Last week I heard part two which featured Batley Variety Club, as it was then known.

The narrator is Lee Mack, a young Lancashire comedian. It is written by Russell Davies, who has excellent credentials.

Batley Variety Club was really the launch pad for my friend Batley-born Mike Craig's career as a broadcasting comedy writer and producer for radio and TV shows.

Jim Corrigan, who came from a fairground family, owned a string of cinemas that had lost their touch to TV. He had seen how places like the Kon Tiki in Wakefield could do well, and thought he could do it better.

He acquired a plot of land where the Batley Sewage Works stood. He took out a map of Batley and a compass, drew an eight mile radius round it and realised he had a good catchment area.

He got the Bachelors, a top singing trio at the time, to lay the foundation stone. Sixteen weeks later he was in business, with some 3,000 members. Depending on the pulling power of the artists booked, the cover charge ranged from a modest £1 or £2 or £3.

The Bachelors were the opening night act, followed by Val Doonican.
Jim Corrigan's name became so well known the club went international!

Chart toppers like Roy Orbison, Louis Armstrong and Gracie Fields agreed to perform there!

Louis packed the place out for two weeks!

Even Jayne Mansfield came! She surprised all the men by playing the violin and reciting Shakespeare!

CYRIL STANSFIELD
Briarmains Road
BIRSTALL