My friends and I went to Hunslet Carr School on Leasowe Road, Hunslet in Leeds, from the Infants school upwards. Some of us were very young when we went into the Infants School, because our mothers went out to work. We were required to sleep on cots in the afternoon, and we were in trouble if we didn't sleep. At the age of 7 we transferred to the Junior School, which was on the same site. We were then separated, boys from girls, and each had their own part of the building, boys at one side, girls at the other, with the Hall in the centre, which was shared by both schools. We didn't have grass to play on, but a concrete playground, where, when we were older, we played netball in the winter and rounders in the summer, and we did physical education in the hall. After our 11 plus some of my friends moved on to high schools, but I stayed on, and later played rounders for Leeds City.

When we were about 10 or 11 years old some of us attended dancing classes at a church hall in Dewsbury Road, Leeds, learning tap dancing and ballet. Our teacher was Miss Margaret Milner, who had been a professional dancer, and had worked in Europe before the war. Her sister Mary played piano for our classes. We had no transport, so we walked there and back, approximately a half hour journey each way, and we felt quite safe doing so.

Miss Milner had agreed that her pupils could take part in a pantomime that was being staged in January by Al Bonaire, in the People's Hall at the Co-op, Albion Street, in the centre of Leeds. Al Bonaire ran concert parties, possibly sponsored by the Co-op, and he and his friends played in Working Men's Clubs, as comedians and singers. He directed, but also appeared in the pantomimes, usually as the Dame, and a lady called Judy usually played the part of the male lead. To appear on stage we needed to be 12, and have a licence to perform, which could be obtained from the Education Offices in Calverley Street, where we were interviewed before the licence was issued. Miss Milner's pupils usually played the villagers, and we learned the songs and dances at our normal dancing class, then attended rehearsals on the stage at the venue. Occasionally a pupil would be chosen to play an important part, like Cinderella. One of the older girl was chosen to play Cinderella. Her older sister had also been a pupil of Miss Milner, and she subsequently became a Tiller girl. Some of the costumes were provided, but some were made by our mothers or friends. The shows were very popular and we played to full houses nightly for 2 weeks, with 2 shows on Saturdays. We caught the tram into the centre of Leeds after school each day, then caught the tram home again after the show at about 10pm each night. In the summer a group of us also appeared in concert parties put on in some of the Leeds Parks on a Saturday afternoon. We appeared in the pantomimes for several years, with Cinderella and Humpty Dumpty being two that we remember. Eventually Miss Milner married the man at the head of the Co-op, so our classes stopped and so did the pantomimes.

We don't know if any of our fellow dancers became professional entertainers, but for us that time was magical, and we would never have had the experience of being on stage had it not been for Miss Milner and her classes.

After I had moved to Harrogate, a married lady with a husband and 2 children, a friend told me someone she knew was starting a tap dancing class for more mature ladies, and asked if I would like to join. I jumped at the chance, bought some tap shoes, and enjoyed learning again, albeit shorter routines, and learning more slowly, as my memory is not what it was. But all the steps were still there.

Unfortunately the lady teaching us had to move to the south, and someone much younger took over the class. She didn't take account of our age, and expected us to learn at a much faster rate, which some of us struggled with, so we stopped going to classes, which was a pity, as the exercise was good for us, and we had found it really enjoyable.

I still have photographs of our groups, lined up according to height, as villagers, riders in hunting red, with riding crops over our shoulders, or Cinderella in her coach, and they bring back such happy memories of a really exciting time in our lives.