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MANCHESTER EYEWITNESS
ISSUE NUMBER 11 SATURDAY, MAY 17TH, 1947


The Home Secretary, Mr Chuter Ede, has withdrawn the £100,000 grant made to cover the cost of Salford's police force. He took the step due to his disapproval of the appointment as police chief of Mr Howard, whom he described as "inefficient for the post of Chief Constable". Mr Howard has offered to resign, but intends to stay on as deputy Chief Constable. There is considerable anger in Salford over Mr Ede's actions, and the heavy cost to the council caused by the confusion.

Famous north country comedians Frank Randle, George Formby and Sandy Powell attended the opening of Film Studios (Manchester) Ltd on Monday. Manchester's very own film studio is housed in a former church on Dickenson Road, Rusholme. Shortly after the speeches ended, the cameras started rolling for the first film to be made there, "Cup Tie Honeymoon".

A mosquito plane crashed in a field near Ringway Airport on Tuesday, killing the two men on board. It was one of 130 to be supplied to the Turkish government. An eye-witness said the plane was about 800 feet in the air when it went straight to the ground.

Manchester is awaiting confirmation of new traffic rules to ease congestion in the centre. The scheme will require the prohibition of parking on some main streets.

Wythenshawe residents continue to complain about the high rents and lack of facilities in their area. Though bigger than Salford, Wythenshawe has only one cinema, and there are no swimming baths and no hospital. Some recently housed tenants are already looking for other accommodation.

Following the decision by Mr Strachey, Minister for Food, to increase the gravity of beer from 1032 to 1034.6 degrees, brewers in Manchester believe that beer may not be stronger after all. They say they will obtain less beer because their quota of raw ingredients is not being increased.

Police in Manchester are searching for the man who engaged four inexperienced labourers to demolish the shop on Rochdale Road, which collapsed three weeks ago. It transpires that he didn't even have the permission of the owners of the shop to carry out the demolition.

It now looks very likely that a new overspill town will be built in Mobberley after all. There was some doubt about the plans due to the presence of salt under the ground, which causes subsidence. A report on the problem is currently in the hands of Mr Silkin, Minister of Town and Country Planning. Mr Silkin's decision is expected to be announced in the next couple of weeks.

Increases in petrol prices and diesel will mean a rise in costs for North-west bus operators. In one year, Manchester Corporation uses between 3,000,000 and 4,000,000 gallons of diesel oil, and its buses cover more than 30,000,000 miles.

After the second week of 5 day working, North-west miners have lifted 286,000 tons of coal, beating the 6 day week target by more than 10,000 tons. Thanks to the new shorter working hours, absenteeism has gone down by five percent.


And here are some of the national and international headlines this week

On Wednesday, secret German High Command records of the Battle of Britain were revealed.

Mr Beaven said on Thursday that the fate of Europe depends on getting a peace treaty with Germany. A serious food crisis continues there.

The clothes ration may stay indefinitely unless the mills get new workers.

The Football Association has announced the lifting of the midweek sports ban.

Scotland Yard is confident of catching the two men wanted for questioning over the killing of Alec De Antiquis

Those who wish to travel abroad by plane, and can afford it, might be interested in a BOAC advert which appeared this week. Canada and the USA are only 21 hours away, and West Africa is one day away by plane. Travelling times to other destinations are as follows: Egypt 13 hours, India one and a half days, South Africa 3 days, Hong Kong 6 days, Australia two and a half days and New Zealand 4 days. As the advert says, "It's a small world by Speedbird".


Text and photos by Aidan O'Rourke

Based on reports in the Manchester Evening News

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