WE have covered the brief histories of the ten townships, so now it is time to look at our present town centre, which before the 1750s did not exist.

Somewhere around Church Street evolved a cross roads, not so far away from the bridges that crossed the Hardshaw Brook.

There was the western road from the ancient market town of Prescot and the evolving villages around the Mersey estuary. The road dropped down Croppers Hill, climbed the gentle Hardshaw Hill and headed east to Haydock.

At Marshalls Cross, Chester Lane met the route that crossed the Mersey at both Fiddler's Ferry and Warrington, dropped down through the Vale of Peasley Cross, bridged the Hardshaw Brook, and headed over either Billinge Hill to Wigan or north west to Rainford.

It is thought St Elyn's Chapel appeared by Church Street in the 1300s, meaning people could avoid the walks to Prescot, Winwick or Wigan.

The port of Liverpool and the salt fields of Cheshire demanded coal, so Liverpool merchants decided to make Sankey Brook navigable, allowing boats from the Mersey to the reserves of coal. On March 20 1755, Parliament passed an Act to make the Sankey Brook navigable, and construct several branches, thus creating England's first modern canal.

Baines, in his guide to townships, researched in the 1820s, wrote: “This place has within the last half century risen from the rank of a small village to a neat and populous town."

The founding of The British Plate Glass Company in 1773 led other glassmakers and industries to take advantage of the canal and plentiful coal. We also made small copper ingots for the East India Company for export to China.

The Rainhill Trials of 1829, and the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway a year later, changed the world. St Helens' merchants financed the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway that opened in 1833.

Local businessman, brewer and MP, Peter Greenall, knew the five townships, could not deal with sanitation and that water supplies, pavements, and street lights were needed.

Problems such as the Cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854 caused delays to essential modernisation. A market hall, a town hall, and a public library appeared.

In 1868 the township was officially incorporated in a municipal borough, now responsible for running the old townships. We celebrated the centenary in 1968 with the opening of Century House and the first St Helens Show.

In 1876 the town hall was officially opened and a year later a borough police force formed. In 1879 our first horse drawn trams appeared. By 1900 horses and steam hauled trams were replaced by electric ones heading for Dentons Green, Prescot, Sutton, and Haydock. In the 30s these were replaced by trolley buses which ran until 1958 - and never at a loss.

When local Victorian businessmen ran the town centre, there was hope and vision. Now it is owned by large financial concerns in London and offshore, I am pessimistic. Mucky grey shutters, plain brick walls, a lack of individuality, all depress me.

Still, look around when you walk around. There are still many gems scattered around to gladden the heart.