Date 

Event 

Status 

Comments 

sday, 1st January

Priston's famous New Year's Day Celebrations propel us into 2009, starting at noon.

Confirmed

Saturday, 18th April

Cardiff Ladies Day of Dance, which we have enjoyed on previous occasions, is here again! Start at J32 M4 at 10.00am. Finish at around 6pm.

Confirmed

A grand day out in the company of England's Glory, Forest of Dean, Pigsty and our hosts Cardiff Ladies. Our trip took us around Cardiff Bay by coach and Water Taxi and through VERY narrow lanes in the Welsh fields. We all did lots of dancing, too.

Diolch yn faur, Ladies!

Friday, 1st May

Brandon Hill, Bristol 4.45am

Confirmed

We celebrated the coming of Spring and Summer in the company of Pigsty Morris, Ashley's Rise and Rag Morris plus a huge crowd of onlookers who braved the cold. The sun came up and a patch of blue sky rewarded us. This was followed by a great breakfast at Che's on Welshback, organised by the inimitable Cedric. Wonderful!

Saturday, 2nd May

Upton-on-Severn Festival, a music& dancing day in the company of many other sides from Morrisdom. 10.30 onwards at the "Plough" by the bridge.

Confirmed

The Bunnies From Hell were back and we had sunshine so it foretold a great day. There were Morris sides and styles from all over the country and, quoting from another fine web wordsmith, our “socks got danced off” many times. Our Mummers' Doc, Terry, was immortalised forever on Upton Festival's official badge and we even had time to eat pork rolls and ice-cream. How could we possibly ask for more?

Monday, 4th May

Winterbourne Down Carnival,, 2 spots times

12 noon Methodist Church,

12.45 Junc Station Rd & Church Road

Confirmed

The weather was cold but the crowds were in fine fettle, enjoying burgers and ice-cream and were an appreciative audience. The silent start to “Dilwyn” had to compete with the “Ding!” of the Ring-the-Bell stall and one of the fire-engine's crew had a narrow escape from a marriage proposal from one of our admiring dancers whose name is withheld for modesty's sake.

Saturday, 4th July

Ragged & Old Day of Dance, Eastcombe & around, with other sides, lunch & tea.

Confirmed

We had a great time strutting our stuff in the company of Rag Morris, Malmesbury Ladies Morris, Ragged & Old and their associated clog dancers. There was some rivalry as to who could make the most mistakes and a certain amount of verbal sparring sprang up. Who won? It didn't matter, really, as a fine day was had by all, our efforts bolstered by the culinary delights provided by our kind hosts. 

Saturday, 18th July

Frenchay Flower Show 2.45 

Confirmed

They seek her here; they seek her there......but she was definitely delusive (or is it elusive)? Of whom do I write? Well, her ashamed blushes tell a sorry tale of forgetfulness......BUT it didn't stop the rest of the troops putting on a splendid show for the very supportive crowds. One of our dancers even won a prize for her onions! Others enjoyed cream teas and admired the display of splendid vegetables after the dancing was over.  

Sunday, 27^th September

Tetbury Food Fair  - dancing at 11am and 1pm

Confirmed 

The kind citizens of Tetbury and their visitors gave us a very warm welcome and we enjoyed ourselves immensely amongst the double-choc goodies, beers and fabulous foodstuffs. It might be fair to say that us musicians had to slow down the music slightly as the food-wise indulgence of the dancers took its toll but we still managed to match the crowds doughnut for doughnut, beer for beer and dance as well. Aren't we wonderful?

Sunday, 11^th October 

Winterbourne Medieval Barn 

Confirmed 

What a wonderful barn! It's obvious that many dedicated enthusiasts have worked very hard to restore this building and take it back to its former glory. We danced 2 spots plus Susie's Broom Dance just outside the barn in the company of a very enthusiastic audience and, in between times, enjoyed all the interesting displays of local craftsmanship.  

Saturday,12th December

Staple Hill Christmas Carnival 

Confirmed 

We danced in the shadow of the mighty organ in the company of a large, enthusiastic crowd although one of Alan's starbursts upset a little boy. However, a large candyfloss soon put that right and soon the word got round all the other children on how to win sympathy! As always we disported ourselves in our usual inimitable fashion, including a very fine rendition of the Hambrook Broom Dance.

Saturday, 26th December

Boxing Day Mummers & Dancing, Winterbourne Down

Confirmed

A cold but dry day which erupted into colour and movement as the Mummers & dancers trod the well-worn paths to their four performance places around the village. The crowds increased in size and there was a well-appreciated amount of audience participation. Much enjoyment and fun for all! Looking forward to 2010 already.......watch this space!

Date 

Pub

Village and Post Code 

Comments 

11th May

Old Royal Ship 

Luckington SN14 6PA

I wasn't there, being in the wilds of Nice in blazing sunshine, but the troops tell me the weather was freezing enough to bring on a bout of Alan's Welsh flu. It didn't stop them from dancing.....and drinking ale, though.

18th May

Live & Let Live

Frampton Cotterell BS36 2EF

A lovely, warm evening – just the sort of ambience to make you dance your socks off and drink beer. You know that feeling, don't you?

1st June

Codrington Arms

North Road, Yate BS37 7LQ

This, too, was a warm, sunny evening and we very much enjoyed the dancing & ale. We were joined by Pigsty Morris and finished up with a mass Upton Stick – even the horses in the neighbouring field stopped to stare. Our own personal pilot friend gave us a special fly-past too.

8th June

Old Lock & Weir

Hanham Mills BS15 3NU

My spies tell me that this is a very fine pub down a narrow lane close to the canal. Our dancing space was a thin, but elongated square – called a rectangle, I think. I'm told it confined our errors in a showy dance called “Hugh's Mistake” but the other dances were the usual size.

15th June

 The Cottage Inn

Hotwells Bristol BS1 6XG

A small band of dancers and musicians arrived on this evening and we did our best despite having to dig deep for beer money. Good audience, though, and a wonderful harbourside backdrop. 

22nd June

  The Bull

Hinton SN14 8HG 

Amongst our ever-eager fans this evening was a troupe of younger-than-us people with other skills to thrill an audience. They did stilt-walking, fire-eating and juggling. Obviously we had a great time at this pretty pub whose landlord not only watched us but also fed us. Many thanks! 

29^th June 

The Swan 

Tytherington GL12 8QB 

We danced here on a very warm evening when beer and more beer seemed to beckon. The skittlers even tore themselves away from their match from time to time to cheer us on and the kind landlord sent us some very tasty sandwiches and was very welcoming. 

6^th July

The Lamb 7.30

Iron Acton BS37 9UZ

There were times when we thought the rain must stop soon – but it didn't. After a few soggy dances we repaired inside the pub to sup ale and exchange gossip. Dancing just gets in the way of this, doesn't it?

13^th July

The Anchor

Oldbury-on-Severn BS35 1QA

There was the threat of rain but it didn't come to anything so we got on with it in our usual inimitable style. It seems likely that we are now gracing the darkrooms of a local photographic society since they seemed to take lots of pix, even favouring the least photogenic member(s) of the band. A lovely pub, good beer and cider – pleasant evening.

20^th July

The Fox +Rag

Old Down BS32 4PR

We were again lucky with the weather and our pals Rag Morris joined us at this danceout, giving back as good as they got, dance for dance, until the staggering mass finale of Upton Stick. Many kindly dancers welcomed an errant member (who went missing on Saturday) back into the fold. Aw Gee! Thanx!

27^th July

Anchor Inn

Thornbury BS35 1JY

Our support group on this cold but dry evening was small but obviously charmed by our efforts – even when we dragged “Three Jolly Sheepskins” out of the archive for their approval. Our thanks to the Landlord for the food and generous donation. We hope to be back next year to entertain his customers.

Contact : WDBM
Last modified August 2009