WHEN thoughts turn to keeping variety alive in the UK, as it was in the 50s and 60s, and remembering the likes of Sunday Night At The London Palladium, can we honestly still keep places such as the Futurist and others going today?

Transport to these places either by train or bus can be difficult when many services finish early in the evening these days, and this then forces many to have an overnight stay.

Those entertaining days in the past seem to be just an excuse for those in their latter years to reflect on the past. Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper and many others once drew in the crowds.

On television we have one show that manages to remind us of past days – the Royal Variety Concert seen still by many on TV or live.

Keith Chapman, Custance Walk, York.