Monday 21st October - Our Past, Present & Future

Having celebrated the St Helens Historical Society’s 60^th Birthday on 19^th October; the subsequent monthly meeting delved into the topic of the past, present and future of St Helens as a town and as a borough.

The Society’s Secretary Mary Presland opened the evening meeting. Members were encouraged to share and discuss memories prompted by a slideshow presentation of different landmarks and locations around St Helens. Much discussion was had about former outings and the places visited over the years. The earliest recorded photograph was of a trip to Chester Amphitheatre in 1963. Also discussed were memories about school, the Anderton Shearer monument (now located on a roundabout close to St Helens Linkway) and the new police station built in College Street in the 1970’s among many other places of interest.

Having discussed the changes over the years and what St Helens is like now; Steve Lingard our guest speaker had the daunting task of presenting members with a vision of the future! Mr Lingard is an Economic Development Consultant with an interest for local history.

Narrowing down the “future” to a more manageable period; Mr Lingard proceeded to give his thoughts on what the next 60 years might hold. Environmentally St Helens is seeing land, paths and sports pitches disappear. Interestingly the Met Office predicts that wetter warmer winters are expected and this will also affect how our land will look.

With an expanding population St Helens will need new housing developments and the world of work as we know it will be very different. New industries will develop that don’t yet exist in 2019. An interesting thought is that children in primary school now will have professions that are yet to come into existence.

Town centres in general have undergone big changes over the years with retail parks taking over. However Steve predicted that retail parks themselves will become obsolete as online shopping becomes even more popular. This could mean that town centres will become more residential with smaller unique shops. Community living is to be encouraged.

As to how local historians and the St Helens Historical Society in particular could focus on preserving, and presenting St Helens’s history; Mr Lingard encouraged us to think of ways to make sure history is passed on to future generations and how we can go about recording our present time. For example the need to include the wider borough, not just St Helens within its pre-1974 boundaries. There is also the need for networking between different groups and associations. There are individual projects such as the Smithy Heritage Centre in Eccleston, the celebration of 190 years since the Rainhill Railway Trials and the installation of new milestones along the Sankey Canal. Small things are happening but they need the support of the wider community to access funding and to give a voice to the heritage of St Helens.

Mr Lingard concluded that those of us with a passion for local history have a duty to influence the future so that there will be a heritage to inherit.