Campaigners fighting to get Brynaman's outdoor swimming pool re-opened were hugely encouraged by the turn-out at Memories Day at The Black Mountain Centre on Saturday.

Around 50 people attended the event, where peoples' memories of the pool were recorded for an archive which is to be used to help secure funding to have lido re-opened.

There were recollections dating as far back as the 1930s, and in every decade since, up to the pool's closure in 2010.

There were shared memories the pool's guardians, such as Jack Hawkins and Anne Rees, who carried on swimming in the pool into her 80s.

Campaigner Eleri Ware recalled spending her summers splashing about in the pool in the 1980s.

"I didn't grow up in Brynaman, but I always looked forward to summer visits to my grandparents because it meant I could go to the pool. The high diving board was terrifying, but exhilarating."

The Brynaman Swimming Pool Facebook page has been flooded with messages of support since the campaign to re-open the pool was launched.

Folk legend and Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Iwan, originally from Brynaman, posted: "Even though a lot of water has passed under the Aman Bridge since I went to the pool, I have sweet memories of the place.

"Good luck to you in your efforts to re-open one of the few remaining outdoor pools".

A committee was formed by a group of residents determined to see the pool re-opened.

The group aims to create an eco-friendly, heated, natural pool, while retaining the original retro pool design.

The memories day was seen as a perfect opportunity for many of those who used the pool in the past to share their recollections. The archive created by their memories will be housed at the pool should the group be successful in their bid to have it re-opened.

Committee chair Jess Lerner, said: "The timing of the day was deliberately symbolic. It is the first day of the school Summer holidays; the traditional day on which the pool opened in its later years, and so a day on which people will be thinking about, and missing, the pool.

"Rather than sitting around with fond memories fading into sadness as we reflect on the pool being closed, we will use the day as a positive step towards remembering why we want the pool re-opened."

For more information, contact Phil Broadhurst on 01269 596933 or visit the Brynaman Swimming Pool Facebook Page.