SIR: I have followed your correspondence on the Internet version of the BEN with interest. My experience of The Lido might be of interest to you.

During the war, many evacuees from The Channel Islands were welcomed in Bolton and the children attended local schools. I lived on Derby Street at that time, and several Guernsey children were neighbours and attended Emmanuel Primary School in Cannon Street with me.

A few weeks after the arrival of the Guernsey schoolchildren, the Education Authority organised a welcome programme at The Lido. Evacuees from all over Bolton were invited, along with some local schoolchildren. I was one of the lucky ones to go with my Guernsey pals.

I remember clearly the film Huckleberry Finn was shown in two parts with a magic act in the interval. During the first part of the film, we were approached by a man, who we later found was the magician, and two of us were chosen to assist in his act during the interval. The two of us were coached to pretend we had received an electric shock from the seat of a chair when the magician made a sign!

The magician appeared during the interval and started his act. Upon calling for two "volunteers", the stage was invaded by eager school children anxious to help in the magic act. About 50 appeared on the stage and the magician was frantically trying to identify his two stooges. It took quite some time before he got round to the two Emmanuel School students.

The year would have been somewhere round about 1942.

Gordon Price

Cold Ash Hill

Thatcham, Berkshire

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.