VETERAN reader Norman Thomas has been plunged back in time by the recent piece about 'little Tarzans' of Boundary Road swimming baths.

The look-back tale stirred Norman's thoughts about two pre-war groups - St Helens Swimming Club and Coronation Swimming Club - who figured prominently in a gala occasion at that venue.

"My two elder sisters won bronze and silver medals and various other prizes," says Norman of Frodsham Drive, Blackbrook.

Fondly-remembered ghosts from the past include swimming guru Billy Burrows and Ada Sadler. And Norman has happy boyhood memories of winning a swimming certificate, together with a pass permitting him to attend Boundary Road three times a week for 12 months.

The big treat, following a dip, involved a visit to a nearby cake shop for a penny 'tram-stopper.' These treats were about 5ins square and 1ins thick, made up from a mixture of left-over fruit cake, to which, Norman suspects, stale pie pastry was added.

Certainly, it was wise to eat those hefty tooth-testers after a swimming session, rather than before it.

OTHERWISE the young swimmer was in peril of sinking like a stone to the bottom of the water under the sheer weight of all that cakey ballast!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.