Monday, March 5, 1973

A selection of disorderly Penzance youths appeared before the magistrates. One had been amongst 50 gathered at the bottom of Alexandra Road, and was alleged to have kicked a police Panda car which had arrived on the scene. He successfully pleaded mistaken identity, saying that he had only come across the road to find out what was going on while he waited for a taxi.  

Another boy had hit a teacher over the head with a chair. During an altercation, the boy had become annoyed when another pupil threatened to slap him. The teacher had tried to get between them – and had been rewarded with an injury that required stitches.  

A pair of young burglars had netted over £80s worth of goods from a tobacconist – and had also entered a house and taken further items while the occupiers were out on Christmas Day. Both were found guilty. A 10-year-old, however, was acquitted after convincing magistrates that he was blameless, and had just been innocently standing outside while the house was ransacked.

Also waiting his turn in the courtroom that day was a 14-year-old who had taken exception to carol-singers – and confiscated their hymn book and collection box. 

And it wasn’t just boys who were dealt with by the magistrates. A teenage girl had amused herself by phoning up Heamoor (now Mount’s Bay) School claiming there was a bomb on the premises. She said that the whole thing had been meant as a joke – and even if teachers whose plans for the week were disrupted had failed to see the funny side, their view was probably not shared by the 600 students who were given the day off. 

Wednesday, March 7, 1973

West Cornwall was warned that a strike could soon lead to their gas supply being completely cut off because of strike action by the GMWU (now known as the GMB). 

The threat of rail strikes was blamed for changes in the sailing schedule of Scillonian, although tidal conditions and rocks in the harbour at St Mary’s had also played their part.  

The spring of 1973 was marked by several pay disputes between the government and public sector workers. A separate overtime ban had already resulted in longer waits for surgery at West Cornwall Hospital, where 200 people were already on the waiting list. 

Hospital staff were campaigning for an extra £4 a week, an increase of at least 20 per cent for those on the lower pay grades, and shorter hours. 

Matron Lorna McPherson explained that, without sterile supplies from Truro, the 12 or 15 operations scheduled each week could not take place. 

However, the hospital emphasised that nobody in need of urgent treatment would be turned away.