I only ask because at a recent national beauty queen reunion, a quarter of the women there were born in Calderdale.

And the six local women, who range in age from their 50s to their 80s, are proving that, decades on, they still haven't lost any of their sparkle, because some of them are still getting paid to parade in front of the camera.

Beauty pageants were huge in Britain from the 1940s to the 1970s. They tended to attract the girl-next-door types, dignified natural beauties who wouldn't dream of showing too much cleavage, let alone going under the knife to enhance the size of their breasts.

All they needed was a swimsuit, a bit of confidence and some good luck.

Many became, stars in their own right, won fabulous prizes and made a career out of the catwalk. But win or lose it seems the image of such competitions bringing out the worst in women (think jealousy, bitchiness and cat fights) was way off the mark.

Despite going their own ways and living all over the world, many have kept in touch and now get together every year to cement their lifelong friendships.

The reunions were started three years ago by Valerie Caunce (formerly Carrol) who lives near Chorley, Lancashire. Valerie, who won a host of beauty titles including Miss Sunny Rhyl, Miss Fleetwood and Queen of the Isle of Man, went to a photographic exhibition by a former catwalk photographer and met up with some of the women she had known from her beauty queen days.

They decided it would be wonderful to organise an annual get-together which has grown over the years as more and more women have found out about it. The overnight event takes place in a different venue each year.

This year's was at a hotel in Fleetwood and attracted women from all over the world. Those who live in places like New Zealand and The Bahamas are sent photographs and press cuttings. The reunions have featured in several newspapers and magazines and got air time on local radio stations.

And they caught the attention of style queens Trinny Woodhall and Susannah Constantine, who featured some of the women on their latest ITV series, The Great British Body. The pair used the former beauty queens to show how the perfect body shape has changed over the decades.

One of those involved on the show was Betty Spink, of Northowram, who was runner-up in Miss Great Britain in the 1940s.

Her twin daughters, Gay and Zoe followed in her footsteps and won a lot of beauty contests in the 70s. Zoe (now Celensu) and Gay (now Leary) both still live locally and took their mum along to the Fleetwood reunion.

The pair returned to the catwalk after a 25-year break a few years ago when Zoe was named Mrs Commonwealth and Mrs Commonwealth International.

They are the same size 10 now as they were in their competition days and are still in demand for model and TV work. One of Zoe's daughters, Suzanne, 23, now takes part in beauty contests.


Other former Calderdale queens who went to Fleetwood were 61-year-old Janet Milner (now Stacey) who took part in contests from 1966 to 1973 and was Miss Halifax Carnival Queen before going on to become national Carnival Queen. She now lives in Doncaster.

Diane Parker (now Judge) is an ex Sowerby Bridge queen who now lives in Lytham. She took part in the 1960s and was Miss Halifax Dairy Maid and competed in the Miss Bahamas International contest . The last one is Maureen Lidgard-Brown (now Waller) formerly of Lightcliffe. The former petrol pump attendant had a lot of success in competitions in the 1960s. She now lives in the Lake District.

It was the third reunion Betty Spink and her two daughters attended. They enjoy them so much they have now got their names down for next year's event in the south of England.

"It was fabulous catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. We had not seen some of the women for 30 years. There was a big age range but everyone there had something in common," says Gay Leary.

Zoe said she and her sister had loved every minute of their beauty queen days because they had such fun and made lifelong friends. "We all used to help one another with make-up, hair and the like. There was no bitchiness or jealousy. We were just like one big family."

And did everyone still look as good? A definite yes, say the twins, and they all exchanged their beauty secrets.

Comment

Should beauty contests make a return to TV? Vote now in our poll on the right.