It was made by a little old man with a limp pushing his barrow down the back lane, trying to make a living from people's throw outs.

Every week there would be a variety of trades down the back lanes with various horse drawn vehicles. Milk, coal and groceries were all delivered this way.

During the war we used the communal swill bin for wickets - two yardies and you were out. If it was a nice evening when the mothers came to call their offspring in for bed, they sometimes stood around 'calin', giving us a few extra minutes of play.

If the lasses were playing hop skotch or skipping with a long thick rope, the mothers might join in and if they did, so would the lads.

It was what we did. We could go to Wezzex in safety for the whole day, make dens, climb trees, cut our own bows and arrows and vaulting poles, fish in the dykes and fly our homemade kites in the farmer's field this side of Western Road accessed through the Centenary Road allotments.

If the mood took us we could go to West Park and race to be the first on the swings, the slide, the roundabout, the zig-zag, the see-saw, the Maypole, the sand pit or the putting green.

When we had enough of them we could sail our boats or go for a dip in the paddling pool. I know some who even learnt to swim in the paddling pool.

As far as the old swimming baths were concerned we bought season tickets and sometimes went three times in one day. Going to the baths on a Saturday morning was like a sardine packers' outing with hardly enough room to jump in.

We had two slides, a spring board and a multi diving stage. Some of us even managed to secretly dive off the balcony (shh, nuff sed!).

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