I had a silly thought as I watched South Africa's Frantz Kruger hurl the discus 66.39 metres to claim a Commonweath Games record.

What technique does he use for putting the cat out?

After musing on this for a while, and giggling at the mental picture, I decided such thinking was entirely unworthy of my surroundings -- the fantastic City of Manchester Stadium.

When I was there -- before the rains -- about 38,000 of us basked in the warm evening sunshine and the even warmer glow of Northern pride surrounding the successful staging of these "friendly games." It will be a lasting memory, even though the performance of English athletes was more notable at some of the other evening sessions which followed and I did not get the chance to sing along with "Land of Hope and Glory."

The big video screens, electronic scoreboard and effective sound system made sure that everybody knew what was going on at all times -- quite an achievement. It was all very uplifting and so was the performance of the volunteers -- many from the Bolton area -- who were on hand throughout the Games.

They had to cope with a lot at all venues, not least their involuntary association with Norris Cole, the Coronation Street character who has appeared to be a figure of fun in some of the episodes I have seen. I discovered that referring to volunteers' "Norris" suits still produced a smile -- but it tended to be through gritted teeth.

And from what I can gather the "ironic" flat caps allocated to the volunteers were simply not worn by the more self-conscious. The good news, though, is that some of the international athletes were happy to take them home as souvenirs. Now that the Games are over and the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies are another fond memory, the buzz word is "legacy."

Excellent BBC TV coverage has shown the region at its best -- Rivington looked great for the cycling events and the sun shone on the Songs of Praise broadcast from Victoria Square.

The North West Tourist Board is already planning a campaign to capitalise on the undoubted impact of the Games and it would be nice to think that companies in the south of England might be inspired to move northwards. But old attitudes die hard and I cannot forget a patronising article I read in a London-orientated Sunday newspaper.

The theme was that, amazingly and against all expectations, Manchester had somehow managed to surprise everybody by running a successful event.

In the end Manchester showed 'em and I hope the 2002 Commonwealth Games have convinced some people in the south that the North-west is a vibrant region with a sound economic future.

There was also an important lesson for Bolton -- a town half a marathon away from a resurgent regional capital.

As a newcomer to Bolton (36 years ago) I have always had great respect for its independent, introspective Lancashire tradition. But I believe it has more to gain now from embracing dynamic Manchester rather than Lancashire neighbours such as Preston, Blackburn or Blackpool.