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Fletchers was opened originally at No 28 Oxford Road in 1938, later moving to larger premises at No 22. During the war it carried on business but did not have many scholars until 1944. Business picked up then, and my three eldest brothers were all pupils there some time in their lives. All of them learnt to waltz, quickstep, and cha cha cha to the music of Victor Sylvester, Joe Loss and Ted Heath, which was played on a wind-up gramophone.
About 1959 several of my friends enrolled for lessons every Thursday evening — I think it cost one or two shillings a session, which lasted about one and a half hours. Our instructress was a tall lady named Molly. If she saw you sitting down she would march over and drag you up, even if you couldn’t dance. At the end of each session she would play a Hank Williams number and we would all get up and jive to it.
Over the entrance in Oxford Road was a large two-sided square clock. Fletchers closed its doors for good in the early sixties. It was re-opened as a nightclub about 1961 under the name of THE 22 CLUB. It flourished for about two years, then closed due to complaints from neighbours about the noise. The building still stands but has now been converted into flats.

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