[A long section of Verbena Daphne Brighton’s memoir is organised seasonally. The listening experience is taken from the section ‘October, November, December’]

The threepenny hops were always popular. Once a week they were held in the Church Hall, all the village girls and boys turned up at these dances, walking for miles along the pitchy black roads, many a bit of courting was done outside the door and inside, during the dance was whispered, “Can I see you home?”. 

The band consisted of a piano, a banjo and a drum, and what fun we had as we clomped around the hall, treading on each others toes and getting fits of the giggles as some Romeo tried to show off a new step to impress the girl of the moment.