Ah, dear Whitby memories of the Southport Swords.
The famous wallpaper dance, which Mr Sharp wisely dismissed 70 years earlier as "not of the Folk" took place after an afternoon drinking bout in the Elsinore, and was performed in the adjacent, quiet Silver Street on a garage forecourt. Camerons Strongarm had been taken in quantity - as I mentioned in an earlier post, pubs and off-licences closed at 2.30PM and pint-downing had to be done in fierce fashion over a short timespan. It's what we know now as binge drinking and has never been exclusively the preserve of the 14 year old.
The Rev. Ken was always contentious - he revelled in it and liked to provoke controversy. In one workshop, where he was telling us categorically that no-one should ever attempt to sing in public until they had studied and practised for years at the feet of the great and good, Frank McCall, probably with a cig, stood up and accused him of talking crap! "And who are you," said Ken. Frank, standing on a "earlier-you-get-up-the-better-you'll-become" ticket and incandescent with fury, almost spat out "Francis Albert McCall, and you've been talking crap!" I don't think us young 'uns were supposed to have such disrespect for EFDSS stalwarts especially when they were Rural Dean Of Hackney. There was a collective gasp and then silence! Fortunately no more was said on that topic and we moved on to talking about Mr Kimber's concertina!