‘I started dancing when I was 13. We didn’t have television or the internet or anything like that. We used to go to social dances. We all got taught to dance at quite a young age. My husband – Ken, Kenneth – wasn’t particularly a dancer until he met me. He was a sailor for seven years before we got married and saw active service in the Korean War. He wasn’t really a keen dancer. I loved it and he came to like it. We used to go to dances, but nothing too professional, we never went in for medals or anything, just for pleasure.
The dancing shoes for men were flat. They were a lovely soft leather; in his case they were black. The sole is very important for dancing. They call it a chrome sole. It’s got a velvety touch and it's most important because it helps you glide better and skim. We got them on holiday when we were in Bournemouth. There was a lovely dance shoe shop by the bus station. I used to buy my shoes there, too. Unfortunately, it’s closed now because everyone buys everything on Amazon or whatever. But there’s nothing like trying them on to see what they’re like.
On one occasion, we were at a hotel for a dance, nothing special, and he noticed the sole was missing. ‘Oh gosh, we’re dancing tonight’, he said, a bit worried that I’d be upset. I said, ‘Never mind, these things happen’. But one of the porters miraculously found some special glue, stuck them, and within an hour we were on the dance floor. But I think he was secretly hoping he was going to get a night off!
He died in 2016, at Christmas time, sadly enough. In June of that year - well, we obviously didn’t know he was going to die - and we booked a holiday to go to Blackpool. We so wanted to dance in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. I had danced there when I was younger, but we’d never actually danced there together.
We had this particular waltz which even now always reminds me of this very special thing in my life, the dancing. It was a Petula Clark song called I Had The Last Waltz With You and had very meaningful words. Anyway, we found out that to go dancing in the Ballroom you had to book. It was a tea dance, nothing too dressy, just informal wear in the afternoon. So, out came the shoes. We sat at this little table in the Ballroom and we requested our favourite waltz and they played it on the organ. There was him in his shoes, me in mine, and that was very meaningful to me because we managed our last waltz in this beautiful ballroom where I’d always wanted to dance again.
That song meant so much to me and I had it played at his funeral, at the very end, you know, the committal, and it was just lovely. I wasn’t a bit sad about it. I know it sounds silly, but as they played it, I thought of us dancing together all those years and what that meant.
I wish I’d kept those shoes now. I did keep them for some time but, you know, when your husband dies sometimes you think to yourself, ‘Oh well, you can’t hang on to these things forever’. You can’t hang on to everything, can you? I think one of my sons had them. I’ll have to make inquiries to see if they’ve still got them. But I doubt it because they’re not dancers, they’re definitely not dancers. Not like us.’