Sheltered Housing in Notting Hill

It wasn't a very promising evening, with rainclouds threatening.

And when we got to the first stand they turned out to have got their wires crossed and had all waited for us the week before. (I've been on Jury Service so communication has been difficult.)

So we decided to repair to the pub before the next engagement, which turned out to be a good idea as the rain poured down just as we got there, and in the time that we would otherwise be walking between the two places.
"It never rains on the Morris" - "because they're in the pub"

We danced inside, even though it had by then stopped raining. As you can see, there was just about enough room for us and our audience.

Afterwards we joined the residents for Sundanese food laid on by one of them, Eh'san Khogali.

Lensbury Club Summer Ball

We danced for the Lensbury Club's Summer Ball, a very prestigious do; with guests in DJs etc. (photos from the photographer for the evening, Chris Bissell)








They'd decided on a "Home Nations" theme this year, so guests were greeted by Pipe Major Roger Huth, us dancing on the lawn, the London Male Voice Choir and then irish band Waggle Taggle playing.

It was a lovely evening. Roger turned out to be a good sport and we persuaded him to play a couple of morris tunes on his pipes. When I looked him up later I found he's actually the "Pipe Major" of the Piping Society of London. I wish I had the time to take him up on bagpipe lessons.

When we got in I was surprised to see that the Irish band included my old friends Mick O'Connor and Mick Bailey. The pair of them for many years have done a spot at my work for our Sheltered Scheme's Christmas Party.

Mick O'Connor turns out to have a presence on You Tube

The evening all rounded off with fireworks over the lawn leading down to the Thames.

There are more photos (but not such good ones) later in this blog.

It's the sound of bells that I remember from Thaxted

There was a jingling of bells all day. Continually. It only stopped at night, to be replaced - in the school room where I slept - by the sound of exhausted, replete men snoring.




I enjoyed it mightily.

Thaxted Ring Meeting 2007

It's 80 years since Conrad Noel, the vicar of Thaxted, encouraged the formation of the Thaxted Morris Men. He turns out to have been quite a colourful character

We had more than a complete side, and enjoyed touring the countryside, the feast, dancing at the Guildhall and (as above, over the door of the pub we were visiting) disobeying "keep out" notices!
The sermon on Sunday was about David dancing naked in front of the ark of the covenant, followed by a warning that whilst Morris dancing was welcome in the town, we should keep our clothes on...

It's also 60 years that they've been doing the mystical Abbots Bromley Horn Dance:


(rather shakily filmed in 2006)

Kensington Tour

The power of the morris kept storm clouds at bay, and it was another lovely evening.
Ezra and I cycled up on our tandem.

Only five dancers plus John on his concertina, but still a decent, and apparantly well-appreciated show.
We entertained the folks outside the Elephant and Castle then clanked through Kensington to theUxbridge Arms , as welcoming as ever, with an interesting audience including a witch straight from the Festival of Mind and Body.

One of the things I like about tours is the walking through the streets in kit with bells ringing etc. Putting kit on transforms you from a mere mortal into a morris dancer and it's the most natural thing in the world to be there. (I'm not sure how much that makes sense)

Cecil Sharp House May Fete

Peter J had a call along the lines of:
"Hello we're having a May Fete the weekend after next, and the Morris Men we had have let us down can you step in...?"

Which turned out to be the English Folk Dance and Song Society's at Cecil Sharp House

We were honoured to be able to go and help out, and it was charming. Nice to join in some of the other dancing that was going on too.

More about the show, including photos in this blog now.

Islington Tour

This didn't seem like it was going to happen, as quite a few men had last minute problems that stopped us getting there, but too late to actually cancel.

Reassuringly, the men that did turn up still had a good time ("A rather boozy night" was one report). I had the sticks and couldn't go, but John turned out to have something like pick-axe handles in his car...

The dancers from Clockwork Morris that Jeremy have been teaching turned up and made a complete side for a Balancy Straw and a Bampton Side-step.

Hey Nonny Nonny! Only Six Weeks Till the Nights Start Drawing In...*

It didn't rain all the time at Kew Gardens' Woodland Wonders on Monday, but it rained a lot and it rained quite hard.

The audiences still showed up and applauded from under their umbrellas, so we danced on. Two men slipped over in puddles. Roland danced his first public dance with us, and went off to another show he's doing - London with a swing about London history.





Eventually the sun came out and we were rewarded with a splendid audience who stayed on after the minstrels to see us, and all joined in a chaotic performance of something that seems to be emerging: "The Bonny Green Hokey Cokey".






There were other creatures here - and you can see Queen Charlotte in the background of the minstrels. We wished her husband a swift recovery from his melancholia, and applauded her and Joseph Banks for the fine surroundings.






And we met a tarantula.








* Quote from a famous Giles cartoon...

London Pride on YouTube

Here's our YouTube video, courtesy of Roland John-Leopoldie of Farlando.

It's part of a longer project that Roland is working on, and was filmed at a practice before Easter.

During the practice Roland and his friend Christian proved to be good dancers - and Roland will be dancing with us at Kew Gardens' Woodland Wonders festival on Monday

Out with the Deptford Green Man

Peter Judge and I accompanied Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Green Man, and the City of London Green Man on the traditional May Day activities.
My camera had died, I'm afraid, but there are other's photos here (Sarah Croft's), here (Richard Sanderson's, where I've linked his photo of me from) and here, with a video (the London SE1 website)

I was lucky to be released for most of the day on Tuesday, but I think next year it would be something I'd take leave to do. It's always on the 1st May.

I hadn't noticed before that Peter J had already blogged this...

Bloomsbury

A fairly quiet evening getting back into the swing of dancing out.

The Norfolk Arms never looks too promising at first, but when we get going an audience emerges almost from nowhere.
It's a restaurant pub now, I think last year it was closed for refurbishment.

At the Rugby Tavern we were joined by a visitor from Poland/Saudi who seemed to know all the steps - John Bienias over here for a week's leave.

Fowlers Troop and the Deptford Jack

Peter and I had an enjoyable day out with the Deptford Jack, this year joined by the City of London Jack, for a tour that took in Leadenhall Market, the Gherkin and St Paul's.




There were plenty of green people, and a certain amouint of drinking.





Bemused City workers greeted us, and Spring was welcomed in.

St George's Day at No.77

We had a very pleasant St George's Day evening at the No 77 Wine Bar & Restaurant
(in Mill Lane, West Hampstead)

courtesy of Jensen, dressed up as St George, and an appreciative audience

Excellent food too!

Desperately Seeking Morris

Our last practices of the spring were enlivened by Roland John-Leopoldie and Christian (sorry I don't know your surname Chrisitan) joining us.
He's doing a 10 minute film entiltled "Desperately Seeking Morris" starring Christian, as an African professor coming to England to research Morris Dancing.

We're the dream sequence where he finds us... We spent an evening dancing the Bampton Sidestep with Christian while Roland filmed us. Now we're looking forward to seeing the film!

Some of Roland's stuff is here

Finsbury Town Hall ceilidh

It was the official opening of Finsbury Town Hall as a dance venue.
Jeremy's been involved with it, and asked us to come and help with the inauguration.

We also danced around Jane Pfaff's maypole, and joined in with the general dancing.

There were a lot more people there than in the photo, which is Noah and Ezra sorting out the Maypole before everyone arrived.

Dancing for the BBC in Portland Place

We were asked to come and teach people some morris dancing for the BBC.
The programme was about the madness of the licensing law, which means that pubs need a special license when there's music being performed there.
Or if pubgoers have a sing-song.
Though not for them to be shouting all evening watching football.
It's part of a series about nutty laws under Labour.

Anyhow, it turns out the premise of the programme was that a pub in London used to have a sing song and what loophole could they use to get round the law.
They could get away with it if the pub was on wheels, or if they were all carrying placards.

Or, if they were Morris dancing. Morris dancers are exempt.

So, we all came in and danced a dance (wonderful place to dance, I wish I'd had my camera), and tried to teach them to do some.
Which would have been alright, but they wanted us to dance to sing-a-long songs. Knees up mother Brown, A long road to Tipperary etc.

We tried, but I think the exercise showed that it didn't work.

33 Portland Place is a great place. it felt somewhat surreal. It's like a stately home that's been used for raves and such like.

You can sign an online pertition about the licensing law here

Humbug! Scrooge in South London

For the next week and a bit, Peter J can be seen dancing on stage, nightly, in the South London Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol.

We're talking chocolate box production, a cast of thousands, and fabulous costumes - including the jingling jacket knocked up by wardrobe. The director thought plain whites would be too pristine and we needed some green to go with the production.

I asked for a tattered jacket, and got what you see - a shirt with bells on. It's murder trying to put it on and take it off quietly, backstage. I'll bring it on tour next year perhaps!

Many thanks to the excellent James Denny of Thames Valley Morris Men, who plays a variety of squeezeboxes throughout the production, and persuaded the director to put the dance into the show.

There are more photos here.

This was a dress rehearsal. Before anyone asks, for the actual shows, I have been wearing white socks!

AGM and Feast at the Prince Albert in Battersea

A lovely afternoon and evening in the upstairs room at the Prince Albert, just opposite the park gates.

We had our AGM, checking what sort of things to do next year, reviewing this ones, resolving to do the things we'd forgotten since last year's AGM, worked out the holes in the bagman's (my) reckoning etc...

...and then danced for the afternoon. I love the surrealness of dressing in kit for our AGM and dancing for ourselves.

We formally gave Ezra his baldrick, then feasted for the evening, with toasts to absent friends, the Queen, and the immortal memory of Cecil Sharpe; and singing till late.

Many thanks to Michael Runge for finding and arranging the pub.

Teaching the TES

"It is as if someone has snipped off the coner of a peaceful Cotsworld village green and dropped it down in this heart of city darkness," says Times Educations Supplement Journalist Stephen Jones.

We taught him some Morris one evening, and he wrote up his experience of in today's paper. Part of the story is here.

Here's a scan of the whole article - with Antony's "gimlet eye", and Ezra's skills coming in for special mention.

Ordinary Boys miss their chance

Poised for massive success, pop group The Ordinary Boys could have had it all.

We've never heard their music, and haven't seen Big Brother where lead singer Preston made an appearance.

But now, with their latest video in production, they were ready to take the next step: Morris dancing.

London Pride was booked for a part in the video, as one element of a multi-faceted performance. With our addition, their success was assured.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. One day before filming, we were told the video was "massively overbudget" and we weren't needed. We should unstrap our bells and go back to normal.

We are very sorry. Without our help, the Ordinary Boys may struggle on to some sort of fame. But just think lads. Without Morris dancing, will it really be worth it?