A question here for Workingtonians, and others, above a certain age! Did you ever spend an evening in that Workington establishment which was (so it is claimed) known locally as “The Old Laugh and Scratch”?

The building is still standing – it’s now known as the Carnegie Theatre. But for a number of years it had been one of the town’s cinemas. I understand that if cinema companies wished to hire a film hot off the press they were obliged to hire a number of less popular “B” films which they showed at smaller and less popular venues.

When I was in my early teens I was a film enthusiast. Going to the pictures back in the late Forties and early Fifties didn’t cost too much. Growing up in Birkenhead I had the choice of innumerable cinemas to choose from. There were the super modern and stylish cinemas – some of them boasting a cinema organ. There were also a number of other picture houses which were most certainly not modern and stylish. But to someone who was keen on watching films, what the building looked like wasn’t of much importance – as long as the seats didn’t wobble too much and the film projector packed in for any length of time, as it usually did.

These picture houses were popular with courting couples who occupied the back row seats. And this is where my memory fails me. I seem to remember that one of these Birkenhead cinemas sported a long curtain that partly veiled off the back row and its occupants. Anyone remember any such curtain in any cinema in years gone by?

Back to Workington! The then Carnegie cinema earned its nickname, according to a local taxi driver who told me that “if you went in with a jersey – you came out with a jumper!” It’s a good story – and it might even be true. Even as I type these words I am actually feeling a trifle itchy!

Readers of this column will know that I collect superstitions. Not that I believe in many of them (I know my wife will probably shake her head in disbelief at that). But then don’t we all believe in a few superstitions of some sort? When I was last in Cyprus I came across one of their superstitions: “If you enter a house through one door and exit through another, your daughter will never get married.”

It’s a new one to me. My parents always believed that it was unlucky to do so but I have since learned that to do so is OK as long as you have sat down in the house, so I usually try to take a seat for a minute or two. Why? I wish I knew.

And when we come to seats, I want to complain again about the lack of any seating in many public buildings – shops, offices, supermarkets and the like. Failing to provide accessible seating shows that the owners of these establishments couldn’t care less about the comfort and health of their customers – many of whom are obviously frail and elderly. Perhaps these chairless establishments should be obliged to advertise that fact – “No public seats in this building!” It would be interesting to survey establishments and list those that have no adequate seating for the elderly, the disabled or even for those obliged to stand around while their partners busy themselves with their shopping. Just a thought!

I have been to a few funerals these past few years – and few weddings. The one thing that strikes me is how few women wear hats – or headscarves - for these occasions nowadays. Time was that nearly every woman attending such an event would never turn up without some form of head covering. I think something is missing. I must be more than a bit old fashioned. But I suppose that’s what dabbling in local history can do to you!