A family whose young son drowned in a Wigan quarry held a moving ceremony to mark the anniversary of his death.
Devastated Chris McKenzie, from Lodge Street Orrell, made a special trip to Hilldale Quarry, Parbold, to scatter flowers in the waters that claimed the life of his 14 year-old nephew Sam Fowler.
And he used the moving occasion to urge parents to warn their children of the dangers of swimming in deep waters.
The young boy, who was described as an 'excellent swimmer' drowned when he got into difficulties while swimming in the 60-foot deep quarry, which is a short distance from his uncle's house.
Having told his parents he was going to Southport, Sam and his three friends from Liverpool, decided on a whim to visit the quarry instead.
When Sam began to struggle in the water, onlookers presumed the boy was fooling around and didn't realise the seriousness of the situation until it was too late.
Police divers took more than three hours to locate his body. At the time of his death Sam's distraught mother urged others; "Please don't take a chance on going anywhere like this. Water is so dangerous." But, despite her desperate pleas, just weeks after her son's death a woman suffered spinal injuries after jumping into the same quarry and a Wigan teenager, Craig Croston, drowned at East Quarry at Appley Bridge.
As Chris threw flowers into the water that he describes as "Sam's first resting place", he spoke of the pain his family are still suffering one year on.
He said, "Words cannot describe what the whole family are going through, particularly his parents and brothers and sisters. We wouldn't want this pain on anyone and we want to prevent other people from meeting the same fate as Sam.
"The problem with the quarries is that they have an allure because they take on aspects of a nature reserve with ducks and fish in them. They are very tempting to youngsters.
"There are many deep-filled quarries in this country which act as magnets to teenagers in the summer. I hope and pray that more attention may be drawn to these deceptively appealing water places, so deep, so dark and cold and so easily accessible. More signs have been put up at the quarry since Sam's death, but it is not enough."
Derek Scott, Director of Mainsprint, owners of both Hilldale and the East Quarry, support Chris's campaign to keep people away from the waters. However, they claim they do all they can to prevent accidents. Derek said, "We constantly work in conjunction with the police and Water board to try to prevent people from using the quarries. We have fences at each quarry and these are inspected monthly, but if people have the desire to break through these fences, climb the gates and ignore the signs, there is very little we can do.
"Since last year's deaths we have added an extra five signs to each quarry. It is a constant heartache because we know that if the weather is good, they will be out again. We hope for rain so that it wil keep them away."