Six Hartlepool stories which made the news in 1981 and 1982 as we look back to 40 years ago

We have 6 stories from 40 years ago to jog your memories of the town back then. Take a look and see how many you remember.

:: It was as zany as ever and 10,000 people came to watch it.

The Harbour Fete started with a trawler race round the bay with craft of all sizes taking part.

Also on the menu, for those who could stomach it, was a competition to see who could eat ten kippers the quickest.

:: A happy 50th anniversary went to the Carlton Outdoor Centre. Since the centre opened in 1932, more than 250,000 children were estimated to have used the extensive range of facilities up to 1982.

:: The race for 100 new jobs at Hartlepool’s British Steel plant started early when more than 50 men waited outside the town’s Jobcentre for it to open.

Within minutes, an estimated 200 forms had been handed out.

Jobcentre manager John Emerson said the recruitment drive recalled similar activity by British Titan and the Central Electricity Generating Board.

“It just goes to show that people in Hartlepool are keen to work and hopefully it is a sign of things to come,” he added.

The 100 new jobs were created when Hartlepool’s 44-inch pipe mill won a £6.5 million order for a North Sea gas pipeline.

:: Cut-price fashion store Bambers Fashions was taking over the Waring and Gillow shop in the Middleton Grange Shopping Centre.

The leader of Hartlepool Borough Council,Coun Bryan Hanson said it was proof that the centre was ‘still attractive to major companies”.

:: Hartlepool was reeling over the announcement that hundreds of jobs were to go with the closure of the Buxted Poultry factory.

The 562 full and part time jobs would be lost when the factory closes its doors on December 18, 1981, because Buxted was closing its non-profit making areas of chicken production.

:: A new £150,000 extension was opened at the Engineers Club in Hartlepool in September 1982.

A new dance hall, concert room and the conversion of the old concert room into a games room were all features of the changes.

We would love you to share your own memories of the town back then. Email [email protected]

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