FIFTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK (31st AUG. - 6th SEPT. 1970)
This week's stories include the choking gas on the streets of Sutton, the Clock Face champion gunslinger, parents demand an investigation into a Rainford school, the siege of a church youth club by revengeful teenagers and the barrister who said a Carr Mill woman's court evidence should be treated lightly because she was a woman.
First of all a "what was on" guide. At the Theatre Royal this week Richard Murdoch and Kathleen Harrison starred in a comedy play called 'Goodnight Mrs. Puffin'. Kathleen is remembered mostly for her 1950s radio performances with Jack Warner in 'The Huggetts'. Richard "Stinker" Murdock is recalled chiefly for radio programmes 'Much Binding in the Marsh' and 'The Men from the Ministry'.
Meanwhile at the pictures, the ABC Savoy began a 6-day run of '2001, A Space Odyssey' on the 31st. The Capitol, meanwhile, chose a romantic comedy-drama called 'The Quiet Man', which starred John Wayne.
On September 1st a meeting of parents was held at the Junction Inn in Rainford to demand an investigation into Bushey Lane School, which was being called the "failure school". That was because only two pupils during the past three years had passed their 11-plus examinations, with no successes at all in 1970 despite 30 entries. More than 70 parents had invited education officials to come to the meeting to discuss the situation but they had all been unable to attend.
That led to organiser Brian Whitehead of Buttermere Crescent threatening to put his 8-year-old son on a series of one-day strikes. "I am so disgusted by the lack of interest shown by the Education Office", remarked Brian, "that I am prepared to keep Lee away from school one day a week as a protest. It would be a drastic step, but unless action is taken by the authorities I would be very worried about his chances of going to a grammar school."
James Connor of Kendal Drive in Rainford told the Reporter: "My daughter, Janet, is in a class with children of other age groups. She starts 30 minutes later than other schools because one of the teachers arrives at only 9-30 a.m. I had taught her to write her name before she went to school, but after six months she had forgotten how to do it." A council spokesman explained that the officials all had other commitments during that evening but it was hoped to arrange an alternative date soon.
During the same night trouble erupted in Sutton as a 50-strong gang of teenage rockers carrying homemade weapons trapped 20 skinheads inside a youth club. They were on a revenge mission after hearing that the group were attending a disco dance at St Anne's youth club. The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Christopher Kelly, called in the police when the gang assembled outside his club.
A 15-year-old boy was injured, after apparently being struck by a motorbike. Susan Stone, the owner of a chip shop in Waterdale Crescent, took the lad in and he was taken to hospital for treatment. Neighbour Gladys Thompson told the St Helens Reporter: "About 40 teenagers, boys and girls, came down the road, shouting and screaming. There were police in all the streets. I’ve never seen anything like it before."
An unidentified 16-year-old told the Reporter how the siege had begun: "A friend and myself heard the skinheads were in St. Anne's and went into town to collect some friends. We travelled back to Sutton, about 15 of us, on scooters and parked them a few streets away. When we got to St. Anne's about 40 rockers were already outside waiting, so we joined up with them. A lot of us had chains. Some others had home-made weapons that would be enough to inflict injuries like bad bruises and cuts. We were after the skinheads because they beat up a couple of our mates last Saturday night in Parr. One of them was badly bruised. When the police split us up, we missed the trouble in Waterdale Crescent. But it isn't over yet. We'll get the skinheads again when they're in another club in town."
On the 2nd the Daily Mirror profiled Will Sharrock of Pendlebury Street in Clock Face, who had been named the fastest gun in the North West. However no bullets were fired and no one bit the dust. The 48-year-old western enthusiast had challenged Liverpudlian Wally Stainze to an electronic duel to decide which was the best gunfighter. The feud was settled at Liverpool University with both of their Colts wired to equipment capable of measuring durations to a 10,000th of a second. The two men drew eleven times for the best average and Will – whose fastest time was just under a third of a second – beat Wally by seven draws to four.
Throughout this week St Helens Co-op was celebrating their first anniversary of issuing blue stamps by giving double stamps on groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and fuel.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 4th had the alarming headline: "Choking Gas Terror Hits Streets" and began:
"Top-level investigations are being made by health officials into a Friday night horror in which men, women and children were choked in the street by industrial gas. Police moved in as dozens of children were reported violently ill. Passers-by hammered on doors begging for water as factory plants were evacuated and one man collapsed. Three other men were given emergency oxygen supplies and several old people thought they were victims of heart attacks. A gas mask was clamped on the face of a schoolgirl as she choked on the pavement from the sulphur dioxide fumes. Now the hours of terror have unleashed a new fury over pollution at Sutton."
The gas had leaked from the sulphuric acid plant of Leathers Chemicals in Lancots Lane (shown above). Only last week the Reporter had written that "acid drop dollies" employed by British Sidac were complaining that sulphuric acid bubbles from the Leathers factory were damaging their tights. But this incident was far more serious and Councillor Joe Tickle was demanding the factory's closure and over 500 local residents had signed a petition. Anne Atherton of Waterdale Crescent described how passers-by had been begging for drinks of water, adding: "The fumes were so powerful that people were walking with handkerchiefs over their mouths. Everyone had tears in their eyes and were choking."
Philip Daivey from Moss Lane in Parr said he had been out walking with his 10-year-old daughter Pat when they became trapped in the sulphur cloud: "I started to cough and couldn't get my breath. There were four men at the end of the lane and one grabbed Pat and put a respirator on her." But this form of gas discharge from the factory was not new. Bob Brackley of Sutton Road told the Reporter how he had been on his allotment off Helsby Street a month earlier: "Suddenly it went damp as though dew was dropping. The smell was terrible. I ran into the greenhouse to get away from it. My chest was on fire and I could hardly breathe – it was like sulphur burning in my lungs. The next morning I came down to the plot and hundreds of my plants were dead. They had all gone brittle and yellow. If it does that to my plants, what is it doing to people's lungs?"
Eva Barton told the Reporter that she had recently collapsed in her Helsby Street home after being overpowered by a sulphur cloud: "My chest was on fire with this terrible smell. I couldn't see, and I can't remember what happened. The next thing my daughter was helping me up. I can still feel the pain in my throat. It is like it's burning." The Reporter stated that "letters of protest" about the pollution from Leathers had "poured" into their offices since last week's stories in the paper. These included a piece in the "Whalley's World" column that began with the words "Sutton Stinks!" These letters would be printed in next week's edition of the paper.
However Leathers did not cover themselves in public relations glory with their response to the Reporter's request for comment. There was no apology or promise to take steps to ensure there would be no repetition. Leathers acting manager J. M. Bateman simply said: "On Friday we had production difficulties which resulted in a certain amount of gas being discharged. This is the first time that this has happened and there are no lasting effects." To be continued…
The Reporter did like to use that word "dollies" a lot to describe young women! I wonder if females liked being equated to playthings then? Next to the Leathers story on their front page was a picture of some of the contestants in a beauty contest. This is how they were described: "Four of the ten lovely dollies who will line up for the finals of the Pilkington News Glass Queen Contest, at the Pilkington dance, Grafton Rooms, Liverpool, on September 25.
"The winner will receive £50, a modelling course and the chance to pick up £1,000 in next year's National Charity Queen and Charity Princess contests." The girls pictured were Jean Martlew of Greenleach Avenue, Lindsey Stevens of Honister Avenue, Christine Gregory from Dentons Green and Christina Benson from Wigan.
The last word this week goes to Edith Holding who appeared in court on the 4th as a witness in a careless driving case. The 40-year-old from Carr Mill Road was furious after the defending barrister in the hearing told the Bench: "Her evidence should be taken lightly. She is not a qualified driver – and she is a woman."
Afterwards Mrs Holding was blazing, saying: "I may be only a woman, but I am quite capable of giving evidence in court. What earthly difference does it make. I saw what I saw. My eyes are no different from a man's eyes. I only told the truth, and the fact that I don't drive has nothing to do with it. I think it was a rude and insulting thing to say. I don't know how I stopped myself from crying out in protest in court. I wanted to say: “How dare you”!"
Next week's stories will include the tramps in Central Library, shock job losses at Pilkingtons, anger over the planned closure of Cowley Hill Maternity Hospital and fury over the gas fumes escaping from Sutton's sulphuric acid plant.
First of all a "what was on" guide. At the Theatre Royal this week Richard Murdoch and Kathleen Harrison starred in a comedy play called 'Goodnight Mrs. Puffin'. Kathleen is remembered mostly for her 1950s radio performances with Jack Warner in 'The Huggetts'. Richard "Stinker" Murdock is recalled chiefly for radio programmes 'Much Binding in the Marsh' and 'The Men from the Ministry'.
Meanwhile at the pictures, the ABC Savoy began a 6-day run of '2001, A Space Odyssey' on the 31st. The Capitol, meanwhile, chose a romantic comedy-drama called 'The Quiet Man', which starred John Wayne.
On September 1st a meeting of parents was held at the Junction Inn in Rainford to demand an investigation into Bushey Lane School, which was being called the "failure school". That was because only two pupils during the past three years had passed their 11-plus examinations, with no successes at all in 1970 despite 30 entries. More than 70 parents had invited education officials to come to the meeting to discuss the situation but they had all been unable to attend.
That led to organiser Brian Whitehead of Buttermere Crescent threatening to put his 8-year-old son on a series of one-day strikes. "I am so disgusted by the lack of interest shown by the Education Office", remarked Brian, "that I am prepared to keep Lee away from school one day a week as a protest. It would be a drastic step, but unless action is taken by the authorities I would be very worried about his chances of going to a grammar school."
James Connor of Kendal Drive in Rainford told the Reporter: "My daughter, Janet, is in a class with children of other age groups. She starts 30 minutes later than other schools because one of the teachers arrives at only 9-30 a.m. I had taught her to write her name before she went to school, but after six months she had forgotten how to do it." A council spokesman explained that the officials all had other commitments during that evening but it was hoped to arrange an alternative date soon.
During the same night trouble erupted in Sutton as a 50-strong gang of teenage rockers carrying homemade weapons trapped 20 skinheads inside a youth club. They were on a revenge mission after hearing that the group were attending a disco dance at St Anne's youth club. The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Christopher Kelly, called in the police when the gang assembled outside his club.
A 15-year-old boy was injured, after apparently being struck by a motorbike. Susan Stone, the owner of a chip shop in Waterdale Crescent, took the lad in and he was taken to hospital for treatment. Neighbour Gladys Thompson told the St Helens Reporter: "About 40 teenagers, boys and girls, came down the road, shouting and screaming. There were police in all the streets. I’ve never seen anything like it before."
An unidentified 16-year-old told the Reporter how the siege had begun: "A friend and myself heard the skinheads were in St. Anne's and went into town to collect some friends. We travelled back to Sutton, about 15 of us, on scooters and parked them a few streets away. When we got to St. Anne's about 40 rockers were already outside waiting, so we joined up with them. A lot of us had chains. Some others had home-made weapons that would be enough to inflict injuries like bad bruises and cuts. We were after the skinheads because they beat up a couple of our mates last Saturday night in Parr. One of them was badly bruised. When the police split us up, we missed the trouble in Waterdale Crescent. But it isn't over yet. We'll get the skinheads again when they're in another club in town."
On the 2nd the Daily Mirror profiled Will Sharrock of Pendlebury Street in Clock Face, who had been named the fastest gun in the North West. However no bullets were fired and no one bit the dust. The 48-year-old western enthusiast had challenged Liverpudlian Wally Stainze to an electronic duel to decide which was the best gunfighter. The feud was settled at Liverpool University with both of their Colts wired to equipment capable of measuring durations to a 10,000th of a second. The two men drew eleven times for the best average and Will – whose fastest time was just under a third of a second – beat Wally by seven draws to four.
Throughout this week St Helens Co-op was celebrating their first anniversary of issuing blue stamps by giving double stamps on groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and fuel.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 4th had the alarming headline: "Choking Gas Terror Hits Streets" and began:
"Top-level investigations are being made by health officials into a Friday night horror in which men, women and children were choked in the street by industrial gas. Police moved in as dozens of children were reported violently ill. Passers-by hammered on doors begging for water as factory plants were evacuated and one man collapsed. Three other men were given emergency oxygen supplies and several old people thought they were victims of heart attacks. A gas mask was clamped on the face of a schoolgirl as she choked on the pavement from the sulphur dioxide fumes. Now the hours of terror have unleashed a new fury over pollution at Sutton."
Philip Daivey from Moss Lane in Parr said he had been out walking with his 10-year-old daughter Pat when they became trapped in the sulphur cloud: "I started to cough and couldn't get my breath. There were four men at the end of the lane and one grabbed Pat and put a respirator on her." But this form of gas discharge from the factory was not new. Bob Brackley of Sutton Road told the Reporter how he had been on his allotment off Helsby Street a month earlier: "Suddenly it went damp as though dew was dropping. The smell was terrible. I ran into the greenhouse to get away from it. My chest was on fire and I could hardly breathe – it was like sulphur burning in my lungs. The next morning I came down to the plot and hundreds of my plants were dead. They had all gone brittle and yellow. If it does that to my plants, what is it doing to people's lungs?"
Eva Barton told the Reporter that she had recently collapsed in her Helsby Street home after being overpowered by a sulphur cloud: "My chest was on fire with this terrible smell. I couldn't see, and I can't remember what happened. The next thing my daughter was helping me up. I can still feel the pain in my throat. It is like it's burning." The Reporter stated that "letters of protest" about the pollution from Leathers had "poured" into their offices since last week's stories in the paper. These included a piece in the "Whalley's World" column that began with the words "Sutton Stinks!" These letters would be printed in next week's edition of the paper.
However Leathers did not cover themselves in public relations glory with their response to the Reporter's request for comment. There was no apology or promise to take steps to ensure there would be no repetition. Leathers acting manager J. M. Bateman simply said: "On Friday we had production difficulties which resulted in a certain amount of gas being discharged. This is the first time that this has happened and there are no lasting effects." To be continued…
The Reporter did like to use that word "dollies" a lot to describe young women! I wonder if females liked being equated to playthings then? Next to the Leathers story on their front page was a picture of some of the contestants in a beauty contest. This is how they were described: "Four of the ten lovely dollies who will line up for the finals of the Pilkington News Glass Queen Contest, at the Pilkington dance, Grafton Rooms, Liverpool, on September 25.
"The winner will receive £50, a modelling course and the chance to pick up £1,000 in next year's National Charity Queen and Charity Princess contests." The girls pictured were Jean Martlew of Greenleach Avenue, Lindsey Stevens of Honister Avenue, Christine Gregory from Dentons Green and Christina Benson from Wigan.
The last word this week goes to Edith Holding who appeared in court on the 4th as a witness in a careless driving case. The 40-year-old from Carr Mill Road was furious after the defending barrister in the hearing told the Bench: "Her evidence should be taken lightly. She is not a qualified driver – and she is a woman."
Afterwards Mrs Holding was blazing, saying: "I may be only a woman, but I am quite capable of giving evidence in court. What earthly difference does it make. I saw what I saw. My eyes are no different from a man's eyes. I only told the truth, and the fact that I don't drive has nothing to do with it. I think it was a rude and insulting thing to say. I don't know how I stopped myself from crying out in protest in court. I wanted to say: “How dare you”!"
Next week's stories will include the tramps in Central Library, shock job losses at Pilkingtons, anger over the planned closure of Cowley Hill Maternity Hospital and fury over the gas fumes escaping from Sutton's sulphuric acid plant.
This week's stories include the choking gas on the streets of Sutton, the Clock Face champion gunslinger, parents demand an investigation into a Rainford school, the siege of a church youth club by revengeful teenagers and the barrister who said a Carr Mill woman's court evidence should be treated lightly because she was a woman.
First of all a "what was on" guide. At the Theatre Royal this week Richard Murdoch and Kathleen Harrison starred in a comedy play called 'Goodnight Mrs. Puffin'.
Kathleen is remembered mostly for her 1950s radio performances with Jack Warner in 'The Huggetts'.
Richard "Stinker" Murdock is recalled chiefly for radio programmes 'Much Binding in the Marsh' and 'The Men from the Ministry'.
Meanwhile at the pictures, the ABC Savoy began a 6-day run of '2001, A Space Odyssey' on the 31st.
The Capitol, meanwhile, chose a romantic comedy-drama called 'The Quiet Man', which starred John Wayne.
On September 1st a meeting of parents was held at the Junction Inn in Rainford to demand an investigation into Bushey Lane School, which was being called the "failure school".
That was because only two pupils during the past three years had passed their 11-plus examinations, with no successes at all in 1970 despite 30 entries.
More than 70 parents had invited education officials to come to the meeting to discuss the situation but they had all been unable to attend.
That led to organiser Brian Whitehead of Buttermere Crescent threatening to put his 8-year-old son on a series of one-day strikes.
"I am so disgusted by the lack of interest shown by the Education Office", remarked Brian, "that I am prepared to keep Lee away from school one day a week as a protest.
"It would be a drastic step, but unless action is taken by the authorities I would be very worried about his chances of going to a grammar school."
James Connor of Kendal Drive in Rainford told the Reporter: "My daughter, Janet, is in a class with children of other age groups. She starts 30 minutes later than other schools because one of the teachers arrives at only 9-30 a.m.
"I had taught her to write her name before she went to school, but after six months she had forgotten how to do it."
A council spokesman explained that the officials all had other commitments during that evening but it was hoped to arrange an alternative date soon.
During the same night trouble erupted in Sutton as a 50-strong gang of teenage rockers carrying homemade weapons trapped 20 skinheads inside a youth club.
They were on a revenge mission after hearing that the group were attending a disco dance at St Anne's youth club.
The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Christopher Kelly, called in the police when the gang assembled outside his club.
A 15-year-old boy was injured, after apparently being struck by a motorbike. Susan Stone, the owner of a chip shop in Waterdale Crescent, took the lad in and he was taken to hospital for treatment.
Neighbour Gladys Thompson told the St Helens Reporter: "About 40 teenagers, boys and girls, came down the road, shouting and screaming. There were police in all the streets. I’ve never seen anything like it before."
An unidentified 16-year-old told the Reporter how the siege had begun:
"A friend and myself heard the skinheads were in St. Anne's and went into town to collect some friends. We travelled back to Sutton, about 15 of us, on scooters and parked them a few streets away. When we got to St. Anne's about 40 rockers were already outside waiting, so we joined up with them.
"A lot of us had chains. Some others had home-made weapons that would be enough to inflict injuries like bad bruises and cuts. We were after the skinheads because they beat up a couple of our mates last Saturday night in Parr.
"One of them was badly bruised. When the police split us up, we missed the trouble in Waterdale Crescent. But it isn't over yet. We'll get the skinheads again when they're in another club in town."
On the 2nd the Daily Mirror profiled Will Sharrock of Pendlebury Street in Clock Face, who had been named the fastest gun in the North West.
However no bullets were fired and no one bit the dust. The 48-year-old western enthusiast had challenged Liverpudlian Wally Stainze to an electronic duel to decide which was the best gunfighter.
The feud was settled at Liverpool University with both of their Colts wired to equipment capable of measuring durations to a 10,000th of a second.
The two men drew eleven times for the best average and Will – whose fastest time was just under a third of a second – beat Wally by seven draws to four.
Throughout this week St Helens Co-op was celebrating their first anniversary of issuing blue stamps by giving double stamps on groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and fuel.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 4th had the alarming headline: "Choking Gas Terror Hits Streets" and began:
"Top-level investigations are being made by health officials into a Friday night horror in which men, women and children were choked in the street by industrial gas. Police moved in as dozens of children were reported violently ill. Passers-by hammered on doors begging for water as factory plants were evacuated and one man collapsed.
"Three other men were given emergency oxygen supplies and several old people thought they were victims of heart attacks. A gas mask was clamped on the face of a schoolgirl as she choked on the pavement from the sulphur dioxide fumes. Now the hours of terror have unleashed a new fury over pollution at Sutton."
The gas had leaked from the sulphuric acid plant of Leathers Chemicals in Lancots Lane (shown above).
Only last week the Reporter had written that "acid drop dollies" employed by British Sidac were complaining that sulphuric acid bubbles from the Leathers factory were damaging their tights.
But this incident was far more serious and Councillor Joe Tickle was demanding the factory's closure and over 500 local residents had signed a petition.
Anne Atherton of Waterdale Crescent described how passers-by had been begging for drinks of water, adding:
"The fumes were so powerful that people were walking with handkerchiefs over their mouths. Everyone had tears in their eyes and were choking."
Philip Daivey from Moss Lane in Parr said he had been out walking with his 10-year-old daughter Pat when they became trapped in the sulphur cloud:
"I started to cough and couldn't get my breath. There were four men at the end of the lane and one grabbed Pat and put a respirator on her."
But this form of gas discharge from the factory was not new. Bob Brackley of Sutton Road told the Reporter how he had been on his allotment off Helsby Street a month earlier:
"Suddenly it went damp as though dew was dropping. The smell was terrible. I ran into the greenhouse to get away from it. My chest was on fire and I could hardly breathe – it was like sulphur burning in my lungs.
"The next morning I came down to the plot and hundreds of my plants were dead. They had all gone brittle and yellow. If it does that to my plants, what is it doing to people's lungs?"
Eva Barton told the Reporter that she had recently collapsed in her Helsby Street home after being overpowered by a sulphur cloud:
"My chest was on fire with this terrible smell. I couldn't see, and I can't remember what happened. The next thing my daughter was helping me up. I can still feel the pain in my throat. It is like it's burning."
The Reporter stated that "letters of protest" about the pollution from Leathers had "poured" into their offices since last week's stories in the paper.
These included a piece in the "Whalley's World" column that began with the words "Sutton Stinks!" These letters would be printed in next week's edition of the paper.
However Leathers did not cover themselves in public relations glory with their response to the Reporter's request for comment.
There was no apology or promise to take steps to ensure there would be no repetition. Leathers acting manager J. M. Bateman simply said:
"On Friday we had production difficulties which resulted in a certain amount of gas being discharged. This is the first time that this has happened and there are no lasting effects." To be continued…
The Reporter did like to use that word "dollies" a lot to describe young women! I wonder if females liked being equated to playthings then?
Next to the Leathers story on their front page was a picture of some of the contestants in a beauty contest. This is how they were described:
"Four of the ten lovely dollies who will line up for the finals of the Pilkington News Glass Queen Contest, at the Pilkington dance, Grafton Rooms, Liverpool, on September 25.
"The winner will receive £50, a modelling course and the chance to pick up £1,000 in next year's National Charity Queen and Charity Princess contests."
The girls pictured were Jean Martlew of Greenleach Avenue, Lindsey Stevens of Honister Avenue, Christine Gregory from Dentons Green and Christina Benson from Wigan.
The last word this week goes to Edith Holding who appeared in court on the 4th as a witness in a careless driving case.
The 40-year-old from Carr Mill Road was furious after the defending barrister in the hearing told the Bench:
"Her evidence should be taken lightly. She is not a qualified driver – and she is a woman."
Afterwards Mrs Holding was blazing, saying: "I may be only a woman, but I am quite capable of giving evidence in court. What earthly difference does it make. I saw what I saw. My eyes are no different from a man's eyes.
"I only told the truth, and the fact that I don't drive has nothing to do with it. I think it was a rude and insulting thing to say. I don't know how I stopped myself from crying out in protest in court. I wanted to say: “How dare you”!"
Next week's stories will include the tramps in Central Library, shock job losses at Pilkingtons, anger over the planned closure of Cowley Hill Maternity Hospital and fury over the gas fumes escaping from Sutton's sulphuric acid plant.
First of all a "what was on" guide. At the Theatre Royal this week Richard Murdoch and Kathleen Harrison starred in a comedy play called 'Goodnight Mrs. Puffin'.
Kathleen is remembered mostly for her 1950s radio performances with Jack Warner in 'The Huggetts'.
Richard "Stinker" Murdock is recalled chiefly for radio programmes 'Much Binding in the Marsh' and 'The Men from the Ministry'.
Meanwhile at the pictures, the ABC Savoy began a 6-day run of '2001, A Space Odyssey' on the 31st.
The Capitol, meanwhile, chose a romantic comedy-drama called 'The Quiet Man', which starred John Wayne.
On September 1st a meeting of parents was held at the Junction Inn in Rainford to demand an investigation into Bushey Lane School, which was being called the "failure school".
That was because only two pupils during the past three years had passed their 11-plus examinations, with no successes at all in 1970 despite 30 entries.
More than 70 parents had invited education officials to come to the meeting to discuss the situation but they had all been unable to attend.
That led to organiser Brian Whitehead of Buttermere Crescent threatening to put his 8-year-old son on a series of one-day strikes.
"I am so disgusted by the lack of interest shown by the Education Office", remarked Brian, "that I am prepared to keep Lee away from school one day a week as a protest.
"It would be a drastic step, but unless action is taken by the authorities I would be very worried about his chances of going to a grammar school."
James Connor of Kendal Drive in Rainford told the Reporter: "My daughter, Janet, is in a class with children of other age groups. She starts 30 minutes later than other schools because one of the teachers arrives at only 9-30 a.m.
"I had taught her to write her name before she went to school, but after six months she had forgotten how to do it."
A council spokesman explained that the officials all had other commitments during that evening but it was hoped to arrange an alternative date soon.
During the same night trouble erupted in Sutton as a 50-strong gang of teenage rockers carrying homemade weapons trapped 20 skinheads inside a youth club.
They were on a revenge mission after hearing that the group were attending a disco dance at St Anne's youth club.
The parish priest, Rev. Fr. Christopher Kelly, called in the police when the gang assembled outside his club.
A 15-year-old boy was injured, after apparently being struck by a motorbike. Susan Stone, the owner of a chip shop in Waterdale Crescent, took the lad in and he was taken to hospital for treatment.
Neighbour Gladys Thompson told the St Helens Reporter: "About 40 teenagers, boys and girls, came down the road, shouting and screaming. There were police in all the streets. I’ve never seen anything like it before."
An unidentified 16-year-old told the Reporter how the siege had begun:
"A friend and myself heard the skinheads were in St. Anne's and went into town to collect some friends. We travelled back to Sutton, about 15 of us, on scooters and parked them a few streets away. When we got to St. Anne's about 40 rockers were already outside waiting, so we joined up with them.
"A lot of us had chains. Some others had home-made weapons that would be enough to inflict injuries like bad bruises and cuts. We were after the skinheads because they beat up a couple of our mates last Saturday night in Parr.
"One of them was badly bruised. When the police split us up, we missed the trouble in Waterdale Crescent. But it isn't over yet. We'll get the skinheads again when they're in another club in town."
On the 2nd the Daily Mirror profiled Will Sharrock of Pendlebury Street in Clock Face, who had been named the fastest gun in the North West.
However no bullets were fired and no one bit the dust. The 48-year-old western enthusiast had challenged Liverpudlian Wally Stainze to an electronic duel to decide which was the best gunfighter.
The feud was settled at Liverpool University with both of their Colts wired to equipment capable of measuring durations to a 10,000th of a second.
The two men drew eleven times for the best average and Will – whose fastest time was just under a third of a second – beat Wally by seven draws to four.
Throughout this week St Helens Co-op was celebrating their first anniversary of issuing blue stamps by giving double stamps on groceries, alcohol, cigarettes and fuel.
The lead story on the front page of the St Helens Reporter on the 4th had the alarming headline: "Choking Gas Terror Hits Streets" and began:
"Top-level investigations are being made by health officials into a Friday night horror in which men, women and children were choked in the street by industrial gas. Police moved in as dozens of children were reported violently ill. Passers-by hammered on doors begging for water as factory plants were evacuated and one man collapsed.
"Three other men were given emergency oxygen supplies and several old people thought they were victims of heart attacks. A gas mask was clamped on the face of a schoolgirl as she choked on the pavement from the sulphur dioxide fumes. Now the hours of terror have unleashed a new fury over pollution at Sutton."
Only last week the Reporter had written that "acid drop dollies" employed by British Sidac were complaining that sulphuric acid bubbles from the Leathers factory were damaging their tights.
But this incident was far more serious and Councillor Joe Tickle was demanding the factory's closure and over 500 local residents had signed a petition.
Anne Atherton of Waterdale Crescent described how passers-by had been begging for drinks of water, adding:
"The fumes were so powerful that people were walking with handkerchiefs over their mouths. Everyone had tears in their eyes and were choking."
Philip Daivey from Moss Lane in Parr said he had been out walking with his 10-year-old daughter Pat when they became trapped in the sulphur cloud:
"I started to cough and couldn't get my breath. There were four men at the end of the lane and one grabbed Pat and put a respirator on her."
But this form of gas discharge from the factory was not new. Bob Brackley of Sutton Road told the Reporter how he had been on his allotment off Helsby Street a month earlier:
"Suddenly it went damp as though dew was dropping. The smell was terrible. I ran into the greenhouse to get away from it. My chest was on fire and I could hardly breathe – it was like sulphur burning in my lungs.
"The next morning I came down to the plot and hundreds of my plants were dead. They had all gone brittle and yellow. If it does that to my plants, what is it doing to people's lungs?"
Eva Barton told the Reporter that she had recently collapsed in her Helsby Street home after being overpowered by a sulphur cloud:
"My chest was on fire with this terrible smell. I couldn't see, and I can't remember what happened. The next thing my daughter was helping me up. I can still feel the pain in my throat. It is like it's burning."
The Reporter stated that "letters of protest" about the pollution from Leathers had "poured" into their offices since last week's stories in the paper.
These included a piece in the "Whalley's World" column that began with the words "Sutton Stinks!" These letters would be printed in next week's edition of the paper.
However Leathers did not cover themselves in public relations glory with their response to the Reporter's request for comment.
There was no apology or promise to take steps to ensure there would be no repetition. Leathers acting manager J. M. Bateman simply said:
"On Friday we had production difficulties which resulted in a certain amount of gas being discharged. This is the first time that this has happened and there are no lasting effects." To be continued…
The Reporter did like to use that word "dollies" a lot to describe young women! I wonder if females liked being equated to playthings then?
Next to the Leathers story on their front page was a picture of some of the contestants in a beauty contest. This is how they were described:
"Four of the ten lovely dollies who will line up for the finals of the Pilkington News Glass Queen Contest, at the Pilkington dance, Grafton Rooms, Liverpool, on September 25.
"The winner will receive £50, a modelling course and the chance to pick up £1,000 in next year's National Charity Queen and Charity Princess contests."
The girls pictured were Jean Martlew of Greenleach Avenue, Lindsey Stevens of Honister Avenue, Christine Gregory from Dentons Green and Christina Benson from Wigan.
The last word this week goes to Edith Holding who appeared in court on the 4th as a witness in a careless driving case.
The 40-year-old from Carr Mill Road was furious after the defending barrister in the hearing told the Bench:
"Her evidence should be taken lightly. She is not a qualified driver – and she is a woman."
Afterwards Mrs Holding was blazing, saying: "I may be only a woman, but I am quite capable of giving evidence in court. What earthly difference does it make. I saw what I saw. My eyes are no different from a man's eyes.
"I only told the truth, and the fact that I don't drive has nothing to do with it. I think it was a rude and insulting thing to say. I don't know how I stopped myself from crying out in protest in court. I wanted to say: “How dare you”!"
Next week's stories will include the tramps in Central Library, shock job losses at Pilkingtons, anger over the planned closure of Cowley Hill Maternity Hospital and fury over the gas fumes escaping from Sutton's sulphuric acid plant.