Southsea Reel Club Celebrate 70 years and their Founder, Kathy Lawmon

Southsea Reel Club celebrated its 70th Anniversary in great style on 1st November. The 70 people who attended, members from the Reel Club and friends from other clubs, had a wonderful evening with a great atmosphere in the hall. The dance programme included old and new dances and the medley Platinum Years, all danced to the fantastic music played by Strathallan. A club member made a lovely cake for the celebration which was cut by the club’s teacher Kathy Lawmon. One of the highlights of the evening was a message from His Majesty the King passing on his warmest good wishes to Mr and Mrs Lawmon, who run the club, along with his hopes that the 70th anniversary of Southsea Reel Club would be enjoyed by all. It was a magnificent evening.  

The Reel Club founder was Seymour Cottrell in 1955; Kathy joined the club in 1960 when she was 16 years old. Kathy passed her RSCDS teachers’ certificate at St Andrews Summer School in 1979 and became a teacher of the club from that year, Kathy is still the teacher and takes 3 well supported classes each week and organises all our functions.   

In the past Kathy has organised and devised dance tattoos and has also organised local charity functions raising tens of thousands of pounds.   Many charities have benefitted, and still do, from Kathys fund-raising evenings.  

In 2019 I and others had the privilege and pleasure to learn Scottish Dancing from Kathy who teaches to a very high standard.  On top of this we all now comfortably attend an annual Autumn Dance School at Halsway Manor in Somerset, with Kathy at the helm.  

Kathy devised Spinnaker Tower a dance which appears in a book of dances devised by Kathy Lawmon Dancing in Southsea.  Spinnaker Tower dance is on the RSCDS website. This dance was on our Dance Programme for 7th November celebrating Kathy’s 81st birthday, as were 5 other dances she devised. Plus, one of Kathy’s own demonstration dances, performed by experienced dancers. 

Thanks to Kathy we in the south of England have a family network of happy dancers.