June
Fleetwood

June Fleetwood Recalls Stories of her performing grandfather!

June Fleetwood (nee Rainbow) is researching her family history and recalls her father telling her about his father and brothers who were club performers on the Leicester club circuit.  Her grandfather Thomas RAINBOW had an act consisting of fiddle-playing & tap-dancing.  Sometimes two of his sons would tap-dance with him, one of them probably playing the guitar.  Her father Thomas Ernest RAINBOW is sadly no longer with us, and he was unable to remember the 'stage name' that his father used on the circuit.  

The time period would be from the early 1900's until 1920 with a break for WW1.  

Her father was well known in Leicester as he was a founder member of the Leicester Jokers Club, a charity organisation very active in the 1960s-70s.   He was also a member of the Leicester Bohemian Club & had a fine, light baritone voice as well as being an accomplished guitar player entertaining on an amateur level at charity events around Leicestershire.
 
One club June’s granddad appeared at was the Bond Street Working Man's Club in Leicester which she thinks was one of the largest clubs in the Midlands.   June also wonders if it is still there….. 

Her own father, might trigger a few memories off as he was well know in Leicester by the fact that he was the tall man in the icon of the Tall & Fat Man that was used to represent Worthington’s Cash Stores.   They had over 100 shops in the Midlands area until the 1970s when they sold out and their image disappeared.   They were known as ‘Sam’ & Pete’ and always wore white butcher tunics and trousers with chef’s hats.   The tall one wearing a tall chef hat was her father. 

June also says of Club Historians-

‘I am very impressed by your enthusiasm & I wish you every success for the future.’


Thanks June!  Keep those memories coming.


Ruth Cherrington
June 10

 

 

 


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