After months of rehearsals, Hyde Light Opera Company’s 1968 autumn show would soon be in full bloom.
The town’s Theatre Royal was all set to host ‘Chrysanthemum’ for its six-night run in October.
Captain Brown (Norman Barber) was joined at the photo-call by five of his six daughters in the story, Violet, Lily, Rose, Daisy and Lavender played by Janice Haughton, Elizabeth Ashley, Elizabeth Clarke, Enid Dyson and Margaret Hufton. Sadly, the only one missing was... Chrysanthemum!
As hundreds of schoolchildren returned their desks for the start of the new term in September 1968, Ashton’s primary headteachers admitted some local schools were so overcrowded that auxiliary rooms were having to be used for lessons.
In one school, a partition had to be put up in the dining hall to provide an extra classroom. Eric Beard, head of Waterloo Junior School claimed: “There is no money left in the kitty for primary schools. It has all been spent on secondary schools to prepare for comprehensive education.”
The remains of a 13th Century corn mill were being excavated on the banks of the River Tame in Haughton Green.
Three Audenshaw Grammar School pupils were helping local historian Burley Key with the digging. Mr Key had seen evidence of the mill’s stonework and masonry on the Hyde side of the river near Mill Lane bridge.
He planned to make a photographic record of the site before it was eroded by the river.
Members of Hyde Reform Club were delighted with their new £25,000 home on Grafton Street - a far cry from the previous building which had served the town since 1882 and was now to be demolished to make way for the second phase of the Hyde town centre redevelopment.
Dukinfield Council’s highways and works committee approved plans to convert the Oxford Music Hall on Foundry Street to a dance hall.
Some councillors voiced concern that it would see teenagers frequenting premises licenced to sell alcohol, but the chairman Cllr Howarth hit back: “I am surprised that we should be trying to stop entertainment for teenagers. There is not even a cinema in the town. None of the bars at the hall are open during the dancing for young people.”
Droylsden’s former Palace cinema reopened as a bingo hall, amusement arcade and snack bar.
The Ashton Road building close to the Tollbar traffic lights had recently been a furniture store.
As part of the firm’s centenary celebrations, James North and Sons Ltd staged an exhibition in Hyde Town Hall showcasing their products, made locally and internationally.
Alongside the protective clothing produced at the Hyde and Godley factories there were safety shoes, helmets, goggles and even a totally fireproof suit made by James North companies in 53 countries across Europe, Australasia and America.
After three years studying and surveying the Tame Valley, planners had produced a report of ‘hope and cautious optimism’ that eventually the valley - or parts of it - could again become a green and pleasant land.
Priority schemes would include a riverside park close to the centre of Ashton and extending a smaller riverside park in Stalybridge with a promenade, trees, lawns and flower beds.
In just ten weeks, over 14,000 homes and business premises in Ashton had been connected to North Sea Gas.
Despite a handful of residents complaining they had been left without proper cooking facilities for up to three weeks, the gas board said the conversion of appliances had run smoothly.
Bosses at Stalybridge firm Staley-Portland Ltd were celebrating their biggest ever order.
The ventilation engineers and ducting contractors had landed a £140,000 contract to supply ducting for Hinckley Power Station in Somerset.
A rare event for Hyde - a cattle auction attracted a large crowd of potential bidders to the Hare and Hounds farm on Werneth Low.
Walter Mansfield, also landlord of the Hare and Hounds pub, had announced his retirement from dairy farming after almost 40 years and was selling off his stock of 66 cattle and an Aberdeen Angus bull. The average price tag for each animal was about £100.
Keeping order at TUC congress
The Birdcage opens its doors
Pole position
Was housing plan a bridge to Shire?
Shepherding in flocks for mass sheep dip
