sole bonne femme , slimy fish , and ballet of waiters ! which was the more important - sole bonne femme correctly served in a restaurant or slimy fish on a hospital trolley ? is the restaurant ballet of waiters really necessary ? surely a good case could be made out for a simpler form of service , as was being practised with success abroad ? these pertinent questions and points of view were put forward by Miss E Hollings , principal of Manchester domestic and trades College , when she welcomed about 100 delegates to the first one-day conference in the north of England of the catering teachers &apos; association , at Manchester . first rate catering schools and colleges encourage students of a higher educational standard to consider the catering industry as a worthwhile career , she said . but salaries paid in the catering industry were appallingly low , having regard to the many skills required . there were not sufficient of the right type of courses for caterers . she thought the hotel and restaurant industry put too much emphasis on the commercial aspects , such as foreign currency earning . civilised man . civilisation of man was closely associated with his search for food and was closely tied to agricultural science . it would not be surprising to see changes in catering to match the modern mood . Mr L Ambery ( Manchester domestic and trades College ) introduced a discussion on the teaching of general studies to catering students . he said that in technical education he thought not enough time was given to general subjects . taking the country as a whole 80 per cent of 15 year olds were receiving education but only 28 per cent of 19 year olds were receiving any form of education . it was important this last figure should be increased . in the last five years there had been a 70 per cent expansion in technical education . present methods of induction of students were a nightmare . they were given no real guidance and were often pushed into classes that were not well suited to their purpose . there was need for closer liaison between the technical schools and the secondary modern schools and opportunity should be given for student interviews to ensure they were embarking on the technical courses which would serve them best in the future . there must also be a better staffing ratio - 16 students to one teacher in a kitchen were too many , he considered . preliminary courses should always include the practical approach to the subject , otherwise the students would regard them as just another school and soon lose interest . general subjects should always be related to the craft or vocational subjects . in too many cases these were taught in an atmosphere of splendid isolation . too often twelve students were required to establish an evening class and as a result unsuitable candidates were accepted to make up the required number . often only three of the twelve students passed the examination , the reason for the poor results being that the basic composition of the class was wrong in the first place . science subjects . Miss A Wordingham ( in charge of applied science subjects at domestic and trades College ) discussed the teaching of science subjects to catering students . so often , she said , students questioned the value of science lessons . the best way of holding the students &apos; interest was to adopt the topic method . what was learned in the laboratory must be integrated in the kitchen . it was important that the science teacher should have taken a catering course just as much as the catering teacher should have taken an applied science course . the new syllabus for the city and guilds 151 examination was reviewed from the examiners &apos; viewpoint by Miss G Smith ( chief examiner ) . at question time several teachers suggested that city and guilds examiners should attend a meeting or lecture in order to establish greater uniformity amongst examiners . in general discussion the question of provision of food for practical cooking tuition was raised . it was stated that more authorities were providing raw materials free , but there were still too many areas where students had to provide the food or where teachers had to collect money to pay for it . the conference was informed that the catering teachers &apos; association now has a membership of more than 300 . now is time for corporation to pronounce bold plan for town . it is surely time that Southend corporation pronounced a bold plan for this town to be in the forefront of seaside resorts , and not to quote what is becoming an old cliche - that people now take their holidays abroad . we are quite fully aware that an ever-increasing number of the population go abroad for their holidays , but we are even more aware that an even greater proportion of the population take no holidays at all , and they are the untapped source which we should endeavour to attract . with these words , Mr E G W Scott concludes his general secretary &apos;s report , to be presented at the annual general meeting of Southend , Westcliff-on-Sea and district hotel and catering association on Monday next , October 30 . the fight , which had been going on for the last 12 years to get Southend recognised as a seaside resort , was still proceeding , he comments . membership had remained steady during that time , and even today they were able to accommodate a conference of 500-600 people in first class establishments in the town . it now appeared that the Cliffs Pavilion would open in 1963 after a long struggle - something members now viewed with mixed feelings , as a large conference of over 1,000 delegates could not be accommodated in hotels . from returns sent in by members , it was revealed that 63,351 visitors had stayed in the town from April to September , including an ever-increasing number of old aged pensioners . illuminations still drew considerable numbers . evidence was that period holiday visitors did not include a very high proportion of young people , no doubt due to a lack of entertainment , thinks Mr Scott . during this current season we have had instances of visitors leaving their hotels earlier than the date to which they had booked , simply because they had seen all the films , been to the concert party and Palace Theatre , and there was nothing else to do . the airport continued to produce an increasing number of one-night bookings . Mr Scott feels that the British hotels and restaurants association is now taking more interest in the affairs of the boarding house and small private hotel than formerly , and he pays tribute to the work of Miss D E Cockrell on the south eastern divisional committee and also for her publicity work . he thanks , too , Lt.-Col E G Petter , their president for the last three years , and reveals that the annual banquet on Tuesday , February 27 , may take the form of a Belgian evening . approval at Liverpool . the first two stages of a three-tier plan by Mr Charles Clore to redevelop at a cost of &amp;pound;30 million a large area of the centre of Liverpool facing the waterfront has been approved in principle . the first two phases which may take between five and seven years to complete will consist of traffic-free shopping precincts , departmental stores , modern offices , and a multi-storey garage . the third phase , which originally included a luxury waterfront hotel , will be considered when the sites have been acquired . northern H.C.I dinner told of new hotel plan . the chairman of the northern branch of the hotel and catering institute , Mr John E Dean , drew a statement from the Lord Mayor of Newcastle on the city &apos;s proposed hotel , when he proposed the toast of the guests at the branch &apos;s annual dinner-dance in the royal Station Hotel , Newcastle . winding up a witty speech , Mr Dean complimented the Lord Mayor on the rapid development of the city . its ever-changing skyline would soon include a new hotel , he hoped . replying , the Lord Mayor , Dr Henry Russell , said it was quite true the city council had planned for a hotel . he did not think he would be revealing any secrets in saying it was to be at the corner of Eldon Place and Percy Street , a fine central site . it was hoped the hotel would provide an entirely new focus for that whole area . the Lord Mayor then went on to praise the high standard being attained by the caterers of Tyneside . he said the Geordie had always been recognised as a craftsman in shipbuilding and engineering , yet many people seemed to find it surprising that he was also a craftsman in cookery . caterer &apos;s initiative . it was the caterers of Tyneside under Mr Thomas Lonsdale ( past chairman of the branch ) who took the initiative in the establishment of a catering section in the Newcastle College of further education . I have had experience of the students &apos; cooking there , and I feel quite sure they will make a great contribution to the industry when they graduate . it is a very worthwhile project . Mr J H Innes , principal of the College of further education , proposing the toast of the Institute , said it was a tragedy that so many industries today still maintained some of the worst aspects of the old apprenticeship system , and had lost so many of the good aspects . the national joint apprenticeship council had given careful thought to the organisation of the craft apprenticeships . there was no need for long apprenticeship provided it was carefully organised . he congratulated the catering industry on being alive to this need . he wished more industries saw the necessity of careful selection of the duties and functions of the apprentice . the colleges must work with industry to try to get the best for the apprentice , to produce the best kind of craftsmanship . Mr Innes said that in Newcastle the education authority was doing all it could to provide better education , but the college premises in Bath Lane were grossly inadequate . however , it was hoped to move into a fine new college in St Mary &apos;s Place in about three years . that would give a great chance to develop many aspects of college work , particularly catering management . Mr J J Lanning , national secretary of the Institute , replying to the toast , said few industries were growing at such a rate as catering . nevertheless , catering was an industry with some deficiencies . the greatest was that some employers did not yet realise the value of the training available in the technical colleges . fortunately , the branch chairman and his committee were conscious of the fact and were doing all they could to remedy it . if there was to be development in the north-east , the hotel and catering industry could not be neglected , but the Institute needed the support of both the employers and the education authorities . proposing the toast of the guests , Mr Thomas Lonsdale , said the catering industry today required brains , but pointed out that the capacity to absorb technical knowledge differed from the hard realism of routine catering , which demanded not only brains and skill , but common sense and understanding of human nature as well as the highest possible degree of courtesy . the last factor could not be over-stressed in catering today . the recent tea-break strike highlighted the importance of the industry , but as far as he could recall there had never been a strike in the industry itself . we are rather proud of our classless profession , he added . Mr A Johnson , secretary of the northern advisory council of further education , responded . hotel College is U.N.O in miniature . that the post-diploma course in hotel management now offered at the hotel and catering section of Blackpool technical College , is highly thought of is shown by the fact that two students have travelled thousands of miles to take advantage of it . Krishan Kuma Amla has a B.A degree from the University of Jamull and Kashmir , and C.Comm degree , commercial University of New Delhi , has been assistant manager of the Hotel Broadway , New Delhi , and been seconded by the hotel management for a year &apos;s training at the Blackpool School . within six days of receiving acceptance of his application , Mr Amla flew over to Blackpool and suddenly appeared at the school ready to start the course . 