Highbury Tour - a lesson in calendar management

... for me
I'd done a first draft of the programme, then Allan pointed out that Thursday 22nd May was the same as the LP country dance evening. I seem to have just changed the "Thursday" to "Tuesday" and forgot the date. When Antony pointed out that there wasn't a Tuesday 22nd I looked in my calendar, where I had it down as Thursday, and though I must have meant the Thursday.

So it's probably my fault that not many men came along...



The photo is of Ezra warming up by bouncing a ball against the Compton Arms.
However he did treat the audience to a double jig with Allan, and Allan did a Princess Royal Jig too

Peter Judge joined us down at the Marquess Tavern, and we found a surprising number of dances that we could dance with 3 dancers, and either Peter on concertina or myself on recorder.
No photos of that I'm afraid as hands were busy.

A pleasant audience, and we enjoyed the evening, so all was not in vain.

Cecil Sharp House May Fair, Part II

Liz Hall, the Chair of the Friends of Cecil Sharp House, took these photos. Thanks Liz!

Cecil Sharp House May Fair, 17 May

We met a London Pride Jig Doll










Enjoyed the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library











And took part in the May festitivities.








Kitty danced her first jig in public - but don't call her a jig doll!
No photos of the morris or other dancing yet...

Warm up act for Danny and the Champions

A very pleasant evening, dancing at the Betsy Trotwood pub in Clerkenwell, as guests of Danny and the Champions of the World (Myspace preview here), and then listening to the bands.




Comparing accordion playing styles:

and crashing out in the cellars listening to music:

Some more photos from Kew Gardens

Woodland Wonders in Kew

Last year's Woodland Wonders at Kew were a bit of a wash-out, weather-wise, but we enjoyed them. This year, there was sunshine and big audiences with lots of children.





No photos of the whole side dancing, as my camera hand was busy







We had plenty of dancers, and Kitty and Hannah both performed.

Kitty joined in the maypole dancing.







Circulus were there again. Well worth checking out their Myspace page for medieval hippy music.






And there was a zipwire!


One small thing we could improve for next year: a volunteer to bring beer!

London Pride in Bronze...

I've passed this statue a million times, and never noticed the title.









We're pleased sculptor Frank Dobson decided to commemorate us









but he appears to have forgotten our hats and other regalia (and presciently sculpted women)

Mayday 2008 part 2 - dancing with Leaves

This year, the Deptford Jack progressed along the Thames between London Bridge and Waterloo. Peter K, Peter J. Ezra and Kitty joined in - catching up with the Jack just before Shakespeare's Globe.








We carried on to the Founders Arms, and then past Gabriel's Wharf











and on to the Bull Ring roundabout where -








the Jack took a sudden turn, under a railway arch and through a narrow doorway, into the Leaky Cauldron - sorry, the Hole in the Wall pub, but it all looked a bit Harry Potter to us.

Mayday 2008 part 1 - Dancing with Bees

This year, before we joined the Deptford Jack in the Green, Peter K, Peter J, Ezra and Kitty had an appointment with some bees.







On the roof of the Royal Festival Hall, is the Royal Festival Hive an experiment in keeping bees in a very urban environment, and part of a campaign to alert us all to the danger our bee population faces from disease and pollution.

We were invited along to dance for the bees, and produced a couple of jigs.


Myrtle enjoyed being on the roof of the Hall, and










Peter K and Kitty both got to taste the Royal Festival Honey






Photos mostly by Rebecca Fielding.

Here's some photos of Nkem on St George's Day. We're waiting now to see the documentary!
What impressed me was Nkem dancing on the way back after filming the final bit...

Out on St George's Day

Hooray for St George! We danced out with our friends, New Esperance, as well as the Hammersmith Men and the Old Palace Clog. No photos of us yet but we're hoping... Somehow, we're usually too busy dancing to take photos.

This one, from the Esps' Facebook page shows even a broken ankle can't stop a Morris dancer - or not Fiona, anyway!

London Pride Morris featured a first performance by Nkem, and also by Hannah Judge (that's why we were London Pride Morris on this occasion, not London Pride Morris Men).

Thanks for having us, ladies - we enjoyed the dancing of you and your other guests immensely!

Kitty Joins LP at the Tooting Bec Lido

Kitty danced out with London Pride for the first time at the Cold Water Swimming championships at Tooting Bec Lido.

It was a crisp sunny day, with plenty of audience - and the opportunity for a cold swim and/or a dip in a hot tub afterwards!

Our next booking -- Feb 9 in icy waters

We've been booked for the World Winter Swimming Championships on February 9 at Tooting Bec Lido.

We don't have to swim - we're dancing. And I think we could probably be described as the warm up act.

London Pride Feast 2007

It's a month since our feast now. We enjoyed excellent food courtesy of Michaal, and played, sand and danced in a very nice hall in Battersea.

The only photo I have is this one of the Kanssens in action.

And the biggest item of business was our decision to open up London Pride to include a mixed side, including Hannah and Kitty Judge - and anyone else who would like to join us, of course!

A festive display for London Lite

In the words of Cosmo Brown, "Dignity, always dignity".

London Lite asked us to prostitute our art, and dance with tinsel and funny hats for a promotional calendar. We said yes, for a small donation, so we spent some time with photographer Richard Ansett on Monday night. He clearly has the gift of getting the best out of his subjects - here you see him capturing the umpteenth take of a festive leap.

We like his other work, and hope to see more of him.

We also hope to see the final calendar.

Dancing with the Esps

We had a nice Saturday afternoon, on 29 September, dancing with New Esperance and some other sides. They were in London for the Morris Federation AGM - and taking a tour round some of the best pubs near London Bridge - so we joined them and, with the loan of a musician, took part.

Thanks for having us!

Our own section in Waterstones?

Waterstones in Piccadilly has a section labelled London Pride!

Strange though, I don't recognise any of the chaps on the magazines in the picture...