One Merseyside town was described by newspapers as the ugliest town in the north west.
St Helens is one of the many towns in the north of England that struggled to adapt to the post-industrial world. Having been built primarily on coal mining and glass making, changing times in the 1970s called for an overhaul for the "outdated" town centre.
The 1970s marked a turning point, with millions of pounds poured in for a town centre "facelift." Papers at the time described the town centre before the transformation as the "ugliest in the north west."
