St Helens | Archive | 2006 | June
THE car park that serves Dane Court Shopping Precinct in Rainhill has recently been made a 'Pay and Display' having previously been 'free', and not unnaturally many users of the facility are unhappy at the decision. However I would say to them don't blame the owners of the car park, this state of affairs has been brought about by the commuter parkers who left their cars there all day while they caught the train to either Liverpool or Manchester. It would appear that these people used to use either the Commercial Hotel or Victoria Hotel car parks, but when this facility was denied them, switched to using Dane Court. This meant of course that shoppers or those wishing to use the Village Hall very often could not find a parking space. Not only were local shoppers annoyed by this so too were the shop owners who pay towards the cost of the car park. more...
MAY I through your Letters Page thank Councillor Pat Robinson for all the help and advice she has given me (although I do not live in her ward). more...
IN reply to the letter from P McCann 'Are roadside shrines tacky?' (Dear Star), many people have differing views on how they deal with grief and reactions differ widely also. more...
ROADSIDE shrines are there because somebody, usually a child, has lost their life at that spot 'Are roadside shrines tacky?' (Dear Star, June 8). I don't see anything wrong with leaving some flowers or tributes at the scene if it gives those grieving some comfort. Shrines are outlets for people's sadness and to say that you think it is a legal form of littering and graffiti, well it amazes me. Have you nothing better to do with your time than to be concerning yourself with such petty issues? more...
IN response to P McCann. Whilst I respect this person's right to an opinion, I am amazed by their total lack of compassion or understanding towards the families and friends who have made them. To use such a term as TACKY is insensitive to the extreme. more...
I AM writing in response to the letter 'Are roadside shrines tacky?' (Dear Star, June 8) submitted by P McCann. more...
I HAVE read with interest a number of Star NIMBYs who hide behind anonymity, probably as either they are in full employment, retired on a good pension or possibly having their view and property spoiled. At least Brendan Page of Newton Road made some interesting points especially about it 'not becoming a political football' (Dear Star May 25). more...
DAVE Watts MP does himself no favours by his ill-informed criticism of the new St Helens administration (Star June 1) and his sentiments on the Parkside project. Much the same goes for Councillor Mike Doyle's attack of sour grapes over the supposed 'deal' 'Sorry it's still a deal' (Dear Star, June 1). Both would be better employed directing their anger at Tony Blair and his cronies for the dramatic and terminal drop in the Labour vote. more...
I WOULD just like to congratulate the four women I witnessed walking their dogs in the disused bowling greens in Queens Park. more...
I WANT to thank the Ophthalmic team at St Helens Hospital including Mr Cota, the anaesthetist, and nurses especially Heidi (a student nurse) in the operating room, not only for improving my eyesight but for doing so with warmth and kindness. more...
WHAT is happening to our once proud town centre? more...
A FAMILY has paid a loving tribute to a talented little boy who died after collapsing while football training with his junior club. more...
HE'S built his reputation as a gruff-voiced, Guinness swilling comedian and actor. But now Johnny Vegas is proving he's got plenty more strings to his bow. more...
TWO men from Huyton have been charged in connection with an attack in which a supermarket trolley was allegedly used as a weapon on a man and a woman in St Helens town centre. more...
TWO veteran councillors have quit the Labour party and informed Town Hall chiefs they want to become independent politicians. Billinge and Seneley Green councillor Bessie Griffin and Thatto Heath councillor Pat Robinson, 59, both cite "disillusionment" with national Labour policies as the reason. Both will retain their seats on St Helens Council but will have no party allegiance. more...
YOBS launched a missile that shattered a train window and left a conductor bloodied and showered with glass. more...
A POPULAR village pub is claiming a first for the St Helens area. Anticipating the government ban on smoking and customer demand for improved environments in pubs, the team at the Red Cat in Crank have installed air conditioning and claim to be the first such rural pub in the St Helens area to do so. more...
POLICE in Wales are trying to establish if a 60-year-old man who has been missing since last week may have contacted old family or friends in St Helens. more...
THE latest police swoop on houses across St Helens has netted massive quantities of drugs. more...
WORLD Cup fever engulfed St Helens as townsfolk decked out in red, white and blue packed bars and pubs to watch Sven's men overcome plucky Paraguay. more...
THE triumph of 19-year-old Rugby Union prop forward Jack Forster, in staking a first-team place at Gloucester and newly picking up a European Challenge Cup Medal, left his farmer father, Chris, with a heavyweight challenge to face. more...
IT was the mysterious burning light in the night sky that got townsfolk talking about a UFO sighting... and now a team of X-Files style sleuths are hoping to dig deeper into the matter. more...
THE next meeting of the Newton-le-Willows Gardeners Association will be held at the Kirkfield Hotel, the High Street, in Newton on Thursday, June 29 at 7.30pm. more...
THERE was nothing drastically wrong with our performance against Hull - it is just that sometimes you play teams that are very good. more...
GREAT Britain's XXXX Test with the Kiwis will be a home game in more ways than one, with Saints supplying the largest contingent of the 20-man squad. more...
THE St Helens Star has teamed up with Tetleys to offer our our readers fantastic competition prizes throughout the Super League XI season. more...
THE St Helens Star has teamed up with Saints club sponsors earth money to offer seven pairs of tickets for the next home game, which is against Salford City Reds a week on Saturday. more...
SAINTS suffered their first home defeat of the season after losing a cracking ding-dong tussle against the side that increasingly looks best placed to give them a run for their money in this year's Super League. more...
Daniel Anderson's column more...
ST HELENS Swimming Club based at Parr Baths have enjoyed a fantastic season under the coaching of Steve Carr, winning the Merseyside & District League. But they just want to get better - and have organised a swim clinic in the autumn with Olympic bronze medallist Stephen Parry. more...
RECORDS fell as St Helens Sutton scored a record number of points to take a second successive win at the Northern Track and Field League match held at Bebington. more...
St Helens Friday (501) Darts League more...
SAINTS wing ace Ade Gardner is delighted with his call-up to the Great Britain Test squad for the XXXX Test to be played at Knowsley Road later this month. more...
IT has the most intriguing book title, Lancashire, Where Women Die of Love. Yet this ancient echo, from the pen of French writer Honore de Balzac, led author Charles Nevin on an exhaustive trek throughout the Red Rose county. more...
SO where did they all get to, this happy crowd of pupils from Holy Cross infant school? That's the question posed by George Highcock of Slag Lane, Haydock (he's standing extreme left, third row up). The shot was taken around 1948-49. And, despite all those passing years, George is still able to identify all 39 kids in focus. more...
BY an amazing coincidence, I've received letters from two entirely separate sources, mentioning the old Cabbage Hall Farm, which disappeared from the St Helens scene many decades ago. more...
AN Atlantic salmon thrashing its way up the Stinking Brook sounds like a distinctly fishy tale! more...
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