Roller skating memories

In this interview Peter Parker and Mr and Mrs Caton recall the skating shows

By Richard Dade

I started because I had just left school and the secretary came in one morning and said to me "we have just been roller skating last night it was real fun" and I said that sounds nice, my brothers used to skate and she said come with us next week and I was hooked.

There were two aspects of the skating, there was the skating show and training of skaters for eventually international skating.

I was with my wife in the dance team an occasionally they would go to rinks down in London and the pro would start working out at the show on the indoor rink say from the beginning of March.They used to have to move out of the indoor rink when the started the summer dancing and they'd move out about April time and you'd sort of put your scarf and thermal jacket on to skate outside.

The audience was attracted by the town crier Percy Laurie and he was like the Pied Piper although the show never started 'til quarter to eight at half past six you couldn't find a seat on there

The dance team had twelve couples and I think the chorus, I think at one time there was anything between 20 and 30 girls in the chorus and then normally we had a junior section as well either chorus, dancing or doing things. We used to be up near the gate selling programmes before the show

One amusing incident I was standing in the gates selling programmes and I don't know if you know the Wellington Pier but as you go into the gates of the outside section, the toilets, you went round either side of the deck and they were under the deck and there were all bushes in front to conceal it, and this gentleman came rushing up to me one day and said "where are the gents toilets"? I could see he was in a hurry and I said "down there behind the bushes not so b.. likely he says".