I Played Piano At The Swan

A Memory of South Harrow.

I was directed to this site by a friend who was convinced one of the contributors must have been my brother, because it mentioned that his father ran a fish stall in South Harrow Market (our father did) and how green South Harrow was after coming from Bermondsey in London. (That's where we grew up.) However, reading on, that contributor had three children (Geoff only had two) and had married Barbara (rather than Brenda.)
So, what a coincidence that two people came from Bermondsey and had fathers who ran a fish stall in South Harrow Market.
We originally came from Bermondsey to South Harrow when we were bombed out during a 1940's air raid. I went to Welldone Park School (as mentioned by other contributors) and later to Eastcote Lane.
I eventually got married in South Harrow, the ceremony being held in St Paul's Church.
Since the age of 5 I'd always played piano, so when The Swan Pub (in Northolt) was looking for a pianist, I applied and got the job. The Swan became famous for locals who sang there at weekends and I always seemed to be able to accompany them, whatever the song was. At the time, two brothers called Smith had sons who wanted to go into show business. One son was called Martin, who sang solo and the other had sons called George and Brian who sang in a trio called The Treble Clefs. I thought the trio offered the best chance of entertainment in pubs so I threw my lot in with them. Martin considered that his name Martin Smith wouldn't get him very far so he changed it - to Marty Wilde. Maybe I threw my lot in with the wrong son? So that singers could be heard above the din of the drinkers, I fixed up a really old microphone on a stand and put some speakers up on a high shelf. Then one day I had a row with the governor and stormed out, leaving my equipment there.
They soon found another pianist, but my fans used to come up to me and say, "Why don't you come back, David. That Lenny's a useless pianist."
However, one evening, because my mic was still by the piano, Lenny did a vocal through it, something he'd never done before - and it went down really well. Then a couple of weeks later, another regular, Dianne, got up and did a duet with him - which went down even better. So much so, that they decided to form a double act, calling themselves Lenny & Dianne. Then, at the last minute, they changed it to their surnames, Peters & Lee. I often wonder if Peters & Lee would have ever come about if I hadn't left my mic set up at The Swan.
About that time I formed my first business, a coffee company and shared a warehouse with another coffee company Langdons, who employed what I would now call 'a snotty nosed little salesman' who went round restaurants etc getting orders for coffee which was delivered to them next day.One day, the 'snotty nosed little salesman' said to me, "David, I'm not getting anywhere with Langdons. There's a small warehouse down the road with a coffee roasting machine in it. Why don't you join me. I could bring all Langdon's customers and you have yours. We could do really well."
"I'm sorry", I said, "but I dare not risk it, but I wish you the best of luck. What will you call your new company, by the way?". "I don't know whether to call it by my first name, Sergio", he said, "or my surname Costa". "Costa Coffee", I said. "That sounds good." And so it was, and once more fortune eluded me.
The motto: Don't turn down offers from snotty nosed little salesmen. You never know.
I've since moved away from South Harrow (to sunny Bournemouth actually) and when I've gone back, I agree with contributors that it has deteriorated. But it was my home for so many years that I will always have the happiest of memories of it.

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