When people think of Teddy Boys and Teddy Girls, they often imagine the streets of London, Liverpool or Birmingham. Few would expect to find them in a small market town like Brackley. Yet during the 1950s, a group of local young men embraced the fashion, music and style of Britain’s first youth culture, helping to bring the excitement of rock and roll to the town.

One of those young men was Eddie Turvey.

Born in 1939, Eddie left school in 1954. The following year, as the Teddy Boy movement swept across Britain, he joined the growing number of Brackley youngsters attracted by the music, fashion and sense of belonging that came with it.

“It was the rock and roll music that attracted us,” Eddie recalled.

Like many Teddy Boys of the era, Eddie admired Bill Haley and his music. The energetic rhythms of rock and roll offered something completely different from the music their parents had grown up with.

Brackley itself had two distinct groups of young people, known locally as the “Top Enders” and the “Bottom Enders”. Eddie was one of the Top Enders, and several local boys shared his enthusiasm for the Teddy Boy style. Among those he remembers are Peter Gibson and Podgie Falkner, both of whom are still alive today.

Looking the part was important. Eddie’s first Teddy Boy suit was made to measure by Burtons in Banbury.

“It cost about £30,” he remembered.

In the mid-1950s, that was a considerable amount of money and showed just how much pride young men took in their appearance.

The centre of the social scene was Brackley Town Hall. Every Saturday night, dances were held there, attracting local young people as well as soldiers from the military camp at Whitfield.

Entertainment was provided by Ronnie Mole from Farthinghoe and his band. The dances became an important meeting place for local teenagers and young adults enjoying the new sounds of rock and roll.

When asked about some of the things that happened at the dances, Eddie simply smiled and mentioned the fire escape, suggesting that some memories are perhaps best left to history.

Unlike the negative image often associated with Teddy Boys elsewhere, Eddie remembers that the people of Brackley generally welcomed them.

“We were all local lads. The police knew us.”

Because they were well known in the town, the police rarely troubled them, and many local parents actually approved of the Teddy Boys.

Eddie believes one reason was that they helped look after the town’s young women, particularly when large numbers of soldiers attended the dances.

In fact, one of Eddie’s proudest memories is how local girls would often turn to the Teddy Boys for protection. He estimates that as many as 70 to 80 per cent of Brackley’s girls looked to them to help keep unwanted attention from some of the army lads at the dances.

As the eldest brother of three sisters, Eddie took that responsibility particularly seriously.

His funniest memory dates from a trip to a dance in Aylesbury.

A major fight broke out and, wanting no part in it, Eddie hid underneath a table. Unfortunately for him, when the police arrived, they looked beneath the table, found him and arrested him along with several other Brackley lads.

Eddie spent the night in a police cell.

“They gave me breakfast and then let me go,” he laughed.

On Sunday morning, his father had to travel by taxi to collect him. The driver was Brackley taxi driver Herbert Hitchcock.

When they got home, Eddie’s father delivered what Eddie described as “a clip round the head” for getting into trouble.

In total, six to eight Brackley boys were held overnight, and all had to find their way back home the following morning.

Today, more than seventy years later, Eddie’s memories provide a fascinating glimpse into a forgotten chapter of Brackley’s past. Far from being rebels without a cause, Brackley’s Teddy Boys were local young men embracing a new style of music and fashion while remaining part of the community they grew up in.

Their drape jackets may have disappeared, and the sounds of Bill Haley may no longer echo from the Town Hall each Saturday night, but their story remains an important part of Brackley’s social history.

A community is not built in a day. It is shaped over generations by people like Eddie, whose lives and experiences become part of the town’s story.

During my talks with Eddie, I was reminded that his Teddy Boy years are only one chapter in a remarkable life. Over the years, he has worked firing steam locomotives, driven local buses and coaches, served as a retained firefighter and collected a lifetime of memories connected to Brackley and its people.

Among the treasures he has preserved are photographs, newspaper cuttings and even a letter received from Her Majesty The Queen on a wedding anniversary.

Eddie’s story is just one of many waiting to be told. As time passes, it becomes increasingly important to record and preserve these memories, so that future generations can understand the people, events and experiences that helped shape the Brackley we know today.

Written by Bernie Tiller

Brackley History Society
Phone: 01280 702 827
Email: br********************@*****il.com

The next talk is Wednesday 7th October at 7.30pm at Brackley Methodist Church.