THE founder of the Weardale Tappers dance troupes has celebrated her 80 th birthday.
By Anita Atkinson
Violet Mann, the founder and guru of the Weardale Tappers dance troupes was treated to a surprise
party in the former Wolsingham WMC where singer, Alex Hall, entertained in wonderful style. The
event was attended by many of her former members who danced their socks off around the Dale for
years, entertaining hundreds of audiences over more than two decades.
Violet was born in Sunderland during the war in 1944 with a younger brother and sister. Her father
was a serving sailor with the Royal Navy and after being decorated for his services during WW2 went
on to serve during the Korean war. It was her mother, however, who saw the potential in young
Violet who loved to dance as a little girl. When she was eight years old, she was signed up to the
Mattie Dorn School of Dance just down the road from where the family lived in a war-time pre-fab.
Ms Dorn, the third generation of dance teachers in Sunderland, ran her school in nearby Azalia
Terrace. It was there that Violet met Norma Wood a student dance teacher. When Norma opened
her own school, Violet followed. It was Norma who taught her everything she knew about tap
dancing and Modern Dance.
Norma is in her 90s now and has been a life-long friend of Violet’s – she has never missed a show
that Violet has either appeared in herself or organised over the years. Violet has enormous respect
for her and the feeling is mutual.
“Norma is like a second mother to me, “ said Violet. “Everything I have done or achieved over the
years is down to her and she has always been there for me.”
The young Violet danced through her younger years, appearing on stage many times and also at
local clubs. There was the Over 60s Club, entertaining in hospitals at Christmas, at the Sunderland
Eye Infirmary as well at Cherryholme Mental Hospital and at Sunderland Empire Theatre.
Violet remembered one performance at Cherryholme when a patient in the front row of the
audience suffered a violent fit. Violet was doing a routine on stage at the time with her great friend,
Sylvia who was her now husband, Micky’s, cousin.
“Norma was in the wings urging us to keep going and we did,” recalled Violet. “The show must go
on was her philosophy no matter what happened during a show.”
There were garden fetes and other local events where the girls appeared to the delight of audiences
and Violet loved them all. One performance at the Royalty Theatre in Newcastle was the popular
Carroll Levis Talent Show. Levis was a Canadian talent scout as well as a television and radio
broadcaster. Norma’s class, including Violet and Sylvia, appeared on stage as part of the show. The
winners of the final were given a slot on television – when not many people had the luxury of TV sets
in their homes. They didn’t win but it was an amazing experience, especially as Joan Collins, as a
young actress, was there in the theatre wings too.
“She was beautiful, stunning,” recalled Violet who once met her sister, Jackie Collins on another
occasion. “We met lots of stars in theatres.”
When Violet was 18, her and Micky, who she had known since she was eight years old, moved to
London along with other friends from Sunderland. Violet and her friend, Michelle, managed to find a
room in Acton and Micky lodged with a Polish family nearby. Violet worked for Bush/Murphy, which
made TVs and radios in Chiswick while Micky, who was a plasterer, was employed in the Public
Works Department.
“I loved electrical things,” explained Violet. “And moved back to work in the Shields factory and also
went back to dancing at Norma’s dance school for a while.”
Micky and Violet were married in 1965 and this year will celebrate their Diamond Wedding
Anniversary. She never has lost her love for dancing and it remained on the edge of her life with
Micky always there supporting her in any way he could. She cared for her mother for ten years as
she slipped further and further into the depths of Alzheimers’. It was very hard and her and Micky
bought themselves a caravan which was sited at the back of the Hare and Hounds in Westgate and
where they spent weekends resting and getting to know Weardale and its people.”
In the meantime, they had their son, Michael, but Violet had the heartache of losing three babies. In
a remarkable twist of fate, she was, during one pregnancy, placed in the next bed in the maternity
hospital to Norma, a mother of four and her old dance teacher who, when she heard of Violet’s
problems, asked for her bed to be put close to Violet’s. She comforted her and held her hand
throughout the ordeal that followed. Norma has always been there for her and is still to this day.
In 1991, after her mother’s death, Violet and Micky moved into Weardale, buying a house at North
Grain in Wearhead. It was almost a shell but the couple worked hard to turn it into a family home
with Micky’s skills and Violet’s too, it became a very comfortable four bedroomed house.
Those in the upper Dale who came to know Violet and Micky, knew that she was a dancer. One day,
Tiffy Siddle from the Cowshill Hotel came knocking on their door. There had been a small dancing
group of around six ladies who met in the hotel but they had lost their dance teacher and
desperately wanted to continue.
Violet agreed to help and went along to meet the group, which included Tiffy’s daughter, Sue, along
with Heather Ross – now the Dale’s well respected vicar – Molly Balmer and others. Violet went
armed with her cassette player and a few tapes. Walton, Tiffy’s husband, moved all of the chairs out
of the bar and they showed Violet what they had been doing previously and she got down to
business – teaching them what she had spent her life doing – dancing! Tap dancing mostly – and at
that point, the wonderful Weardale Tappers was born!
The group’s first show was in Newtown House in Stanhope at Christmas, entertaining the old folk
there. Sue had sourced silver bowler hats and striped waistcoats and they danced their socks off to
such numbers as ‘Good Morning, Good Morning’ and April Showers. They were a huge success and
attended other events around the Dale.
Parents wanted their children to learn and Violet, always aided by the helpful Micky, began a
children’s dance class at Cowshill, followed by one at Ireshopeburn Literary Institute. Walter and Pat
Raynor then invited Violet and Micky to hold dance classes at the former Rancho Del Rio. They were
so welcome there that Violet had her own key to the back door! And what’s more, there was no
charge from the Raynors. Walter would go on to compere the legendary shows later held in St John’s
Chapel Town Hall.
There was a problem at first with that town hall because it was in need of renovation and the stage
floor was in a terrible condition – vital, of course for dancing, especially tap dancing. When David
Nattrass told them of some portable flooring over in Hexham, Sue and Violet borrowed a van and
travelled over there to get it. Later, Micky would use Bertha, the name the couple gave to their
motorhome, to transport the flooring around the Dale as well as some of the young dancers too.
“It was brilliant,” recalled Violet. “We could take the flooring everywhere, not just to St John’s
Chapel Town Hall but out to garden fetes and the agricultural shows etc.”
More classes followed in Frosterley – the Frosterley Girls – and the Barrington Babes class in St
John’s Chapel. And it wasn’t only girls who attended with boys such as Paul Mc Carthy and Robert
Graham tap dancing their way to fitness and glory. So much progress was made that Violet entered
them into examinations. In the beginning they would take a dozen or so to Sunderland in Bertha for
Norma to examine and judge. There would be special evenings where those who passed – and it was
always the majority – would be presented with their prizes. They would go through the grades and
one or two even made it to teacher standard.
“We had a motorhome full of kids and the first time we went to Sunderland, we all went to
McDonald’s and I was petrified in case I lost one,” recounted Violet.
Micky, who drove them, was more bothered about the road conditions and mentioned one hairy
ride coming down Newhouse Bank in ice and snow returning from the examinations.
Micky and Violet became surrogate parents to all of the youngsters and the love was reciprocated.
And, of course, it wasn’t just youngsters in the Weardale Tappers groups around the Dale. There
were adults too, as it had been in the beginning.
One of the highlights in the memories of this very special couple are the people they met and made
friends with and who are remembered – Alison Telfer and Joan Warriner for two. The wonderful and
memorable Chapel Town Hall shows with compere, Walter, who, after his untimely death was
replaced by Steve Robson from Ireshopeburn. Steve’s wife, Michelle was a tapper too who took part
in the shows. Walter’s wife, Pat was always front of house, sometimes with her one of her
granddaughters. Sandra Beadle was another whose performances always made me laugh out loud –
a born comedienne.
The Tappers really was a family affair, which Violet and Micky still feel the benefit of all these years
later with many of the young tappers – now in adulthood – keeping in contact. One of them – Kerry-
Ann O’Neil – followed in her mentor’s footsteps to found her own dance school, which still runs in
Wolsingham. She flew through all the examinations in early days with Violet’s help and support.
Kerry-Ann is just one of the former tappers who keeps in close contact. The walls of Violet and
Micky’s house are filled with photographs of children – the children of their former young Tappers
and they are surrogate grandparents to them all, especially to those children of Joanne and Nicole
who visit them almost weekly.
Violet and Micky’s hard work throughout the Dale, changing young lives and entertaining older ones,
was recognised in 2012 with an invitation from HM The Queen to one of her garden parties in
Buckingham Palace. It was another highlight of their Tappers journey and there were so many over
all of those years. Audiences were always at capacity with tickets selling like hot cakes. The
youngsters – and the adults – would spend hours perfecting routines to delight the crowds and each
performance was eagerly awaited. The, quite simply, lit up the Upper Dale.
Violet can still dance and still has the friendship of Norma as well as that of all her former students.
The contribution made by Violet and Micky to the life of the whole Dale is not to be underestimated
– they certainly changed lives and made the Dale smile.
A life well lived and hopefully will continue for many years to come. Thank you Violet and Micky for
all you have done for Weardale and its people.
