THE former American servicemen's living quarters in Great Sankey is enjoying a renaissance as a vibrant residential community a year after the demolition of its tobacco houses.
The distinctive low-rise houses - known as tobacco houses because the lease of the land was paid for by American Tobacco - were originally built in the mid 1950s to accommodate American airmen and their families.
Burtonwood base was one of the biggest in England and the largest US Air Force outside the United States, visited by major celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Bob Hope during the Second World War to entertain the troops.
In its heyday, the tobacco houses formed part of a busy village with its own school and shop but many of the properties fell into disrepair after the US and NATO eventually left in 1993.
The final house was razed to the ground last September.
The complex has undergone massive regeneration by McInerney Homes as Briarswood Village.
Former Warrington Wolves player Mike Wainwright remembers training in the hangars as a boy and recently moved on to the new development with his wife Claire and their two sons, Louis, aged nine, and Joey, aged three.
He said: "When I played for Crosfields as a lad there was a another boy on the development who tried rugby league - he was from an American football background - and in the dark nights we used to train in the hangars.
"It would be a luxury to go into these big army hangars where they had basketball courts, tennis courts and a bowling alley.
"It was something quite special, and as an 11-year-old it was like having a little piece of America on your doorstep."
Mike, who now plays for Leigh Centurions, is also an independent mortgage adviser for Makerfield Mortgages.
He added: "I've always had a keen interest in houses and it's been great to be able to help people buy on Briarswood, which has become a big family area again."
nicola.davies@guardiangrp.co.uk
