28 replies to this topic

[Alan]

Anyone remember those days?

It was like visiting the USA during those austerity-ridden post-war years. I had my first ever hotdog and coca cola. I can also remember the smell of the roasted tobacco in Pall Mall cigarettes and the sight of the jeeps and big left-hand drive cars.

[Dion]

I remember playing in a band at the base about 1970, buying a pint at the bar and getting dimes and cents in my change.

[ARJones]

I was courting a girl from Burtonwood that took me there in 1970,what a night that was my first meeting with the yanks on our soil..they only had cans of ale so I went through all the brands and there were many..then for my last trick I got one called "Sevens up" just cos it sounded rude...I spat the damn thing out because as we all know now ..Sevens up is lemonade ...Yuk
True what they said about the Yanks tho ..Overpaid and over here...they were throwing money at the young single girls there getting them inebriated just so they could get them round the back of the hangars...(lucky sods)Id just come home on leave and gone round to her place in my Navy gear...and Cos I was in uniform I got treated like royalty ...even got driven back to her house in this whopping cadilac with deep fluffy seats and green windows...I puked on the seats .. and never told the driver.. good old days !!!

[daveshome]

Quote

Doe's anyone remember the Yankee dump?

It was down near the arches Nr. Sankey sugar works and as kids we all used to go there because the Yanks used to throw good stuff away. At least we thought so then

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are some parts of my past that need to be left alone Bob! the Yankee dump being one of them, but our kid got a push bike from there that used to fold in the middle....? think it was from the War, you had to fold it up and put it in your lunch bag, I used to go flying in Gliders there at Burtonwood in the 60,s and it was great!

[daven]

I don't know if anyone has posted this before but the RAF Buronwood Heritage Centre is well worth a visit. It is open every Sunday between 2-4 PM and is free.
You will have to be quick as it is due to close due to lack of visitors. Sad, very sad.

[Veronica]

Used to be a member of Joe Saxons dance troop during WW2. we went to do concerts for the servicemen and they took us after to this place where there was all this food we had never seen anything like. huge bins full of potatoe crisps.

it was in the NCO's club.

the Yanks also used to come to the Co-op dances after the war. My father said keep away from them Yanks and to make sure I did used to meet me outside the Co-op to take me home.

[sweetIsis]

I used to go tenpin bowling at Burtonwood in 1992/93, I belonged to a bowling league and as well as being a member of the British tenpin bowling association, I had to join the American one - the World Bowling Congress - because I was bowling on American soil - supposedly.

[SKYMAN]

i worked at Burton Wood when BILLY Graham the evagelist paid a visit,,i was
still there when they built the new warehouse,think they called it header house
at the time is was the largest single span building in europe,what ever you mention ,it was stored somewhere at
Burton Wood,no PCs then,but we had a great filing and location system,,

[non sibi sed omnibus]

The scariest thing for me at burtonwood was going one night after school.My friend had heard they were flying in boeing 737s under darkness cos of security!!I did go to a few open days.My uncle worked there and when it closed he went onto sthelens corpn bus mtce.Then when fords opened a franchise--STHELENS FORD,He went there on the service side and moved through the ranks there cos of his US experience as well.

[SKYMAN]

Most of the workers took a chance and bought fags,whisky ,cigars,but now and then the police
did a spot check,you could tell just before you left the main gate they would wave the bus over to one side,
then all the passengers had to get off, the floor and seats were full of loot ,the police collected it all then we were allowed on the bus again,and on our way,,without the swag of course,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[DEVON BOY]

I remember when they had Super Sabre jets there they wasn't supposed to but now and again they broke the sound barrier over the airfield living in Clock Face we used to hear an almighty bang and all the windows rattled

[jackrhind28]

As a kid of 13 me and my mates used to cycle from Parr to the airbase on Sunday mornings to watch the fortesses returning from raids We were almost under the flight path. One Sunday we were aprehended by military police saying we were in a restricted area and that returning aircraft might have sustained damage and could crash.
That was the end of that

Regards
Jack Rhund