On a visit to Birmingham, she was offered the piano for £12. She bought it.

Then came the problem of what to do with it. Her third-floor flat has stairs too narrow for even the slimmest upright piano.

“I moved into my flat two months ago,” she said. “But I have made up my mind to move out again. Now I shall hunt for an unfurnished flat. I don’t mind where it is — providing it is big enough for my piano.

“I know that as soon as I can have it moved in I shall be wanting to play it all day long.

“Whenever I see a piano I go all goofy and have to walk over and play a few notes. 1 can’t help it.

“I am often a pest. When a well-known pianist comes along to The Sunday Break I have to ask him to play his favourite piece — and then stand beside him to watch how he does it.”

Julie, whose 23rd birthday was last Sunday, has a quality common to young people appearing in the programme — a desire for knowledge.

Tactfully, she refused to say which visitor she has enjoyed meeting most in the past year. But she did talk of some memorable discussions she had had.

Such as talking politics with former Labour MP Elaine Burton. “I questioned her all lunchtime about her Party’s manifesto and about Governmental responsibilities towards teenagers.”

Talking clothes with singer and dancer Millicent Martin. “What a personality she is, bubbling over with original ideas. I picked up a lot of useful tips.”

Talking sport with former Test cricketer the Rev David Sheppard. “I thought cricket was a confusing game, but he was patient and explained all the points I did not understand. He made it sound really interesting.”

Talking about fame with band-leader Ted Heath. “He is a man of few words — until you mention his band. Then there is no stopping him. I wanted to find out what it was that had made him such a success.”

Talking home-making with rock ‘n’ roll singer Marty Wilde. “I met him first just before his wedding and he told me about his plans for the future and the furniture he and his wife-to-be, Joyce, were buying together.”

Talking theatre with actor and producer Bernard Braden. “We spent hours chattering about plays and people and his backstage practical jokes. He tells wonderful stories.”

Talking jazz with Methodist Minister Dr Donald Soper. “He was the last man I expected to know anything about modern music. But he told us he had played jazz and I found him very knowledgeable about modern musical trends.”

And just talking with poet John Betjeman. “Well, it’s impossible to talk to him about anything. You have to sit back and let him do the talking. He is a fascinating man with a tremendous sense of fun.”

And what about the club members themselves?

Said Julie: “Oh, they talk, talk, talk about anything and everything. The marvellous thing is that they are willing to go on television and discuss any subject. And they cannot check up on it beforehand because they are not told what it is going to be until the club opens on the day of the programme.

“They come from all parts of the country and different walks of life. They may not have always the ability to put into words exactly what they think, but they are not afraid to talk and give the rest of us the benefit of their own experiences.

“They are a vital part of The Sunday Break. Without them we might just as well shut down.”

The post Musical break for Julie appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

He claps his hands and is surrounded by some of the best-dressed women ever to grace a seaside promenade.

He is Jeffrey Piddock — senior floor manager of ABC Outside Broadcasts. But he is better known in Northern seaside resorts as ringmaster, major domo and general factotum of Holiday Town Parade.

The smooth running of this touring television show owes much to Piddock’s knack of being in the right place at the right time.

He is on duty from the moment the programme team arrives in the resort until all the equipment is packed and on its way to the next port of call.

Piddock is an ex-song-and-dance man. His show business career started after he graduated from dancing school. He joined a ballerina for a double act in a London amusement arcade.

Later, he worked with comics like Arthur Askey, Jimmy Wheeler and Vic Oliver. He understudied George Form by in Zip Goes a Million, and played the star role for two weeks when Formby fell ill.

He moved into ITV, and has been behind the scenes of Holiday Town Parade since the first programme.

Viewers never see Piddock. But he is known to the thousands of holidaymakers who go to preliminary heats for contests at different resorts every Friday afternoon.

Usually at local swimming pools, more than 100 bathing beauties, fashion girls and muscle-men parade before judges who choose those to appear in the programme next day.

Piddock says: “It’s thought generally that the same girls go round all the bathing beauty shows. But we often have newcomers and then I have to teach them how to parade to best advantage.”

As well as helping to organise the parades, Piddock often acts as compere.

And while the compere on Saturdays, McDonald Hobley, chants his “Don’t be late. Make a date, for Holiday Town Parade.” Piddock is thinking of the problems next week’s show will bring.

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