FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (29th NOV. - 5th DEC. 1971)
This week's many stories include the complexity of concessionary bus travel, Saints fans are attacked in Leeds, a feature on the Sherdley Road gipsy site, the Christmas shopping at Helena House, a big canal clean up is announced and a call for the eyesore of Carr Mill Dam to be improved.
We begin on the 29th when Matt Monro gave two shows at the Theatre Royal in St Helens with support from singer and impressionist Jerry Stevens. By 1971 Monro had had ten top 40 hits in the UK – but his star was fading after enjoying no success for six years.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th broke the news that a two-year scheme to clean up parts of the St Helens / Sankey Canal would begin next month. The British Waterways Board even went so far as to promise that Blackbrook Canal would be transformed into a "pleasure paradise" for anglers and canoeists. The channel would be dredged, weeds cleared, banks completely reshaped, footbridges built across and locks and a weir made safe. Concern over the safety of the canal had been brought to a head in September when 6-year-old Helen Sutcliffe drowned in its murky waters just 100 yards from her home in West End Road.
Millions of tons of earth and rubble would also be used to fill in a four-mile stretch of the canal from the St Helens boundary to Winwick. Tony Buckley, the Chief Water Quality Control Officer for the Mersey and Weaver River Authority, told the Newspaper that the canal was not badly polluted at the moment and added this comment about the town's other troublesome waterway – the "stinky brook": "The Sankey Brook is also under close observation to reduce pollution. The installation of an effluent treatment plant at British Sidac, and the proposed extensions to Parr Sewage Works will go a long way to prevent the water being fouled."
Whiston Hospital's last matron retired on the 30th. She was Judith Graves who had done the job at the hospital for 17 years and at her retirement "do" was presented with a portable TV and a tea-maker set. The chairman of the hospital management committee, Arthur Foxton, said Miss Graves had been a "tower of strength" and restructuring would mean her position would not be filled.
On the 30th the Charities Committee of the Golden Lion in Rainford handed over a cheque for £200 to the matron of the Rathbone Hospital for Mentally Handicapped Children. The money had been raised by holding a charity football match and a sponsored walk.
Also during that evening, Saints played Leeds in the semi-final of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy at Headingley and beat them convincingly 0 - 17. Some Leeds fans thought that St Helens supporters should take a beating as well and pounced on a party making their way to their coaches. A number of Saints fans were kicked to the ground and one was knocked unconscious. Twenty-five year old Eileen Holden from Whitfield Grove in Haydock told the Reporter:
"As we crossed the bridge, we found 20 of the teenagers waiting for us. They watched until we had walked past then ran at us. I was pushed into a hedge. Four schoolboys alongside me were punched and kicked on the ground. One was kicked hard on his face and it took a few minutes to bring him round well enough to walk. We were all very frightened."
During the afternoon of December 1st, there was a walkout at Bold Colliery after a dispute over a power loading agreement – but the men returned to work five days later.
In September the Echo had investigated the first dedicated gipsy site in the North West. That was on land off Sherdley Road in St Helens which prior to its opening in March, had been highly controversial. The paper discovered that the fears of local residents had been unfounded and this week they returned to talk to another family. The article by June Carrington began:
"For almost half a century, home for Mr. Fred Price has been wherever his caravan rested. A gipsy, he was born 47 years ago in a horse-drawn caravan and ever since he has travelled the length and breadth of the country, even crossing the sea to Ireland where he met his wife, Agnes, who is also a gipsy. Fred Price has seen many changes during his years on the open road, but the biggest is probably yet to come, for he is sure that within his lifetime gipsy life as it was will come to an end. “Most of us are settling down now,” he said, “and do not move too far away. A lot of the old traditions have gone already – things like making pegs and flowers. We are modern gipsies now, mostly dealing in scrap with casual farm work in the summer. There aren't so many places for us to stay now.”"
Mr Price had decided to make St Helens his permanent home and liked the new site but thought the rent "a bit much" and found the omission of electric power points a nuisance. The facilities that had been provided included an amenity block with toilets and a washhouse with hot and cold running water. There was room for 12 caravans on the site, although the most accommodated at any one time had so far been eight – with an average occupancy of only three caravans. In nearly nine months of operation, there had not been a single complaint made against any of those using the site.
What a right old mess concessionary bus travel was in 1971! In April the Echo had investigated all the different systems that local councils within the Merseyside district were employing for the benefit of "old people". A few councils were issuing passes that permitted completely free bus travel; some were granting half-fare passes but most authorities were issuing tokens. Passes only permitted travel between 9:30am to 3:30pm but tokens could be used at any time on any service but were for a finite amount. This varied from £3 to £8 a year and the qualifying age also varied from 65 to 70.
The lack of uniformity had led to a situation in Halewood where the old folk on one side of a street got free passes from Liverpool Corporation, while those on the other side received tokens from Whiston Rural District Council. And councils that used tokens varied in the amount that they dished out to pensioners in one go. Those issued by Whiston – which included the districts of Clock Face, Rainhill and Eccleston – were supposed to last three months but, of course, that depended on how often you used the buses and how far you travelled. And you had to go and collect your tokens at set times – presumably having to pay the full fare on the bus!
So between the 1st and the 3rd of this week, Whiston Council was dishing out its bus tokens to "aged persons" at seven different locations. These included the Clock Face Methodist Church Hall, Rainhill Village Hall, Eccleston Old People's Recreation Centre in Lester Drive, the Congregational Church in Kiln Lane and the Parish Hall in Dragon Lane, Whiston. And you only had a short period of time – between one and two hours – to collect your tokens on your designated day. Although you could visit the Council Offices in Delph Lane in Whiston outside of these days to collect the tokens. It wasn't until 1974 and the creation of Merseyside that a uniform system was introduced – and concessionary train travel was added to the buses in 1979.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and Helena House on the corner of Baldwin Street and Cotham Street (pictured above) took out a large advert promoting its toys:
"TOYS GALORE IN THE TOY DEPT. (First Floor) – Ride Through The Fairy Glen, with its beautiful waterfalls to meet Santa Claus in his Grotto in the Basement. Ride only 3p or with a big value gift from Santa 16p. Then see the huge selection of Toys in the Toy Fair, First Floor. Take the strain out of Christmas shopping. Relax in the comfort of our first floor restaurant. – Select your Christmas Wines and Spirits from our ground floor dept. Cut prices plus dividend stamps."
Their "Gifts For All at Christmas" included an Instamatic Camera Kit costing £4.77; Fancy Tights by Ballito at 25p (Recommended price £1.25); Overalls ("The Useful Gift") from £2; Edwardian Bra from £1.47 etc. etc.
"There's something restful about Rainford" was the introduction to a Christmas advertising feature in the Reporter. The advertisers included Fashionflair, J. E. Cook (butchers), C & G Winstanley (grocers), Huyton's (confectioners / bakers), Bradbury's (newsagents), Whirlpool Polyclean (launderette) and Garner's (newsagents) – all Ormskirk Road. Also Wainwright's Electrical Services, The Derby Arms Hotel, Myra Hartley's Wool Shop, Shirley's (hairdressers), Ron Raspin (DIY) and the Star Inn – all Church Road.
It was a rare edition of the paper that made no reference to the 1970 Pilkington strike. On its front page it was stated that the glass giant's much touted "forgive and forget" policy to former strike rebels seeking work had been broken. However, a Pilks spokesman blamed human error for some issues at Fibreglass and insisted that "very favourable" consideration would be given in future to ex-rebels when vacancies occurred.
Councillor John Potter had also been heavily involved in the seven-week-long strike – but made the news for a different reason this week. The East Sutton Ward councillor was calling for a clean up of Carr Mill Dam (pictured above), which he dubbed a "derelict waste" and "eyesore", before adding: "At the moment it is privately-owned, but if the Corporation took it over we could work on it and convert it for the use it was originally intended to have, as a pleasure park."
There was an unusual opening of a petrol station on the 3rd when a Texas Deputy opened the new Prescot Service Station on Warrington Road. The newspaper ad read: "Straight from Bescar County, San Antonio, Texas, Deputy Sheriff Danny Arnold and his half-hour Western show! Danny's the real McCoy, a real Deputy Sheriff with credentials from the State of Texas to prove it. Come and meet him, get his autograph, hear a cowboy singing songs of the American west, see an exciting speciality act of rope-spinning and whip-cracking!"
There were a couple more events this week – but I can't top a whip-cracking deputy sheriff from Texas singing cowboy songs while opening a petrol station in Prescot – so I'll leave it there!
Next week's stories will include plans for a giant night life complex at Carr Mill, a UFO stops play at Ruskin Drive, a Haydock boy has a successful hole-in-the-heart operation, the tree vandals of Derbyshire Hill and the plans to close Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 29th when Matt Monro gave two shows at the Theatre Royal in St Helens with support from singer and impressionist Jerry Stevens. By 1971 Monro had had ten top 40 hits in the UK – but his star was fading after enjoying no success for six years.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th broke the news that a two-year scheme to clean up parts of the St Helens / Sankey Canal would begin next month. The British Waterways Board even went so far as to promise that Blackbrook Canal would be transformed into a "pleasure paradise" for anglers and canoeists. The channel would be dredged, weeds cleared, banks completely reshaped, footbridges built across and locks and a weir made safe. Concern over the safety of the canal had been brought to a head in September when 6-year-old Helen Sutcliffe drowned in its murky waters just 100 yards from her home in West End Road.
Millions of tons of earth and rubble would also be used to fill in a four-mile stretch of the canal from the St Helens boundary to Winwick. Tony Buckley, the Chief Water Quality Control Officer for the Mersey and Weaver River Authority, told the Newspaper that the canal was not badly polluted at the moment and added this comment about the town's other troublesome waterway – the "stinky brook": "The Sankey Brook is also under close observation to reduce pollution. The installation of an effluent treatment plant at British Sidac, and the proposed extensions to Parr Sewage Works will go a long way to prevent the water being fouled."
Whiston Hospital's last matron retired on the 30th. She was Judith Graves who had done the job at the hospital for 17 years and at her retirement "do" was presented with a portable TV and a tea-maker set. The chairman of the hospital management committee, Arthur Foxton, said Miss Graves had been a "tower of strength" and restructuring would mean her position would not be filled.
On the 30th the Charities Committee of the Golden Lion in Rainford handed over a cheque for £200 to the matron of the Rathbone Hospital for Mentally Handicapped Children. The money had been raised by holding a charity football match and a sponsored walk.
Also during that evening, Saints played Leeds in the semi-final of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy at Headingley and beat them convincingly 0 - 17. Some Leeds fans thought that St Helens supporters should take a beating as well and pounced on a party making their way to their coaches. A number of Saints fans were kicked to the ground and one was knocked unconscious. Twenty-five year old Eileen Holden from Whitfield Grove in Haydock told the Reporter:
"As we crossed the bridge, we found 20 of the teenagers waiting for us. They watched until we had walked past then ran at us. I was pushed into a hedge. Four schoolboys alongside me were punched and kicked on the ground. One was kicked hard on his face and it took a few minutes to bring him round well enough to walk. We were all very frightened."
During the afternoon of December 1st, there was a walkout at Bold Colliery after a dispute over a power loading agreement – but the men returned to work five days later.
In September the Echo had investigated the first dedicated gipsy site in the North West. That was on land off Sherdley Road in St Helens which prior to its opening in March, had been highly controversial. The paper discovered that the fears of local residents had been unfounded and this week they returned to talk to another family. The article by June Carrington began:
"For almost half a century, home for Mr. Fred Price has been wherever his caravan rested. A gipsy, he was born 47 years ago in a horse-drawn caravan and ever since he has travelled the length and breadth of the country, even crossing the sea to Ireland where he met his wife, Agnes, who is also a gipsy. Fred Price has seen many changes during his years on the open road, but the biggest is probably yet to come, for he is sure that within his lifetime gipsy life as it was will come to an end. “Most of us are settling down now,” he said, “and do not move too far away. A lot of the old traditions have gone already – things like making pegs and flowers. We are modern gipsies now, mostly dealing in scrap with casual farm work in the summer. There aren't so many places for us to stay now.”"
Mr Price had decided to make St Helens his permanent home and liked the new site but thought the rent "a bit much" and found the omission of electric power points a nuisance. The facilities that had been provided included an amenity block with toilets and a washhouse with hot and cold running water. There was room for 12 caravans on the site, although the most accommodated at any one time had so far been eight – with an average occupancy of only three caravans. In nearly nine months of operation, there had not been a single complaint made against any of those using the site.
What a right old mess concessionary bus travel was in 1971! In April the Echo had investigated all the different systems that local councils within the Merseyside district were employing for the benefit of "old people". A few councils were issuing passes that permitted completely free bus travel; some were granting half-fare passes but most authorities were issuing tokens. Passes only permitted travel between 9:30am to 3:30pm but tokens could be used at any time on any service but were for a finite amount. This varied from £3 to £8 a year and the qualifying age also varied from 65 to 70.
The lack of uniformity had led to a situation in Halewood where the old folk on one side of a street got free passes from Liverpool Corporation, while those on the other side received tokens from Whiston Rural District Council. And councils that used tokens varied in the amount that they dished out to pensioners in one go. Those issued by Whiston – which included the districts of Clock Face, Rainhill and Eccleston – were supposed to last three months but, of course, that depended on how often you used the buses and how far you travelled. And you had to go and collect your tokens at set times – presumably having to pay the full fare on the bus!
So between the 1st and the 3rd of this week, Whiston Council was dishing out its bus tokens to "aged persons" at seven different locations. These included the Clock Face Methodist Church Hall, Rainhill Village Hall, Eccleston Old People's Recreation Centre in Lester Drive, the Congregational Church in Kiln Lane and the Parish Hall in Dragon Lane, Whiston. And you only had a short period of time – between one and two hours – to collect your tokens on your designated day. Although you could visit the Council Offices in Delph Lane in Whiston outside of these days to collect the tokens. It wasn't until 1974 and the creation of Merseyside that a uniform system was introduced – and concessionary train travel was added to the buses in 1979.
"TOYS GALORE IN THE TOY DEPT. (First Floor) – Ride Through The Fairy Glen, with its beautiful waterfalls to meet Santa Claus in his Grotto in the Basement. Ride only 3p or with a big value gift from Santa 16p. Then see the huge selection of Toys in the Toy Fair, First Floor. Take the strain out of Christmas shopping. Relax in the comfort of our first floor restaurant. – Select your Christmas Wines and Spirits from our ground floor dept. Cut prices plus dividend stamps."
Their "Gifts For All at Christmas" included an Instamatic Camera Kit costing £4.77; Fancy Tights by Ballito at 25p (Recommended price £1.25); Overalls ("The Useful Gift") from £2; Edwardian Bra from £1.47 etc. etc.
"There's something restful about Rainford" was the introduction to a Christmas advertising feature in the Reporter. The advertisers included Fashionflair, J. E. Cook (butchers), C & G Winstanley (grocers), Huyton's (confectioners / bakers), Bradbury's (newsagents), Whirlpool Polyclean (launderette) and Garner's (newsagents) – all Ormskirk Road. Also Wainwright's Electrical Services, The Derby Arms Hotel, Myra Hartley's Wool Shop, Shirley's (hairdressers), Ron Raspin (DIY) and the Star Inn – all Church Road.
It was a rare edition of the paper that made no reference to the 1970 Pilkington strike. On its front page it was stated that the glass giant's much touted "forgive and forget" policy to former strike rebels seeking work had been broken. However, a Pilks spokesman blamed human error for some issues at Fibreglass and insisted that "very favourable" consideration would be given in future to ex-rebels when vacancies occurred.
There was an unusual opening of a petrol station on the 3rd when a Texas Deputy opened the new Prescot Service Station on Warrington Road. The newspaper ad read: "Straight from Bescar County, San Antonio, Texas, Deputy Sheriff Danny Arnold and his half-hour Western show! Danny's the real McCoy, a real Deputy Sheriff with credentials from the State of Texas to prove it. Come and meet him, get his autograph, hear a cowboy singing songs of the American west, see an exciting speciality act of rope-spinning and whip-cracking!"
There were a couple more events this week – but I can't top a whip-cracking deputy sheriff from Texas singing cowboy songs while opening a petrol station in Prescot – so I'll leave it there!
Next week's stories will include plans for a giant night life complex at Carr Mill, a UFO stops play at Ruskin Drive, a Haydock boy has a successful hole-in-the-heart operation, the tree vandals of Derbyshire Hill and the plans to close Rainhill Hospital.
This week's many stories include the complexity of concessionary bus travel, Saints fans are attacked in Leeds, a feature on the Sherdley Road gipsy site, the Christmas shopping at Helena House, a big canal clean up is announced and a call for the eyesore of Carr Mill Dam to be improved.
We begin on the 29th when Matt Monro gave two shows at the Theatre Royal in St Helens with support from singer and impressionist Jerry Stevens.
By 1971 Monro had had ten top 40 hits in the UK – but his star was fading after enjoying no success for six years.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th broke the news that a two-year scheme to clean up parts of the St Helens / Sankey Canal would begin next month.
The British Waterways Board even went so far as to promise that Blackbrook Canal would be transformed into a "pleasure paradise" for anglers and canoeists.
The channel would be dredged, weeds cleared, banks completely reshaped, footbridges built across and locks and a weir made safe.
Concern over the safety of the canal had been brought to a head in September when 6-year-old Helen Sutcliffe drowned in its murky waters just 100 yards from her home in West End Road.
Millions of tons of earth and rubble would also be used to fill in a four-mile stretch of the canal from the St Helens boundary to Winwick.
Tony Buckley, the Chief Water Quality Control Officer for the Mersey and Weaver River Authority, told the Newspaper that the canal was not badly polluted at the moment and added this comment about the town's other troublesome waterway – the "stinky brook":
"The Sankey Brook is also under close observation to reduce pollution. The installation of an effluent treatment plant at British Sidac, and the proposed extensions to Parr Sewage Works will go a long way to prevent the water being fouled."
Whiston Hospital's last matron retired on the 30th. She was Judith Graves who had done the job at the hospital for 17 years and at her retirement "do" was presented with a portable TV and a tea-maker set.
The chairman of the hospital management committee, Arthur Foxton, said Miss Graves had been a "tower of strength" and restructuring would mean her position would not be filled.
On the 30th the Charities Committee of the Golden Lion in Rainford handed over a cheque for £200 to the matron of the Rathbone Hospital for Mentally Handicapped Children.
The money had been raised by holding a charity football match and a sponsored walk.
Also during that evening, Saints played Leeds in the semi-final of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy at Headingley and beat them convincingly 0 - 17.
Some Leeds fans thought that St Helens supporters should take a beating as well and pounced on a party making their way to their coaches.
A number of Saints fans were kicked to the ground and one was knocked unconscious.
Twenty-five year old Eileen Holden from Whitfield Grove in Haydock told the Reporter:
"As we crossed the bridge, we found 20 of the teenagers waiting for us. They watched until we had walked past then ran at us. I was pushed into a hedge. Four schoolboys alongside me were punched and kicked on the ground.
"One was kicked hard on his face and it took a few minutes to bring him round well enough to walk. We were all very frightened."
During the afternoon of December 1st, there was a walkout at Bold Colliery after a dispute over a power loading agreement – but the men returned to work five days later.
In September the Echo had investigated the first dedicated gipsy site in the North West.
That was on land off Sherdley Road in St Helens which prior to its opening in March, had been highly controversial.
The paper discovered that the fears of local residents had been unfounded and this week they returned to talk to another family. The article by June Carrington began:
"For almost half a century, home for Mr. Fred Price has been wherever his caravan rested.
"A gipsy, he was born 47 years ago in a horse-drawn caravan and ever since he has travelled the length and breadth of the country, even crossing the sea to Ireland where he met his wife, Agnes, who is also a gipsy.
"Fred Price has seen many changes during his years on the open road, but the biggest is probably yet to come, for he is sure that within his lifetime gipsy life as it was will come to an end.
"“Most of us are settling down now,” he said, “and do not move too far away. A lot of the old traditions have gone already – things like making pegs and flowers.
"“We are modern gipsies now, mostly dealing in scrap with casual farm work in the summer. There aren't so many places for us to stay now.”"
Mr Price had decided to make St Helens his permanent home and liked the new site but thought the rent "a bit much" and found the omission of electric power points a nuisance.
The facilities that had been provided included an amenity block with toilets and a washhouse with hot and cold running water.
There was room for 12 caravans on the site, although the most accommodated at any one time had so far been eight – with an average occupancy of only three caravans.
In nearly nine months of operation, there had not been a single complaint made against any of those using the site.
What a right old mess concessionary bus travel was in 1971! In April the Echo had investigated all the different systems that local councils within the Merseyside district were employing for the benefit of "old people".
A few councils were issuing passes that permitted completely free bus travel; some were granting half-fare passes but most authorities were issuing tokens.
Passes only permitted travel between 9:30am to 3:30pm but tokens could be used at any time on any service but were for a finite amount.
This varied from £3 to £8 a year and the qualifying age also varied from 65 to 70.
The lack of uniformity had led to a situation in Halewood where the old folk on one side of a street got free passes from Liverpool Corporation, while those on the other side received tokens from Whiston Rural District Council.
And councils that used tokens varied in the amount that they dished out to pensioners in one go.
Those issued by Whiston – which included the districts of Clock Face, Rainhill and Eccleston – were supposed to last three months but, of course, that depended on how often you used the buses and how far you travelled.
And you had to go and collect your tokens at set times – presumably having to pay the full fare on the bus!
So between the 1st and the 3rd of this week, Whiston Council was dishing out its bus tokens to "aged persons" at seven different locations.
These included the Clock Face Methodist Church Hall, Rainhill Village Hall, Eccleston Old People's Recreation Centre in Lester Drive, the Congregational Church in Kiln Lane and the Parish Hall in Dragon Lane, Whiston.
And you only had a short period of time – between one and two hours – to collect your tokens on your designated day.
Although you could visit the Council Offices in Delph Lane in Whiston outside of these days to collect the tokens.
It wasn't until 1974 and the creation of Merseyside that a uniform system was introduced – and concessionary train travel was added to the buses in 1979.
The St Helens Reporter was published on the 3rd and Helena House on the corner of Baldwin Street and Cotham Street (pictured above) took out a large advert promoting its toys:
"TOYS GALORE IN THE TOY DEPT. (First Floor) – Ride Through The Fairy Glen, with its beautiful waterfalls to meet Santa Claus in his Grotto in the Basement. Ride only 3p or with a big value gift from Santa 16p. Then see the huge selection of Toys in the Toy Fair, First Floor.
"Take the strain out of Christmas shopping. Relax in the comfort of our first floor restaurant. – Select your Christmas Wines and Spirits from our ground floor dept. Cut prices plus dividend stamps."
Their "Gifts For All at Christmas" included an Instamatic Camera Kit costing £4.77; Fancy Tights by Ballito at 25p (Recommended price £1.25); Overalls ("The Useful Gift") from £2; Edwardian Bra from £1.47 etc. etc.
"There's something restful about Rainford" was the introduction to a Christmas advertising feature in the Reporter.
The advertisers included Fashionflair, J. E. Cook (butchers), C & G Winstanley (grocers), Huyton's (confectioners / bakers), Bradbury's (newsagents), Whirlpool Polyclean (launderette) and Garner's (newsagents) – all Ormskirk Road.
Also Wainwright's Electrical Services, The Derby Arms Hotel, Myra Hartley's Wool Shop, Shirley's (hairdressers), Ron Raspin (DIY) and the Star Inn – all Church Road.
It was a rare edition of the paper that made no reference to the 1970 Pilkington strike.
On its front page it was stated that the glass giant's much touted "forgive and forget" policy to former strike rebels seeking work had been broken.
However, a Pilks spokesman blamed human error for some issues at Fibreglass and insisted that "very favourable" consideration would be given in future to ex-rebels when vacancies occurred.
Councillor John Potter had also been heavily involved in the seven-week-long strike – but made the news for a different reason this week.
The East Sutton Ward councillor was calling for a clean up of Carr Mill Dam, which he dubbed a "derelict waste" and "eyesore", before adding:
"At the moment it is privately-owned, but if the Corporation took it over we could work on it and convert it for the use it was originally intended to have, as a pleasure park."
There was an unusual opening of a petrol station on the 3rd when a Texas Deputy opened the new Prescot Service Station on Warrington Road. The newspaper ad read:
"Straight from Bescar County, San Antonio, Texas, Deputy Sheriff Danny Arnold and his half-hour Western show! Danny's the real McCoy, a real Deputy Sheriff with credentials from the State of Texas to prove it.
"Come and meet him, get his autograph, hear a cowboy singing songs of the American west, see an exciting speciality act of rope-spinning and whip-cracking!"
There were a couple more events this week – but I can't top a whip-cracking deputy sheriff from Texas singing cowboy songs while opening a petrol station in Prescot – so I'll leave it there!
Next week's stories will include plans for a giant night life complex at Carr Mill, a UFO stops play at Ruskin Drive, a Haydock boy has a successful hole-in-the-heart operation, the tree vandals of Derbyshire Hill and the plans to close Rainhill Hospital.
We begin on the 29th when Matt Monro gave two shows at the Theatre Royal in St Helens with support from singer and impressionist Jerry Stevens.
By 1971 Monro had had ten top 40 hits in the UK – but his star was fading after enjoying no success for six years.
The St Helens Newspaper on the 30th broke the news that a two-year scheme to clean up parts of the St Helens / Sankey Canal would begin next month.
The British Waterways Board even went so far as to promise that Blackbrook Canal would be transformed into a "pleasure paradise" for anglers and canoeists.
The channel would be dredged, weeds cleared, banks completely reshaped, footbridges built across and locks and a weir made safe.
Concern over the safety of the canal had been brought to a head in September when 6-year-old Helen Sutcliffe drowned in its murky waters just 100 yards from her home in West End Road.
Millions of tons of earth and rubble would also be used to fill in a four-mile stretch of the canal from the St Helens boundary to Winwick.
Tony Buckley, the Chief Water Quality Control Officer for the Mersey and Weaver River Authority, told the Newspaper that the canal was not badly polluted at the moment and added this comment about the town's other troublesome waterway – the "stinky brook":
"The Sankey Brook is also under close observation to reduce pollution. The installation of an effluent treatment plant at British Sidac, and the proposed extensions to Parr Sewage Works will go a long way to prevent the water being fouled."
Whiston Hospital's last matron retired on the 30th. She was Judith Graves who had done the job at the hospital for 17 years and at her retirement "do" was presented with a portable TV and a tea-maker set.
The chairman of the hospital management committee, Arthur Foxton, said Miss Graves had been a "tower of strength" and restructuring would mean her position would not be filled.
On the 30th the Charities Committee of the Golden Lion in Rainford handed over a cheque for £200 to the matron of the Rathbone Hospital for Mentally Handicapped Children.
The money had been raised by holding a charity football match and a sponsored walk.
Also during that evening, Saints played Leeds in the semi-final of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy at Headingley and beat them convincingly 0 - 17.
Some Leeds fans thought that St Helens supporters should take a beating as well and pounced on a party making their way to their coaches.
A number of Saints fans were kicked to the ground and one was knocked unconscious.
Twenty-five year old Eileen Holden from Whitfield Grove in Haydock told the Reporter:
"As we crossed the bridge, we found 20 of the teenagers waiting for us. They watched until we had walked past then ran at us. I was pushed into a hedge. Four schoolboys alongside me were punched and kicked on the ground.
"One was kicked hard on his face and it took a few minutes to bring him round well enough to walk. We were all very frightened."
During the afternoon of December 1st, there was a walkout at Bold Colliery after a dispute over a power loading agreement – but the men returned to work five days later.
In September the Echo had investigated the first dedicated gipsy site in the North West.
That was on land off Sherdley Road in St Helens which prior to its opening in March, had been highly controversial.
The paper discovered that the fears of local residents had been unfounded and this week they returned to talk to another family. The article by June Carrington began:
"For almost half a century, home for Mr. Fred Price has been wherever his caravan rested.
"A gipsy, he was born 47 years ago in a horse-drawn caravan and ever since he has travelled the length and breadth of the country, even crossing the sea to Ireland where he met his wife, Agnes, who is also a gipsy.
"Fred Price has seen many changes during his years on the open road, but the biggest is probably yet to come, for he is sure that within his lifetime gipsy life as it was will come to an end.
"“Most of us are settling down now,” he said, “and do not move too far away. A lot of the old traditions have gone already – things like making pegs and flowers.
"“We are modern gipsies now, mostly dealing in scrap with casual farm work in the summer. There aren't so many places for us to stay now.”"
Mr Price had decided to make St Helens his permanent home and liked the new site but thought the rent "a bit much" and found the omission of electric power points a nuisance.
The facilities that had been provided included an amenity block with toilets and a washhouse with hot and cold running water.
There was room for 12 caravans on the site, although the most accommodated at any one time had so far been eight – with an average occupancy of only three caravans.
In nearly nine months of operation, there had not been a single complaint made against any of those using the site.
What a right old mess concessionary bus travel was in 1971! In April the Echo had investigated all the different systems that local councils within the Merseyside district were employing for the benefit of "old people".
A few councils were issuing passes that permitted completely free bus travel; some were granting half-fare passes but most authorities were issuing tokens.
Passes only permitted travel between 9:30am to 3:30pm but tokens could be used at any time on any service but were for a finite amount.
This varied from £3 to £8 a year and the qualifying age also varied from 65 to 70.
The lack of uniformity had led to a situation in Halewood where the old folk on one side of a street got free passes from Liverpool Corporation, while those on the other side received tokens from Whiston Rural District Council.
And councils that used tokens varied in the amount that they dished out to pensioners in one go.
Those issued by Whiston – which included the districts of Clock Face, Rainhill and Eccleston – were supposed to last three months but, of course, that depended on how often you used the buses and how far you travelled.
And you had to go and collect your tokens at set times – presumably having to pay the full fare on the bus!
So between the 1st and the 3rd of this week, Whiston Council was dishing out its bus tokens to "aged persons" at seven different locations.
These included the Clock Face Methodist Church Hall, Rainhill Village Hall, Eccleston Old People's Recreation Centre in Lester Drive, the Congregational Church in Kiln Lane and the Parish Hall in Dragon Lane, Whiston.
And you only had a short period of time – between one and two hours – to collect your tokens on your designated day.
Although you could visit the Council Offices in Delph Lane in Whiston outside of these days to collect the tokens.
It wasn't until 1974 and the creation of Merseyside that a uniform system was introduced – and concessionary train travel was added to the buses in 1979.
"TOYS GALORE IN THE TOY DEPT. (First Floor) – Ride Through The Fairy Glen, with its beautiful waterfalls to meet Santa Claus in his Grotto in the Basement. Ride only 3p or with a big value gift from Santa 16p. Then see the huge selection of Toys in the Toy Fair, First Floor.
"Take the strain out of Christmas shopping. Relax in the comfort of our first floor restaurant. – Select your Christmas Wines and Spirits from our ground floor dept. Cut prices plus dividend stamps."
Their "Gifts For All at Christmas" included an Instamatic Camera Kit costing £4.77; Fancy Tights by Ballito at 25p (Recommended price £1.25); Overalls ("The Useful Gift") from £2; Edwardian Bra from £1.47 etc. etc.
"There's something restful about Rainford" was the introduction to a Christmas advertising feature in the Reporter.
The advertisers included Fashionflair, J. E. Cook (butchers), C & G Winstanley (grocers), Huyton's (confectioners / bakers), Bradbury's (newsagents), Whirlpool Polyclean (launderette) and Garner's (newsagents) – all Ormskirk Road.
Also Wainwright's Electrical Services, The Derby Arms Hotel, Myra Hartley's Wool Shop, Shirley's (hairdressers), Ron Raspin (DIY) and the Star Inn – all Church Road.
It was a rare edition of the paper that made no reference to the 1970 Pilkington strike.
On its front page it was stated that the glass giant's much touted "forgive and forget" policy to former strike rebels seeking work had been broken.
However, a Pilks spokesman blamed human error for some issues at Fibreglass and insisted that "very favourable" consideration would be given in future to ex-rebels when vacancies occurred.
The East Sutton Ward councillor was calling for a clean up of Carr Mill Dam, which he dubbed a "derelict waste" and "eyesore", before adding:
"At the moment it is privately-owned, but if the Corporation took it over we could work on it and convert it for the use it was originally intended to have, as a pleasure park."
There was an unusual opening of a petrol station on the 3rd when a Texas Deputy opened the new Prescot Service Station on Warrington Road. The newspaper ad read:
"Straight from Bescar County, San Antonio, Texas, Deputy Sheriff Danny Arnold and his half-hour Western show! Danny's the real McCoy, a real Deputy Sheriff with credentials from the State of Texas to prove it.
"Come and meet him, get his autograph, hear a cowboy singing songs of the American west, see an exciting speciality act of rope-spinning and whip-cracking!"
There were a couple more events this week – but I can't top a whip-cracking deputy sheriff from Texas singing cowboy songs while opening a petrol station in Prescot – so I'll leave it there!
Next week's stories will include plans for a giant night life complex at Carr Mill, a UFO stops play at Ruskin Drive, a Haydock boy has a successful hole-in-the-heart operation, the tree vandals of Derbyshire Hill and the plans to close Rainhill Hospital.