Dancing back to memories of these 1970s disco and ballroom stars

Brenda Wile, 16, of Houghton and David Turnock, 15, of Gosforth with a selection of Old Time, Modern and Latin dancing trophies. | nw

placeholder image — Brenda Wile, 16, of Houghton and David Turnock, 15, of Gosforth with a selection of Old Time, Modern and Latin dancing trophies. | nw

Dedication. That’s what you need to get to the top of the dancing world as this couple found out.

Seventeen major awards and 50 plaques - and that was inside one year for the 1970s teenage dancing partnership of 16-year-old Brenda Wile, from Houghton, and David Turnock, from Gosforth.

Dancing since she was four years old

Brenda started dancing at four. She attended a number of dancing schools and danced with several partners, gaining awards.

She met David at the Jack Rigby school in North Shields and since then they reaped a bumper crop of trophies and shields.

Brenda and David visited three separate dancing schools each week, one in North Shields for Old Time dancing, one in Billingham for Latin American and modern and a third in Newcastle for stage dancing.

Also in the 1977 news

Brenda said ballroom could be tough but she thoroughly enjoyed it.

The couple made headlines in 1977 but they were not alone in making the news that year, and not the only ones doing well on the dancing scene.

Disco lovers were in for a treat with the launch of a new weekly session in South Shields.

Christine James (21) and Alison Murphy (22) were the people behind it and they began the regular events at Temple Park leisure centre pool. Tell us if you went along.