In The Mood

As I was going about my locality trying to find interesting stories about people and places, I met a man on a bus. We got talking, as you do, and it soon became apparent to me that the chap I was talking to was an interesting feller.

In our conversation, we exchanged the normal chat about the weather - the kind of exchange that only the English seem to relish. Soon the conversation turned to what each of us was doing in our semi-retirement. I mentioned that I was involved with an internet radio station that produces small documentaries about interesting places and people.

I have never been shy about accosting unsuspecting members of the public and asking impertinent questions about their lives, their family and their history. This gentleman told me that he belonged to a group called In The Mood, a 1940s re-enactment dance group.

I was hooked and we exchanged telephone numbers. A few weeks after, I telephoned him and we arranged a meeting at Hassocks Village Hall, in the county of Sussex. His group was putting on a display in front of one hundred and fifty old age pensioners.

It was a delight to discover a community-minded group of local people who perform dressed in authentic 1940s military and civilian costumes. They specialize in swing dancing of the period, trying to revive memories of wartime dance halls in Britain.

www.peopletalk.org