An early start and a bumpy flight to Southampton to pick up the cars.

I drove to Bournemouth with Bruce. It was like old times.

We listened to the rough mixes of the Cardiff tapes and they sounded fine.

The hotel was high up and you could see The Isle of Wight to the east and the Dorset coast to the west. It was a beautiful day and you could see for miles.

Only four shows to go. It feels a long time since rehearsals in Putney.

Like Blackpool, Bournemouth has many fond memories for me. I did a summer season here in 1960 with Marty Wilde at the Pavilion. I was studying harmony with Byron Brook and every Thursday we used to attend rehearsals with Charles Groves and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Marty and I shared a house and during that season started to play golf. We had our first lessons at Parkston Golf Club where we met the great Peter Allis.

The show was yet another triumph and Warren drove my car down from London as I am going home after the show.

Also the day was very special as the secret I have been keeping since Manchester is finally out of the bag. My name had been put forward for an OBE. The letter from Downing Street is very clear that I was to keep it to myself until today. Bruce knocked on my door and told me that it was now official and the press had been on to him. Sky News had contacted Warren and wanted to interview me. I can’t tell you how proud I felt that day. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s papers to read the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. It doesn’t get much better than this!