THERE'S no doubt that this year's summer fair at Manor Beach School was a success - the Citizen has 22 letters to prove it.

Pupils, most in their final year at the Cleveleys primary school, bombarded us with accounts and poems of their day.

Activities included an appearance by boy band Spin City, a stress stall which invited people to smash old crockery and a stocks where youngsters were soaked with wet sponges.

Bethan Worthington, spokeswoman for the organisers Friends of Manor Beach, commented: "It was the huge success we've come to expect every year and brought in a staggering £3,400 profit.

"The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly the performance by Spin City - the atmosphere had all the excitement of a Wembley rock concert."

Here's what the youngsters had to say:

John Dickens said: "There was lots to do, lots of entertainment and lots of food too."

Ceri Pritchard commented: "I volunteered for the stocks and my brother and his friends shoved a sponge down my back - I was soaked and freezing."

Michael Deaville added: "I got two buckets of water poured over me so I was freezing. It didn't help to have the sun go in."

Adam Cutts said: "I got sponges up my T shirt and sponges in my face."

Effie Sharp said: "I didn't want to see Spin City because I thought it was a roller blading demonstration. My friend persuaded me and I was glad she did - they were brilliant."

Natalie Parker added: "When they were singing they were dancing too. They were spinning on the floor on their backs and Nat did a spin on his head."

Richard Buckley said: "The best thing was the bouncy castle. It was brilliant and my friends all had one big play fight."

Andrew Gaskell disagreed, saying: "My favourite was the stress stall. If you didn't go on it you missed out on winning football tickets for Blackpool."

Robert France echoed this: "I picked up a wooden block, pulled back, leaped forward and let go - smash!"

Chris Holland was a winner: "We went on the golf and won two tickets to the Sandcastle," he said.

David Carthy enthused: "All the things were excellent, you should have been there."

Other pupils wrote poems:

Gemma Holden - "Our summer fair was so great, even though it started late."

Eleanor Szponar - "I went somewhere where it's joyful and fun. There's ice creams, hot dogs and ice buns."

David Gullis - "With a coconut shy and things to buy, it's the best day out for you and I."

Laura Robinson - "You can spin them up but you can't spin them down because Spin City's the talk of the town."

Faye Aucksley - "It's the summer fair today, hip hip hooray. There's so much fun for everyone."

James Simpson - "Our fayre was good, I enjoyed the day. Nothing went wrong in any way."

Nicola Zubine - "Now it's time for the fancy dress. There was dial-a-pizza and that was the best."

Helen Jenkinson - "The summer fayre is the best, it is so much better than the rest."

Ross Malpass - "Water dripping down people's socks. Guess what - I'm by the stocks."

One anonymous writer concluded: "There was so much fun and excitement going on, nobody knew what to go to first."

And, finally, as Daniel Sutcliffe pointed out: "If you missed it you missed out."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.