A MAGICIAN is hoping to pass on the tricks of the trade to the next generation after being made president of the Northern Magic Circle.

Retired solicitor Roger Woods, 59, has spent nearly five decades perfecting his sleight of hand.

Dr Woods, from Helmshore, is also chairman of the Blackburn and District Modern Mystic League and is planning to write a history of the group to celebrate its centenary in 2014.

He said interest in magic among young people had surged in recent years, with TV stars such as Dynamo leading the way.

Father-of-two Dr Woods, an expert in close-up magic, said: “It is a great privilege to be named as president of the Northern Magic Circle.

“It is a largely ceremonial role that will entail visits to all of our affiliated clubs and societies across the north of England as their figurehead. There has been quite a surge in younger members among the Blackburn group and we’re hoping to stage a number of events to celebrate the centenary.”

He was elected as president of the Northern Magic Circle at its annual convention in Whitby last weekend.

Dr Woods, a former Haslingden Grammar School pupil, said he first got into the hobby at the age of 10 when he was given a David Nixon magic set. He said: “I remember practising in the back of the car on the way to a family holiday in Scotland for hours. I would send off for catalogues of tricks and show them to anyone who was willing to watch. I’m not a stage magician any more but I still do close-up stuff and give lectures and talks on the history of magic.

“The reason I still love magic after all these years is the challenge of learning new things, the subtleties that not everyone sees. I’m a big fan of being able to fool people — in the nicest way possible!”

Dr Woods’s wife, Joan, 52, a supermarket worker, will accompany him to many of his duties as president. He said: “She has long given up asking how things are done.”

That's magic

  • The Northern Magic Circle was formed on the April 15, 1956, when seven interested people met at the Scotch Corner Hotel near Catterick, in Yorkshire, to discuss the need, or otherwise, of a magical society
  • It held its first Easter Parade Convention in Newcastle upon Tyne the following year
  • A junior section was established in 1972 for 11 to 16 year-olds
  • The group’s motto is amicitia per artem magicae, which, when translated, means ‘friendship through the art of magic.
  • The group’s patron is the Duke of Northumberland, currently Ralph George Algernon Percy.