WELL, Little Edith may have been dead for some years, but her story in this column has certainly created some interest over the past few weeks.

I think that perhaps it is time to bring the subject to a halt, but before I do so I will give you details from a couple of more letters I have received.

Mr Harold Farrell, of the Museum Bungalow, Hall i'th' Wood, says that he has been following the story of Little Edith with great interest, and says that despite one correspondent commenting that she did not think Little Edith ever appeared in a fair in Bolton, he is positive that she did.

"I remember visiting the fair, with the boxing booth, where members of the public could challenge the 'resident' boxer, then the black peas tent, and a further row of tents offering you to view their contents - with a payment, of course, of a few pennies.

"These side shows offered such things as 'Come and see Billy the pig, the largest pig ever bred', and believe me, that pig was indeed huge; the next show invited you to see a genuine 'doodlebug' or V1 which was a product produced by Germany to terrorise England during the Second World War.

"Next, the side-show which prompted me to write this letter; 'Come and see Little Edith', the person outside the tent declared, so I paid my couple of pennies, and there, inside, was this tiny lady beside her specially built little home."

Another letter comes from John Connolly, of Queens Avenue, Bromley Cross, who says that as a child he lived in a small pub off Turton Street called The Robin Hood. "One night my dad called me into the pub, and sitting on a Britannia-type table was this tiny woman. She was smoking and drinking (nothing wrong with that!), and appeared to be dressed as if in pantomime. She wore a sort of ball gown, was heavily made up, and I believe she had a tiara on her head. An amazing sight for a boy of eight or nine years.

"I remember thinking at first that she was a child, but her face was the face of an old woman, i.e. quite wrinkled, and her hair greyish.

"The pub did not sell spirits in those days, and she was drinking stout from a whisky-type glass, as she could not hold a gill glass in one hand. She was, of course, the centre of attraction in the pub. This would be in the mid-50s.

"I always thought she travelled with the fair, but it could have been the circus. The only connection I can make is that my dad worked at Mill Hill bleachworks (Blair and Sumner), and the works had large stables which were used to house fair/circus animals. I have seen elephants in those stables!"

So there we are, more details about Little Edith. But as I said at the beginning of this column, I think it is time that the memories of Little Edith came to an end.