"THERE was a compound at the station for them they came in by train, probably from Luton and the drovers used to come down from the market and take them back up Victoria Street."

Mr Harris also remembers the free visits to see the Bertram Mills Circus recollected on these pages.

"You could get free tickets for a rehearsal," he said.

"It was all for orphans and boys' clubs.

"You went down to queue up, and they used to wear white aprons.

"They used to give you half a pint of milk in a bag, a piece of fruit cake and a chocolate biscuit called a Buzz.

"The shows were out of this world you couldn't believe what you saw.

"One was called The Great Karina she used to hypnotise herself and then they buried her for six minutes.

"Another time they put a stone across her stomach, and two great coloured fellows broke it.

"She even walked on sharpened knives."

Mr Harris told me about the Valley Road industrial area, where he worked during the 1960's.

"It was crammed with people in those days," he remembers.

"There were two buses that came there from St Albans.

"On a Friday afternoon, there were so many people you couldn't walk on the pavement."