94-year-old Lilly Tideswell was transported back to her childhood in Scotland when care home, MHA Homewood, invited the Leamington Spa branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society to the home for a Scottish dance night.
Lilly, who has lived at Homewood since July last year, learned to dance when she was 8 years’ old. Mrs Tideswell grew up in Greenock on the west coast of Scotland, where she paid “two shillings and threepence” for dance lessons each week, often donning the McGregor tartan.
This is the second time Scottish dance and the local Scottish country dancers have come to Homewood to showcase their talents. A number of residents first learnt about the history of Scottish country dancing and what it entails, before being treated to three different dances by the visitors, enjoying a cup of tea and chat at the end.
Scottish country dancing is always a social dance, it can be fast, such as a hornpipe, jig or reel, as well as slow, like the strathspey. Resident Lilly enjoyed seeing the traditional dances from her childhood once again with friends in her new home.
Jackie Tudor, activities coordinator at Homewood, said: “It was so lovely to see Lilly with the dancers, as it clearly took her back to her childhood in Scotland. You could tell she was really enjoying reminiscing about all the days she spent dancing those steps! It’s so important to have these sorts of events that connect our residents to past memories.”
Deborah Allen, home manager said: “We have all kinds of activities going on all the time here at Homewood. But it’s great when groups from the local community and our residents can learn and interact with each other – it really is what we’re all about”.
