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Original Text (Annotation: EPW014020 / 639381)

' In the late 1940s early 1950s when I was a young lad Tharsis Sulpher & Copper Company had long gone. Only parts of the derelict concrete buildings were still standing. It was a playground for Hebburn kids. They'd moved out & left this deep unfenced reservoir. Today they would have been heavily fined for leaving it unfenced & full of water. In the early 50s I remember a lad about 9 or 10 called Colqhoun & he drowned in it one Saturday afternoon. In previous years other children had drowned in it so no lessons were learned. The reservoir was brick lined & the sides were angled steeply. It was a magnet for children fishing for sticklebacks & we knew it was dangerous. You couldn't see the bottom as it was so deep (9 mtrs deep ie 30ft) '