From the Bury Times, December 10, 1974

DOG: Victoria Hampson, 7, took Snowy the dog to the Xmas dog show in the drill hall.

FIRE: The ground floor of a handbag factory in Parker Street, Bury was gutted by fire. One third of the PVC handbags there were lost.

TAXES: Whitehall announced a six per cent rise in council rates support. Bury council, pledged to maintain services, said rates would probably rise, too. The ratepayers association wondered whether councillors were doing their job. Meanwhile, an article in the BT posed 12 questions about increased council office space and salary hikes since the new Bury Metro Council was set up.

GONG: John Spink, of Beechgrove Close, got an MBE for services to the war pensions committee.

ROBBERY: A 65-year-old widow, owner of a Salford Market clothes stall, was half-killed by two robbers who broke into her Prestwich home and stole £200. They assaulted her seven times. SUGAR: The sugar shortage continued. A disabled woman wrote to MP Frank White and said by the time her husband got home from work on Saturday, there was none left in the shops. The MP passed the note to Alf Morris, minister for the disabled. Meanwhile, a national bakers strike caused a bread famine in the town and sales of flour shot up.

BOMBS: After recent IRA bombings, a BT reporter tested security by walking through eight local and central government buildings and public buildings with a large bag. He was only challenged at the DSS in Broad Street.Meanwhile the Odeon had a hoax phone call, but the film only stopped for ten minutes.

OIL: Boothman Motors of Rochdale Road, Bury, advertised to DIY motorists: You can dump your waste oil by bringing it to us for disposal. Borrow a waste oil drainer for £2 deposit.

QUIZ: Oxford student Susan Reynolds, 19, of Prestwich, became a finalist on TV's Mastermind, answering questions on Wagner.

ORGAN: Three men built an organ for Brandlesholme Methodist Church. It took 18 months, but cost only one-sixth the new price. They were: sub-postmaster Mr A. Southam, and George and Robert Jeffcock, owners of a Rammy DIY shop.

BAR: After the Lords decreed that working men's clubs could have a colour bar, the Government said it would look at amending the race relations act.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.