THE superb street-games contribution from Kevin Heneghan (May 18) certainly struck a chord with Ada Penketh of Dentons Green.

Ada, an incredibly well-preserved 91-year-old, can reach back to times when the side-streets of St Helens were virtually traffic-free and the pavements and carriageways rang with the squeals and laughter of excited kiddies.

"I lived in Borough Road," she explains, "and we then had the sand-beds and chemical wastes to play on, doing what we called cradems." These were little physical dares, which might entail climbing or leaping challenges.

Skipping was extremely popular. "We had long ropes, stretching across the entire width of the road," adds Ada, from Swinburne Road. There was a ''urne' at each end of the rope, and parents would often volunteer to give it a twirl.

Long0forgotten skipping songs were eagerly joined into . . . "I call in my best friend; Ee-legged, Oo-legged Mary" (or whatever the particular friend happened to be called).

Penny-rush film matinees at the Palladium Cinema, or Co-op picture place was the highlight of the week. Afterwards, Ada and her chums would re-enact the serials, starring the likes of the intrepid Pearl White, who somehow managed to extricate herself from the most terrifying ordeals every week.

"Our play involved a lot of running around, the hero rescuing the heroine from the villains," she recalls.

ALL good innocent fun, in much simpler times, and Ada, judging from her account, obviously enjoyed it to the full.