitol was showing 'The House Of Whipcord'.
And finally, on the 3rd fire swept through a general shop in Gartons Lane in Clock Face owned by James Sherlock. Fortunately there were no serious injuries, although Mr Sherlock and his 12-year-old son had to be treated at St Helens Hospital for burns to their hands and for shock.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include St Helens-born Bernie Clifton's appearance on Opportunity Knocks, the plans to extend the golf course at Sherdley Park, the Eccleston ship in a bottle craftsman and a resolution of the St Helens College strike.
This week's many stories include the improving nature of the stinking brook, the many dogs within the St Helens district that received gunshot wounds, the dwindling number of glass jobs at Pilks, the newsagents offering a new Place The Ball service, the Helena House divi stamp competition, why boxing champion John Conte would not be coming to St Helens and the kind volunteers that were visiting friendless patients in Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 28th when Private Trevor Kay from Cotswold Grove in Parr was seriously injured in a bomb blast in County Down that killed two fellow soldiers and destroyed a canteen.
A 300 lb bomb in a hijacked van had exploded while the soldiers were having their tea break.
Pte Kay had joined the army in 1969 and been in Northern Ireland for 15 months.
By the end of the week the 25-year-old's condition had improved and he was no longer considered seriously ill.
The Liverpool Echo on the 28th announced a new service for their Place The Ball competition entrants.
As a result of increased postal charges, readers who wanted to put an 'X' on a still from a football match where they thought the ball might be located could drop their form off at a newsagent instead of posting it.
Those in St Helens that were participating in the scheme were Newsfare, 125 Higher Parr Street; Lockhearts, 157 Greenfield Road; Wainwrights, 129 Boundary Road, Gilligan Bros., 28 Waterdale Crescent, Sutton; Buckleys, 35 Duke Street; Davies, 92 Eccleston Street, St Helens; Billinge Newsagency, 196 Main Street, Billinge and Maltbys, 9 Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
And how much did it cost to send a first-class letter in 1974? The answer is 4½p. It now costs £1.65!
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th described how three female cooks at St Helens Town Hall had launched a £3,000 appeal to send a girl to America for specialist medical treatment.
Fourteen-year-old Tina Lyon of Arnside Avenue in Rainhill had suffered brain damage as a baby following an attack of viral pneumonia and was now a pupil at a special school in Huyton.
Tina's 22-year-old sister Catherine had launched the fund with Sylvia Betteley of Croxteth Drive in Rainford and Sue Hale of Rainhill Road. So far the threesome had collected £130.
"We want to send Tina to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia", explained Sylvia. "Tina's father, Mr Ernest Lyon, started collecting money to help his daughter a few months ago, but he died in September."
On the 31st the Thatto Heath Annual Pleasure Fair in Elephant Lane opened "until further notice".
Silcocks advert said: "Come early owing to closing early". That appeared to be because of complaints from residents of late night noise.
An unnamed Whiston vet was quoted in the St Helens Reporter on November 1st as stating that he treated or put down large numbers of animals that had been shot:
"We get literally dozens of shot animals each year, and increasingly over the past four or five years."
The vet's remarks were made after Rose Harrison's four-year-old pedigree beagle had at least five pellets pumped into him.
Mrs Harrison of Warrington Road in Rainhill had been visiting some friends to help out at their shop by Whiston Hospital.
She had let her dog named Copper play on open ground behind the shop when the shooting occurred.
The pellets had blinded and otherwise wounded the dog and it needed to be put down.
"What kind of people could do such a thing?", said Mrs Harrison. "I couldn't believe Copper had been shot. I just felt sick."
The Reporter announced that the new world light-heavyweight champion John Conte would no longer be able to open the Winter Fair of the St Helens branch of Save the Children.
That was blamed on his increased commitments since winning the boxing title at the beginning of October.
However, Irish singer Dana had now agreed to open the inaugural event, which would be held at the Deaf Institute on November 9th.
Helena House had an advert in the Reporter announcing the winners of their Autumn Festival dividend stamp competition that had recently been held in their Baldwin Street store over a two-week period.
Mr and Mrs B. Lane from Burtonwood came first and won seven nights in a first class, four-star hotel in Benidorm.
And Mr and Mrs T. Hunt of Burrows Lane in Eccleston won the second prize of seven nights in a three star hotel in Majorca. The Co-op said 9,000 of their customers had taken part in the contest.
It was also revealed in the Reporter that Rainhill Hospital (pictured above) had over 400 registered visitors who gave up their spare time in the evenings and at weekends to talk to patients – many of whom never received visits from family or friends.
But the organiser of volunteer services, Charles Gordon, appealed to people to always register with them before beginning their walkabouts.
A couple had recently been visiting patients for two months without informing the authorities.
Mr Gordon said: "Because of the size of the hospital this sort of thing has happened on several occasions. But we must know who voluntary visitors are. It must be done in an organised manner.
"We like to interview all individual volunteers, and, if we accept them, they will complete an application form and be registered."
The Reporter also said that Cowley Boys School was to have its first Parent Teachers Association.
The decision had been taken at a preliminary meeting of about 200 parents and teachers at the school in which the headmaster Maurice Clifton had outlined the purpose and aims of a PTA.
The British Legion's poppy appeal also featured in the paper, as it was described as facing a crisis in St Helens because of a shortage of collectors.
Charles Hughes was the secretary of the St Helens group of Legion branches, which included Prescot and Huyton, and he said they required at least 72 collectors for their appeal, which would take place this year between November 7th and 11th.
The Reporter described how the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's annual report contained a glimmer of hope for the "pollution-plagued" Sankey Brook. The document said:
"There can be some confidence that the brook will no longer be a source of nuisance from smells, and thus a problem which has existed for more than 100 years is in sight of solution."
It was the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's final report as reorganisation had led to their work being taken over by the North West River Authority. But the Reporter felt it could not have signed off in a more positive light, writing:
"The brook – a sore point with residents of Parr and Sutton for years – is known as “Stinking Brook” and has usually been the town's main claim to infamy in the authority’s annual reports."
The Liverpool Daily Post on November 1st reported that Pilkingtons had told a union action committee that they might be willing to sell part of its Sheet Works site to other industrial companies to make room for new industry.
Along with Leslie Spriggs, the town's MP, the committee had met the glass giant's directors to discuss the dwindling number of jobs in the industry.
About 350 men were currently being made redundant and a further 200 were expected to lose their jobs when Pilks eventually built their new £20m float glass plant.
Also on the 1st a lorry loaded with Mars bars was stolen from an industrial estate off Clipsley Lane in Haydock.
Just how many bars were taken was not stated – but it must have been an awful lot as the chocolate was worth £11,500!
With increasing concern over safety, more organised Guy Fawkes Night celebrations were taking place within the St Helens district.
On the 2nd Prescot and District Round Table held another bonfire in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital. The event was described as a "safety first firework display".
And it was all change at the town's two cinemas on the 3rd. At the ABC Savoy 'Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World' starring Jim Dale and Spike Milligan was replaced by 'That'll Be The Day'.
The film starring David Essex and Rosemary Leach had Reg Varney's 'On The Buses' in support. And for 7 days from the 3rd, the Capitol was showing 'The House Of Whipcord'.
And finally, on the 3rd fire swept through a general shop in Gartons Lane in Clock Face owned by James Sherlock.
Fortunately there were no serious injuries, although Mr Sherlock and his 12-year-old son had to be treated at St Helens Hospital for burns to their hands and for shock.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include St Helens-born Bernie Clifton's appearance on Opportunity Knocks, the plans to extend the golf course at Sherdley Park, the Eccleston ship in a bottle craftsman and a resolution of the St Helens College strike.
We begin on the 28th when Private Trevor Kay from Cotswold Grove in Parr was seriously injured in a bomb blast in County Down that killed two fellow soldiers and destroyed a canteen.
A 300 lb bomb in a hijacked van had exploded while the soldiers were having their tea break.
Pte Kay had joined the army in 1969 and been in Northern Ireland for 15 months.
By the end of the week the 25-year-old's condition had improved and he was no longer considered seriously ill.
The Liverpool Echo on the 28th announced a new service for their Place The Ball competition entrants.
As a result of increased postal charges, readers who wanted to put an 'X' on a still from a football match where they thought the ball might be located could drop their form off at a newsagent instead of posting it.
Those in St Helens that were participating in the scheme were Newsfare, 125 Higher Parr Street; Lockhearts, 157 Greenfield Road; Wainwrights, 129 Boundary Road, Gilligan Bros., 28 Waterdale Crescent, Sutton; Buckleys, 35 Duke Street; Davies, 92 Eccleston Street, St Helens; Billinge Newsagency, 196 Main Street, Billinge and Maltbys, 9 Gerrard Street, Ashton-in-Makerfield.
And how much did it cost to send a first-class letter in 1974? The answer is 4½p. It now costs £1.65!
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 29th described how three female cooks at St Helens Town Hall had launched a £3,000 appeal to send a girl to America for specialist medical treatment.
Fourteen-year-old Tina Lyon of Arnside Avenue in Rainhill had suffered brain damage as a baby following an attack of viral pneumonia and was now a pupil at a special school in Huyton.
Tina's 22-year-old sister Catherine had launched the fund with Sylvia Betteley of Croxteth Drive in Rainford and Sue Hale of Rainhill Road. So far the threesome had collected £130.
"We want to send Tina to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia", explained Sylvia. "Tina's father, Mr Ernest Lyon, started collecting money to help his daughter a few months ago, but he died in September."
On the 31st the Thatto Heath Annual Pleasure Fair in Elephant Lane opened "until further notice".
Silcocks advert said: "Come early owing to closing early". That appeared to be because of complaints from residents of late night noise.
An unnamed Whiston vet was quoted in the St Helens Reporter on November 1st as stating that he treated or put down large numbers of animals that had been shot:
"We get literally dozens of shot animals each year, and increasingly over the past four or five years."
The vet's remarks were made after Rose Harrison's four-year-old pedigree beagle had at least five pellets pumped into him.
Mrs Harrison of Warrington Road in Rainhill had been visiting some friends to help out at their shop by Whiston Hospital.
She had let her dog named Copper play on open ground behind the shop when the shooting occurred.
The pellets had blinded and otherwise wounded the dog and it needed to be put down.
"What kind of people could do such a thing?", said Mrs Harrison. "I couldn't believe Copper had been shot. I just felt sick."
The Reporter announced that the new world light-heavyweight champion John Conte would no longer be able to open the Winter Fair of the St Helens branch of Save the Children.
That was blamed on his increased commitments since winning the boxing title at the beginning of October.
However, Irish singer Dana had now agreed to open the inaugural event, which would be held at the Deaf Institute on November 9th.
Mr and Mrs B. Lane from Burtonwood came first and won seven nights in a first class, four-star hotel in Benidorm.
And Mr and Mrs T. Hunt of Burrows Lane in Eccleston won the second prize of seven nights in a three star hotel in Majorca. The Co-op said 9,000 of their customers had taken part in the contest.
But the organiser of volunteer services, Charles Gordon, appealed to people to always register with them before beginning their walkabouts.
A couple had recently been visiting patients for two months without informing the authorities.
Mr Gordon said: "Because of the size of the hospital this sort of thing has happened on several occasions. But we must know who voluntary visitors are. It must be done in an organised manner.
"We like to interview all individual volunteers, and, if we accept them, they will complete an application form and be registered."
The Reporter also said that Cowley Boys School was to have its first Parent Teachers Association.
The decision had been taken at a preliminary meeting of about 200 parents and teachers at the school in which the headmaster Maurice Clifton had outlined the purpose and aims of a PTA.
The British Legion's poppy appeal also featured in the paper, as it was described as facing a crisis in St Helens because of a shortage of collectors.
Charles Hughes was the secretary of the St Helens group of Legion branches, which included Prescot and Huyton, and he said they required at least 72 collectors for their appeal, which would take place this year between November 7th and 11th.
The Reporter described how the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's annual report contained a glimmer of hope for the "pollution-plagued" Sankey Brook. The document said:
"There can be some confidence that the brook will no longer be a source of nuisance from smells, and thus a problem which has existed for more than 100 years is in sight of solution."
It was the Mersey and Weaver River Authority's final report as reorganisation had led to their work being taken over by the North West River Authority. But the Reporter felt it could not have signed off in a more positive light, writing:
"The brook – a sore point with residents of Parr and Sutton for years – is known as “Stinking Brook” and has usually been the town's main claim to infamy in the authority’s annual reports."
The Liverpool Daily Post on November 1st reported that Pilkingtons had told a union action committee that they might be willing to sell part of its Sheet Works site to other industrial companies to make room for new industry.
Along with Leslie Spriggs, the town's MP, the committee had met the glass giant's directors to discuss the dwindling number of jobs in the industry.
About 350 men were currently being made redundant and a further 200 were expected to lose their jobs when Pilks eventually built their new £20m float glass plant.
Also on the 1st a lorry loaded with Mars bars was stolen from an industrial estate off Clipsley Lane in Haydock.
Just how many bars were taken was not stated – but it must have been an awful lot as the chocolate was worth £11,500!
With increasing concern over safety, more organised Guy Fawkes Night celebrations were taking place within the St Helens district.
On the 2nd Prescot and District Round Table held another bonfire in the grounds of Rainhill Hospital. The event was described as a "safety first firework display".
And it was all change at the town's two cinemas on the 3rd. At the ABC Savoy 'Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World' starring Jim Dale and Spike Milligan was replaced by 'That'll Be The Day'.
The film starring David Essex and Rosemary Leach had Reg Varney's 'On The Buses' in support. And for 7 days from the 3rd, the Capitol was showing 'The House Of Whipcord'.
And finally, on the 3rd fire swept through a general shop in Gartons Lane in Clock Face owned by James Sherlock.
Fortunately there were no serious injuries, although Mr Sherlock and his 12-year-old son had to be treated at St Helens Hospital for burns to their hands and for shock.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include St Helens-born Bernie Clifton's appearance on Opportunity Knocks, the plans to extend the golf course at Sherdley Park, the Eccleston ship in a bottle craftsman and a resolution of the St Helens College strike.