IT'S hard to believe that the immaculately dressed gentleman in the centre of this crowd was a hero to all the youngsters he is pictured with.

Dance maestro Victor Silvester -- whose catchphrase was "Slow, slow, quick quick, slow" -- is pictured during a visit to the dance hall which bore his name in Blackburn in the early Sixties.

The picture belongs to Dave Wilson from Openshaw Drive, Pleckgate, Blackburn, for whom the dance hall -- formerly the Rialto Cinema in the centre of town -- holds many happy memories.

"The building was next to the Fleece pub," recalled Dave. "It was known as the Victor Silvester Dance Studio before it became the Top Rank in about 1968."

Dave was like countless other youngsters in Blackburn at the time who regarded the dance hall as a second home and the perfect place to meet the girls and possibly find romance!

"We would spend every night down there," he said. "They were good times."

Dave was a member of the formation dance team from the studio which gave demonstrations in Latin, ballroom and rock and roll.

"I can remember doing a demonstration at the White Bull for a Blackburn Rovers' dinner when Ronnie Clayton was captain," he said.

When Top Rank took over, the dance hall became more of a disco and Dave was one of the regular DJs there.

"There were a group of us -- Geoff Baker, John Westwell, Alan Kenyon and Bill Livesey -- who regularly played records there ," said Dave. "When I was growing up I used to follow my sister all over the country. She was Dorothy Wilson, an international swimmer.

"When the dance hall opened my parents took me down to the opening night as they thought it would do me good to learn to dance. I couldn't keep away after that.

"There was a really good crowd down there and I still see some of the regulars around town today."