TWO men who appeared in the film Spring and Port Wine, set in Bolton, were reunited at the weekend for trip down Memory Lane - 35 years after they first met.

Former actors Bernard Smidowicz and Len Jones featured in the 1970 film, based on Bolton playwright Bill Naughton's stage play, which was filmed in the town and starred James Mason, Hannah Gordon and Likely Lads star Rodney Bewes.

The film showed the lives of a typical Northern working-class family dealing with the ups and downs of daily life.

And Bernard and Len did not need the help of a director to revisit their old haunts where filming took place.

After their acting careers, both men got jobs that needed a good sense of direction - one as a taxi driver, the other as a bus driver.

Retired Bolton cabbie Bernard Smidowicz played a van driver in the film while Len Jones played the youngest son of the family.

Len contacted Bernard, aged 62, three months ago after seeing a "Where are they now?" section on a website dedicated to the film.

His fiancee came across it on the internet in a bid to unearth Len's famous past.

Bernard set up the site in 2000, along with life-long-fan Bryn Willetts, aged 36, from Dudley, in the West Midlands.

On Sunday, the trio went on a tour featuring scenes from the film, including the house in Grisdale Road where most of the film was set.

Bernard said: "It was a blast from the past We went to see some of the old locations and it was great.

"Len's 53 now and he was 17 when I last saw him.

"The last time we met, we both had Beatles haircuts!"

Though Bernard had only a minor role in the film, he got to know the cast.

Describing James Mason as "a gentleman", he said: "I was introduced to Mr Mason and I said I was very pleased to meet him. He said to me, 'You can call me James or Jimmie, whichever you prefer.'

Bernard, of Norbreck Gardens, Tonge Moor, landed the role after production designer Reece Pemberton got in his Ford Zephyr taxi to find locations for the film.

He described the film as his 15 minutes of fame, adding: "It was an unforgettable time and holds memories which will never be forgotten.

"It was an insight into the film industry that I would never have seen if I had not been in the right place at the right time."

Len, who lives in Feltham, near London, gave up acting aged 23 to work as a London bus driver.

Before Spring and Port Wine, he was the voice of Joe 90, the popular 1960s children's TV series.

He said of the reunion: "It's weird, it really is. The memories are flooding back, it's brilliant.

"But Bolton has changed a lot since we were last together."

Bill Naughton was brought up in Daubhill and was always proud of his roots.

The son of a coal miner whose first job was a coal bagger for the Co-Op in St Helens Road, much of his later work recorded the gritty realism of northern life, although his best-known work, Alfie, was inspired by the Cockneys he met when he moved to London during the war years.

He wrote his original script of Alfie for radio, but it was later made into a hit film starring Michael Caine, and then became a best-selling book.