I think we should mark the passing of Len Goodman, head judge of Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars for many years.
Len was born and spent his early years in Bethnal Green in North East London. This was historically a poor area and in times past, and the center of the silk trade. Karl Marx referred to Bethnal Green as a notorious district.
Early years are formative, and Len remained a Londoner to his core throughout is life. He never lost the Londoner's touch for their colorful vernacular, and launched it before a wide public. This distinguished him from any other TV celebrities before the public.
His family moved to Kent in an area where my wife grew up. Eventually after a brief career in welding he took to dancing and became a celebrity. He opened a dance Studio in Dartford, Kent, where my maternal grandfather had been registrar of births and deaths. Dartford now claims him as their own. He actually lived in the close by village of Greenhithe, right on the Thames. He was known to our family as our Earth moving contractor, business was based at Greenhithe on the south side of the Thames and Chesunt on the North Side. Those were busy times as the Thames crossing at Darford/Purfleet, which now carries the M25 was under construction. My brother Paul had dealings with him over the years and described him as a 'lovely man'.
I used to watch him not for the dance per se, but to admire and enjoy his colorful vernacular.
Len may prove to be one of the last great exponents of that colorful and humorous vernacular. London and the South East are now undergoing rapid sociological change. Len my prove to have been one of the last exponents of that varied and colorful culture. RIP Len, you will be missed!
