DANCE instructor Billy Cartledge was an extraordinary man. He was strong in arm and light on his feet. And he also happened to be stone deaf!

So how, then, did Billy manage to teach his pupils the finer points of the quickstep, waltz and tango when he couldn't hear the recorded music? One of his former pupils, Ron Roughley, retired TV engineer, provides the answer.

"He used to take his timing from the vibrations given out by the music, rising from the wooden-floor dance area and up through his feet".

Ron, now 61 and from Laurel Drive, Eccleston, has fond memories of Billy whose little dance studio was above the old Slip In caf which stood some decades ago in Corporation Street, St Helens.

Steaming

His memories were stirred by my recent passing mention of the old Slip In on this page and now reveals that Billy and his wife ran the place. While ankle-flicking hubby taught his students how to trip the light fantastic, wife Nellie served up the hot pies and steaming cups of tea and coffee below stairs.

"Billy was amazingly strong", adds Ron, "I was in the caf one day when I dropped half-a-crown (just over 12p in today's money)".

The coin, then worth a small fortune, which could buy a good night out on the town, rolled under the jukebox.

"Billy grasped that heavy machine and lifted it up so that I could fish my money out from underneath." Ron gasped in astonishment at that feat of pure strength, which still remains in his thoughts more than 40 years on.