THE Eastleigh Brothers Concert Party entertained audiences at many venues in and around Oxford.

But the performance of one member of the group, Ian Pullin, didn’t win universal approval.

Former member Norman Hodges reveals: “When Ian came to our home in Bath Street to practise his solos, as soon as he started, Tiny our dog put back his head and gave out the most awful howling noise.

“It was not appreciated by Ian, but had me nearly falling off the piano stool.”

Mr Pullin, who lives near Bath, mentioned the Concert Party in a letter recalling his time at East Oxford School and the Oxford School of Technology, Arts and Commerce (Memory Lane, May 4).

The group was formed for a Technical School social and did so well that its members decided to branch out and entertain audiences in the evenings and at weekends.

Mr Hodges, who lives in Sydney, Australia, writes: “Ian was a founder member with me, another male whose name I can’t remember, a girl who played the accordion and another girl who played the piano.”

After leaving the ‘Tec’, Mr Hodges trained as a cabinet maker with F Shurmer and Son.

Following National Service, which took him to Singapore, he taught woodwork and later metalwork at Northfield School, in Littlemore.

He then emigrated to Australia and taught at Sydney Grammar School before deciding on a change of career and a move into showbusiness.

He worked for theatre companies in Sydney, Tasmania, Queensland and Melbourne.

His appearances on Australian television included a part in the soap opera Home and Away, and in a film called BMX Bandits he played a drunk, alongside the now famous Hollywood star Nicole Kidman.

Any more memories of the Eastleigh Concert Party?

And who were the three unidentified members?

Let me know.