We enter the New Year complaining about the weather, fuel prices and the behaviour of the young. Not much has changed, has it? And to prove the point we take a look back at the news in the Chronicle from this month in 1976 and 1986. Thirty years ago we ran a story about the "Al Capone girls" of Westerhope Estate, who were terrorising elderly female residents. The gang's victims were either very old or particularly frail and the girls, aged from eight to 15, threatened them with violence if they didn't pay up or meet their demands. The teenybopper gang bullied one pensioner into buying raffle tickets by sitting on her until she handed over 10p. But they weren't raffle tickets, the girls just wrote out a note on a bit of paper and said they would be back later. Another pensioner had her curtains slashed with a razor. Pensioners admitted they were "absolutely terrified" and handed over any money demanded. There was also rebellion in the air at Heaton Manor School in Newcastle after the headmaster Henry Askew said a decision had been taken to combat "uncouth and nasty" girl pupils by using corporal punishment, the same as the lads got, for any wrongdoing. The thought of getting the strap was too much for the girls, who immediately staged a women's lib-style demonstration. Two hundred teenage girls went on the rampage for almost an hour and chanted: "Howay the lads", hoping their male colleagues would join the fray. But the lads stayed at their desks. Then the girls did the unthinkable. They ran around the sports field and interrupted a soccer match by pinching the ball. The boys apparently left the pitch in dejection. The girls were egged on by their parents, who shouted encouragement through the railings. "No-one is going to beat my daughter. I've lost sleep over this," said one parent. Three police cars finally arrived to restore order. On the fuel front, there was outrage when petrol went up by over 3p per gallon to an average of 68p to 77p a gallon. At the same time the big petrol stations were cutting their prices, which meant the end of the line for many of the smaller retailers. NTwenty years ago, 1986 arrived with a bang - but not a spectacular bang: it was local revellers taking part in a spate of assaults, keeping the emergency services stretched to the limit. And police, ambulance crews and hospital staff were among the victims. The streets of Tyneside were quiet but trouble was kicking off at house parties. According to another story, Southern property speculators were wrecking the heart of Newcastle. They were buying up chunks of property at knockdown prices and then leaving it to rot. Some buildings, particularly in Clayton Street, were literally collapsing. Prof Miles Danby of the Newcastle and Northumberland Society was shocked at the disclosures and called for speculators to be exposed. On the jobs front there was optimism. Swan Hunter was hoping for around £100m worth of ship orders, and with the Channel Tunnel getting the go-ahead, local firms were hoping to get a share of the £142m contract. But it was back to violence when Rocky fans copied their hero and turned into wildmen outside the Newcastle Odeon in Pilgrim Street. Fights erupted among the queue of 800 who fought and pushed in the attempt to get free tickets to the blockbuster Rocky IV, starring Sylvester Stallone. Meanwhile a dramatic rescue took place when three Tyneside boys, two aged 11 and one 10, became trapped on the beach by an incoming tide near Marsden Grotto. Luckily they were spotted by an auxiliary coastguard patrolling the cliff top and were saved by the crew of a Tyneside inshore lifeboat. On the football front Newcastle United boasted two players who would become legendary, Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne. Back in 1986, Gazza wasn't quite ready for the international stage but the Chronicle revealed Peter Beardsley had just been called into Bobby Robson's England squad for a warm-up match in the run-up to the World Cup in Mexico. Former Newcastle manager Joe Harvey said after watching Newcastle draw 2-2 with league champions Everton: "I never thought I would see a better Newcastle player than Tony Green but I've just seen one in Peter Beardsley. "His goal was sheer magic. It was a real privilege to be here to see it." | 
Tyne Bridge Publishing
