"Do any T&A readers recall Friday dinnertimes' at the Mecca dance hall on Manningham Lane in the early 1960s?" asked Paul Rawlings, who thinks the noon-until-2pm session was billed as "Teen Beat".

He writes: "At this time I was a pupil at Princeville Secondary Modern School in Legrams Lane. Friday dinnertime was always very hectic. At noon it was down to the canteen in Willowfield Street. We had our dinner in record time (less than ten minutes) then it was back to Legrams Lane to catch the bus into town. My friends and I would run through town up on to Manningham Lane to the Mecca.

"There was a small admission charge at the door. Once inside we made our way to the bar for a bottle of Coke. Then it was on to the dance floor for a spot of teeny-bopping to a resident DJ on the revolving stage.

"We were only in the Mecca for about 45 minutes, then it was a dash back on Manningham Lane into town for our bus up to Legrams Lane and back to our classroom to get our breath back."

Thanks for that nostalgic snapshot, Paul. I attended just one of those Friday lunchtime Mecca sessions, back in 1962 when I was an 18-year-old in the sixth form at Belle Vue Boys' just up the road. I went with a fellow prefect, Barry Hanson, who was later to become a film and television producer.

I'd only ever bopped with the girl who was later to become my wife and within a minute of asking another girl for a dance I realised that the self-taught technique that worked perfectly well for the two of us was not universally compatible.

We rapidly ground to a halt and she shrugged and wandered off in search of a partner who was more adaptable. I went for a Coke and waited until Barry had finished his more successful gyrations with another girl and it was time to go back to school.