When St Helens first took to the airwaves

That was when the town's Glee Club appeared on the British Broadcasting Company's Manchester station. Formed in 1905, the male voice choir performed a live, one-hour concert on the new medium.

The opening of the BBC station with the call sign 2ZY had opened up a new world for some in St Helens. The early 1920s were hard times with many residents unemployed or on short time. However, basic wireless sets could be purchased for a few pounds and were affordable for those lucky enough to have a job.

Some with technical know-how could even make their own receivers. In December 1923 it was reported that 18-year-old Sidney Helsby and his 16-year old brother Ken from Robins Lane in Sutton had tuned into a New York station with a homemade set that had its component parts "scattered about a small table".

Albert Sherlock sold adaptors so that headphone-only crystal sets could be heard through loudspeakers (Image: Stephen Wainwright)

James Critchley and his son Harry set up a mini-production line at their Elephant Lane store and sold cheap wireless sets. And Francis Cholerton added radio to his Bridge Street photography business. His adverts said: "Broadcasting has commenced. You can now sit in your own house and listen to speech, music, weather reports and latest news items sent out nightly from the British Broadcasting stations."

Cholerton's receivers cost from £4 10 shillings, although the cheapest were crystal sets that had a limited range and required headphones. Those with around £15 to spend could invest in valve sets that came with loudspeakers – but these were high maintenance.

By 1925 there was much competition for the sale of radios. In a Christmas feature called "Wireless In St Helens" published in the St Helens Newspaper about ten firms were advertising, including A. Sherlock of Liverpool Road who said: "Buy A Loud Speaker And Have A Jolly Christmas. Dance To The Savoy Bands."

Most St Helens' folk with wirelesses during the 1920s would have owned the headphone-only crystal sets. Even though more than one headset could be plugged in, dancing to the popular BBC bands connected to the Savoy Hotel in London would not have been easy.

Ironically the wireless "listeners-in" were then very much wired! So Albert Sherlock's sale of adaptors using powered loudspeakers freed crystal set owners from that constraint. Storey Bros. of Barrow Street was also advertising in the newspaper feature, saying: "Why Not Buy Your “Sweetie” a Wireless Set? The ideal present for Christmas. It can be used for dancing, entertaining your guests and it will talk, sing and play to you all the year round. A real friend in the home."

1925 was also the year that the Rotary Club of St Helens began fundraising to bring the wireless to patients in St Helens and Providence hospitals.

It did not take long for the novelty of the new medium to start wearing off and for listeners to become critical of BBC programming. In 1926 a boss at the Manchester station called Victor Smythe gave a talk to Rotarians at the Fleece Hotel in St Helens and quoted correspondence from listeners.

William Whitehouse went from being a plumber to a seller of wireless sets and accessories (Image: Stephen Wainwright)

He said one complaining letter bore just four words: "Plays rotten. Fed up."

Another said: "You and your so-called actors and actresses should be condemned to listen to plays for six weeks continually. They would then be consigned to a lunatic asylum, which is the proper place for them."

People also soon became used to having the radio on in the background – even when listening via headphones, as most still did. The BBC's Victor Smythe marvelled at women's ability to multi-skill, telling the St Helens Rotarians: "Some ladies have the remarkable gift of knitting, reading a book, and listening in at the same time. I can only bow my head in silent wonder at the immense superiority of the sex."

Stephen Wainwright's latest book 'The Hidden History Of St Helens Vol 2' is available from the St Helens Book Stop and the World of Glass and online from eBay and Amazon. Volume 1 of 'Hidden History' is also still available