A COUPLE of weeks ago (on August 3 to be exact) I printed a story about the Bolton Charity Tennis Championships in 1950. I have now received a letter from Mr John Whittle, of Wharfedale, Westhoughton, who tells me that he was surprised to read about the women's singles champion Babs Murphy (now Whittle), his mother.

"My mother won many titles, both in the singles and the ladies' doubles, over a prolonged period," he writes.

"We have a scrapbook of many articles from the Evening News about her achievements, even showing me as a toddler (now aged 45).

"For the record, she is still fit and active, and enjoying a game of golf with me on Sundays at Lostock, at the ripe old age of 82.

"You may be interested to know of another family connection. My uncle, Harry Whittle, a relation on my father's side, was an accomplished hurdler. He was a British record holder and Olympic captain in Helsinki, and is the man that the track in Farnworth is named after.

"Sadly, Uncle Harry is no longer with us."

I recall that over the years, we have had quite a number of stories in the paper about Harry.

"Finally," Mr Whittle goes on, "it would be remiss not to mention my father who is now almost nearly 81 and still going strong. He's never been an athlete of any kind, but he was an Air Force Commando in the Second World War, participating in D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the Bridge too far, the liberation of the Belsen Concentration Camp, and many other sorties."

As Mr Whittle comments, a family with many memories.