PRESENT-day pupils at Lyme Infants School, Newton-le-Willows, were able to swap 'now-and-then' tales when old boy Cyril Holland paid them a visit.

Newton-born Cyril, who now lives in Northamptonshire, is trying to re-trace his roots. And when officials at the school in North Street heard that he was in the area to visit relatives they invited him along to see how times have changed since his own days there in the 1930s.

Cyril's trip back in time also proved useful for the youngsters of Year 2 who are currently studying for a history project and were only too glad to pick up some first-hand 'gen' on school life 60 years ago.

Meanwhile, Cyril, who used to live in Crow Lane West and went on to work for both Heatons and Robinson Transport before leaving the area, is in the process of trying to re-trace old friends from both his school and working life in Newton and St Helens. Anyone who would like to get in touch with him can contact head teacher Chris Winstanley at Lyme Infants on 01925 225657.

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