FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 30 DEC 1974 - 5 JAN 1975
This week's many stories include the bizarre hospital consultants' dispute in which the nurses sided with the government, a serious fire hits Fine Fare in Church Street, the two burglaries at the Fleece Hotel, the nocturnal racket in Reginald Road, the Rainhill clairvoyant, a facelift for NCB homes on the Derbyshire Hill estate and the plans to revamp the Gamble that might turn St Helens into an arts showpiece.
New Year's Day began in an ignominious fashion in St Helens with the smashing of several shop windows. A store in Duke Street was the first to suffer the wrath of vandals when in the early hours it had one of its windows kicked in. Then an Indian restaurant in Corporation Street had bricks pitched through its front window. A shop in the same street also suffered the same fate, as did Ellison's Travel in Barrow Street.
The lead story in the St Helens Reporter on the 3rd concerned a bizarre row between the consultants at St Helens and Whiston hospitals – and the government. What made the dispute unusual was that the nurses at both hospitals took the government's side and were heavily critical of the senior doctors. The disagreement had led the latter to announce a work to rule which the Reporter said could set back planned treatment for patients.
The consultants had also dispatched a telegram to Prime Minister Harold Wilson rejecting the new contracts that were being offered to them and calling for Barbara Castle to quit. She was the Health Secretary who had designed the contracts that had so upset the doctors, as they felt that those consultants who opted to retain some private patients on their books would be penalised.
And the nurses union NUPE was not in favour of private beds in NHS hospitals and so they had decided to take action of their own. After consulting with the hospitals' bosses they agreed to continue caring for the two private patients that were then in Whiston Hospital until their discharge. But afterwards no more private patients there would be looked after.
There were currently five patients in the private block at St Helens Hospital and one was going to be transferred to a public ward. But the other four could not be moved for medical reasons and would still be looked after. In return the hospital agreed to allow NHS patients to use any spare beds within the private block.
"St. Helens could turn into a showpiece for the arts if conversion plans for the Gamble Institute are approved by councillors." That was how the Reporter described a £170,000 proposed scheme that was designed primarily to free up space in the Gamble Institute. As well as housing Central Library, both the town's museum and its School of Art were also contained within the building and there was not enough room to go round. So Chief Librarian Geffrey Senior had recommended that both the School of Art and the museum should be rehoused in separate buildings, which would allow the library to become more open-plan.
The Reporter also announced that the National Coal Board was planning a facelift for the 12 houses and 14 flats that it owned on the Derbyshire Hill estate. The scheme included the installation of central heating systems, modernising kitchens, tidying up land, planting trees and shrubs and providing car parking spaces. The houses were described as about twenty years old and occupied by mineworkers, or those who had either left or retired from the pits or their dependents.
Over the last few years many households in St Helens had received a letter from the council informing them that their home was going to be demolished as part of a clearance scheme. Some people had been very upset to have to vacate the place that they had occupied for decades and disputed the council's claim that their property was unfit to live in. A few would fight the compulsory purchase order but ultimately they had to accept the inevitable and move out.
Now that the council had spread its wings and become responsible for housing in places like Rainford, Whiston and Newton-le-Willows, many more houses were up for demolition. And those in Fairclough Street in Newton discovered this week that they would be next in line for the bulldozer. And they were not happy, particularly as they had heard of the plans on the grapevine before receiving the council's letter.
Bernard Fleming demanded proper compensation telling the Reporter: "If the council will not give me what I say my house is worth, they will have to pull it down round my ears." Mr Fleming stated that he would not accept the council's valuation unless it matched his own and he would otherwise refuse to move. He also had concerns over where he might end up. "I understand too that many people from Newton are being farmed out to St. Helens. But, I want to stay in Newton. I would not go to St. Helens under any circumstances. They might as well send me to Australia."
The Reporter profiled Madame Rose of Burton Avenue in Rainhill. She was a clairvoyant whose real name was Marie Rose-Lynn and who was kept busy "night and day" dealing with clients who phoned and visited her. Madame Rose said she came from a long line of clairvoyants. She used tarot cards to predict the future and before seeing a client meditated by gazing into a crystal ball. "I have always had the gift," she said, "but when I was 21 I had a riding accident and was in a coma for a week. After that my powers increased."
The American Western series 'Kung Fu' starring David Carradine was currently on our TV screens and stimulating interest in martial arts. "Learn the Derek Gordon system of Kung-Fu", said an advert in the Reporter with Keith Alker undertaking the instruction at the YMCA in North Road.
Night porter George Carey was praised in the paper after foiling a burglary at the Fleece Hotel while doing his rounds. Although the intruder got clean away, he had to leave behind his haul of cigarettes and whisky and the porter, after wrestling with the burglar, was able to give a good description of the individual to the police. Mr Carey's address in Bruce Street in St Helens was stated in the Reporter's article.
That was then standard journalistic practice but does not appear sensible to me in case the thwarted burglar decided to seek revenge. It was the second burglary in a week at the Fleece after thieves had successfully stolen 360,000 cigarettes and 84 large bottles of gin after concealing themselves on the premises late one night.
The residents of Reginald Road in Sutton were complaining in the paper about the nocturnal activities of a company called Smurfitt. They made cardboard cases and in 1971 had started a regular night shift. The company's loading bay was directly in front of the Reginald Road houses and was used at night to load lorry trailers that a haulage firm took away later in the morning.
68-year-old Harry Mellor who had lived in Reginald Road for 37 years told the Reporter: "There is continuous noise at night. We have to sleep in the back bedroom to get away from it. The noise from engines revving and goods on the lorries flapping all night long means that we can't get any peace. The men whistle and shout, and when they come off night shift at 6 a.m. the noise is really bad."
Another resident said: "The worst part is when they drop the trailer legs. It wakes you up with a start. Instead of dropping them gently, they just bang them down." Nat Birch, the council's Director of Environmental Health, told the Reporter: "The firm have always been very co-operative with us. The men are told to stop the noise but we are dealing with a human element which can't always be controlled."
And finally, in the early hours of the 4th an electrical fault in a freezer cabinet inside Fine Fare caused a fire that was reported to have damaged the supermarket's entire stock. Eight fire engines rushed to the scene but the firemen were initially unable to enter the building as they were beaten back by the smoke. The shop reopened for business on the 8th.
Polly James and Nerys Hughes had opened the Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens in September 1973. The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford accompanied by the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the violent wages snatch outside a Rainhill factory, the major changes in St Helens markets, the remarkable clock man of Sutton and the £2 million Carr Mill leisure scheme gets turned down.
New Year's Day began in an ignominious fashion in St Helens with the smashing of several shop windows. A store in Duke Street was the first to suffer the wrath of vandals when in the early hours it had one of its windows kicked in. Then an Indian restaurant in Corporation Street had bricks pitched through its front window. A shop in the same street also suffered the same fate, as did Ellison's Travel in Barrow Street.
The lead story in the St Helens Reporter on the 3rd concerned a bizarre row between the consultants at St Helens and Whiston hospitals – and the government. What made the dispute unusual was that the nurses at both hospitals took the government's side and were heavily critical of the senior doctors. The disagreement had led the latter to announce a work to rule which the Reporter said could set back planned treatment for patients.
The consultants had also dispatched a telegram to Prime Minister Harold Wilson rejecting the new contracts that were being offered to them and calling for Barbara Castle to quit. She was the Health Secretary who had designed the contracts that had so upset the doctors, as they felt that those consultants who opted to retain some private patients on their books would be penalised.
And the nurses union NUPE was not in favour of private beds in NHS hospitals and so they had decided to take action of their own. After consulting with the hospitals' bosses they agreed to continue caring for the two private patients that were then in Whiston Hospital until their discharge. But afterwards no more private patients there would be looked after.
There were currently five patients in the private block at St Helens Hospital and one was going to be transferred to a public ward. But the other four could not be moved for medical reasons and would still be looked after. In return the hospital agreed to allow NHS patients to use any spare beds within the private block.
"St. Helens could turn into a showpiece for the arts if conversion plans for the Gamble Institute are approved by councillors." That was how the Reporter described a £170,000 proposed scheme that was designed primarily to free up space in the Gamble Institute. As well as housing Central Library, both the town's museum and its School of Art were also contained within the building and there was not enough room to go round. So Chief Librarian Geffrey Senior had recommended that both the School of Art and the museum should be rehoused in separate buildings, which would allow the library to become more open-plan.
The Reporter also announced that the National Coal Board was planning a facelift for the 12 houses and 14 flats that it owned on the Derbyshire Hill estate. The scheme included the installation of central heating systems, modernising kitchens, tidying up land, planting trees and shrubs and providing car parking spaces. The houses were described as about twenty years old and occupied by mineworkers, or those who had either left or retired from the pits or their dependents.
Over the last few years many households in St Helens had received a letter from the council informing them that their home was going to be demolished as part of a clearance scheme. Some people had been very upset to have to vacate the place that they had occupied for decades and disputed the council's claim that their property was unfit to live in. A few would fight the compulsory purchase order but ultimately they had to accept the inevitable and move out.
Now that the council had spread its wings and become responsible for housing in places like Rainford, Whiston and Newton-le-Willows, many more houses were up for demolition. And those in Fairclough Street in Newton discovered this week that they would be next in line for the bulldozer. And they were not happy, particularly as they had heard of the plans on the grapevine before receiving the council's letter.
Bernard Fleming demanded proper compensation telling the Reporter: "If the council will not give me what I say my house is worth, they will have to pull it down round my ears." Mr Fleming stated that he would not accept the council's valuation unless it matched his own and he would otherwise refuse to move. He also had concerns over where he might end up. "I understand too that many people from Newton are being farmed out to St. Helens. But, I want to stay in Newton. I would not go to St. Helens under any circumstances. They might as well send me to Australia."
The Reporter profiled Madame Rose of Burton Avenue in Rainhill. She was a clairvoyant whose real name was Marie Rose-Lynn and who was kept busy "night and day" dealing with clients who phoned and visited her. Madame Rose said she came from a long line of clairvoyants. She used tarot cards to predict the future and before seeing a client meditated by gazing into a crystal ball. "I have always had the gift," she said, "but when I was 21 I had a riding accident and was in a coma for a week. After that my powers increased."
The American Western series 'Kung Fu' starring David Carradine was currently on our TV screens and stimulating interest in martial arts. "Learn the Derek Gordon system of Kung-Fu", said an advert in the Reporter with Keith Alker undertaking the instruction at the YMCA in North Road.
That was then standard journalistic practice but does not appear sensible to me in case the thwarted burglar decided to seek revenge. It was the second burglary in a week at the Fleece after thieves had successfully stolen 360,000 cigarettes and 84 large bottles of gin after concealing themselves on the premises late one night.
The residents of Reginald Road in Sutton were complaining in the paper about the nocturnal activities of a company called Smurfitt. They made cardboard cases and in 1971 had started a regular night shift. The company's loading bay was directly in front of the Reginald Road houses and was used at night to load lorry trailers that a haulage firm took away later in the morning.
68-year-old Harry Mellor who had lived in Reginald Road for 37 years told the Reporter: "There is continuous noise at night. We have to sleep in the back bedroom to get away from it. The noise from engines revving and goods on the lorries flapping all night long means that we can't get any peace. The men whistle and shout, and when they come off night shift at 6 a.m. the noise is really bad."
Another resident said: "The worst part is when they drop the trailer legs. It wakes you up with a start. Instead of dropping them gently, they just bang them down." Nat Birch, the council's Director of Environmental Health, told the Reporter: "The firm have always been very co-operative with us. The men are told to stop the noise but we are dealing with a human element which can't always be controlled."
And finally, in the early hours of the 4th an electrical fault in a freezer cabinet inside Fine Fare caused a fire that was reported to have damaged the supermarket's entire stock. Eight fire engines rushed to the scene but the firemen were initially unable to enter the building as they were beaten back by the smoke. The shop reopened for business on the 8th.
Polly James and Nerys Hughes had opened the Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens in September 1973. The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford accompanied by the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the violent wages snatch outside a Rainhill factory, the major changes in St Helens markets, the remarkable clock man of Sutton and the £2 million Carr Mill leisure scheme gets turned down.
This week's many stories include the bizarre hospital consultants' dispute in which the nurses sided with the government, a serious fire hits Fine Fare in Church Street, the two burglaries at the Fleece Hotel, the nocturnal racket in Reginald Road, the Rainhill clairvoyant, a facelift for NCB homes on the Derbyshire Hill estate and the plans to revamp the Gamble that might turn St Helens into an arts showpiece.
New Year's Day began in an ignominious fashion in St Helens with the smashing of several shop windows.
A store in Duke Street was the first to suffer the wrath of vandals when in the early hours it had one of its windows kicked in.
Then an Indian restaurant in Corporation Street had bricks pitched through its front window.
A shop in the same street also suffered the same fate, as did Ellison's Travel in Barrow Street.
The lead story in the St Helens Reporter on the 3rd concerned a bizarre row between the consultants at St Helens and Whiston hospitals – and the government.
What made the dispute unusual was that the nurses at both hospitals took the government's side and were heavily critical of the senior doctors.
The disagreement had led the latter to announce a work to rule which the Reporter said could set back planned treatment for patients.
The consultants had also dispatched a telegram to Prime Minister Harold Wilson rejecting the new contracts that were being offered to them and calling for Barbara Castle to quit.
She was the Health Secretary who had designed the contracts that had so upset the doctors, as they felt that those consultants who opted to retain some private patients on their books would be penalised.
And the nurses union NUPE was not in favour of private beds in NHS hospitals and so they had decided to take action of their own.
After consulting with the hospitals' bosses they agreed to continue caring for the two private patients that were then in Whiston Hospital until their discharge. But afterwards no more private patients there would be looked after.
There were currently five patients in the private block at St Helens Hospital and one was going to be transferred to a public ward.
But the other four could not be moved for medical reasons and would still be looked after. In return the hospital agreed to allow NHS patients to use any spare beds within the private block.
"St. Helens could turn into a showpiece for the arts if conversion plans for the Gamble Institute are approved by councillors."
That was how the Reporter described a £170,000 proposed scheme that was designed primarily to free up space in the Gamble Institute.
As well as housing Central Library, both the town's museum and its School of Art were also contained within the building and there was not enough room to go round.
So Chief Librarian Geffrey Senior had recommended that both the School of Art and the museum should be rehoused in separate buildings, which would allow the library to become more open-plan.
The Reporter also announced that the National Coal Board was planning a facelift for the 12 houses and 14 flats that it owned on the Derbyshire Hill estate.
The scheme included the installation of central heating systems, modernising kitchens, tidying up land, planting trees and shrubs and providing car parking spaces.
The houses were described as about twenty years old and occupied by mineworkers, or those who had either left or retired from the pits or their dependents.
Over the last few years many households in St Helens had received a letter from the council informing them that their home was going to be demolished as part of a clearance scheme.
Some people had been very upset to have to vacate the place that they had occupied for decades and disputed the council's claim that their property was unfit to live in.
A few would fight the compulsory purchase order but ultimately they had to accept the inevitable and move out.
Now that the council had spread its wings and become responsible for housing in places like Rainford, Whiston and Newton-le-Willows, many more houses were up for demolition.
And those in Fairclough Street in Newton discovered this week that they would be next in line for the bulldozer.
And they were not happy, particularly as they had heard of the plans on the grapevine before receiving the council's letter.
Bernard Fleming demanded proper compensation telling the Reporter: "If the council will not give me what I say my house is worth, they will have to pull it down round my ears."
Mr Fleming stated that he would not accept the council's valuation unless it matched his own and he would otherwise refuse to move. He also had concerns over where he might end up.
"I understand too that many people from Newton are being farmed out to St. Helens. But, I want to stay in Newton. I would not go to St. Helens under any circumstances. They might as well send me to Australia."
The Reporter profiled Madame Rose of Burton Avenue in Rainhill. She was a clairvoyant whose real name was Marie Rose-Lynn and who was kept busy "night and day" dealing with clients who phoned and visited her.
Madame Rose said she came from a long line of clairvoyants. She used tarot cards to predict the future and before seeing a client meditated by gazing into a crystal ball.
"I have always had the gift," she said, "but when I was 21 I had a riding accident and was in a coma for a week. After that my powers increased."
The American Western series 'Kung Fu' starring David Carradine was currently on our TV screens and stimulating interest in martial arts.
"Learn the Derek Gordon system of Kung-Fu", said an advert in the Reporter with Keith Alker undertaking the instruction at the YMCA in North Road.
Night porter George Carey was praised in the paper after foiling a burglary at the Fleece Hotel while doing his rounds.
Although the intruder got clean away, he had to leave behind his haul of cigarettes and whisky and the porter, after wrestling with the burglar, was able to give a good description of the individual to the police.
Mr Carey's address in Bruce Street in St Helens was stated in the Reporter's article.
That was then standard journalistic practice but does not appear sensible to me in case the thwarted burglar decided to seek revenge.
It was the second burglary in a week at the Fleece after thieves had successfully stolen 360,000 cigarettes and 84 large bottles of gin after concealing themselves on the premises late one night.
The residents of Reginald Road in Sutton were complaining in the paper about the nocturnal activities of a company called Smurfitt. They made cardboard cases and in 1971 had started a regular night shift.
The company's loading bay was directly in front of the Reginald Road houses and was used at night to load lorry trailers that a haulage firm took away later in the morning.
68-year-old Harry Mellor who had lived in Reginald Road for 37 years told the Reporter: "There is continuous noise at night. We have to sleep in the back bedroom to get away from it.
"The noise from engines revving and goods on the lorries flapping all night long means that we can't get any peace. The men whistle and shout, and when they come off night shift at 6 a.m. the noise is really bad."
Another resident said: "The worst part is when they drop the trailer legs. It wakes you up with a start. Instead of dropping them gently, they just bang them down."
Nat Birch, the council's Director of Environmental Health, told the Reporter: "The firm have always been very co-operative with us. The men are told to stop the noise but we are dealing with a human element which can't always be controlled."
And finally, in the early hours of the 4th an electrical fault in a freezer cabinet inside Fine Fare caused a fire that was reported to have damaged the supermarket's entire stock.
Eight fire engines rushed to the scene but the firemen were initially unable to enter the building as they were beaten back by the smoke. The shop reopened for business on the 8th.
Polly James and Nerys Hughes had opened the Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens in September 1973.
The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford accompanied by the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the violent wages snatch outside a Rainhill factory, the major changes in St Helens markets, the remarkable clock man of Sutton and the £2 million Carr Mill leisure scheme gets turned down.
New Year's Day began in an ignominious fashion in St Helens with the smashing of several shop windows.
A store in Duke Street was the first to suffer the wrath of vandals when in the early hours it had one of its windows kicked in.
Then an Indian restaurant in Corporation Street had bricks pitched through its front window.
A shop in the same street also suffered the same fate, as did Ellison's Travel in Barrow Street.
The lead story in the St Helens Reporter on the 3rd concerned a bizarre row between the consultants at St Helens and Whiston hospitals – and the government.
What made the dispute unusual was that the nurses at both hospitals took the government's side and were heavily critical of the senior doctors.
The disagreement had led the latter to announce a work to rule which the Reporter said could set back planned treatment for patients.
The consultants had also dispatched a telegram to Prime Minister Harold Wilson rejecting the new contracts that were being offered to them and calling for Barbara Castle to quit.
She was the Health Secretary who had designed the contracts that had so upset the doctors, as they felt that those consultants who opted to retain some private patients on their books would be penalised.
And the nurses union NUPE was not in favour of private beds in NHS hospitals and so they had decided to take action of their own.
After consulting with the hospitals' bosses they agreed to continue caring for the two private patients that were then in Whiston Hospital until their discharge. But afterwards no more private patients there would be looked after.
There were currently five patients in the private block at St Helens Hospital and one was going to be transferred to a public ward.
But the other four could not be moved for medical reasons and would still be looked after. In return the hospital agreed to allow NHS patients to use any spare beds within the private block.
"St. Helens could turn into a showpiece for the arts if conversion plans for the Gamble Institute are approved by councillors."
That was how the Reporter described a £170,000 proposed scheme that was designed primarily to free up space in the Gamble Institute.
As well as housing Central Library, both the town's museum and its School of Art were also contained within the building and there was not enough room to go round.
So Chief Librarian Geffrey Senior had recommended that both the School of Art and the museum should be rehoused in separate buildings, which would allow the library to become more open-plan.
The Reporter also announced that the National Coal Board was planning a facelift for the 12 houses and 14 flats that it owned on the Derbyshire Hill estate.
The scheme included the installation of central heating systems, modernising kitchens, tidying up land, planting trees and shrubs and providing car parking spaces.
The houses were described as about twenty years old and occupied by mineworkers, or those who had either left or retired from the pits or their dependents.
Over the last few years many households in St Helens had received a letter from the council informing them that their home was going to be demolished as part of a clearance scheme.
Some people had been very upset to have to vacate the place that they had occupied for decades and disputed the council's claim that their property was unfit to live in.
A few would fight the compulsory purchase order but ultimately they had to accept the inevitable and move out.
Now that the council had spread its wings and become responsible for housing in places like Rainford, Whiston and Newton-le-Willows, many more houses were up for demolition.
And those in Fairclough Street in Newton discovered this week that they would be next in line for the bulldozer.
And they were not happy, particularly as they had heard of the plans on the grapevine before receiving the council's letter.
Bernard Fleming demanded proper compensation telling the Reporter: "If the council will not give me what I say my house is worth, they will have to pull it down round my ears."
Mr Fleming stated that he would not accept the council's valuation unless it matched his own and he would otherwise refuse to move. He also had concerns over where he might end up.
"I understand too that many people from Newton are being farmed out to St. Helens. But, I want to stay in Newton. I would not go to St. Helens under any circumstances. They might as well send me to Australia."
The Reporter profiled Madame Rose of Burton Avenue in Rainhill. She was a clairvoyant whose real name was Marie Rose-Lynn and who was kept busy "night and day" dealing with clients who phoned and visited her.
Madame Rose said she came from a long line of clairvoyants. She used tarot cards to predict the future and before seeing a client meditated by gazing into a crystal ball.
"I have always had the gift," she said, "but when I was 21 I had a riding accident and was in a coma for a week. After that my powers increased."
The American Western series 'Kung Fu' starring David Carradine was currently on our TV screens and stimulating interest in martial arts.
"Learn the Derek Gordon system of Kung-Fu", said an advert in the Reporter with Keith Alker undertaking the instruction at the YMCA in North Road.
Although the intruder got clean away, he had to leave behind his haul of cigarettes and whisky and the porter, after wrestling with the burglar, was able to give a good description of the individual to the police.
Mr Carey's address in Bruce Street in St Helens was stated in the Reporter's article.
That was then standard journalistic practice but does not appear sensible to me in case the thwarted burglar decided to seek revenge.
It was the second burglary in a week at the Fleece after thieves had successfully stolen 360,000 cigarettes and 84 large bottles of gin after concealing themselves on the premises late one night.
The residents of Reginald Road in Sutton were complaining in the paper about the nocturnal activities of a company called Smurfitt. They made cardboard cases and in 1971 had started a regular night shift.
The company's loading bay was directly in front of the Reginald Road houses and was used at night to load lorry trailers that a haulage firm took away later in the morning.
68-year-old Harry Mellor who had lived in Reginald Road for 37 years told the Reporter: "There is continuous noise at night. We have to sleep in the back bedroom to get away from it.
"The noise from engines revving and goods on the lorries flapping all night long means that we can't get any peace. The men whistle and shout, and when they come off night shift at 6 a.m. the noise is really bad."
Another resident said: "The worst part is when they drop the trailer legs. It wakes you up with a start. Instead of dropping them gently, they just bang them down."
Nat Birch, the council's Director of Environmental Health, told the Reporter: "The firm have always been very co-operative with us. The men are told to stop the noise but we are dealing with a human element which can't always be controlled."
And finally, in the early hours of the 4th an electrical fault in a freezer cabinet inside Fine Fare caused a fire that was reported to have damaged the supermarket's entire stock.
Eight fire engines rushed to the scene but the firemen were initially unable to enter the building as they were beaten back by the smoke. The shop reopened for business on the 8th.
Polly James and Nerys Hughes had opened the Fine Fare store in Church Street in St Helens in September 1973.
The two TV stars of The Liver Birds led a motorcade through the town in a replica Model T Ford accompanied by the New Orleans Paragon Jazz Band and Miss Lyons Maid.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the violent wages snatch outside a Rainhill factory, the major changes in St Helens markets, the remarkable clock man of Sutton and the £2 million Carr Mill leisure scheme gets turned down.