NEWSWORTHY BRIGG TOPICS IN 1980 STILL TALKED ABOUT TODAY

When we cover Brigg Town Council's January meeting later this month a personal milestone will be reached.
The first Brigg Town Council meeting we attended, notebook in hand, was 40 years ago - soon after joining the Lincolnshire & South Humberside weekly newspaper as a reporter at its  57 Wrawby Street office (pictured above).
Topics discussed at that meeting in January 1980 included the Recreation Ground and the town's railway line - both still newsworthy today.
Coun Eric Robinson was the Town Mayor 40 years ago, while Joseph J. Magrath was the Town Clerk.
Long-serving councillors included George Hewson, Ivor Strudwick, Ernie Taylor, Jack Wattam and Bryan Robins.
Brigg Town Council then held its meetings in the Glanford borough authority's ornate debating chamber at what we now known as Hewson House. The chamber had served Brigg Rural District Council until the early 1970s.
It was usual for Chief Inspector Bill Horsfield, head of Brigg & Barton police, to attend Town Council meetings himself 40 years ago - or send one of his inspectors along. Today it's rare if police officers of any rank appear at monthly Town Council sessions in the Angel Suite.
Headlines in January 1980 were dominated by the steel strike that started at the beginning of the month and dragged on to early April. It affected many people living in Brigg and the surrounding area, bringing hard times financially.
Having spent five years in the public relations department at British Steel's Scunthorpe works, we were serving a month's notice when the steel strike began, having successfully applied for the editorial vacancy on the Lincs Times in December 1979.
January 1980 also saw Grimsby Town drawn away to mighty Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup, but the Mariners were beaten 5-0. A number of people from Brigg and district went to watch the tie at Anfield - some by train.