THERE was precious little to brighten up the existence of our hard-working forebears.

They were condemned to slog out their working lives under the iron hand of the taskmasters within coal mining, chemical factories, glassworks and iron foundries.

The majority sought solace in drinking themselves into oblivion during what little leisure time they had to themselves.

"This was possibly in an attempt to make their lives a little more bearable," says the erudite Tony Sweeney of Eccleston, who has compiled some fascinating facts about sport in old St Helens.

And in those 18th and 19th-century times, sport was just about the only other outlet for the working man (in those days referred to by the gentry as "the lower orders.")

In this, the second episode of Tony's researches to appear on this page, he reports that their activities seemed to revolve around wagers. "Some were pretty innocuous, like foot-racing and pigeon flying, but others were less so.

"A favourite, less respectable sport of great antiquity was prizefighting in all its forms -- from the casual set-to on a Saturday night, outside the pub, for a few coppers a side (to see who was the better man or to settle a dispute) to a more professional contest."

They were all illegal, but the rudimentary forces of law and order had enough to do in trying to keep the lid on a rapidly-growing, unruly town without risking being dumped into the nearest duck-pond for trying to stop a well-contested knuckle fight.

"As long as these pugilistic contests took place out of the public eye, where the susceptibilities of respectable folk would not be offended, the authorities tended to turn a blind eye," Tony records.

"The one sporting event which, more than any other, brought all classes together was Newton race-week, held on Newton Common in June of each year until it moved to Haydock Park." Though rugby and cricket were the major pastimes of bygone times (more on this at a later date) there were some heroic individual performances to watch.

You might be privileged to see St Helens' famous woman heavyweight world boxing champion, Polly Burns, taking on the likes of the legendary Jack Johnson or Bombardier Billy Wells.

Or, on a less brutal level, there'd be Billy Burrows, the Grant Street coal-bagger, bringing the Mersey Mile swimming title back to town.

Joe Saxon, the St Helens strongman, would leave his audience spellbound with feats such as bending six-inch nails and tearing up thick telephone books.

"But perhaps the most celebrated local hero," says Tony, "was Jack Hill." This Champion of England ice-skater was a legend who answered to the nickname of Our Nell's Jack. In the late 19th-century, winters were colder and deeper than now, and in 1879 -- "the year of the great frost" -- Carr Mill Dam was frozen solid enough to skate on for four-months at a spell.

In races over 400 yards that year, Jack was invincible. He beat all-comers -- Jackie Highcock of Windermere, together with far-flung top challengers named Mannion, Gee, Brookfield, Gaffney and 'Daft Duck' Balmer.

But the real showdown came when he took on 'Fish' Smart of Lincolnshire, then the reigning English champion, and beat him for the title in the tightest of finishes. The official winning margin was six inches!

After that, the dam ice melted and though Our Nell's Jack (still talked about with pride in the old village a century later) skated again in later years he could never again recapture that scintillating form.

Says Tony: "He eventually retired to become landlord of the Brown Cow in Billinge."

THANKS, Tony, for giving the keen customers of this column access to your sporting researches.