This fourth volume of The Hidden History of St Helens contains more forgotten stories about life in the Lancashire town that social historian Stephen Wainwright has uncovered. This 275-page social history of St Helens contains 16 chapters and is illustrated by over 130 images.

The chapter titles of The Hidden History of St Helens Vol 4 are:

• The Cruel Treatment Of Paupers By St Helens Relieving Officers – How some of those charged with supporting the very poorest in society could treat them with complete contempt.

• Those New Fangled Ideas! – How the people of St Helens took to new innovations, including the bicycle, motor car, aeroplane, telephone, traffic lights and the hearing aid.

• The Church Street Subway Fire – In 1899 a 680-yard long subway was opened in Church Street in St Helens but eleven years later a freak fire occurred.

• The Brothers That Broke The First St Helens Savings Bank – The story of how in 1850 the inaugural savings bank in St Helens was shut down after a giant fraud by those that ran it.

• The Sectarian Riot Of 1910 – St Helens' Own Bloody Sunday – The last time that religious hatred descended into mob violence on the town's streets.

• The Tragedy And Heroism Of The Sandbeds Disaster – The unofficial playground amongst sand dumps off Borough Road in St Helens that in 1930 took the lives of three children and how courageous rescuers saved many other youngsters.

• The Coroner's Poor Box – This chapter describes how the misery of extreme poverty compounded by bereavement could be alleviated by small gifts of cash.

• Spectacular Manifestations & Extraordinary Weather In St Helens – Accounts of strange aerial activities and unusual weather phenomena, including bee swarms, freak thunderstorms and an earthquake.

• St Helens Dogs That Have Made The News – This chapter is devoted to a wide range of doggy activities that made the pages of the local newspapers with some comical and some sad.

• Memories Of The Old Days – A collection of recollections of what life was like in St Helens during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

• The Petrol Shampoo At A St Helens Hairdressing Salon – Petrol was popular as it was a quick-drying shampoo that was said to give a nice finish to hair – but it was also highly dangerous as one customer discovered to her cost.

• The Gorgeous Carnivals And Pageants Of The Past – This chapter revisits the celebrations of the 1930s when most people possessed very little but knew how to enjoy themselves.

• “Dear Sir” – A Collection Of Curious Correspondence Part 3 – More letters that were published in the St Helens' newspapers, with this collection from the first half of the 20th century.

• The Goings On In The Gamble's Central Library – Stories of the bookies, rowdies, lurkers, leerers and snorers in the library, as well as the women that fought for books.

• Coronation Street Stars' Visits To St Helens In The Early 1960s – Including Violet Carson (aka Ena Sharples), Pat Phoenix (Elsie Tanner), Lynne Carol (Martha Longhurst), Bill Roache (Ken Barlow) and Philip Lowrie (Dennis Tanner).

• The Weird & Wonderful Things St Helens Folk Have Said Part 2 – More short often comical comments that were made by the wits of the town – and the witless!

Feel free to contact me if you have any queries. Orders from within the St Helens district are normally delivered within 24 hours. 

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