50 YEARS AGO.

Kids played with detonators after fire POLICE officers visited schools at South Bank in an effort to recover fog detonators and canisters containing sulphuric acid missing from a fire damaged warehouse. When police attended the warehouse after the fire they discovered children playing with the detonators.

Precautions issued over water shortage A LIST of precautions was issued in Billingham in the event of water rationing being introduced because of the severe water shortage. These included preparing to tie taps, saving dirty water to flush toilets, using disinfectants in lavatories, extra care when handling food and keeping children's hands and heads clean.

Yarm's cinema destroyed by fire ONLY the asbestos sheet walls and the projection room were left standing after fire had gutted the Lyric Cinema in Yarm. At the height of the blaze the flames from the mostly wooden building were 80 ft high and could be seen for miles around.

pounds 3 a week is 'beyond our tenants' COUNCIL houses in Saltburn and Marske offered to prospective tenants for rents and rates of more than pounds 3 per week were not being taken up by people on the council's waiting list. Councillor JC Pickering said that many people could not afford to pay more than pounds 3 per week.

Churches given the go-ahead on estate PLANNING approval for three new churches on the rapidly expanding Hardwick Estate in Stockton was given by the council's Plans Committee. The first was for a Church of England church, the second was for a Roman Catholic church and the third was for a Methodist dual purpose church and hall.

Candidates 'steamed up' and indignant GERALD Coles the Conservative candidate in Stockton was 'all steamed up' about his opponent as the General Election campaign entered its last day. Opponent, Labour candidate George Chetwynd was indignant about 'the sheer affrontery' of the Tory hopeful.