FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (28th DEC. 1970 - 3rd JAN. 1971)
This week's stories include the son of an Italian prince who chose to spend Christmas in Sutton, a Windle garden centre is ordered to close and the preparations being made for "D" for Decimalisation Day.
I begin with an extraordinary advertising campaign by the Health Education Council to promote the use of contraception. The story is not specifically related to St Helens – however the readers of newspapers in such Northern towns were clearly in their sights. The four-page spread in the Daily Mirror on the 29th bore the headline "One In Five Brides Get Married Because They Have To" and attempted to explode myths about the reliability and effectiveness of contraception. One of which was that women could avoid pregnancy by jumping up and down after having sex! Perhaps that's where the saying about making the earth move comes from!
After a brief description of some of Casanova's activities, the advert said: "In the 200 years since Casanova's time the situation has, if anything, actually got worse. In 1969 one in five brides was pregnant. And that's only half the story. Because for every pregnant girl who did get married, another decided not to – and had her baby out of wedlock. This situation is all the more tragic because it is so easily avoidable. Nowadays contraception is available to everyone. And it's also very reliable.
"Most of the 120,000 unwanted babies are born each year, not because the parents used a form of birth control which didn't work, but because they didn't use any contraceptive at all. In some cases this is on religious grounds, but usually the reason is just that the couple thought they'd be lucky, or instead they relied on some old wives' tale."
The Mirror felt it necessary to write a lengthy leader column explaining why they had taken cash from a Government sponsored body on such a sensitive subject, writing: "Is the Daily Mirror right to publish today a four-page advertisement urging couples, single as well as married, to avoid unwanted pregnancies and telling them how to do so? It is a very frank advertisement. It has a picture of a pregnant bride which will upset the romantics because of its brutal realism. Some young people think it is chicken to use a birth control device, and smart to have it, as they say, bare back.
"Maybe that is why the advertisement starts off with the tale of Casanova, the most successful “lover” in history. But unscrupulous as he was, even Casanova took precautions. He used a primitive french letter. The advertisement describes briefly the advantages – and disadvantages – of the most popular kinds of contraception, and it shoots down old wives' tales which say that a woman can avoid pregnancy by holding her breath, having it standing up, or jumping up and down afterwards. There is no moralising in this advertisement…the truth is that today too many don't wait until they are married and too many won't. Romeo is your randy son, Madam, and Juliet is the eager girl down the road. The frank and responsible society is essential if the permissive society is not to run into chaos."
By bizarre coincidence the film playing at the ABC Savoy in St Helens during this week was, would you believe, 'Carry On Loving'! One of the fictitious locations mentioned in the film was 'Much-Snogging-On-The-Green'. And the Capitol Cinema in Duke Street was showing 'Born Free'! You couldn't make it up, could you? That was being screened in a double-bill with 'Jason and the Argonauts', which I don’t think has any connection with sex and babies!
A 'Grand New Year’s Eve Dance' was held at the Geraldo Club in Lord Street on the 31st with cabaret, dancing, novelties, raffles, spot prizes and a hot pot supper. Tickets cost 10/6.
'Mother Goose' was the panto at the Theatre Royal (pictured above) from New Year's Day, which was performed for two weeks by the Pilkington Musical Section. Kath Halliwell from Hardshaw Street played the goose and, according to the St Helens Reporter, had won the role at audition because her "waddle and quack" was judged the best!
The paper wrote: "And walking the boards with knees bent dressed as a web-footed mum suits Kath, 32, down to the ground, for, she says, wearing the costume will cover her stage nerves. “I seem to lack confidence when I'm on stage on my own and prefer to dance with the chorus. But playing the goose is different. I'll be hidden inside the costume and won't feel as self conscious.”"
Also on the 1st a 38-year-old man from Burtonwood was remanded in custody at Newton-le-Willows charged with attempting to murder John Lunt near Burtonwood air base at 1 am.
This week a campaign began to make Britain decimal conscious before the so-called "D-Day" on February 15th next year. St Helens was among 950 towns and cities that the Decimal Currency Board was putting up decimalisation posters and popping through letterboxes a booklet called "Your Guide to Decimal Currency". When that was actually published it was called "Your Guide to Decimal Money", as they must have decided that "currency" was too difficult a word for folk to understand. There would also be TV commercials and the whole campaign – as the Liverpool Echo put it – was intended "to ease the path of the housewife and others through the obscurities of decimal shopping".
Lord Bill Fiske – the chairman of the Decimal Currency Board – predicted that the process would be "quite painless", adding: "Those who think they are going to be confused trying to take in a new currency can put their minds at rest." After a week or two Lord Fiske believed "the housewife" would be able to throw away the conversion card that came with the booklet. The Echo pointed out that if all the 4 billion coins produced for the decimal change-over were laid end to end, they would go round the world 1¾ times. And if they were put on the scales, their weight would be the same as a thousand fully-laden double-decker buses.
If you happen to still have one of the original 1971 pennies you are quids in. Although 1½ billion were minted in that year they are now very rare and each worth £100 or so. There are presently on eBay a variety of prices for 1971 pennies on offer with one highly optimistic soul asking £50,000 for their penny. But with free postage, I note!
However it was only the bronze coins that were newly minted with the new silver coinage having already been phased in over the past three years. And the St Helens public had not liked it – in particular the seven-sided 50p coin that many called the "10-shilling piece". Tom Davies from Clock Face Road had poor eyesight and he had told the St Helens Reporter that the new piece was terrible for folk like him: "I was given a new 10s. piece in change in a pub. I thought it was just 2s. and started to kick up a fuss. Then the landlord explained it was one of those new coins. Paper money is much better for people with bad eyes, or old folk. You don't know where you are with this thing."
Sheila Archer of Dentons Green Lane had said: "Whenever I've been given a new coin, I like to get rid of it straightaway. The coins would have been much better if they had been coloured like the 3d. bit." She added: "I know it is something we've just got to get used to. I think it will take a lot longer than anyone thinks, though."
A year ago Ian Whalley had opened a garden centre on the former Windle Ashes Farm at the junction of the East Lancs Road and Rainford Road. All appeared to be going well but then Mr Whalley received an enforcement notice in the post from Whiston Council. They were then responsible for planning matters in the Windle / Eccleston district and Mr Whalley was ordered to close his garden centre. The council objected to the site's change of use from farmland on the grounds that commercial premises had been created at a major road junction. On the 2nd it was reported that Mr. Whalley had objected to the enforcement order, and his appeal against being closed down would be soon heard at a public inquiry.
"Prince's Son Holidays At St. Helens", was the headline to an article in the Echo about Bernardo Tortorici Montaperto di Raffadali. The eleven-year-old son of an Italian prince was holidaying at the home of Dr and Mrs Gordon Thompson of Leach Lane in Sutton. Bernardo's governess, Liz Emmerson, had previously worked for Pilks and spent each Christmas with the Thompson family and this year had decided to bring one of her charges along with her.
The Echo asked Bernardo what he thought about England and he replied: "I like playing soccer. I enjoyed watching Liverpool [at Anfield], and I have also enjoyed seeing wrestling on British television. It is a sport we do not see on television at home. Christmas in this country is very much like it is in Italy, but I do not like the cold weather in your country." Who does?
Next week's stories will include more job losses at Pilkingtons, an inquest into the Hardshaw Street demolition deaths, the hauntings in Newton and Haydock, shirt making in St Helens and the kind driving instructor who turned detective to trace the owners of a lost dog.
I begin with an extraordinary advertising campaign by the Health Education Council to promote the use of contraception. The story is not specifically related to St Helens – however the readers of newspapers in such Northern towns were clearly in their sights. The four-page spread in the Daily Mirror on the 29th bore the headline "One In Five Brides Get Married Because They Have To" and attempted to explode myths about the reliability and effectiveness of contraception. One of which was that women could avoid pregnancy by jumping up and down after having sex! Perhaps that's where the saying about making the earth move comes from!
After a brief description of some of Casanova's activities, the advert said: "In the 200 years since Casanova's time the situation has, if anything, actually got worse. In 1969 one in five brides was pregnant. And that's only half the story. Because for every pregnant girl who did get married, another decided not to – and had her baby out of wedlock. This situation is all the more tragic because it is so easily avoidable. Nowadays contraception is available to everyone. And it's also very reliable.
"Most of the 120,000 unwanted babies are born each year, not because the parents used a form of birth control which didn't work, but because they didn't use any contraceptive at all. In some cases this is on religious grounds, but usually the reason is just that the couple thought they'd be lucky, or instead they relied on some old wives' tale."
The Mirror felt it necessary to write a lengthy leader column explaining why they had taken cash from a Government sponsored body on such a sensitive subject, writing: "Is the Daily Mirror right to publish today a four-page advertisement urging couples, single as well as married, to avoid unwanted pregnancies and telling them how to do so? It is a very frank advertisement. It has a picture of a pregnant bride which will upset the romantics because of its brutal realism. Some young people think it is chicken to use a birth control device, and smart to have it, as they say, bare back.
"Maybe that is why the advertisement starts off with the tale of Casanova, the most successful “lover” in history. But unscrupulous as he was, even Casanova took precautions. He used a primitive french letter. The advertisement describes briefly the advantages – and disadvantages – of the most popular kinds of contraception, and it shoots down old wives' tales which say that a woman can avoid pregnancy by holding her breath, having it standing up, or jumping up and down afterwards. There is no moralising in this advertisement…the truth is that today too many don't wait until they are married and too many won't. Romeo is your randy son, Madam, and Juliet is the eager girl down the road. The frank and responsible society is essential if the permissive society is not to run into chaos."
By bizarre coincidence the film playing at the ABC Savoy in St Helens during this week was, would you believe, 'Carry On Loving'! One of the fictitious locations mentioned in the film was 'Much-Snogging-On-The-Green'. And the Capitol Cinema in Duke Street was showing 'Born Free'! You couldn't make it up, could you? That was being screened in a double-bill with 'Jason and the Argonauts', which I don’t think has any connection with sex and babies!
A 'Grand New Year’s Eve Dance' was held at the Geraldo Club in Lord Street on the 31st with cabaret, dancing, novelties, raffles, spot prizes and a hot pot supper. Tickets cost 10/6.
The paper wrote: "And walking the boards with knees bent dressed as a web-footed mum suits Kath, 32, down to the ground, for, she says, wearing the costume will cover her stage nerves. “I seem to lack confidence when I'm on stage on my own and prefer to dance with the chorus. But playing the goose is different. I'll be hidden inside the costume and won't feel as self conscious.”"
Also on the 1st a 38-year-old man from Burtonwood was remanded in custody at Newton-le-Willows charged with attempting to murder John Lunt near Burtonwood air base at 1 am.
This week a campaign began to make Britain decimal conscious before the so-called "D-Day" on February 15th next year. St Helens was among 950 towns and cities that the Decimal Currency Board was putting up decimalisation posters and popping through letterboxes a booklet called "Your Guide to Decimal Currency". When that was actually published it was called "Your Guide to Decimal Money", as they must have decided that "currency" was too difficult a word for folk to understand. There would also be TV commercials and the whole campaign – as the Liverpool Echo put it – was intended "to ease the path of the housewife and others through the obscurities of decimal shopping".
Lord Bill Fiske – the chairman of the Decimal Currency Board – predicted that the process would be "quite painless", adding: "Those who think they are going to be confused trying to take in a new currency can put their minds at rest." After a week or two Lord Fiske believed "the housewife" would be able to throw away the conversion card that came with the booklet. The Echo pointed out that if all the 4 billion coins produced for the decimal change-over were laid end to end, they would go round the world 1¾ times. And if they were put on the scales, their weight would be the same as a thousand fully-laden double-decker buses.
If you happen to still have one of the original 1971 pennies you are quids in. Although 1½ billion were minted in that year they are now very rare and each worth £100 or so. There are presently on eBay a variety of prices for 1971 pennies on offer with one highly optimistic soul asking £50,000 for their penny. But with free postage, I note!
However it was only the bronze coins that were newly minted with the new silver coinage having already been phased in over the past three years. And the St Helens public had not liked it – in particular the seven-sided 50p coin that many called the "10-shilling piece". Tom Davies from Clock Face Road had poor eyesight and he had told the St Helens Reporter that the new piece was terrible for folk like him: "I was given a new 10s. piece in change in a pub. I thought it was just 2s. and started to kick up a fuss. Then the landlord explained it was one of those new coins. Paper money is much better for people with bad eyes, or old folk. You don't know where you are with this thing."
Sheila Archer of Dentons Green Lane had said: "Whenever I've been given a new coin, I like to get rid of it straightaway. The coins would have been much better if they had been coloured like the 3d. bit." She added: "I know it is something we've just got to get used to. I think it will take a lot longer than anyone thinks, though."
A year ago Ian Whalley had opened a garden centre on the former Windle Ashes Farm at the junction of the East Lancs Road and Rainford Road. All appeared to be going well but then Mr Whalley received an enforcement notice in the post from Whiston Council. They were then responsible for planning matters in the Windle / Eccleston district and Mr Whalley was ordered to close his garden centre. The council objected to the site's change of use from farmland on the grounds that commercial premises had been created at a major road junction. On the 2nd it was reported that Mr. Whalley had objected to the enforcement order, and his appeal against being closed down would be soon heard at a public inquiry.
"Prince's Son Holidays At St. Helens", was the headline to an article in the Echo about Bernardo Tortorici Montaperto di Raffadali. The eleven-year-old son of an Italian prince was holidaying at the home of Dr and Mrs Gordon Thompson of Leach Lane in Sutton. Bernardo's governess, Liz Emmerson, had previously worked for Pilks and spent each Christmas with the Thompson family and this year had decided to bring one of her charges along with her.
The Echo asked Bernardo what he thought about England and he replied: "I like playing soccer. I enjoyed watching Liverpool [at Anfield], and I have also enjoyed seeing wrestling on British television. It is a sport we do not see on television at home. Christmas in this country is very much like it is in Italy, but I do not like the cold weather in your country." Who does?
Next week's stories will include more job losses at Pilkingtons, an inquest into the Hardshaw Street demolition deaths, the hauntings in Newton and Haydock, shirt making in St Helens and the kind driving instructor who turned detective to trace the owners of a lost dog.
This week's stories include the son of an Italian prince who chose to spend Christmas in Sutton, a Windle garden centre is ordered to close and the preparations being made for "D" for Decimalisation Day.
I begin with an extraordinary advertising campaign by the Health Education Council to promote the use of contraception.
The story is not specifically related to St Helens – however the readers of newspapers in such Northern towns were clearly in their sights.
The four-page spread in the Daily Mirror on the 29th bore the headline "One In Five Brides Get Married Because They Have To" and attempted to explode myths about the reliability and effectiveness of contraception.
One of which was that women could avoid pregnancy by jumping up and down after having sex!
Perhaps that's where the saying about making the earth move comes from!
After a brief description of some of Casanova's activities, the advert said:
"In the 200 years since Casanova's time the situation has, if anything, actually got worse. In 1969 one in five brides was pregnant.
"And that's only half the story. Because for every pregnant girl who did get married, another decided not to – and had her baby out of wedlock.
"This situation is all the more tragic because it is so easily avoidable. Nowadays contraception is available to everyone. And it's also very reliable.
"Most of the 120,000 unwanted babies are born each year, not because the parents used a form of birth control which didn't work, but because they didn't use any contraceptive at all.
"In some cases this is on religious grounds, but usually the reason is just that the couple thought they'd be lucky, or instead they relied on some old wives' tale."
The Mirror felt it necessary to write a lengthy leader column explaining why they had taken cash from a Government sponsored body on such a sensitive subject, writing:
"Is the Daily Mirror right to publish today a four-page advertisement urging couples, single as well as married, to avoid unwanted pregnancies and telling them how to do so? It is a very frank advertisement.
"It has a picture of a pregnant bride which will upset the romantics because of its brutal realism. Some young people think it is chicken to use a birth control device, and smart to have it, as they say, bare back.
"Maybe that is why the advertisement starts off with the tale of Casanova, the most successful “lover” in history. But unscrupulous as he was, even Casanova took precautions. He used a primitive french letter.
"The advertisement describes briefly the advantages – and disadvantages – of the most popular kinds of contraception, and it shoots down old wives' tales which say that a woman can avoid pregnancy by holding her breath, having it standing up, or jumping up and down afterwards.
"There is no moralising in this advertisement…the truth is that today too many don't wait until they are married and too many won't. Romeo is your randy son, Madam, and Juliet is the eager girl down the road. The frank and responsible society is essential if the permissive society is not to run into chaos."
By bizarre coincidence the film playing at the ABC Savoy in St Helens during this week was, would you believe, 'Carry On Loving'!
One of the fictitious locations mentioned in the film was 'Much-Snogging-On-The-Green'.
And the Capitol Cinema in Duke Street was showing 'Born Free'! You couldn't make it up, could you?
That was being screened in a double-bill with 'Jason and the Argonauts', which I don’t think has any connection with sex and babies!
A 'Grand New Year’s Eve Dance' was held at the Geraldo Club in Lord Street on the 31st with cabaret, dancing, novelties, raffles, spot prizes and a hot pot supper. Tickets cost 10/6.
'Mother Goose' was the panto at the Theatre Royal (pictured above) from New Year's Day, which was performed for two weeks by the Pilkington Musical Section.
Kath Halliwell from Hardshaw Street played the goose and, according to the St Helens Reporter, had won the role at audition because her "waddle and quack" was judged the best!
The paper wrote: "And walking the boards with knees bent dressed as a web-footed mum suits Kath, 32, down to the ground, for, she says, wearing the costume will cover her stage nerves.
“I seem to lack confidence when I'm on stage on my own and prefer to dance with the chorus. But playing the goose is different. I'll be hidden inside the costume and won't feel as self conscious.”"
Also on the 1st a 38-year-old man from Burtonwood was remanded in custody at Newton-le-Willows charged with attempting to murder John Lunt near Burtonwood air base at 1 am.
This week a campaign began to make Britain decimal conscious before the so-called "D-Day" on February 15th next year.
St Helens was among 950 towns and cities that the Decimal Currency Board was putting up decimalisation posters and popping through letterboxes a booklet called "Your Guide to Decimal Currency".
When that was actually published it was called "Your Guide to Decimal Money", as they must have decided that "currency" was too difficult a word for folk to understand.
There would also be TV commercials and the whole campaign – as the Liverpool Echo put it – was intended "to ease the path of the housewife and others through the obscurities of decimal shopping".
Lord Bill Fiske – the chairman of the Decimal Currency Board – predicted that the process would be "quite painless", adding:
"Those who think they are going to be confused trying to take in a new currency can put their minds at rest."
After a week or two Lord Fiske believed "the housewife" would be able to throw away the conversion card that came with the booklet.
The Echo pointed out that if all the 4 billion coins produced for the decimal change-over were laid end to end, they would go round the world 1¾ times.
And if they were put on the scales, their weight would be the same as a thousand fully-laden double-decker buses.
If you happen to still have one of the original 1971 pennies you are quids in.
Although 1½ billion were minted in that year they are now very rare and each worth £100 or so.
There are presently on eBay a variety of prices for 1971 pennies on offer with one highly optimistic soul asking £50,000 for their penny. But with free postage, I note!
However it was only the bronze coins that were newly minted with the new silver coinage having already been phased in over the past three years.
And the St Helens public had not liked it – in particular the seven-sided 50p coin that many called the "10-shilling piece".
Tom Davies from Clock Face Road had poor eyesight and he had told the St Helens Reporter that the new piece was terrible for folk like him:
"I was given a new 10s. piece in change in a pub. I thought it was just 2s. and started to kick up a fuss. Then the landlord explained it was one of those new coins.
"Paper money is much better for people with bad eyes, or old folk. You don't know where you are with this thing."
Sheila Archer of Dentons Green Lane had said: "Whenever I've been given a new coin, I like to get rid of it straightaway. The coins would have been much better if they had been coloured like the 3d. bit."
She added: "I know it is something we've just got to get used to. I think it will take a lot longer than anyone thinks, though."
A year ago Ian Whalley had opened a garden centre on the former Windle Ashes Farm at the junction of the East Lancs Road and Rainford Road.
All appeared to be going well but then Mr Whalley received an enforcement notice in the post from Whiston Council.
They were then responsible for planning matters in the Windle / Eccleston district and Mr Whalley was ordered to close his garden centre.
The council objected to the site's change of use from farmland on the grounds that commercial premises had been created at a major road junction.
On the 2nd it was reported that Mr. Whalley had objected to the enforcement order, and his appeal against being closed down would be soon heard at a public inquiry.
"Prince's Son Holidays At St. Helens", was the headline to an article in the Echo about Bernardo Tortorici Montaperto di Raffadali.
The eleven-year-old son of an Italian prince was holidaying at the home of Dr and Mrs Gordon Thompson of Leach Lane in Sutton.
Bernardo's governess, Liz Emmerson, had previously worked for Pilks and spent each Christmas with the Thompson family and this year had decided to bring one of her charges along with her.
The Echo asked Bernardo what he thought about England and he replied:
"I like playing soccer. I enjoyed watching Liverpool [at Anfield], and I have also enjoyed seeing wrestling on British television. It is a sport we do not see on television at home.
"Christmas in this country is very much like it is in Italy, but I do not like the cold weather in your country." Who does?
Next week's stories will include more job losses at Pilkingtons, an inquest into the Hardshaw Street demolition deaths, the hauntings in Newton and Haydock, shirt making in St Helens and the kind driving instructor who turned detective to trace the owners of a lost dog.
I begin with an extraordinary advertising campaign by the Health Education Council to promote the use of contraception.
The story is not specifically related to St Helens – however the readers of newspapers in such Northern towns were clearly in their sights.
The four-page spread in the Daily Mirror on the 29th bore the headline "One In Five Brides Get Married Because They Have To" and attempted to explode myths about the reliability and effectiveness of contraception.
One of which was that women could avoid pregnancy by jumping up and down after having sex!
Perhaps that's where the saying about making the earth move comes from!
After a brief description of some of Casanova's activities, the advert said:
"In the 200 years since Casanova's time the situation has, if anything, actually got worse. In 1969 one in five brides was pregnant.
"And that's only half the story. Because for every pregnant girl who did get married, another decided not to – and had her baby out of wedlock.
"This situation is all the more tragic because it is so easily avoidable. Nowadays contraception is available to everyone. And it's also very reliable.
"Most of the 120,000 unwanted babies are born each year, not because the parents used a form of birth control which didn't work, but because they didn't use any contraceptive at all.
"In some cases this is on religious grounds, but usually the reason is just that the couple thought they'd be lucky, or instead they relied on some old wives' tale."
The Mirror felt it necessary to write a lengthy leader column explaining why they had taken cash from a Government sponsored body on such a sensitive subject, writing:
"Is the Daily Mirror right to publish today a four-page advertisement urging couples, single as well as married, to avoid unwanted pregnancies and telling them how to do so? It is a very frank advertisement.
"It has a picture of a pregnant bride which will upset the romantics because of its brutal realism. Some young people think it is chicken to use a birth control device, and smart to have it, as they say, bare back.
"Maybe that is why the advertisement starts off with the tale of Casanova, the most successful “lover” in history. But unscrupulous as he was, even Casanova took precautions. He used a primitive french letter.
"The advertisement describes briefly the advantages – and disadvantages – of the most popular kinds of contraception, and it shoots down old wives' tales which say that a woman can avoid pregnancy by holding her breath, having it standing up, or jumping up and down afterwards.
"There is no moralising in this advertisement…the truth is that today too many don't wait until they are married and too many won't. Romeo is your randy son, Madam, and Juliet is the eager girl down the road. The frank and responsible society is essential if the permissive society is not to run into chaos."
By bizarre coincidence the film playing at the ABC Savoy in St Helens during this week was, would you believe, 'Carry On Loving'!
One of the fictitious locations mentioned in the film was 'Much-Snogging-On-The-Green'.
And the Capitol Cinema in Duke Street was showing 'Born Free'! You couldn't make it up, could you?
That was being screened in a double-bill with 'Jason and the Argonauts', which I don’t think has any connection with sex and babies!
A 'Grand New Year’s Eve Dance' was held at the Geraldo Club in Lord Street on the 31st with cabaret, dancing, novelties, raffles, spot prizes and a hot pot supper. Tickets cost 10/6.
Kath Halliwell from Hardshaw Street played the goose and, according to the St Helens Reporter, had won the role at audition because her "waddle and quack" was judged the best!
The paper wrote: "And walking the boards with knees bent dressed as a web-footed mum suits Kath, 32, down to the ground, for, she says, wearing the costume will cover her stage nerves.
“I seem to lack confidence when I'm on stage on my own and prefer to dance with the chorus. But playing the goose is different. I'll be hidden inside the costume and won't feel as self conscious.”"
Also on the 1st a 38-year-old man from Burtonwood was remanded in custody at Newton-le-Willows charged with attempting to murder John Lunt near Burtonwood air base at 1 am.
This week a campaign began to make Britain decimal conscious before the so-called "D-Day" on February 15th next year.
St Helens was among 950 towns and cities that the Decimal Currency Board was putting up decimalisation posters and popping through letterboxes a booklet called "Your Guide to Decimal Currency".
When that was actually published it was called "Your Guide to Decimal Money", as they must have decided that "currency" was too difficult a word for folk to understand.
There would also be TV commercials and the whole campaign – as the Liverpool Echo put it – was intended "to ease the path of the housewife and others through the obscurities of decimal shopping".
Lord Bill Fiske – the chairman of the Decimal Currency Board – predicted that the process would be "quite painless", adding:
"Those who think they are going to be confused trying to take in a new currency can put their minds at rest."
After a week or two Lord Fiske believed "the housewife" would be able to throw away the conversion card that came with the booklet.
The Echo pointed out that if all the 4 billion coins produced for the decimal change-over were laid end to end, they would go round the world 1¾ times.
And if they were put on the scales, their weight would be the same as a thousand fully-laden double-decker buses.
If you happen to still have one of the original 1971 pennies you are quids in.
Although 1½ billion were minted in that year they are now very rare and each worth £100 or so.
There are presently on eBay a variety of prices for 1971 pennies on offer with one highly optimistic soul asking £50,000 for their penny. But with free postage, I note!
However it was only the bronze coins that were newly minted with the new silver coinage having already been phased in over the past three years.
And the St Helens public had not liked it – in particular the seven-sided 50p coin that many called the "10-shilling piece".
Tom Davies from Clock Face Road had poor eyesight and he had told the St Helens Reporter that the new piece was terrible for folk like him:
"I was given a new 10s. piece in change in a pub. I thought it was just 2s. and started to kick up a fuss. Then the landlord explained it was one of those new coins.
"Paper money is much better for people with bad eyes, or old folk. You don't know where you are with this thing."
Sheila Archer of Dentons Green Lane had said: "Whenever I've been given a new coin, I like to get rid of it straightaway. The coins would have been much better if they had been coloured like the 3d. bit."
She added: "I know it is something we've just got to get used to. I think it will take a lot longer than anyone thinks, though."
A year ago Ian Whalley had opened a garden centre on the former Windle Ashes Farm at the junction of the East Lancs Road and Rainford Road.
All appeared to be going well but then Mr Whalley received an enforcement notice in the post from Whiston Council.
They were then responsible for planning matters in the Windle / Eccleston district and Mr Whalley was ordered to close his garden centre.
The council objected to the site's change of use from farmland on the grounds that commercial premises had been created at a major road junction.
On the 2nd it was reported that Mr. Whalley had objected to the enforcement order, and his appeal against being closed down would be soon heard at a public inquiry.
"Prince's Son Holidays At St. Helens", was the headline to an article in the Echo about Bernardo Tortorici Montaperto di Raffadali.
The eleven-year-old son of an Italian prince was holidaying at the home of Dr and Mrs Gordon Thompson of Leach Lane in Sutton.
Bernardo's governess, Liz Emmerson, had previously worked for Pilks and spent each Christmas with the Thompson family and this year had decided to bring one of her charges along with her.
The Echo asked Bernardo what he thought about England and he replied:
"I like playing soccer. I enjoyed watching Liverpool [at Anfield], and I have also enjoyed seeing wrestling on British television. It is a sport we do not see on television at home.
"Christmas in this country is very much like it is in Italy, but I do not like the cold weather in your country." Who does?
Next week's stories will include more job losses at Pilkingtons, an inquest into the Hardshaw Street demolition deaths, the hauntings in Newton and Haydock, shirt making in St Helens and the kind driving instructor who turned detective to trace the owners of a lost dog.