It was a typical village hall with a stage at one end. A kitchen and a room were off to one side of the hall. Along the side of the kitchen, tables and chairs had been set out. A sign warned that alcohol was not to be consumed outside that area. A bar had been set up next to the room and drink supplies were stored in the room. A line of chairs had been placed along the wall on the other side of the hall. A four-piece band on the stage was playing a foxtrot and about half-a-dozen couples were dancing. Chalk had been sprinkled over the floor to improve it for dancing. Two ladies were busy in the kitchen and were preparing supper food. To Andy it was a typical country atmosphere that he had experienced in Northumberland. No doubt more people would drift down from the pub later. Most of the older folk and the younger ladies off the bus had seated themselves at the tables. About half of the young men off the bus had sat on the chairs on the other side of the hall while the rest had headed for the bar. They were looking in the direction of the young women and commenting among themselves. “Everything normal,” thought Andy. He and his mates found a table and sat down.
Lance went off to get some drinks. The music stopped and the band had a discussion on what they would play. At that moment, Yvonne walked into the hall. She gave Lance and the others a smile and wave and headed for the kitchen to help there. She was followed into the hall by some of the local fishermen and their wives. The band-leader called a quickstep and couples walked onto the floor. Some of the young men headed across the floor to ask the young ladies to dance. The band struck up and people started dancing.
At Andy’s table, Dan gave a grin and got up to ask a young lady to dance. She accepted the invitation and they whirled off into the throng of dancers. “I feel a bit guilty about dancing with someone other than my Anne,” Lance said to Andy.
“I feel a bit the same way,” Andy replied, “but if I see a lady being ignored then I’ll ask her up to dance. They don’t come to sit the night out.”
“That sounds like a good idea, Andy. I feel that I could explain that away to Anne.” They looked around the hall and saw four young ladies still sitting so they went across and each man asked one to dance.
Andy smiled at the two still sitting and said, “Your turn next time,” and got a “Cheeky!” reply from one of them but with a grin following. Dance followed dance, being a mixture of modern and old time, and over an hour had passed. The time was 9.30 p.m. and a supper interval was called. By this time a number of the young men and women had paired off. Andy noticed that three of the local fishermen were paired off with young Mablethorpe women. People queued up to buy some supper and the master of ceremonies (MC) started a tape recorder playing recorded music for those who wanted to continue to dance. Some of the older couples took to the floor. As Andy, Lance and Dan were buying their supper, Yvonne came across and said that she would be out after supper and to keep a dance for her. Lance said, “You can have one with each of us. We’ll look after you.”
“Thanks,” Yvonne replied. “Talk to you later,” and gave Andy a meaningful look. He knew she wanted to talk about Jamie and this time he couldn’t avoid it. They went back to their table and had their supper. While they ate, the men who had been drinking at the pub drifted in, some of them the worse for the drink. These were mainly the Mablethorpe young men. A few minutes later the tape recorder was switched off and the MC called a foxtrot. The small band struck up and dancers took to the floor. The men from the pub asked ladies to dance and some of them refused. The refusal was clearly related to the level of alcohol that had been consumed by some. Those men were not happy and they went and stood in a group watching the dancers.
While the dance progressed, the clock ticked on and at 10.30 p.m. the bar was closed. Young Jimmy, one of the fishermen, was getting on well with a Mablethorpe girl. They were on the floor dancing when one of the Mablethorpe men excused Jimmy and cut in. Jimmy retired gracefully to the side of the hall but it was clear that the woman was not happy with what the man was saying to her. Finally, she stopped dancing and tried to leave but he held onto her. An older couple spun passed and the man said, “Let her go and don’t disgrace yourself!” In a surly manner she was released and the young woman walked over to be beside Jimmy. Andy was at that moment dancing with Yvonne and noticed the incident. He wondered whether trouble was brewing. She was busy talking about Jamie being released from hospital soon and going home on sick leave. She talked of taking time off work
