ANYONE remember the Lakewood Lido? If so, you're likely to be packing a bus pass in your wallet. For only those bobbing along in the OAP bracket will be familiar with that name.

It was the rather grandiose title conferred upon a section of the Carr Mill Dam, St Helens, during its early 1940s heyday, recalls veteran reader Roy Harrison.

During Roy's childhood, there were wooden boatsheds, with their little craft bobbing in the gentle swell alongside the landing stage.

This was at the East Lancashire Road end of that vast watery jewel.

"And," he says, "there were also two diving boards for the swimmers who flocked there in the summer. The higher one was strictly for big lads; and the other for the little nippers.

"I remember being told by older teenagers and adults that I was not permitted to leap off the big board. I was only nine at that time and could only swim under water."

Roy, a former Haresfincher, has another vivid memory from those halcyon days.

As the second world war drew to a close, the German prisoners, held at an Ashton-in-Makerfield camp, were allowed to enjoy a day out at the Happy Valley picnic area of Carr Mill, guarded by American military policemen stationed at Burtonwood.

That particular spot, once besieged by picnicking families on bygone summer Sundays (there's rarely anyone to be seen in that vicinity these days!) holds a special place in Roy's heart.

"During the school holidays of 1944, the German PoWs taught me to swim properly - on the surface! - close to the old dam overflow which cascaded down a set of descending brick steps running through Happy Valley."

There were keenly-contested kick-about soccer matches played by the banks of the dam, with teams made up from a mixture of kids, parents, local youths and German prisoners.

"I have often wondered," says Roy, "whether the great Bert Trautmann (post-war goalkeeping idol of Manchester City) was among the PoWs who joined in." Bert was certainly held at the Ashton camp at that time.

And Roy rounds off: "What lovely memories of happy days, clean and clear dam water, outdoor exercise and laughter.

"A butty dipped in dripping and wrapped in an old newspaper for a picnic treat - with a bottle of tap-water to wash it down.

"Occasionally, we'd visit the Carr Mill cafe to by a penny crust - if we happened to have a penny on us!"

WHAT a wonderful word picture of the sort of joyful times and simple pleasures that, sadly, today's kids will never know . . .

By happy coincidence I've also received a letter from a member of the Burkhill family who owned the self-same Carr Mill cafe mentioned by Roy.

Sheila Johnson, of Woodlands Road, whose dad, Richard, was a co-owner of the Burkhill properties, worked there for many years after leaving school at the age of 14 during Easter 1946, along with her sister Brenda.

She also provides info on the Burkhill family's influence on the local business scene, and I'll be touching on this in the very near future.

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