AFTER a sell-out run last year, Bolton Little Theatre has revived Roger Spencer's musical nostalgia-fest for a second outing, and there is no reason why its success should not be repeated.

It's 1953, and the people of Bolton are getting ready for the annual Wakes outing to Blackpool. We follow the Walker family from their preparations at Trinity Street station (complete with Bolton Evening News reporter and photographer), through an eventful seven days at the seaside, where fun, love, drama and memories weave their spell.

Spencer has crafted an unashamedly romantic memoir of the time, and director Andrew Close has staged the piece with pace and colour.

Eric Cheetham and Sharron Knight excel as parents George and Lizzie Walker, as do Christine Flanigan and Carol Butler as daughters Rita and Shirley who encounter, like so many do, the one-off loves and friendships that populate our quiet moments later in life.

Dave Eyre invests romantic hero Johnny Romerro with just the right amount of charisma and humour, keeping him believable -- no mean feat, when such a role can quite easily become a caricature.

"Where did all our young years go?" ask George and Lizzie in one song. The answer is not that far, and the memories in the shadows drift brilliantly into the sun at Bolton Little Theatre.