May 2009 Archives

STAFF and customers at Sainsbury's stores up and down the country gathered to celebrate 140 years since the popular supermarket first opened its doors.
The Southport branch, which has been at its Lord Street home for 27 of those years, hosted a party for lifelong shoppers and former colleagues.
The nationwide store has seen many changes since founder John James Sainsbury opened his first dairy shop on Drury Lane in 1869, including the switch from queuing to self service.

Labour shortages after World War II meant that retailers relished the opportunity to sell a wide variety of goods under one roof, and the supermarket was born, but it wasn't until 1982 that self service arrived in Sainsbury's.
Joan Jaeger, from Ainsdale, remembers the day she first set foot in Sainsbury's, in Mill Hill, North London.
She said: "I have been shopping at Sainsbury's since I was a child, I used to go in with my mother. I remember the men had great big pats of butter and they used to cut slabs off.
"A lot of people didn't like it when self service came in, they liked to be served. I still like Sainsbury's best, I don't go anywhere else."
Former Sainsbury's cashier Edna Sheard worked at the Lord Street store for 21 years.
She said: "I have very happy memories of Sainsbury's. I left when I was 76, and I still shop here every Saturday.

"All my customers were wonderful, they wouldn't move out of my queue! When I bump into them now they give me a hug and a kiss and say, 'Get back on the checkout!' It's lovely."
Self-confessed Sainsbury's "fans" Maureen and Alan Creed, from Crossens, have been shopping at the supermarket for 25 years.
Alan laughed: "I can't keep Maureen away from the place - she calls it her weekly fix."
Maureen agreed: "I come in every Thursday morning, you get to see the same faces when you come in, and the staff are always very helpful.
"We've seen Jean Alexander in there a few times, but nobody bothers her."
Corinne and Ron Thomson have been shopping at Sainsbury's since they lived in Bournemouth in 1957.
Back then a 2lb pack of Lurpac would set you back six shillings (30p) compared with £2.42 for 500g now.
Corinne said: "Things were behind the counter and you went up to it. There was a chair for the old ladies to sit on, and you could write a list of what you wanted and they would have it ready for you when you came back. It must have taken ages to shop!"
Former colleagues Mike Devlin and Ron Vernon also have fond memories of their time spent working at Sainsbury's in Southport.
Mike said: "I remember Lord Sainsbury coming to visit. He arrived at Liverpool Airport by jet, then came by helicopter to Woodvale, then by Rolls Royce to Sainsbury's. He spent the best part of the morning with us, shaking hands with everyone and having lunch."
Ron added: "I was here when the shop opened, for seven years, then I retired.
"They were the happiest seven years of my working life, they were a great crowd. In fact I still come back in every Friday for lunch!"

YESTERDAY marked five years since the £5m Marine Way Bridge was opened to the public.
Not only has it opened the way to the Ocean Plaza site but it has also marked the start of millions of pounds of private investment being spent in our resort.
To celebrate the anniversary, councillor David Pearson, who was Mayor of Sefton when its construction was completed, met up with Southport youngster Rebecca Petrie, who named the bridge.
The landmark, which leads to the £23m Ocean Plaza site, went on to be officially opened by the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie, in front of crowds of well-wishers on July 19.
Cllr Pearson said that cutting the tape to allow people over the bridge on May 14, 2004, before going onto attend the Royal opening as Deputy Mayor of Sefton in the July, were among the highlights of his time in office.
He said: "It has made a big difference to Southport.
"The bridge itself, I've got to admit when it was originally proposed, I didn't vote for it, I voted for a Victorian bridge but I'm most happy with the way it has turned out."
The old Victorian bridge had to be demolished due to health and safety fears.
A subsequent Sefton Council "consultation" left many local people furious, as an overwhelming majority of people questioned voted for a Victorian-style bridge to be built instead of a modern design, only for their views to be ignored.
However the iconic Marine Way Bridge has since become something of a landmark in the region.
Cllr Pearson said: "It has become quite a landmark - it's a great asset to the area and it's put Southport on the map.
"That was the start of many private initiatives to put money into the town. We have now got the Ramada Hotel and Splash World.
"There is so much money being spent in the town and with the economic climate at present we seem to be holding our own."
A competition was held by the Southport Visiter to name the bridge and Rebecca's entry was chosen.

She was 11 years old at the time and a pupil at Churchtown Primary School pupil - a plaque with her name on was unveiled at the bridge by the Mayor at a ceremony attended by her class.
This was followed by the Royal opening a month later where Rebecca met the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
Rebecca, who lives on Mallee Avenue in Churchtown and now attends Stanley High, said: "It was really good. I didn't think mine would get chosen."

A WAR hero, whose plane was forced to ditch in the sea off Scotland in World War Two, has launched a search for the crew of the ship that saved his life.
Ted Russell, of Tudor Mansions, was part of the crew of a Vickers Warwick aircraft which ditched into Scapa Flow, off Orkney, in June 1944.

The plane, BV417, was based at Wick in North East Scotland and was used for air sea rescue missions in the Atlantic or across the North Sea towards Norway and Denmark.
On the night BV417 came down, Ted and the rest of the crew had been trying to locate a Catalina plane which was believed to have been shot down by a German U-boat some 120 miles north of Shetland.

Having set off in the afternoon of June 9, 1944, the mission was called off late that night when nothing was found, and it was while flying back to Wick that the plane's engines failed.
The plane was forced to ditch somewhere in Scapa Flow, a body of water in the Orkney Islands.
Luckily for those on board the frigate HMS Volage was in the area and was able to launch a rescue mission to pick up the stricken airmen.
But it was around 12.45am and pitch black when the plane came down, so no one has ever been sure of the exact location and the wreck has never been found.
The waters around Orkney have since become a world famous diving site, popular with divers keen to explore the wrecks in the area.

And Ted was spurred into trying to find the crew of the Volage, many of whom were thought to be Merseysiders, after an organisation based in Orkney, the Aviation Research Group Orkney Shetland, contacted him in an attempt to locate the Warwick's wreckage.
Ted, 87, said: "I know there were quite a few Merseysiders in the crew, but I don't know whether any of them are still alive or if any of them remember the incident.
"As far as we are aware, the Warwick went down between an island and a floating dock.
"But it was 12.40am and pitch black when we went down so we can't be sure.
"We were on the way back after a search of the North Sea between the Shetlands and Norway.
"We just lost power.
"We didn't really have time to think about these things, but it wasn't exactly delightful.
"We were all wet, cold and miserable, but everyone made it back.
"Now I just want to find those people that saved our lives".
Anyone with information should call Ted on 01704 551020.

SHIRLEY Bassey, Engelbert Humperdinck, Little and Large, Les Dawson, Harry Corbett and Sooty - these are just a few of the famous names who have performed with Southport organist Terry Cooper.
Terry, who was the Kingsway Club's resident organist during the 1960s, became used to a steady stream of household names passing through the club.
Originally trained as a pianist, Terry took to the organ after a car accident, and never loooked back.
"I was just doing it part-time at first," said Terry.

"I played at the Queen's Hotel, the Royal Clifton Hotel and pubs like the Albert."
But Terry is best known in the resort for his residency at the Tudor Bar at the Kingsway.
The job gave the 74-year-old of Jane's Brook Road a host of anecdotes about showbiz life.
"That was mainly where I played with the famous people," said Terry.
"Little and Large were very nice and David Whitfield, he was a marvellous artist, he was one of the best I've ever seen.
"I played with Shirley Bassey in Wigan in the 1960s, she was on her way up then.
"I used to go to the Crown for a drink with Engelbert Humperdinck when he was called Gerry Dorsey - he was alright, but a bit serious."
Terry, who was born in Dinorwick Road, Birkdale, and educated at Churchtown Primary School quickly got used to rubbing shoulders with the star turns at the Kingsway.
He said: "I didn't rate Les Dawson, he was pretty quiet off stage.
"But I saw him some years later and he had become a comedian all of the time."
But Terry's daughter Yvette got starstruck when she heard her dad was playing with the country's most famous puppet.
"I did a dance at the Clifton Hotel with Sooty and Harry Corbett - she was excited about Sooty," he said.
Terry eventually moved on, becoming an organ teacher and demonstrator and is now retired.
Reflecting on the resort's seaside heyday, he said: "It was marvellous - the best time of my career really.
"Later on it cost too much money to bring those acts to Southport.
"The Beatles were there, I never played with them but we played the same venues."

LAST week Terry fulfilled the ambition of a lifetime, rising up through the floor on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ lift at the Tower Ballroom to the sound of "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside".
The trip to Blackpool was arranged by Terry's son and daughter who wanted to give their dad the chance to play the world-famous organ.
Terry, who admitted to being overwhelmed by the experience, took the opportunity to play Lady is a Tramp, Tiger Rag and Has anybody see my gal.
"I've wanted to play it since the 1950s," said Terry.
"It was wonderful to play it - it is a marvellous organ.

"Reginald Dixon played it so I definitely felt like I was stepping into quite big shoes."
Wife Janet, son Terry Jnr and daughter Yvette were the audience for this once in a lifetime performance, along with Chris Hopkins - one the resident organists who regularly plays the Wurlitzer.
It was a memorable gig for Terry.
"Being in the Tower the sound you get in the ball room - it really sounds well in there," Terry explained.
"It was designed by Reginald himself in about 1935 and I first saw him play it in 1953 and I've wanted a go since then.
Proud son Terry Jnr said: "The organ sounded fantastic and my Dad's playing was well on form."