He'd been given to understand that the ship's bell and the porthole frames of the luxury liner, believed at the time of her 1912 launch to be unsinkable, had been manufactured at a brass foundry close to the Hotties stretch of the canal at St Helens.

But, asked Ste, which firm was it and where exactly was it based?

Reader Jim Lane comes up with an answer (and at this point I'd like to apologise for taking so long to get his response in print). The particular brass-foundry was that of Appleton & Howard, says Jim of Scholes Lane, Thatto Heath. Their main foundry was based in Warrington.

"At the time, my brother worked for Jack McGill, coal dealer and haulage contractor", he adds, "and I used to go with him to pick up brass fittings to be delivered". These were accessories for industrial pumps.

Thanks, Jim, for that interesting contribution. But it seems that Appleton &Howard might not have been the only St Helens-based firm to be in the porthole-making business. Maureen Stirrup from Old Lane, Rainhill, recently contacted me with a recollection from her younger years.

She recalls that in 1954, while sailing over for a holiday with relatives in Ireland, her father pointed out the manufacturer's name on the portholes of the Irish ferryboats. As she recalls it, this spelled out Daglish of St Helens.

I'm sure the Lowe House 'scratters will be much obliged for those separate bits of interesting local info. But the fact remains that any Titanic link has still to be fully authenticated.

ANYONE else able to help? Then please write to Whalley's World, St Helens Star, YMCA Buildings, St Helens WA10 2HZ; or pop a note in at our front counter.