THE inside story of an act of destruction that provoked disgust and panic in Southport can now be told – more than four decades after it took place.
In the early hours of Sunday, December 20, 1964, Christmas greetings went up in smoke when vandals set fire to a card-laden pillar box at the corner of Shakespeare Street and Portland Street.
The incident made the front page of the Southport Visiter, with the town’s head postmaster, Mr C. J. Moore, expressing outrage at the “rotten” act.

How the Southport Visiter reported the pillar box blaze in December 1964

An anonymous witness to the ignition of the blaze has now called LookBack, following our reprise of the story in our Christmas special.
The caller, who lives in Churchtown, was at the time a 19-year-old on leave from the Army. The culprits, he revealed, were two former schoolmates from Birkdale whom he had met for festive drinks in the nearby Shakespeare pub.
Afterwards, high spirits got the better of the two lads who had attended Christ Church school in the town centre, where JJB Sports now stands.
“I was a way away but could see what was happening,” said the witness.
“They lit a cigarette packet and pushed it through the slot. I felt so embarrassed – I knew about it but didn’t do it.”

The postbox at the corner of Portland Street and Shakespeare Street today

Both of the wayward young men still live locally in either Southport or Formby, said our source – with one now a wayward adult.
Police investigated the arson after an officer spotted smoke pouring from the pillar box at about 1.30am.
Only four cards were actually destroyed in the fire, but for some the worry was overwhelming.
Shakespeare Street housewife Mrs E. S. Jarvis had to telephone 16 of her friends to see if their cards arrived safely – followed by her sending some more, “just in case”.
Mr Moore said: “This happens quite often around November 5 but I have never known it to happen before at Christmas.”
Despite the passage of time, the witness was apologetic, saying: “I feel so sorry, I know it was such a ridiculous thing. I couldn’t believe events like that would crop up out of the blue 43 years later.”

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