St. Helens The Way We Were

On the 1st of April 1974, an act of Parliament created the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, which was quite remarkable given that, 150 years earlier, St Helens was just a small collection of cottages around an old chapel.

This DVD explains the town’s extraordinary rise to prominence and provides a fascinating insight into life in bygone St Helens.

It also delves into many aspects of the region’s heritage including, the growth of coal-mining, the massive impact it had on the district, and the legacy of the Sutton Manor and Clock Face collieries today: The opening of the Sankey Canal and the industrial boom that followed it: Rainhill’s part in the early development of the railways: The controversy surrounding the building of the Town Hall: The appalling conditions in the town’s Victorian slums: The bravery of the St Helen’s Pals in WW1 and the terrible price they paid: The story of life on the Home Front in the district during WW2.

This engaging journey through time is produced exclusively for the St Helens Star and is narrated by award winning actor, Howard Ellison.