ALMOST unbelievably, since we are pretty much in the centre of Middle England, we have a file in our vaults marked "Cowboys". Although it is a long time since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid passed this way and they've not had a shootout down High Street, Pershore for simply ages.

The title is a giveaway that the cuttings date back to the 1970s, because in these sex equality days it would probably be marked "Cowpeople". As it happens there are quite a few ladies featured in the photographs, who in the ethnic lingo would presumably be the traditional "Cowgirls".

On and off, all sorts of groups have formed around here with an interest in the American West. Some because they like the clothes and the music, others because they like the fast draw element and others because they just wanted to escape the hum drum life of the daily grind.

The Outlaws were a popular group in Droitwich, while Malvern was home to the Pioneers, Belle Starr and the Apache Kid lived in a little house in Worcester and there were spare rooms all over the place which had been turned into temples to life on the range. And we are not talking the kitchen stove.

So journey back and recall the days when a man had to do what a man had to do. Just as long as his wife agreed.