From the Reporter files - Thursday 18th September 2025

Apprentice plumber Eddie Collins was making his mark as a singer in 1966, winning a pop vocalist competition at Butlin’s holiday camp in Pwllheli, North Wales.

Eddie, from Bunkers Hill Road, Hattersley, was also in a rhythm quartet known as ‘The Denvers’, who came top in the weekly heat of Butlin’s national talent contest, earning a place in the finals with a chance to win big money prizes.

The other members - all from the Manchester area - were Eric Pattison, 18, Ian Coy and Stuart Donaghy, both 17. Formed 12 months previously, The Denvers played regularly at clubs in Lancashire and Cheshire and had passed an audition to appear on ITV’s Opportunity Knocks.

With just over 600 entries - 200 more than the previous year - the Hyde Horticultural and Allotments Association’s 1966 annual show was the most successful ever.

All the available tables in the town hall were used to stage the exhibits and even then, there was still a shortage. Chairman Jack Scott told the North Cheshire Herald: “This is wonderful. I hope there are so many next year we have to go outside and borrow tables!”

The quality of entries was also widely praised, with the judges commenting that many of the chrysanthemum exhibits were up to the standard of Southport Flower Show and other major contests.

Should a licensed club be treated differently to a local pub?

Audenshaw Council parks committee faced the dilemma when considering an application from St Paul’s RC Social Club, Guide Bridge, to play Sunday football matches on a council-owned pitch.

Cllr Hall pointed out it was council policy to refuse permission to “public house teams” and wanted to know “where the line was drawn” between a pub and a club.

The St Paul’s application was referred to the general purposes committee - along with a similar request from the Packhorse Inn team.

As the 1966 cricket season drew to a close, Flowery Field CC had already made a star signing for the following year.

They would be joined by Ashton’s fast bowler Jim Fish, playing as a professional. In five seasons with Ashton, he had taken 216 wickets, including a memorable eight for 32 in the 1965 Wood Cup semi-final.

im - who also played football for Curzon Amateurs - had once faced a Middleton attack which included England Test cricketer Basil D’Oliveira.

Hattersley gained its fourth school with the opening of Arundale County Primary.

It was hailed by VIP visitor Brian Jackson, director of the Cambridge-based Advisory Centre for Education, as “a breathtaking school to look at - wonderfully finished”.

Arundale would serve the Longdendale part of Hattersley, with the chairman of the school managers Mrs Broadley confirming it was the first new school in that area for 57 years.

Small shopkeepers were being frozen out by council planners, according to Ashton retailer Roland Evans, who had been refused permission to turn the cottage next door into an ice cream parlour.

Lancashire County Council chiefs were opposed to more shops on Oldham Road because pedestrians and vehicles were not segregated and the town map had scheduled the area mainly for housing.

Film makers were out on location in Audenshaw.

Spy spoof ‘Brook Bond, Secret Agent’ was produced and directed by Alan Hulme, 23, of Kershaw Lane who had also written the script with Droylsden schoolmaster Mr S.I. Longley.

Actors and helpers came from Audenshaw, Droylsden and parts of Cheshire. Alan revealed the colour film, costing £20 to make, would run for about three quarters of an hour. With a chase sequence to be filmed at Jodrell Bank, the production was due to be completed in about three weeks.

TV funnyman Freddie ‘Parrot Face’ Davies drew a large crowd when he took on a stint as a bingo caller at Tom’s Bingo in Hyde Supermarket. 

Freddie signed photos in aid of a home for children with severe learning disabilities in Blackpool, where he was starring in a show at the ABC Theatre.

Bardsley Carnival could boast a new attraction in 1966 - a tractor obstacle race organised by Oldham Young Farmers Club and H. Morgan Tractors Ltd. 

First prize was an electric fence unit, with five gallons of oil for the runner-up. In a break with tradition, the gymkhana would be held on a different day to the carnival itself so that the competitors could enjoy both events.