TO say the Morecambe Warblers have an admiring and dedicated throng of followers has got to be something of an understatement.

They are well known throughout the region for their talented off-spring such as Dame Thora Hird.

This year marks their Centenary, since the first performers took to the stage in 1897. And their production of Me and My Girl shows they are still in fine fettle.

Bill Snibson, played by Simon Kay, is the all smiling cockney whisked off from the streets of his native London town to claim his birth right as the Earl of Hareford. But what about his fair Sally, played by Kerry Martin, driven away from her true love by Bill's upper-crust relations? The two make a lovely couple and sing together in blissful harmony. Simon rattles off his apples and pears Cockney slang with native familiarity.

Bill and his girl are accompanied by a dazzling array of dancers and an army of fellow actresses and actors who all perform with plenty of gusto.

It was obvious lots of hard work had been packed into the production and it paid off. The audience seemed enraptured with the whole thing, especially when to everyone's surprise the suit of armour sprung into life and chased Bill off the stage. The orchestra was the life and soul of the musical with the 'Lambeth Walk' and the 'Sun has got his hat on' bringing the eighteenth century theatre to life.

And if Me and My Girl is anything to go by, then the Warblers popularity is set to span another 100 years. Their souvenir programme included a brief history of the society and a letter from Dame Thora Hird. On a slightly different note, I think it's partly thanks to local amateur groups like the Warblers that places like the Grand Theatre have retained their raison d'etre instead of being turned into museums.

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