There has been a lot written about how Banks a willing to pay the money (with interest) back to people who have redicovered their old bank books. I took mine to the Halifax branch in Northampton ( my old account was around 35 years old). The manager took it into the back of the bank. He reappeared and gave it back to me and he had crossed everything out and said its to old so i have closed it. What about my money in the account?

That was kind of him.

The book should have said how much money was there in pounds, shillings and pence. There is no doubt that you should have received that (converted at 1 shilling = 5p) before the account was closed. My view is that you should also have received some interest although that depends on the type of account, I expect.

Interest can add up to something over time. If, for example, you were entitled to 5% growth each year, each £1 would grow to £5.52 over 35 years. There have been periods when interest rates were a lot more than 5%.