FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 15 - 21 APRIL 1974
This week's many stories include the Carr Mill Dam bravery award, the teenagers with knives said to be attending Rainford Village Hall discos, a complaint of poor service provision in Parr, concern over a possible beer shortage in Greenalls pubs, nurses at Rainhill Hospital demand more pay, three town centre pubs are banned from taking in guests and why the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead would not baptise a 6-month-old baby.
We begin with Rainford Parish Council's monthly meeting on the 15th when Cllr Tony Brown expressed concern over the weekly Wednesday night disco that was held in the village hall. He said there had been reports – some from his own daughters – that undesirable youths had been attending, adding: "Some of these lads from St. Helens are going round with knives and chains."
However, Cllr Brown had spent an evening mingling with the teenagers and organisers and thought the disco was well run, although they were in need of more adult supervision. He added: "It would be a shame to close the place down when so many teenagers are enjoying themselves. And there is no youth club in Rainford."
At a meeting of the St Helens District Council's Environmental Health Committee this week, Cllr Jack Morris complained that Parr had been left out in the cold for far too long. He urged the new district council to improve services to the area quickly and alleged that places like Dentons Green and Eccleston received preferential treatment, adding: "We are paying increased rates and the services are deteriorating. We must find a way of keeping them at a level." As an example of the problems in Parr, Cllr Morris claimed that Cromdale Grove was deluged in rubbish, broken bottles and tin cans and said the tenants there had told him their road had not been swept for a year.
Countless deaths by drowning occurred in the waters of Carr Mill Dam – and many brave rescues, or attempted rescues, took place. In August 1973 a 17-year-old Huyton youth called Francis Mullady had drowned while swimming in the dam. Dennis Lacey of Parbold Avenue in St Helens had tried to save him and on the 18th of this week Paddy Gill, the Mayor of St Helens, presented Mr Lacey with a Letter of Commendation from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
The Reporter on the 19th described how the 130 Greenalls pubs in St Helens could be short of beer within the next few days because of a draymen's work to rule. Harry Hampton was the landlord of the Elephant Hotel in Thatto Heath and also served as chairman of the St Helens and Widnes Licensed Victuallers Association. He told the paper: "Many pubs could be in trouble after weekend. I've had no reports of anyone actually going dry but supplies are running low."
The Reporter also described how over 1,000 nurses at Rainhill Hospital were fighting for a big pay increase. Some nurses were said to only take home £12 a week and they were seeking rises averaging 100% and threatened to go on strike to press their case. Next week the Rainhill branch of the National Union of Public Employees, along with a branch at Newsham, would take part in a protest demonstration in Liverpool in which they would walk from Bold Street to the Pier Head.
Danny Rylance was profiled in the Reporter after becoming the youngest licensee in St Helens. On Good Friday the 22-year-old had taken over as manager of the Imperial Hotel in Sutton Road. But although Danny was young, he had had plenty of experience in the licensed trade. His father, John Rylance, had worked in bars and clubs for 28 years and Danny's great-grandfather had been an even younger licensee at the age of 21.
The Reporter had this unusual advert for a forthcoming gig by a rock band at St Helens YMCA: "Well chick, throw away your crutches and walk to Greasy Bear with support Solid Rock. This Saturday 20th April at 7.30. Doors close 9.00 P.M."
The paper also gave a very positive review of the St Helens Choral Society's recent Silver Jubilee Concert at the Town Hall, although criticised St Helens "music lovers" for only allowing the hall to be half full.
In December 1973 the Independent Broadcasting Authority had announced that Sound of Merseyside had won the commercial radio franchise for Liverpool. The unnamed station was to be transmitted from Allerton Park in Liverpool and via a new mast in Dairy Farm Road in Rainford. This week it was announced that the company's name was being changed to Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd and as Radio City, the station would launch on October 21st.
A dispute between George and Lily Woodward and the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead was described in the Reporter. The couple wanted their six-month-old son Lee to be baptised but they were not churchgoers. And so the Rev Frank Allred refused to baptise their child unless his parents took a course of religious instruction. The vicar also would not sign a form of consent to allow the minister of another parish to perform the ceremony. Mrs Woodward of Perth Avenue in Thatto Heath said: "We're Christians though not churchgoers. It's shocking trying to make us go so Lee can be christened."
But Rev. Allred responded: "I'm perfectly willing to carry out the ceremony. I don't consider it's me who is refusing. The instruction is to talk to parents and godparents about their responsibilities in giving the child to be christened a Christian upbringing. But it's amazing how many say ‘Not on your life’ when they hear it will mean them coming to church. If they feel that way one wonders why they want the baby to be christened at all."
In January an appeal had been made in the St Helens Reporter for readers to name the new downstairs bar at the Theatre Royal that would be opened in March. Manager James Lovelace had said: "We want people to write in with names for the bar, but they must have a theatrical connotation." The individual who supplied the chosen name would be invited backstage to meet Jimmy Tarbuck and Kenny Lynch. This week the Theatre Royal in their coming attractions advert in the Reporter stated that "The New Glass Slipper Bar Is Now Open – Where Theatre People Meet". However, just who had won the contest I have not been able to learn.
On the 19th the Creswell Colliery Brass Band performed at the Theatre Royal with Judith Durham – formerly of Australian folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers – singing in Corporation Street on the following evening.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th stated that the Post Office was reminding letter senders that envelopes or postcards addressed to places involved in the recent local government boundary changes should not have Lancashire on them. And so correspondence mailed to St Helens, Prescot and Newton-le-Willows needed to stipulate Merseyside instead of Lancs. Last month the St Helens Reporter had stated that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" by the Post Office until July 1975. What would happen after that was not revealed.
On the 20th Bold Miners Welfare Band were among 18 ensembles from all over England competing at Pontin's Holiday Village at Ainsdale in Southport. The two-day contest was organised by Prescot Brass Band and Fred Pontin had put up the prize money of £500. On the 21st 'The Sting' starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford began its second week at the ABC Savoy and showing at the Capitol Cinema was Bruce Lee's thriller 'The Big Boss'.
And finally, it was announced that three St Helens town centre hotels, whose standards had been judged to fall below the requirements of the new Fire Precautions Act, had been banned from taking in guests. The White Hart in Church Street said that making the necessary alterations would prove too expensive and, as a result, they planned to close next January.
However, the Market Hotel in Bridge Street, which had stopped taking in guests before the regulations came into force, would be reopening its residential side once alterations were completed. And the nearby Nelson, which had been taking in residents for eight years, had decided to continue operating as a non-residential pub.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a St Helens-born atom bomb scientist, the sentencing of schoolboy rapists, the help for illiterate folk in St Helens and the controversy over film slides of female nudes shown in St Mary's Arcade.
We begin with Rainford Parish Council's monthly meeting on the 15th when Cllr Tony Brown expressed concern over the weekly Wednesday night disco that was held in the village hall. He said there had been reports – some from his own daughters – that undesirable youths had been attending, adding: "Some of these lads from St. Helens are going round with knives and chains."
However, Cllr Brown had spent an evening mingling with the teenagers and organisers and thought the disco was well run, although they were in need of more adult supervision. He added: "It would be a shame to close the place down when so many teenagers are enjoying themselves. And there is no youth club in Rainford."
At a meeting of the St Helens District Council's Environmental Health Committee this week, Cllr Jack Morris complained that Parr had been left out in the cold for far too long. He urged the new district council to improve services to the area quickly and alleged that places like Dentons Green and Eccleston received preferential treatment, adding: "We are paying increased rates and the services are deteriorating. We must find a way of keeping them at a level." As an example of the problems in Parr, Cllr Morris claimed that Cromdale Grove was deluged in rubbish, broken bottles and tin cans and said the tenants there had told him their road had not been swept for a year.
The Reporter on the 19th described how the 130 Greenalls pubs in St Helens could be short of beer within the next few days because of a draymen's work to rule. Harry Hampton was the landlord of the Elephant Hotel in Thatto Heath and also served as chairman of the St Helens and Widnes Licensed Victuallers Association. He told the paper: "Many pubs could be in trouble after weekend. I've had no reports of anyone actually going dry but supplies are running low."
The Reporter also described how over 1,000 nurses at Rainhill Hospital were fighting for a big pay increase. Some nurses were said to only take home £12 a week and they were seeking rises averaging 100% and threatened to go on strike to press their case. Next week the Rainhill branch of the National Union of Public Employees, along with a branch at Newsham, would take part in a protest demonstration in Liverpool in which they would walk from Bold Street to the Pier Head.
Danny Rylance was profiled in the Reporter after becoming the youngest licensee in St Helens. On Good Friday the 22-year-old had taken over as manager of the Imperial Hotel in Sutton Road. But although Danny was young, he had had plenty of experience in the licensed trade. His father, John Rylance, had worked in bars and clubs for 28 years and Danny's great-grandfather had been an even younger licensee at the age of 21.
The Reporter had this unusual advert for a forthcoming gig by a rock band at St Helens YMCA: "Well chick, throw away your crutches and walk to Greasy Bear with support Solid Rock. This Saturday 20th April at 7.30. Doors close 9.00 P.M."
The paper also gave a very positive review of the St Helens Choral Society's recent Silver Jubilee Concert at the Town Hall, although criticised St Helens "music lovers" for only allowing the hall to be half full.
In December 1973 the Independent Broadcasting Authority had announced that Sound of Merseyside had won the commercial radio franchise for Liverpool. The unnamed station was to be transmitted from Allerton Park in Liverpool and via a new mast in Dairy Farm Road in Rainford. This week it was announced that the company's name was being changed to Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd and as Radio City, the station would launch on October 21st.
A dispute between George and Lily Woodward and the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead was described in the Reporter. The couple wanted their six-month-old son Lee to be baptised but they were not churchgoers. And so the Rev Frank Allred refused to baptise their child unless his parents took a course of religious instruction. The vicar also would not sign a form of consent to allow the minister of another parish to perform the ceremony. Mrs Woodward of Perth Avenue in Thatto Heath said: "We're Christians though not churchgoers. It's shocking trying to make us go so Lee can be christened."
But Rev. Allred responded: "I'm perfectly willing to carry out the ceremony. I don't consider it's me who is refusing. The instruction is to talk to parents and godparents about their responsibilities in giving the child to be christened a Christian upbringing. But it's amazing how many say ‘Not on your life’ when they hear it will mean them coming to church. If they feel that way one wonders why they want the baby to be christened at all."
In January an appeal had been made in the St Helens Reporter for readers to name the new downstairs bar at the Theatre Royal that would be opened in March. Manager James Lovelace had said: "We want people to write in with names for the bar, but they must have a theatrical connotation." The individual who supplied the chosen name would be invited backstage to meet Jimmy Tarbuck and Kenny Lynch. This week the Theatre Royal in their coming attractions advert in the Reporter stated that "The New Glass Slipper Bar Is Now Open – Where Theatre People Meet". However, just who had won the contest I have not been able to learn.
On the 19th the Creswell Colliery Brass Band performed at the Theatre Royal with Judith Durham – formerly of Australian folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers – singing in Corporation Street on the following evening.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th stated that the Post Office was reminding letter senders that envelopes or postcards addressed to places involved in the recent local government boundary changes should not have Lancashire on them. And so correspondence mailed to St Helens, Prescot and Newton-le-Willows needed to stipulate Merseyside instead of Lancs. Last month the St Helens Reporter had stated that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" by the Post Office until July 1975. What would happen after that was not revealed.
On the 20th Bold Miners Welfare Band were among 18 ensembles from all over England competing at Pontin's Holiday Village at Ainsdale in Southport. The two-day contest was organised by Prescot Brass Band and Fred Pontin had put up the prize money of £500. On the 21st 'The Sting' starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford began its second week at the ABC Savoy and showing at the Capitol Cinema was Bruce Lee's thriller 'The Big Boss'.
And finally, it was announced that three St Helens town centre hotels, whose standards had been judged to fall below the requirements of the new Fire Precautions Act, had been banned from taking in guests. The White Hart in Church Street said that making the necessary alterations would prove too expensive and, as a result, they planned to close next January.
However, the Market Hotel in Bridge Street, which had stopped taking in guests before the regulations came into force, would be reopening its residential side once alterations were completed. And the nearby Nelson, which had been taking in residents for eight years, had decided to continue operating as a non-residential pub.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a St Helens-born atom bomb scientist, the sentencing of schoolboy rapists, the help for illiterate folk in St Helens and the controversy over film slides of female nudes shown in St Mary's Arcade.
This week's many stories include the Carr Mill Dam bravery award, the teenagers with knives said to be attending Rainford Village Hall discos, a complaint of poor service provision in Parr, concern over a possible beer shortage in Greenalls pubs, nurses at Rainhill Hospital demand more pay, three town centre pubs are banned from taking in guests and why the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead would not baptise a 6-month-old baby.
We begin with Rainford Parish Council's monthly meeting on the 15th when Cllr Tony Brown expressed concern over the weekly Wednesday night disco that was held in the village hall.
He said there had been reports – some from his own daughters – that undesirable youths had been attending, adding:
"Some of these lads from St. Helens are going round with knives and chains."
However, Cllr Brown had spent an evening mingling with the teenagers and organisers and thought the disco was well run, although they were in need of more adult supervision.
He added: "It would be a shame to close the place down when so many teenagers are enjoying themselves. And there is no youth club in Rainford."
At a meeting of the St Helens District Council's Environmental Health Committee this week, Cllr Jack Morris complained that Parr had been left out in the cold for far too long.
He urged the new district council to improve services to the area quickly and alleged that places like Dentons Green and Eccleston received preferential treatment, adding:
"We are paying increased rates and the services are deteriorating. We must find a way of keeping them at a level."
As an example of the problems in Parr, Cllr Morris claimed that Cromdale Grove was deluged in rubbish, broken bottles and tin cans and said the tenants there had told him their road had not been swept for a year.
Countless deaths by drowning occurred in the waters of Carr Mill Dam – and many brave rescues, or attempted rescues, took place.
In August 1973 a 17-year-old Huyton youth called Francis Mullady had drowned while swimming in the dam.
Dennis Lacey of Parbold Avenue in St Helens had tried to save him and on the 18th of this week Paddy Gill, the Mayor of St Helens, presented Mr Lacey with a Letter of Commendation from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
The Reporter on the 19th described how the 130 Greenalls pubs in St Helens could be short of beer within the next few days because of a draymen's work to rule.
Harry Hampton was the landlord of the Elephant Hotel in Thatto Heath and also served as chairman of the St Helens and Widnes Licensed Victuallers Association. He told the paper:
"Many pubs could be in trouble after weekend. I've had no reports of anyone actually going dry but supplies are running low."
The Reporter also described how over 1,000 nurses at Rainhill Hospital were fighting for a big pay increase.
Some nurses were said to only take home £12 a week and they were seeking rises averaging 100% and threatened to go on strike to press their case.
Next week the Rainhill branch of the National Union of Public Employees, along with a branch at Newsham, would take part in a protest demonstration in Liverpool in which they would walk from Bold Street to the Pier Head.
Danny Rylance was profiled in the Reporter after becoming the youngest licensee in St Helens.
On Good Friday the 22-year-old had taken over as manager of the Imperial Hotel in Sutton Road. But although Danny was young, he had had plenty of experience in the licensed trade.
His father, John Rylance, had worked in bars and clubs for 28 years and Danny's great-grandfather had been an even younger licensee at the age of 21.
The Reporter had this unusual advert for a forthcoming gig by a rock band at St Helens YMCA:
"Well chick, throw away your crutches and walk to Greasy Bear with support Solid Rock. This Saturday 20th April at 7.30. Doors close 9.00 P.M."
The paper also gave a very positive review of the St Helens Choral Society's recent Silver Jubilee Concert at the Town Hall, although criticised St Helens "music lovers" for only allowing the hall to be half full.
In December 1973 the Independent Broadcasting Authority had announced that Sound of Merseyside had won the commercial radio franchise for Liverpool.
The unnamed station was to be transmitted from Allerton Park in Liverpool and via a new mast in Dairy Farm Road in Rainford.
This week it was announced that the company's name was being changed to Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd and as Radio City, the station would launch on October 21st.
A dispute between George and Lily Woodward and the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead was described in the Reporter.
The couple wanted their six-month-old son Lee to be baptised but they were not churchgoers.
And so the Rev Frank Allred refused to baptise their child unless his parents took a course of religious instruction.
The vicar also would not sign a form of consent to allow the minister of another parish to perform the ceremony.
Mrs Woodward of Perth Avenue in Thatto Heath said: "We're Christians though not churchgoers. It's shocking trying to make us go so Lee can be christened."
But Rev. Allred responded: "I'm perfectly willing to carry out the ceremony. I don't consider it's me who is refusing.
"The instruction is to talk to parents and godparents about their responsibilities in giving the child to be christened a Christian upbringing.
"But it's amazing how many say ‘Not on your life’ when they hear it will mean them coming to church. If they feel that way one wonders why they want the baby to be christened at all."
In January an appeal had been made in the St Helens Reporter for readers to name the new downstairs bar at the Theatre Royal that would be opened in March.
Manager James Lovelace had said: "We want people to write in with names for the bar, but they must have a theatrical connotation."
The individual who supplied the chosen name would be invited backstage to meet Jimmy Tarbuck and Kenny Lynch.
This week the Theatre Royal in their coming attractions advert in the Reporter stated that "The New Glass Slipper Bar Is Now Open – Where Theatre People Meet". However, just who had won the contest I have not been able to learn.
On the 19th the Creswell Colliery Brass Band performed at the Theatre Royal with Judith Durham – formerly of Australian folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers – singing in Corporation Street on the following evening.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th stated that the Post Office was reminding letter senders that envelopes or postcards addressed to places involved in the recent local government boundary changes should not have Lancashire on them.
And so correspondence mailed to St Helens, Prescot and Newton-le-Willows needed to stipulate Merseyside instead of Lancs.
Last month the St Helens Reporter had stated that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" by the Post Office until July 1975. What would happen after that was not revealed.
On the 20th Bold Miners Welfare Band were among 18 ensembles from all over England competing at Pontin's Holiday Village at Ainsdale in Southport.
The two-day contest was organised by Prescot Brass Band and Fred Pontin had put up the prize money of £500.
On the 21st 'The Sting' starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford began its second week at the ABC Savoy and showing at the Capitol Cinema was Bruce Lee's thriller 'The Big Boss'.
And finally, it was announced that three St Helens town centre hotels, whose standards had been judged to fall below the requirements of the new Fire Precautions Act, had been banned from taking in guests.
The White Hart in Church Street said that making the necessary alterations would prove too expensive and, as a result, they planned to close next January.
However, the Market Hotel in Bridge Street, which had stopped taking in guests before the regulations came into force, would be reopening its residential side once alterations were completed.
And the nearby Nelson, which had been taking in residents for eight years, had decided to continue operating as a non-residential pub.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a St Helens-born atom bomb scientist, the sentencing of schoolboy rapists, the help for illiterate folk in St Helens and the controversy over film slides of female nudes shown in St Mary's Arcade.
We begin with Rainford Parish Council's monthly meeting on the 15th when Cllr Tony Brown expressed concern over the weekly Wednesday night disco that was held in the village hall.
He said there had been reports – some from his own daughters – that undesirable youths had been attending, adding:
"Some of these lads from St. Helens are going round with knives and chains."
However, Cllr Brown had spent an evening mingling with the teenagers and organisers and thought the disco was well run, although they were in need of more adult supervision.
He added: "It would be a shame to close the place down when so many teenagers are enjoying themselves. And there is no youth club in Rainford."
At a meeting of the St Helens District Council's Environmental Health Committee this week, Cllr Jack Morris complained that Parr had been left out in the cold for far too long.
He urged the new district council to improve services to the area quickly and alleged that places like Dentons Green and Eccleston received preferential treatment, adding:
"We are paying increased rates and the services are deteriorating. We must find a way of keeping them at a level."
As an example of the problems in Parr, Cllr Morris claimed that Cromdale Grove was deluged in rubbish, broken bottles and tin cans and said the tenants there had told him their road had not been swept for a year.
In August 1973 a 17-year-old Huyton youth called Francis Mullady had drowned while swimming in the dam.
Dennis Lacey of Parbold Avenue in St Helens had tried to save him and on the 18th of this week Paddy Gill, the Mayor of St Helens, presented Mr Lacey with a Letter of Commendation from the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society.
The Reporter on the 19th described how the 130 Greenalls pubs in St Helens could be short of beer within the next few days because of a draymen's work to rule.
Harry Hampton was the landlord of the Elephant Hotel in Thatto Heath and also served as chairman of the St Helens and Widnes Licensed Victuallers Association. He told the paper:
"Many pubs could be in trouble after weekend. I've had no reports of anyone actually going dry but supplies are running low."
The Reporter also described how over 1,000 nurses at Rainhill Hospital were fighting for a big pay increase.
Some nurses were said to only take home £12 a week and they were seeking rises averaging 100% and threatened to go on strike to press their case.
Next week the Rainhill branch of the National Union of Public Employees, along with a branch at Newsham, would take part in a protest demonstration in Liverpool in which they would walk from Bold Street to the Pier Head.
Danny Rylance was profiled in the Reporter after becoming the youngest licensee in St Helens.
On Good Friday the 22-year-old had taken over as manager of the Imperial Hotel in Sutton Road. But although Danny was young, he had had plenty of experience in the licensed trade.
His father, John Rylance, had worked in bars and clubs for 28 years and Danny's great-grandfather had been an even younger licensee at the age of 21.
The Reporter had this unusual advert for a forthcoming gig by a rock band at St Helens YMCA:
"Well chick, throw away your crutches and walk to Greasy Bear with support Solid Rock. This Saturday 20th April at 7.30. Doors close 9.00 P.M."
The paper also gave a very positive review of the St Helens Choral Society's recent Silver Jubilee Concert at the Town Hall, although criticised St Helens "music lovers" for only allowing the hall to be half full.
In December 1973 the Independent Broadcasting Authority had announced that Sound of Merseyside had won the commercial radio franchise for Liverpool.
The unnamed station was to be transmitted from Allerton Park in Liverpool and via a new mast in Dairy Farm Road in Rainford.
This week it was announced that the company's name was being changed to Radio City (Sound of Merseyside) Ltd and as Radio City, the station would launch on October 21st.
A dispute between George and Lily Woodward and the Vicar of St John's Church in Ravenhead was described in the Reporter.
The couple wanted their six-month-old son Lee to be baptised but they were not churchgoers.
And so the Rev Frank Allred refused to baptise their child unless his parents took a course of religious instruction.
The vicar also would not sign a form of consent to allow the minister of another parish to perform the ceremony.
Mrs Woodward of Perth Avenue in Thatto Heath said: "We're Christians though not churchgoers. It's shocking trying to make us go so Lee can be christened."
But Rev. Allred responded: "I'm perfectly willing to carry out the ceremony. I don't consider it's me who is refusing.
"The instruction is to talk to parents and godparents about their responsibilities in giving the child to be christened a Christian upbringing.
"But it's amazing how many say ‘Not on your life’ when they hear it will mean them coming to church. If they feel that way one wonders why they want the baby to be christened at all."
In January an appeal had been made in the St Helens Reporter for readers to name the new downstairs bar at the Theatre Royal that would be opened in March.
Manager James Lovelace had said: "We want people to write in with names for the bar, but they must have a theatrical connotation."
The individual who supplied the chosen name would be invited backstage to meet Jimmy Tarbuck and Kenny Lynch.
This week the Theatre Royal in their coming attractions advert in the Reporter stated that "The New Glass Slipper Bar Is Now Open – Where Theatre People Meet". However, just who had won the contest I have not been able to learn.
On the 19th the Creswell Colliery Brass Band performed at the Theatre Royal with Judith Durham – formerly of Australian folk-influenced pop quartet The Seekers – singing in Corporation Street on the following evening.
The Liverpool Echo on the 20th stated that the Post Office was reminding letter senders that envelopes or postcards addressed to places involved in the recent local government boundary changes should not have Lancashire on them.
And so correspondence mailed to St Helens, Prescot and Newton-le-Willows needed to stipulate Merseyside instead of Lancs.
Last month the St Helens Reporter had stated that letters addressed with Lancashire on them would only "be handled" by the Post Office until July 1975. What would happen after that was not revealed.
On the 20th Bold Miners Welfare Band were among 18 ensembles from all over England competing at Pontin's Holiday Village at Ainsdale in Southport.
The two-day contest was organised by Prescot Brass Band and Fred Pontin had put up the prize money of £500.
On the 21st 'The Sting' starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford began its second week at the ABC Savoy and showing at the Capitol Cinema was Bruce Lee's thriller 'The Big Boss'.
And finally, it was announced that three St Helens town centre hotels, whose standards had been judged to fall below the requirements of the new Fire Precautions Act, had been banned from taking in guests.
The White Hart in Church Street said that making the necessary alterations would prove too expensive and, as a result, they planned to close next January.
However, the Market Hotel in Bridge Street, which had stopped taking in guests before the regulations came into force, would be reopening its residential side once alterations were completed.
And the nearby Nelson, which had been taking in residents for eight years, had decided to continue operating as a non-residential pub.
St Helens Reporter courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the death of a St Helens-born atom bomb scientist, the sentencing of schoolboy rapists, the help for illiterate folk in St Helens and the controversy over film slides of female nudes shown in St Mary's Arcade.