Maybe he knew Eric Sykes? Eric stayed at the Parkfield Hotel when in Oldham but he had a Landlord mate in Royton who went along with Eric by having a reel to reel tape Recorder in the Bar. The Landlord switched it on and fed it tapes as and when people were due to arrive and until the "Official" Closing Time. Eric used these tapes to gather original comments from the General Public and used them anonomously of course in his scripts. Maybe Hattie was portrayed by one of your lady friends?