Snippets of information about the former Watford Gaumont cinema organist Tommy Dando prompted E Varty, of Abbots Langley, to write in: "I also remember Thomas Dando playing the Wurlitzer at the Gaumont.

"He was organist at the Regal, Rotherham, from 1934 to 1949 and the The Regal March, presumably during his stay there. The sheet music has a picture' of him at the console with a background of the cinema; the usual frontispiece picture that appeared on old music.

"While at Watford he wrote the Watford March and this is played at concerts at times. It was played at the Watford Town Hall to commemorate the restoration of the organ (a Compton) on March 11, 1994.

"The Odeon (also known as the Plaza) has also been mentioned by some readers, with the Compton organ. Last year at a concert in London I was talking to some of the visitors and one asked me where I was from. On saying Watford he said: I have that Compton organ from the Plaza.' "An interesting conversation followed, but I was sorry to hear it was not installed and playable.

"If any reader has the premises, and money, to provide a home for one of these magnificent instruments, there are several wanting a home. Probably the most famous being the Wurlitzer from the Trocadero, Elephant and Castle, London."

A search for web sites containing details about Tommy Dando led me to a site written by Colin Sutton, who maintains several extensive sites dedicated to the history of Yorkshire cinemas.

Colin records that Tommy Dando was the first resident organist at the Regal Cinema in Rotherham and was highly regarded in South Yorkshire, advertised as "Dando the Master Musician" and "Dando, the World's Memory Master".

The "Memory Master" tag relates to the fact that he was said to have a repertoire of more than one thousand tunes which he could play from memory. He made the first of a number of radio broadcasts from the Regal in 1935.

However, Colin records that Tommy Dando left the Rotherham Regal in 1939, when it was taken over by the Odeon chain, and was replaced by one Charles Randolph, from Watford.

Further information and contradictions can be found on the website of the Conacher Theatre Organ Trust, which records that Tommy left Rotherham in August 1938 and found his way to London, taking up the post of resident organist at the Dominion in Tottenham Court Road in 1940.

The site makes no specific reference to Watford, but it does state that he worked for Gaumont-British from 1944 to 1949, playing at famous London theatres such as the Trocadero at the Elephant and Castle, the State at Kilburn and the Regal at Edmonton.

A reader has reported seeing Tommy Dando playing in Cairo in 1950 and the Conacher Theatre Organ Trust site confirms that he went to work at the Rivoli cinema in Cairo in 1949, making some 200 broadcasts on Egyptian radio while he was there.

He returned for a stint at the London Trocadero before making his way to Dublin in 1951. Apparently, he became the star organist at Dublin's Theatre Royal cinema and made many further broadcasts on Irish radio and television.

Do any readers have any further knowledge of this popular character? Can anyone name other musicians who played at local cinemas?

Do any readers know how cinema companies managed their musicians? Would a company performer spend a period of time at one venue before moving on to another or would they appear at different theatres within an area on different days of the week?

Do any readers have memories of working at Watford's cinemas in any any capacity?