RAF veteran, 95, is first on dancefloor at nightclub

Donna described Kevin as "an absolute sweetheart" and "a pleasure to care for"

A 95-year-old RAF veteran was the first on the dancefloor when a nightclub reopened after more than a decade.

Kevin Topham was adamant he wanted to go to the Nottinghamshire club, as he remembered dancing at the venue in the 1940s and also met his late wife there.

His carer warned him there would be "booming music" and strobe lighting at Club X in Newark.

But he still would not be deterred, so she arranged for him to go an hour before it opened.

'Nothing like 1949'

"He would not let it go," said Donna Harvey, who is Kevin's carer.

"I said 'Kevin, it will be nothing like it was in 1949. There will be booming music and strobe lighting, and it will be full of 18 to 30-year-olds'.

"I thought if I didn't take him he's probably going to get in his car and go, which I didn't want him to do, so I had to make sure he was safe."

Kevin chose to dance to Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller

Kevin used to dance at the venue when it was simply known as the Corn Exchange.

On Saturday, Kevin and Donna danced to Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller, which was the track he chose.

"It was just so humbling and it melted my heart, because it made him happy," said Donna.

"He hasn't stopped talking about it."

'All my gongs'

"I did enjoy it," said Kevin, who said it felt "a little bit sentimental" to be there again.

"I put all my gongs [medals] on and my RAF tie," he said.

"They were very good, all the staff were. They made me very welcome at that place."

Kevin met his wife Molly at a dance at the Corn Exchange in 1949

Donna said Kevin used to reminisce about dancing at the Corn Exchange even before he found out about it reopening as a nightclub.

"Every time we go past there - if I'm taking him to a doctor's appointment or his daughter's - he says 'I used to go there'," said Donna.

"He told me 'I used to go there and all the Americans would come and pinch our women, and there would be fighting'."

Kevin was apparently popular with women himself.

"Sometimes I would end up with three partners in the middle of the dancefloor," said Kevin, who remembered having to flip a coin to choose between them.

Kevin said the staff at Club X made him feel "very welcome"

Kevin, who lives in the village of Edingley, said he joined the RAF when he was only 17, as "the Germans were bombing the Newark area and I got fed up with it".

He met his wife Molly at a dance at the Corn Exchange in 1949.

Kevin and Molly tied the knot in 1952 and were married for 66 years, until she died in 2018.

Their daughter, Karen Mason, said she was grateful to Donna for organising the dance.

"When I looked at it on the video it made me feel quite emotional that he was dancing on the floor where he met Mum, and his granddaughter felt the same," she said.

"It was lovely to see that and he was full of it all weekend."

'Lucky to meet him'

Club X said it was now looking to introduce a regular event in its calendar for older generations to use it as a dance hall again.

General manager Amy Smith said: "Meeting Kevin and hearing the stories and memories of his experiences within the venue from his teenage years certainly brought a tear to the eyes of our team who were lucky enough to meet him on Saturday.

"When Donna approached us about the request, it's one that I couldn't refuse, and our team welcomed both Kevin and Donna to Club X.

"Our DJ, Mio, had the record that Kevin wanted to hear and we turned the volume down to an adequate level for Kevin, who had a lovely dance with Donna."