Blake took a holiday once a year. Arrayed in a complete set of new clothes, even down to socks and vest and pants, new hat, new gloves, he would get on a bus on the Sunday morning, and ride to its destination. From there he would proceed outwards for a week by whatever transport was available, turning on the following Sunday and arriving back on the following Sunday night, ready to report as usual on the Monday. North, east, south, west, he went on these mysterious journeys and would never say where he had been or discuss them. It was a curious but perhaps a satisfying form of vacation of which he never tired.

Arthur Wimperis, a great wit and. a man who loved country life, wrote many songs and sketches - and in later days, revues - for the Palace. And there, too, you would see Comelli, the great costume designer; Tom Reynolds, the producer - a truly delightful man with sometimes a hot Irish temper but a fund of humour and a heart of gold. He would quarrel with you, and if you knew him you would do nothing about it. For one day the phone would ring and Tom would take up the conversation where it had left off and you knew it was all right. Tom did grand work at the Palace, and still remains his humorous, witty self.

Right - Palace Theatre of Varieties programme detail for 4th May 1901.

When revue came to the Palace in 1914, Finck gave us another memorable song, called 'Gilbert the Filbert,' which popularized the word Knut. It was the swan-song of Edwardianism, if we had only known, for the war came and Basil Hallam, the perfect knut, who sang the song, died on active service. In that same revue, The Passing Show, Butt gave us Elsie Janis - and her mother - as remarkable a couple as ever existed. Elsie was one of the greatest stars of all time, but she appeared only when our world was changing and her story is not for here.

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