One of the most widely read features in the ‘Express’ each week is "This was news..." which recalls events of 25 and 50 years ago. These recollections stir happy memories for many people who have connections with the area.

An item in the 25-years-ago column recently prompted Mrs Marjorie Dearman of Brunswick Road, Ealing, London, to write to the ‘Express’. The item referred to the ‘K’ Sisters, of Knottingley, who had raised £500 in 12 months of singing and dancing for charity. Mrs Dearman, nee Kellett, was the elder of the ‘K’ Sisters. Her sister is Mrs Pamela Peters, of St. Albans.

During and after the last war, Marjorie and Pamela became popular both as a team and as individual entertainers. Marjorie started dancing when she was eight and at 15 had her own dancing school at her parent’s home in Womersley Road, Knottingley. She produced shows all over this area, raising large sums for charity.

Pamela no longer entertains. She also has two children Karen aged two and Melanie, aged 15 months. Many local people who knew the ‘K’ Sisters may probably be wondering what has been happening to them over the years so let’s go back to just after the war.

In 1946 and 1947 Marjorie appeared at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, and afterwards had several summer seasons at Cleveleys, near Blackpool. During the pantomime season the sisters appeared in ‘Goldilocks’ and they recall having "coaches of local people coming to see us. It was good to recognise the familiar faces."

In 1954 they joined the Royal Kiltie Juniors, toured Denmark and appeared on television during 1954 and 1955. Afterwards they toured Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa and Libya. The sisters had many highlights during their careers in the late 40s and early 50s.

Pamela appeared with Frankie Howard at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool. Marjorie won a beauty contest at Castleford when she was 21 and had a week’s holiday at Butlins as part of her prize. During the holiday she won every competition she entered including fancy dress, vocal and instrumental.

When the show ‘Happiness Ahead’ came to Castleford, Marjorie entertained with a cheeky little trumpet-playing, choirboy-come-comedian Roy Castle. Roy Castle recalled working with Marjorie in his life story which was recently published in a television magazine; her stage name then was Marjorie Kendall. Her first professional debut under this name was when she was 16. She was a speciality dancer in ‘Dick Whittington’ with George Formby at the Grand Theatre, Leeds.

In 1953 Pamela appeared in a production of ‘The old woman who lived in a shoe’ at the Windsor Theatre, Birmingham. Just before that she had the leading role in the successful road show ‘Peep’ in 1960.

There are many people in Knottingley who remember the ‘K’ Sisters, one in particular is Mrs Ethne Matthewman, ladies hairdresser, of Aire Street, Knottingley. Mrs Matthewman recalls attending the same dancing school as the sisters. "They used to have dancing lessons four nights each week and music lessons one night. At that time their mother kept the Morley House fish and chip shop in Weeland Road."

Miss Mary Britain, of Pontefract Road, Knottingley, has kept in touch with Marjorie for many years. She used to live near the Kellett’s when they had the fish and chip shop.

"Marjorie still visits me and keeps in touch with friends in Knottingley. I remember they used to do an awful lot of fund-raising all over this area", she said. I am sure many other people also remember the worthwhile work the ‘K’ Sisters did for many charities.

21st January 1971 
D (for decimal) Day is Monday, February 15

Less than a month away, this is the day we say goodbye forever to the currency we have known all our lives and start getting to know and to use an entirely new set of coins. Let us take a look at what is happening and why.

The decimal system is used in almost every country in the world except Britain, so by joining the ‘decimal club’ we shall no longer be the odd one out and we should gain obvious advantages. Our decimal currency will be based on the pound sterling, and the familiar pound note will remain - we therefore start off with an old friend in our pocket or purse. Instead of consisting of 20 shillings, or 240 pennies, however, the decimal pound will be divided into 100 new pence. This is the first essential we must understand - that 100 new pence equals our decimal pound.

Arthur Armitage, of Southfield Road, Knottingley, sits in a chair. A number of people around him are examining his huge body. A blind girl presses her hand just below his chest and it sinks in a good bit. Arthur nonchalantly tells her it’s all muscle; but she obviously does not believe him. She asks how much beer he drank and commented that she had heard it was around 14 pints a night.

Arthur opens his eyes a little wider and smiles before declaring it was not has much as that. "How many pints do you drink then?" she asks; "About 12 a night!" replies Arthur. This sequence can be seen in a film called ‘The Body’ in which Arthur takes part.

The film, which is being shown all this week at the New Star Cinema, Castleford, takes an interesting and sometimes frightening look at the human body from conception to death. Arthur crops up in many of the scenes as an onlooker during experiments. At the time the film was being made he was the heaviest man in Britain at over 37 stones; he later reached 40. Now, only two months after the film’s general release, he has lost about 16 stones and that nightly 12 pints has been cut completely out of his diet.

D-Day dawned and died in the districts without any of the confusion and panic forecast by some pessimists and opponents of decimalisation. The changeover from £sd was a relatively smooth operation, a relief to the elderly, and presenting few problems to the rest of the community.

To all intents and purposes it was ‘business as usual’ and most of the housewives took to the decimals with good humour and a willingness to learn quickly. Railway stations reported the usual number of commuters using the ‘pay on the train’ services, and Baghill Station, Pontefract, coped with passengers without incident. The need for food and a determination to master the new currency defeated initial hesitancy on the part of the shoppers.

In most shops dual prices were on view. Not all shops provided this useful guide, however, but the good humour and tolerance of the checkers in the supermarkets and counter assistants elsewhere, quickly overcame obstacles.

Some people were careful not to part with their money until they were absolutely sure the price they paid in decimals was the price they would have paid in £sd.

Mr. K. Sharpe, the manager of W.H. Smiths, described D-Day as "a good anti-climax after all the training we’ve done since June." He added that everything had gone well. "We were a little bit quieter than usual for a Monday but the customers we served seemed well versed in decimalisation. We’ve sold stacks of conversion charts and the smaller handbag-size decimal currency calculators. We’ve been preparing for months for this, and have everything in the shop priced in decimals."

Mr. Dennis Winter (Chief Officer) said D-Day had gone "very smoothly, with very few difficulties."

The Red Lion Inn, Low Green, Knottingley, is closing on Monday. It has been sold to Gregg and Co., Ltd., glass bottle manufacturers, who own adjoining property. The licensee and his wife, Mr. and Mrs L. Foster, who have been at the Red Lion for four years, are moving to the Royal Oak, Selby. They were formerly at the Boat Inn, Sunnybank, which was closed in 1966 and later demolished.

A spokesman for Whitbread (Yorkshire) Ltd, said the Red Lion was the second of their public houses to close in Knottingley in recent months. The Wagon and Horses, Aire Street, closed last year. The spokesman also added that closure of the Ropers Arms, Sunnybank, was imminent.

A spokesman for Gregg and Co., Ltd., said the Red Lion would be demolished. "We hope that when the site is clear we will be able to build a new engineering department."

The earliest records of the Red Lion go back to 1836, when it was occupied by William Atkinson Wasney. In 1842 Wasney died and his estate sold the property to Carter, Gaggs & Co., forerunners of Carter’s Brewery, Hill Top.