IN 1927, the works of Gilbert and Sullivan were as contemporary as those of Rice and Lloyd-Webber or Lennon and McCartney are today.

And so, when Percival James and his friends, Robert and Euphemia Whitfield, decided to set up a musical society to present the operettas of G and S, they were very much in the popular mainstream.

And so Rosemere Amateur Operatic Society was born. Seventy-five years later, the New Rosemere Operatic Society still carries on that tradition, and is soon to present its 93rd consecutive production "Yeoman of the Guard."

The society, which added "New" to its title when the last of its founder members, 'Pern' James, retired in 1975, has performed continuously through the Depression, Second World War, and every crisis since.

Today's picture shows members of the cast in the 1948 production of 'Yeoman of the Guard', and this year's production (at the Albert Halls between March 5 and 9) will be the ninth time that Rosemere has staged this particular operetta.

Almost half the participants have more than 20 years' service with the society - apart from that, Tom Roscoe, the society's 94 years old President joined in 1930, and Alice James, wife of Pern James, has seen all but a couple of the 92 productions.

Incidentally, you may recall that a couple of weeks or so ago, I printed an article by local man Jack Lowe about his time as a Chetham's Bluecoat Boy. I have now received a letter from David Butcher, a Vice-President of New Rosemere, who points out that although Jack "did not end up as a rival to Pavarotti", he has maintained his interest in musical matters throughout his life.

"For a start he married Mona Richardson, one of the finest sopranos in the North, and she introduced Jack to Rosemere", writes Mr Butcher. "But now Jack is the superstar, because for several years he has been the driving force in the society's stage construction team which last year won the BEN/BATS 'Best Set' award for 'The Sorcerer'."

Four pals plan reunion

THE success of the Old Pals section of the Evening News which appears on a Saturday is very heartening, and brings many people together who have not been in contact for a long time; but this reply has been sent to me for Looking Back because it also contains more information than is usual in Old Pals.

Lyn Hoyle, of 27, High View Drive, Ashcott, Near Bridgewater, Somerset, put a message into Old Pals some weeks ago, and she has now contacted us to say that as a result, she found four friends with whom she worked at Whitakers from 1942 to 1956. "We are now planning a reunion in Bolton," she writes, and goes on: "I was born at Little Deakins, Walker Fold. My mother worked at Morris's farm, which was near where I was born and my father lived at Green Nook which is now, I believe, a maggot farm. They met while taking the milk round in horse-drawn milk floats.

"Where we lived was a small holding, and we kept chickens, ducks, and pigs. On the corner of our ground was a black and white painted hut where they sold sweets to people who walked up from Barrow Bridge, over the Old Links Golf Course, and up to Walker Fold..

"When my brother was born, my mother told me that I had to stay at my Grandma's. I must not have liked this, for my aunt had to take me home from Chorley Old Road to Walker Fold, at six o'clock in the morning, with my shoes on the wrong feet - I was aged three, and had to walk to Barrow Bridge, up the 63 steps, and over the fields to Walker Fold.

"I have lived in Somerset for 45 years; my family were all born here, but I have a picture of my three boys outside the Evening News' offices in Mealhouse Lane which was taken on a visit to Bolton. I will never forget my birth place."