MAGGIE Banks, of Daisy Hill, Westhoughton, is a crossword fanatic, but one recent clue made her smile and brought back fond memories of her brother, who died two years ago. The clue was "Vigorous labour".

She tells me that her brother came home from school one day intent on looking for some elbow grease.

His clogs were too dirty for the teacher, who told him to go home and use some elbow grease."I remember him asking my mother where it was," writes Mrs Banks."It was in the 1930s, when even blacking was scarce."