I arrived in Wales in 1952 and joined the swimming club at Rhos-on-Sea open air pool as I only lived 200 yards away. I soon became part of the Nitwits group which used to do comedy diving in fancy dress and generally act daft every Tuesday and Thursday in the summer.

It was all free and attracted thousands of people over the years. We were John Collinge, Tim Crook, Billy Winstanley and Ivor Hackett. Great lads.

There was one event where I'd challenge anyone in the audience to a race across the pool. But what they didn't know is that the lads had placed a rope along the bottom of the pool beforehand. So we'd begin, and suddenly I'd be flying across the water in front of them!

In another gag I'd be sitting in the audience and the announcer would ask if there was anyone by the name of Claude, Clarence or Cuthbert because they'd won a prize.

I'd get up and amble along the pool when suddenly the announcer would shout 'Ooh, hurry up - there's a man behind you coming to get your prize' - and I'd look round, and fall in the pool. The audience all thought it was an accident!

We also had a canoe and two of us would go out in it dressed up as a couple. Then we'd pretend to have a fight and the canoe would split in half and we'd paddle off in different directions. Once it split before it was supposed to and I've got a picture of me lying in my half, howling with laughter!

There'd also be swimming events, like a race where the swimmers held a spoon in their mouths trying to balance an egg on it, or where loads of corks would be dropped in the water and the winner was the one who could gather up the most, usually stuffing them down their swimming costume.

There was a TV programme called Holiday Time Parade which was sometimes filmed at Rhos and shown later the same night at 6.20 on HTV. We'd have a beauty queen and Adonis contest and a fashion show. It was great.

We did have accidents sometimes. I remember once I was in the pool and Ivor dived off the high board but slipped, hit his head and bounced into the pool. I struggled to hold him up and we got him out of the pool and into hospital.

He came to see us the next day with a bump on his head so big it looked like someone had cut a cricket ball in half and stuck it on, but he was alright.

It was one of the finest pools in the country - 66 yards long, and 9.6 feet deep under the 5 and 6 metre springboards. It was open from 10am to 9pm, so it was handy to go for a swim or a game of water polo after work. It was very cold most of the time mind, but we're tough Brits, aren't we?

Unfortunately, I don't think it made much money and when the council took it over, they already had plans for an indoor pool at Eirias Park, so it was finally closed.
By Harry Chambers

Harry got in touch with the website after reading other people's memories of Rhos pool.