I started along with many friends to try to dance in the Roath Park Pavilion during the war time summers of 1942. We danced to various records played from the stage, and tried to master the basic steps of the quick step and waltz.

My close friend at that time and myself, decided that if we were to get the full benefit of the enjoyment of dancing we should be taught at an appropriate dance school.

We enrolled at no less an establishment than the Sybil Marks and Phil Williams Studio in Gabalfa. For 1/6 on a Monday night, we were taught the basic and more complex steps of the modern ballroom dances.

Phil Williams was away in the RAF at the time, so it was left to Sybil to show us how it should be done. What a great Lady she was, and what a superb teacher. We enjoyed every minute of it, and I am sure that there are still many like me who can still remember those wonderful Monday nights gliding over the floor to the strains of Victor Silvester.

On every Saturday night Sybil ran a dance for all her pupils at a church hall in Gabalfa not far from her studio. Again for 1/6, we could dance the night away and practice all the steps we had learnt at the studio.

Wonderful happy times with great friends. Sybil of course became quite famous after the war during the run of Come Dancing with her famous formation team on television. She won the competition many times.

Learning to dance gave us all a new lease of life, particularly during the war years prior to my call up for the army. I will always cherish the happy times spent with wonderful friends at The Phil Williams and Sybil Marks Dancing School in Gabalfa.