A day trip to, where, exactly?

He continues: “Some of your older readers may know that The Spread Eagle was a pub which used to stand in Watford High Street. It was at number 82, although I’m not sure that the numbers on today’s High Street would match the position of where the pub stood.

“I have no idea where the outing was going but the gentleman standing third in from the right is my father, Douglas Hayes. I am sure that some of your readers will recognise others in the photo.”

Well, do you? It’s getting on for 70 years ago but I reckon Mr Hayes is right and someone reading this will have some more information. Please let us all know if so – no matter how little you remember. It could just jog someone else’s memories.

Mr Hayes continues: “My dad, who died back in 1981, always spoke fondly of the pub and I got the impression it was much loved by its users, not just him. In fact, he may even have popped into the pub before, or after, his weding to my mum at the almost adjacent St Mary’s Church in 1940.

“This was just before he went off to war, where he served in RAF Bomber Command and was stationed in Malta and the Middle East.”

As for the actual position of the pub, Mr Hayes says he knows it wasn’t far from St Mary’s Road, as that was where his dad lived.

He continues: “The address of The One Bell pub is 90 High Street and this has survived ao maybe 82 High Street for the Spread is right, and the current occupiers are William Hill Bookmakers.”

Does anyone remember exactly where the Spread Eagle was, in terms of modern Watford? Was it, indeed, where William Hill’s now is?

Please write and let us know any of your memories of the Spread Eagle. All the addresses you need are in the box over on the facing page.

Moving on from pubs, I’ve had a plea from Elaine Ashton, who these days lives in Burnley, who is trying to track down a couple of old friends of hers.

She writes: “I am trying to find my friend Rose Condon, who I haven’t seen for ten years or more.

“She worked in Allied Carpets and was married to Bob who was a lorry driver, although last I heard they had divorced.

“We met them in France and spent quite a lot of time with them. They also visited us here in Burnley – Rose had a brother who lived in a town nearby.

“They were both good friends and I would love to hear from them again.”

If Rose is reading this, or you know where she is or what happened to her, please get in touch and I’ll pass your information on.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about Terry Scott, the Watford born comedian much beloved for his TV shows Happy Ever After and Terry and June, with June Whitfield. Although the piece was written to mark the anniversary of the day Terry returned to Watford to open the town museum in 1981, I also included a picture from March 18, 1949, which showed Terry, aged 21, at his Tucker Street home listening to his recorded programme on the wireless, as we used to call them, “with his mother, and fiancee, Thelma Howard”.

Well, following the publication of that picture, I had a letter from Neville Brant of The Avenue in Radlett.

Mr Brant writes: “Seeing the article concerning the opening of the Watford Museum by Terry Scott, I noticed the picture of his then fiancee Thelma Howard. This brought back memories of pre war, when my sister Audrey was a member, along with Thelma and her sister Doris, of the Grosvenor Babes (later the Grosvenor Girls). I as a seven-year-old was dragged along to rehearsals at Grosvenor Road by my mother.

“I remember one of their routines was to “the Galloping Major”. Another member of the group was Jean Chappell, whose grandmother had a sweet shop in Whippendell Road, opposing the Sun Engraving.

“Jean went on to be in the chorus in Piccadilly Hayride, Strike a New Note and Strike It Again with Sid Field.

“My sister, who sang as well as danced, was the original vocalist with the Rhythm Rascals, an accordian band you featured in a previous edition of Nostalgia. In 1942 she was offered the chance to tour with Ensa but at 16 our father put his foot down and would not let her go.

“Who knows: she might have been a rival for Vera Lynn as the Forces Sweetheart. She certainly had the looks, voice and personality.

“I don’t expect there is anyone now who remembers Audrey – they would have to be in their middle to late 80s. If there are, I would love to hear from them.”

So. Does anyone out there remember Audrey? Or perhaps you have other memories of those days. Please write and let us know.

Incidentally, back to those Sid Field shows, one reviewer at the time said Field was the only comedian who had the audience “literally falling off their seats with laughter”. Now that I would love to have seen.

Finally this week, regular correspondent Ernie Mackenzie of Gammons Lane, Watford, has been busy since our last correspondence catch-up writing not one but two interesting letters.

The first, lamenting the state of the Odhams (Watford) Ltd clock tower on the A41 North Western Avenue, we’ll save for another day. The second concerns a past manager of Watford FC.

It was written in response to Oli Phillips’ memories of former Watford manager George Kirby, which appeared in our sports pages on March 14.

Oli wrote that club chairman Jim Bonser reneged on a promise to manager Ken Furphy to recruit some moneyed men onto the board.

“Furphy saw the club was destined for the drop without investment. He went to Blackburn Rovers while the hot seat at Vicarage Road was taken by George Kirby,” Oli wrote.

But Ernie takes issue with the view that the blame for George Kirby’s “disastrous” two seasons as manager of Watford can be laid squarely at the door of Jim Bonser.

He writes: “I do feel George should have taken some of the blame for those two seasons.

“All these years later, it still puzzles me why it took George nearly all of those two seasons to realise he already had a prolific goalscorer (Billy Jennings) who had been on the books since 1969.

“For the last nine games of the 1972-73 season, George decided to give Billy his chance and he repaid George with a goal a game to help Watford avoid relegation for the second season running.

“Billy did save Watford but sadly it did not save George from losing his job at the end of the season. I feel if he had given Billy a chance in the previous season, we would not have been relegated.

“In the next season, 1973-74, under the guidance of new player-manager Mike Keen, Billy found the net 30 times. At the beginning of the 1974-75 season, Billy was sold to West Ham for £100,000 – a club record at the time. With no Billy, the season finished in relegation.

“I can understand why George ignored Billy for so long; he was very small for a centre forward, not very quick and gave the impression he had a very casual approach to his game.

“But he did have one quality and that was guts – that and a fantastic leap with an eye for goal.

"He was the best header of a ball I have ever seen, equal to Denis Law. And he had the knack of being able to hang in the air a bit longer than his marker. In the box he was a predator, always in the right place at the right time.

“Although I never had the pleasure of meeting George, my late, dear friend Les Simmons would often speak to me about him. Les always spoke very highly of George. Les told me his friendship with George began when George first arrived in Watford and for several weeks he lodged with Les, before, as Oli reported, purchasing the bungalow at The Mount.

“I would often meet up with Les and his greyhounds, always on the Wall Hall estate in the early hours of the morning. I can remember one morning giving Les the sad news his dear friend George had passed away. Les was absolutely heartbroken and shocked.

“Like I said, I never actually met George but Les being such a very good judge of character, I consider George had all the qualities (polite, well-born, respectable, chivalrous) of a true gentleman.

“I remember meeting up with Glenn Roeder in 1998 who was also a very dear friend of Les Simmons and he asked me if Les was still giving the greyhounds Mars bars. But perhaps we’ll leave that for another day.”

No doubt, when that day comes, we’ll read all about it here. I look forward to it.

ONLINE TOMORROW: The origins of Chorleywood Choral Society