ALAN WHALLEY'S WORLD

IT seems that not all the Yanks drafted to this part of the North West during the second world war were based at Burtonwood.

In reply to a recent query as to whether members of the US forces were ever stationed at Haydock, reader Denis Brown claims that they did, indeed, spend some time close to the boundary of that particular one-time mining village.

"They were based for a time at Garswood Park, now occupied by Ashton Golf Club," adds Denis of Gerards Lane, Sutton Leach.

Around 1943-44, Denis and his pal camped on land at Worthington's farm (now a housing estate) to the left of Liverpool Road, heading into Ashton.

"All that remains now is the farmhouse, a white building just past the M6 motorway and partly hidden behind trees.

"The Yanks were then located over on the right, in square-walled bell tents, clearly seen from the roadway as the surrounding shrubbery wasn't as thick then as it is now."

It was possible for Denis and his mate to hold conversations with the GIs by calling across and posing that inevitable time-honoured question: 'Got any gum, chum?'

Recalls Denis: "It was a hot Whit when we camped and the Yanks had the side walls of their tents rolled up for ventilation." The lads could see quite clearly into this temporary accommodation.

Another happy wartime memory is of three Land Army girls working on the farm. "One of them lent us an old wind-up gramophone and some records to play in our tent.

"It all seems like a world away now," sighs Denis, "but, after all, it was more than 50 years ago."

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