Briggate

Busy Briggate Morris

2011-08-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last few of months we have had a busy time.

On the 26th June, we had a fantastic day aboard the trains at Keighley and worth valley railway, for the Oakworth Village morris men day of dance. We danced on the platforms or Howarth, Oxenhope and spent a sunny afternoon dancing in Haworth, at The Fleece pub and the Bronte Parsonage museum. Thank you to Oakworh Morris a lovely day of dance, and for ordering the sunshine for the day.

Briggate's trying to find a bit of shade from the sun

After a fantastic weekend, we met up with Wakefield Morris on the Monday. We danced at the Grayhound pub in Saxton

Wayzgoose weave

And finally, one of Briggates Favorite dance outs arrived. POTTIES!!!!! Briggate's LOVE Potties. We all set off Friday day/afternoon of the 1st July, to get down as early as possible and hit the sea (after tents were put up). We spent the evening at the Lobster pub, catching up with old and new faces, and having a few drinks to start the weekend off.

Saturday came, and the sun was shining. We all boarded the bus to the center of Sheringham, and lined up for the parade.

We danced around Sheringham for both Saturday and Sunday, and finished the weekend off with a Plymouth Reel in the sea and lots of lovely ice cream.

And just this weekend we were at Bonsall Well dressing, with fantastic sunshine. We paraded behind all the themed tractors, such as the wizard of oz. After the parade we were asked to dance outside the "garage" and then were treated to a few cold beers. We then did a bit more dancing further down in the village and then by the end of the day, ended up at the Barley Mow pub where we stumbled across a 21st Birthday party who were very eager to join in the dancing.

After a few dances and a few tunes, we all headed back to Jenny and Micks for tea. It was a really nice weekend, and see you all again next year.

So that's than for a week or so. We are dancing on the 20th August at Whitby Folk Festival and then its Briggate 25th Birthday dance out. Exiting stuff!

Potties 2011!

2011-07-06T03:49:00.001-07:00

The first weekend of July means one thing to Briggate... Potties weekend. The weather was as expected; hot and sunny for all three days, which allowed us to enjoy the delights of Sheringham including fish and chips on the prom and swimming in the sea.We of course squeezed in a bit of dancing this year and were joined by a very small Leeds Morris contingient. Potties is organised in such a way that the side gets to dance in a great variety of spots will nearly all of the other sides making it just as interesting and enjoyable for the dancers as it is the spectators.

We were especially impressed this year by the Young Misceliany folk dance group who danced all styles of morris, clog and contry dancing to a high level. The youngest members were only 5 but still managed to keep up with the older members! The 10% 'in kit' discount meant we enjoyed more than our fair share of fish & chips and ice creams, and of course Potties would not be Potties if it wenrnt for the now legendary sea dancing!

Thank you to the Lobster Potties for putting on yet another great weekend by the sea.

Forest of Dean: 40th Family Weekend

2011-06-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

A bus load of Briggate and Leeds members ventured down to Gloucestershire the village of Soudley in the Forest of Dean.

We arrived late, with the light fading and rain pouring and attempted to put up the tents. Some of us managed it, some decided to sleep in the hall.

Saturday we got on the coach for a tour of the forest. The first stop was the Beechenhurst Lodge Visitor Centre where all of the teams danced. We then headed across the boarder into Wales to Tintern Abbey.
We danced at the nearby pub where we had a brilliant buffet lunch and then got to dance in the Abbey. There was also a few pubs stops along the way there and back.

Back at the campsite we were treated to a hog roast supper before spending another night listening to the rain pouring down on the tents.

Sunday sadly was a total wash out and the plan to dance at the Heritage Centre was scrapped. We instead invaded the local pub (not for the first time that weekend) for an indoor dance before enjoying a farewell lunch. We then packed up camp and set off for home.

Happy Birthday!

2011-06-08T01:59:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to Katherine who turned 18 last week. We celebrated on the Thursday dance out at the Abbey Inn with LMM.

The fab cakes were made by Elly and Katherine's sister.

LMM Dales Tour 2011

2011-06-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

We joined Leeds Morris Men for their 59th annual tour of the Yorkshire Dales over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

The location again was the (usually) sleepy village of Burnsall. The weather was unfortunately quite wet and windy at night and intermittently showery during the day, which didn't stop us dancing but caused a few problems on the campsite, with one novice camper in his £20 Aldi tent nearly being blown away...

Friday night Aizlynn presented us with our new side fleeces.

This year our Saturday tour (AKA the 'I can see my house from here' route) took us through lower Wharfedale via Ilkley, Cracoe, Linton, Grassington and back to Burnsall.

On our way we encountered two wedding parties, the second of which was at the Red Lion in Burnsall. After watching for a short while the Bride and Groom (OK so the very enthusiastic Bride and her very obedient new husband) joined in with some of their guests for a slightly dare devil, tipsy round of Plymouth reel, complete with facinators and 6 inch heels.

The Bride then treated us to a fantastic Irish Jig.

The evening do was when we got to demonstrate our much anticipated chicken dance. (Click on the image for video)

Brigate Girls dancing as chickens :) on Twitpic">

Sunday was a quieter day with a little bit of dancing at the village pub in Burnsall, followed by the second outing for the chicken suits when Simon and Alun did a chicken jig of their own creation.

Monday we were again on the coach firstly to Kettlewell for the usual mass dance and then over to Wensleydale where we visited Wensley, Middleham and Leyburn. The day finished with the closing ceremony and mass dance back in Kettlewell.

Sheringham Little Theatre - Two Minutes of your Time

2011-05-19T09:47:00.000-07:00

Briggate Morris will be appearing in the Premiere Show of "Two Minutes of your time" at Sheringham little theatre on 22 May as part of the Crab & Lobster Festival.

Our "2 minutes" are promoting the fantastic Lobster Potties Festival, which Briggate attend every year, with a Celebratory splash in the sea.

So if your in the Sheringham area on the 22nd of May, be sure to pop along. It's FREE ENTRY!

JMO Sheffield

2011-05-19T06:18:00.001-07:00

This year, JMO was hosted in Sheffield, and what a fantastic day it was. JMO (Joint Morris Organisation) is made up of the Morris Ring, Morris Federation and Open Morris, coming together for a day of dance and more or less taking over Sheffield city centre for the day.

The dance spots around Sheffield were really nice, and all the water were lovely. We met up with all the sides at 10:00 for the Opening Ceremony at the Cathedral. Throughout the day we danced ate the Cathedral, Leopolds Square, Fargate, the very pretty Peace Gardens and Winter Gardens, Hallam Square and back to Fargate. We then finished the day by meeting up with all the other sides on Tudor Square for the Closing Ceremony. Elly and Katherine took over as Squire for the day and between them did a great job. The power also went to Elly's head, and now she is ranting on the current Squires toes, but at least she has stopped flashing people now.

There was about 1000 Morris dancers all together from all over the country. Sides such as the Leicester Morris Men, Boggart's Breakfast, Ripley Green Garters, Bunnies from Hell, Rhubarb Tarts were just some of the sides that appeared on the day.

Holmfirth Festival of Folk

2011-05-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

On the 8th May, Briggate entertained the crowds on the last day of Holmfirth's Festival of Folk.
It was a lovely sunny day, as we danced around the center of Holmfirth along with Slubbing Billys, the Jig Crew, Thiving Magpie and many other sides.

We were also joined in a celebration with a Jig Crew and one of Dorris' Briggate groopie's also joined us in her absence. He was a very good Briggate girl, and we hope to see him again sometime soon. Dorris however did not get to dance, as Rob was playing for us along with are other fantastic musicians, but we seemed to have swapped Briggates fiddle player for a Slubbing Billy. How odd. I do hope our fiddler is returned soon.

It was a lovely festival, with a nice atmosphere. We hope to see you all again next year.

May Day 2011

2011-05-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

May day 2011 got off to the traditional chilly beginning, up the Chevin for a 3.30am start to the dancing. Buttercross Belles and Wayzgoose joined us later on to see the beautiful clear sunrise. We had the usual horn blowing and singing of Hal an Tow before we headed back down the hill to Dunnies by the river in Otley for a fry up. Congratulations to Bea and Geraldine for doing their first public dance outs (even if it was under the cover of darkness!)
A couple of professional photographers turned up, hence why we have some amazing photos in our slide show. Thanks to Rick and Julia! (Check out their flickr accounts here and here)

Aswell as being on the Chevin, we had a member of Briggate, along with a Leeds Morris man dancing down under. Briggate go global!

On the Bank Holiday Monday a small side joined Leeds Morris Men at Rothwell carnival. After a short procession from the Church to the Maypole we watched the crowning of the May Queen and had a bit of a dance. We then headed up to the lumpy grass arena for two further dance spots during the afternoon. This was Caroline's first dance out so congratulations to her too!

There were plenty of stalls to browse as well as falconry displays, a small fun fair and a Punch and Judy show. The weather was as it has been for the past month, warm and sunny. Lovely!

St. Georges day at the Abbey Inn, Kirkstall

2011-04-26T03:45:00.000-07:00

This year we celebrated St. Georges day 2011 by dancing at the Abbey Inn, Kirkstall, on a red hot Saturday afternoon. We danced Millshaw out for the first time (well some of us did as its an old dance, re learnt) and it looked really good.

It was a really nice sunny day, and we had 11 dancers and 4 musicians which was fantastic.

Above: Millshaw Capers

Dancing at the Abbey Inn is a lovely place to dance (if a little difficult on the hill), and the the audience enjoyed it as much as we did. We managed to dance the majority of our repertoire, and our newer members of the side had a chance to experience dancing out all the dances they have learnt over the winter. We did small dances, such as Green Willow, as a set of 4 but we also could get the full side dancing with four sets of Golbourn, and 3 sets of Kirkstall garland and Chevin Shindig.

We had plenty of volunteers to join in our circle dance, and they all were smiling away.

Golbourn without Dorris.

Dorris Morris' brother Rob also joined in on a couple of dances, dancing in his new clogs for the first time. It was a pity that Dorris could not join us, as she has been practicing really hard but unfortunately she was having wardrobe problems so Rob kindly joined us in her place. Its a funny old world but i don't think i have ever seen Dorris and Rob together. Its either one or the other. How very curious.

At about 3:30 a man at the bar said that at 4:00 the Weather Man said it was going to rain. We all laughed, and didn't think that it was at all possible. 3:50 came and we were lining up for our last dance and it was still glorious sunshine.

Just before the end of Golbourn at 4:00, the heavens opened and there was a massive downpour which lasted 5 minutes, but drenched everything, and everyone especially Morris dancers.
Was somebody trying to tell us something?

And in proper Briggate style we finished off in the pub (as we got rained off between the sun of course). We also learnt from Rob that he and Dorris don't get along very well, and rarely see or speak to eachother, hence the reason that we don't ever see them together. Something about Melodeons and dresses but that's another story.

So, that's St. Gorges day! Our next dance out is Sunday the 1st May. Mayday obviously. Up on the (Otley) Chevin at 3:15. See you all there, bright eyed and bushytaild!

Leeds Dental Students.

2011-04-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

On the warm Sunday evening of the 10th April, we entertained Leeds University's international dental students and even got some to join in the dancing. We took over the car park at the Faversham pub, behind Leeds Uni, and had about 25 students doing a mass Plymouth reel.

Number 1 Reel

Heel, toe, heel

Cross step

Back step

Dance off

Great Yorkshire Morris - Leeds Spring Equinox tour

2011-03-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

A group of our youngest dancers (All under 30!) joined Great Yorkshire Morris on the annual Spring Equinox tour of Leeds last week. We danced to large crowds on City Square, Briggate and Albion Street and were even at times joined by guitar playing buskers and serenaded by hymn singers as we danced. Congratulations to Elly and Katherine for doing their first proper dance out in Briggate kit and thanks for GYMM for once again inviting us to this day of dance.Great Yorkshire Morris Men fighting on BriggateLeeds Morris Men floating on BriggateMilltown Cloggies dancing on Briggate Briggate on Briggate

Dancing on City Square

Folk for Fun - The final

2011-03-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday night saw a fantastic end to the "Folk for Fun" sessions which took place on Wednesday nights throughout January, February and March. Along with Great Yorkshire Morris, Briggate took part in teaching the "fun people" different styles of Morris, from Cotswold to Rapper, North-West to Ceilidh dancing.

A huge thumbs up from Briggate, to Katie and Pat who took part in a lot of the teaching, but unfortunately neither could make the final night.

Great Yorkshire hosted the final Ceilidh, which four fantastic sets performed our dance, Golbourn. They were excellent. (Unfortunately we have no footage of this, due to technical hitches, so if anyone has any pictures/videos of the final dance, they will be much appreciated.)

We performed Chevin Shindig as our display piece, and Great Yorkshire did a Rapper dance. Thank you to the Pool village girls football team for providing us with yummy Pie and Peas, and we hope the money you raised get you to the finals.

As a result of these classes, 3 new dancers attended practice last night and did very well. We hope to see you next week.

One more thing: Happy 18th Birthday Elly. Hope you enjoyed your weekend, 3 Tankards and 3 Cakes. Have a jolly clogging time today, picking them birthday clogs up. x

Ceilidh Ceilidh CEILIDH!

2011-02-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

On the 19th of Feb, along with the Rhubarb Tarts, we danced at Elizabeth-Briggate and Peter's Ceilidh in Whitkirk.

Happy Anniversary Elizabeth and Peter
Love from Briggate xxx

A message from Fylde Coast Cloggers

2011-02-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

I received a card in the post today that reads:

'Dear Briggate

Thank you all so much for coming to our workshop and showing us all "Any Road Up" I am sure you realise just how much everyone there enjoyed your session. Special thanks to Cathy and Pat, for the teaching is hard in a big group, but thank you also to everyone else for supporting the learners so well.

Hope to see you soon

Best Wishes from Sue'

Folk for Fun

2011-02-07T01:18:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with Great Yorkshire Morris we have been attending some 'Folk for Fun' sessions at Pool in Wharfedale village hall.

The sessions are a mixture of Ceilidh and workshop dances and has been good fun so far. We have managed to teach the attendees most of 'Golbourne'.

The remaining dates are Wed 9th and 23rd Feb, 2nd and 9th March.

Details are here and I even got a piece about it onto Guardian Leeds!

Fylde Coast Cloggers - Workshop with Briggate Morris and Leeds Morris Men

2011-02-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 5th Feb, Fylde Coast Cloggers held a workshop and invited us to teach a North West dance to some other teams and also invited Leeds Morris Men to teach a Cotswold dance in the afternoon.

A few sides attended including Fylde Coast Cloggers, Singleton Cloggers, Newbrough Morris and Persephone. It was our first outing in our new team t-shirts so had a photo with everyone wearing the new t-shirts.

The day was also our two newest members first official dance out, Ellie and Catherine started dancing with Miscendi at Notradame Sixth Form College and joined Briggate in September. Both did very well and to the right is a picture of them sporting the new Briggate T-Shirts on the day.

Now, we all know that morris men should be hairy and smelly but this is getting ridiculous!! Alfie is the new member of Leeds Morris Men and is a very lively one at that!! Below is a picture of him in his kit along with his Mummy Aizlynn (Briggate).
Here we see Derek (a less hairy Leeds Morris Man) and a member of Persephone learning our North West dance 'Any Road Up'.

Pat was teaching the dance and here she is watching on as Ellie dances with Simon and Alun (Leeds Morris Men), hopefully with an approving look on her face.

You can never say that our Briggate boys do not live up to their reputations, here we have Simon having the Briggate girls inn fits of giggles and as always, Guy eating all the cake!

Later on, in the afternoon, Leeds Morris Men taught two dances, one stick dance and one hankie dance. The stick dance was much fun and took its toll on poor Alun as he buckled under the weight of his pile of collected sticks. In the background you can see Derek and Rob rushing to his aid.

Each set danced the dance through at the end.This is Leeds Morris Men demonstrating the hankie dance which they taught to us, this was much more complicated with the stepping and took a lot longer to get your legs and arms to do what they should be doing and when they should be doing it.

Briggate learnt the Cotswold dance all together in one set and below is a picture of our Briggate set learning the dance and looking very confused by the stepping.

Briggate's Cotswold dance of the day (including one Leeds Morris Man).

The end of the dance.

At the end of the afternoon, our hosts treated us all to cake, and guess who was one of the very first ones up to a slice? GUY! ha!

Yet another picture of Guy and cake.

A BIG thank you to Fylde Coast Cloggers for a very well organised day and all the lovely food and treats!

Thankyou to all the sides that took part in the workshop as well and we hope to see you all next year to learn a couple of new dances

Merry Christmas

2010-12-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

We have had our final practice for the year this week, joined by two Hungarian students who were interested in learning about English folk dancing. They did very well as it happens, just goes to show absolutely anyone (female) can join Briggate, just come along and have a go!

Next practice 10/01/11

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Harewood Autumn Glory - Food, Folk and Fun!

2010-10-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

We were invited to dance at Harewood House for their Autumn Food and Folk Festival. When we arrived at the courtyard for the first dance spot of the afternoon, it was very chilly. We reluctantly removed our coats and started out with a dance called "Chevin Shindig".

Here we are dancing "Green Willow" in the courtyard.
At times there were more musicians than dancers, as we danced "Chandos Five" with five dancers and eight musicians.
Chandos Five
Kirkstall Garland
We were treated to Tea and Coffee in the cafe, which was very much appreciated. Guy as usual had to sample the cakes. He actually behaved himself for once by only having half a slice of a creamy Victoria Sponge (opposed to 8 slices of cake in one sitting)
We went to visit the penguins that live at Harewood House. We were very pleased that they were in team colours, minus the yellow.
A few Briggate's with the Penguins
Smile...
At the end of the Tea Break, we were venturing up to the next spot and stopped to watch some traditional crafts. Yorkshire Hurdles where there, demonstrating green woodworking. http://www.yorkshirehurdles.com/index.php

A part made flower
We also had a chance to make some Corn Dolly's at the craft fair. Here is Lucy making a Heart shaped dolly for her hat.
The finished product (on the right of the hat)

The second dance spot was in the craft fair, which was in grouped together Teepee tents.

Once we had fulfilled our crafty needs, we thought that we'd better do a bit more dancing, so the musicians warmed the audience up by playing a couple of tunes.

Briggate dancing in the Teepee

After we had finished dancing, the very nice Corn Dolly lady said how much she had enjoyed our dancing and gave Hannah a corn dolly for her hat.

And of course we had to have a group picture of the day.

It was very much enjoyed by all and we hope to be invited back again.

Autumn Fair at Holme House Care Home

2010-10-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

We were invited to dance at the Autumn Fair, for the residents of Holme House Care Home near Cleckheaton. As it rained, the musicians stayed inside as three brave Briggate's ventured out to dance Kirkstall Garland.

Brian in the window

The rain got worse and worse so we danced the Plymouth Reel in two sets of three, inside the home. At the end we joined up into a big circle and danced around the visitors room to finish the dance.

Plymouth Reel

And Chevin Shindig

Highfield Care Home and Lotherton Hall.

2010-09-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

On the 30th August, we were invited along with Miscendi Morris to dance a the Highfield Care Home BBQ in Barkston Ash - Tadcaster.

Miscendi Morris at Highfield Care Home

After dancing at Highfields, both Briggate and Miscendi went to dance at the near by stately home; Lotherton Hall. Each year Leeds Morris Men do a Leeds parks tour, consisting of Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam House. The final dance spot is usually at Lotherton Hall, but unfortunately this year Leeds Morris couldn't perform.

Briggate and Miscendi were asked by LMM if they would like to keep the tradition going, and with two Leeds dancers and one musician we kept their annual day of performing Morris dancing at Lotherton Hall on the bank holiday Monday. Hopefully next year they will be able to continue with their tour.

Briggate and Miscendi (Can you spot the Leeds Men?)

Whitby Folk Week 2010

2010-09-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Whitby Folk Week 2010 Briggate Morris attended the first Saturday of Whitby Folk Week and danced on the sea front to entertain the crowds.
The weather was fine and dry and Briggate had an excellent turn out of dancers for the day.
Here we dance 'Whitby Shindig' a dance which our youngest dancer (10 years old) had learned especially for the festival.

We also had a good turn out of musicians including out miniature musicians all kitted up....
At our dance spot we were joined by Persephone and Leeds Morris Men..
Chandos 5 taken from low with the lovely Whitby blue sky overhead.
'Swing Bridge' while dancing 'Whitby Shindig', this picture looks as if it was taken from when the bridge was broken but all was fully operational on the day.
A picture of the side on the harbour front including some of Leeds Morris Men who are also our musicians.
As we danced 'Kirkstall Garland' on the harbour front, the festival photographer was filming and asked if we could do the dance again so that he could get a better shot of it, so later we went up to the Crescent Garden to dance for the filming.

After the afternoon of dancing and of course dancing the procession to the band stand, you can always find a Briggate or Leeds dancer in the pub!

Although some were rather more tired than others!

Every night of Whitby Folk Week there is a Ceilidh of which everyone enjoys. Here are some of the side having a good old time on the first night of the week to start the week off!

Above (Left) : Briggate Morris and Leeds Morris Men on Whitby pier.

Left: Little Briggates checking out the view.

On Sunday we thought it would be nice to have a team trip to the beach and have a dance in the sea, below is our quite soggy version of 'Celebration' and a sea-weed inspired 'Chevin Shindig'.

The Thursday night ceilidh was a theme night and was in the theme of 'Mo'town' so Briggate all dressed up in 1960's getup.....all in the name of fun!We sought out the scratch Cotswold morris of the week and found a Leeds Man amongst them.
Later in the week, two of Briggate decided that they were fed up of being too girlie so a little boy Briggate was in order. The final showcase at the end of the festival was danced with 'Silkstone Greens'.
The garland being paraded back to the Spa ready for the final Ceilidh.

The children of Briggate are no strangers to getting dressed up silly either, here is one dressed as King George as he paraded through the streets of Whitby for the Friday afternoon procession.

.....And this is what happens when you do not wear the correct kit!A trip on the Bark Endeavour was very enjoyable,to hear all the sea shanties on board and also get a taste of true sea life when it came rushing over the side of the boat!!

Bonsall Carnival & Well Dressings 2010

2010-08-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Once again we were delighted to be invited to this bustling Derbyshire village to perform at their annual Carnival & Well Dressings.

Yet again we were hosted by the wonderful Biggin family who have made us so welcome in previous years.

This year we were happy to be joined by Ripley Green Garters Morris & shared the parade & venues with them.

We joined the parade as far as the Market Cross where we performed by the decorated well (& the Kings Head Pub).

Then rejoined the parade & processed as far as the Auto Garage where we danced & were treated to a buffet lunch.

After lunch we performed by the Village Hall Well & then, leaving Green Garters behind, repaired to the Barley Mow for a music session & yet more dancing!

After a couple of beers & some tunes we retired, exhausted but happy to the Biggin residence for an excellent meal provided by the tireless Jenny.

We sincerely hope to be invited back again next year!

"Here come the Girls!"

LMM Lakes Tour 23rd-25th July 2010

2010-07-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Briggate were invited by the Leeds Morris Men to join them on a tour of the Lake District to celebrate their 60th year.

We had an amazing turn out with 11 dancers on Saturday and 10 on the Sunday meaning we could do some real NW dancing!

We were also joined by our two newest dancers, Julie and Thea on their first dance out.

Going Potty in Norfolk!

2010-07-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw a decidedly young Briggate side venture down to Sheringham in Norfolk for the annual Lobster Potties Weekend of Dance.

The journey got of to a slow start when the hire car, erm locked itself with the keys inside before we had even left West Park! Thanks to some clever tricks from Chris the AA man we were soon on our way!By late evening everyone had arrived and we converged on the Lobster pub for an evening of socialising. Allan- a LMM and honorary musician for the weekend, spent a lot of time weeping. Maybe he was missing his pet frog at home?On Saturday we did a bit of dancing, and watched the many other sides who were also there.The youth of the side..... having an afternoon nap.
The weather was hot hot hot- so we went to the beach after dancing for our now annual dance in the sea and a bit of a swim too. Ice cream, fish & chips, owl mascot cake and ale were of course consumed in healthy quantities.Then the bottom fell out of Hannah's world (well her tankard at least!)

Another evening was spent 'socialising' at the Lobster. There was all sorts of music including a great little gig from the Ugly Dog skiffle band outside in the forum.The last day of dancing was a more relaxed affair, before we packed up and headed home along the terrible A17!

A few photos from the last couple of dance outs...

2010-07-06T01:06:00.000-07:00

We once again visited Haworth to join Oakworth Village Morris Men on their annual weekend of dance. The weather was very hot, and the world cup was on so the enthusiasm for dancing was slightly diminished, although we did have an enjoyable day with a ride on the steam train and some ice cream to cool off after dancing!

The following Tuesday we joined Miscendi and Wayzgoose in the annual walking tour of Otley. The weather was good, and cooler for being in the evening. We started at the Maypole, stopped at the Junction pub and then finished in the Bayhorse yard for a mass dance and excellent beef and dripping sandwiches (cheese for the vegetarians!).

Tong Village - St James Church Fundraiser.

2010-06-06T09:16:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos from a lovely afternoon at the village fete in Tong in aid of the Church.

Starting them young whilst Brian shows us how its done!

How many Morris Dancers can you fit in a Polo?

Dales Tour 2010

2010-06-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

Briggate Morris were delighted to again to be invited to the Leeds Morris Men annual tour of the Yorkshire Dales. This is the 60th Anniversary year for the LMM and the 58th time this tour has taken place.

The location as usual was the beautiful village of Burnsall.

Saturday was damp weather wise, but that didn't stop us enjoying the tour. We made stops to dance at Cavendish Pavilion, Skipton, Kirby Malham, Malham, and finally Settle for the mass dance.

After lunch in Malham, we got to explore the Malham Safari which was being held! We also had some very nice tea and cake in the Safari Cafe (aka village hall).

In the evening we enjoyed a feast of a meal and then got to watch each side do a 'turn' for the entertainment. Leeds Morris Men did their mummers play.

Briggate were again joined by Doris and Daisy and 2 of their friends, Daphne and Dolores to dance the Plymouth reel. Thanks to Hannah for supplying the facial hair, I think we all looked terribly distinguished!Sunday was more relaxed, with dancing at The Buck Inn in Buckden and The George Inn at Hubberholme. After the evenings BBQ had died down we were read a bedtime story by Ben.

Monday we were up bright and early to get on the coach. There was a mass dance at Kettlewell, followed by a stop in Buckden. We then drove to Wensleydale for the next few stops.

In Bainbridge we tried to recruit a new dancer, Isobella from Australia, who is travelling in England for a few months.We then danced at Haws at the Creamery where Wensleydale cheese is made. We discovered they also make really good ice cream.

There was then a quick stop in Askrigg before we returned to Kettlewell for the final mass dance of the weekend.

Dancing, beer and long coach journeys= sleepy morris dancers

Thank you to the Leeds Morris Men for inviting us to such a well organised and enjoyable weekend.

2010-05-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

"The girl's dancing were hand stitched by Val Gomersal (28 hours) and those waiting for the show to begin were hand and machine stitched by Betty Bertrand (30 hours). The original photograph had dustbins rather than bushes in the foreground; photoshop and french knots and voila not a bin in site."

"Are these the Ladies of Briggate Morris Dancers? Hopefully someone may be able to identify the individuals."

YES!!!!....Can anyone name them, then?

Looks to be Cathy on the front left on pic 1 (?)
and Pat on the left of the second pic (?)

http://leedstapestry.blogspot.com/2010/05/community-spirit-morris-dancers.html

'A Grand Day Out' - Southport Swords day of dance.

2010-05-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Southport Swords' day of dance was on Saturday 15th May 2010.

All the sides that attended congregated at Liverpool One in the morning and from here were given their dance spots for the day.

There were lots of sides on the day:
Argarmeles Clog, Addlington Morris, Brigate Morris, Britannia Coconut Dancers, Clerical Error, The Earl of Stamford Morris, Heage Windmillers, Horwich Prize Medal Morris, Inclognito, Leeds Morris, Milltown Cloggies, Mucky Mountain Morris, Newburgh Morris, P.R.A.T.S. (Patley Real Ale Tasting Society),Longsword Rochdale Morris, Saddleworth Clog & Garland Waters Green Morris and White Rose Morris Yorkshire Chandelier.

Our first dance spot was at the Maritime Museum by the historic Albert Dock. At this spot we were joined by Leeds Morris Men, Britannia Coconut Dancers and Southport Swords. We had a good few dances and had a bit of time for a quick look round the museum before going to the next spot.
(any better pics of Southport?)

We then danced at the steps at Liverpool One, we were joined again by Leeds Morris Men and later found that the Britannia Coconut Dancers had been and gone before we had even arrived in favour of the pub! Moss of Leeds Morris Men in his usual fashion had lots of the public joining in with the dances including a street cleaner who was getting very much in on the action with his mop.

In the afternoon we danced on Paradise street with 4 other sides. A stag on his stag do also came along and got dragged in on a dance with Milltown Cloggies (as he matched their kit they didn't want to miss out on the opportunity). At the massed dance, each side did a display dance to finish off the day. A thoroughly fun filled day and the weather even held out, a great day had by all.

A Grand Day Out with Briggate Morris

2010-05-05T03:18:00.001-07:00

After a full weekend of dancing, we finished the May Day bank holiday off with a Monday afternoon at Bradford Industrial Museum. We were invited to dance at their 'A Grand Day Out' event.

Although the sun was shining at the first dance spot, on the first note of 'Chevin Shindig' the heavens opened and we were bombarded with hail stones.

As we were hailed off, we went to dance inside the museum amongst the mill machines. The sound of our clogs on the floor and the surrounding machinery brought an air of authenticity to the dancing.

Later we danced back outside (in between rain showers) under the covered stable entrance. This was another nice spot as we were able to use the space to show the figures in a good area and also had to have a team photo of the day on a Victorian Horse Coach.

Briggate Morris at Bradford Industrial Museum

A really good day had by all - on leaving for the day we took a glance at the visitors comments book which two of the young spectators had signed to express how much they enjoyed the morris dancing.

Knaresborough Day of Dance

2010-05-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday 2nd May saw Briggate joining Betty Luptons Ladle Laikers, 400 Roses and Clogarhythm for a day of dance in Knaresborough.

The morning was spent at Henshaws arts and crafts centre, which is a charity for people with visual impairments. Its an interesting place full of colourful art installations and walled gardens decorated with all sorts of handmade items. There is also a cafe and gift shop.

We danced in the garden, where the weather just about held before having a buffet lunch.

The afternoon slot was danced in front of the castle and despite the biting wind, a reasonable sized crowd held on to watch.

Betty Luptons had a huge side for the day and performed some great mass dances with up to 14 dancers.
Clogarhythm had a member dancing out for the first time, but you would never have known as the dances were so well rehearsed.
400 Roses mesmerised us with their unique style of fusion tribal bellydance.Brian was particularly impressed by them.The one thing I really love about days out with the morris is that you get to visit some interesting and beautiful locations. Knaresborough was no exception.

May Day 2010

2010-05-01T03:49:00.000-07:00

In usual tradition Briggate were up on Otley Chevin at 03:30 well before the dawn (and well before the Buttercross Belles!) in order to see in the summer.

It was dark and cold when we arrived, and we started out dancing with only the moonlight for guidance. Gradually the sky began to lighten in the East and by 04:15 when the Belles joined us we were starting to be able to see where we were dancing.

Moonlight over Leeds

Otley

Briggate at dawn (also known as 5:30 am, Bedtime)!

Buttercross Belles dancing, with the lights of the Airport behind,
and the first signs of dawn showing in the East.

The dawn was met by horn blowing and the singing of Hal An Tow. After a couple more dances it was time to make our way back to Otley for some well deserved breakfast.

Hopefully there a few more photos and videos to come...

Amounderness Day of Dance - Chorley

2010-04-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

On the 24th April we once again attended the day of dance in Chorley hosted by Amounderness Ladies Morris. Other sides in attendance included Wakefield, Singleton, Powderkegs, Fylde Coast, Solway and the Ecclestone Clog Dancers.

The day was incredibly well organised with a dance time table that rotated the teams through various spots in the town centre meaning we got to see all of the other sides dance.

Horsforth Fours

Powderkegs

Celebration with Wakefield

Fylde Coast Cloggers

We were provided with plenty of tea, homemade cakes, and huge sandwiches to keep us going through the day.

Thanks to Amounderness for inviting us!

St.George's Day - Crossgates

2010-04-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

For this years St Georges's Day Celebrations we were invited to Crossgates methodist church. The Church was hosting a party and we were treated to a lovely dinner including chicken with salad, and red and white cupcakes!

We performed a few dances in the hall, although our clogs made such a racket on the hollow wood floor we completely drowned out the music!

Later in the evening we moved to the city centre to meet with Leeds Morris Men at the Midnight Bell pub where we performed 2 more dances.

Plough in Staining

2010-04-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Monday 12th April was the 30th wedding anniversary of Alison and Derek. Alison danced with Briggate when they lived in Leeds and Derek danced with Leeds Morris Men but both still regularly attend dance outs throughout the country for both sides.

As it was their 30th anniversary they invited some of the numerous morris dance sides that they have danced with in the past to have a mass dance out at 'The Plough' in Staining, Lancashire. Along with Briggate there was Singleton Cloggers, Fyled Coast Cloggers, Jig Crew, Wakefield Morris and Flag and Lamb Rapper.

Alison and daughter, Sarah both joined in to do 'Plymouth Reel'.

Singleton Cloggers

Flag and Lamb Rapper

Fyled Coast Cloggers

Later in the evening, The Matthews' family did a dance together.The dance is called 'The Lively Dance'.

Fyled coast had also made a song up for Alison and Derek and handed out song sheets for all the other teams to join in. It was sang to the tune of 'I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly' and the words are below:

Burton Salmon School

2010-03-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

We were asked to dance at Burton Salmon school's Easter Eggstravaganza event. On arrival to this lovely village school we were provided with tea and homemade cake.

Once refreshed we performed Kirsktall Garland for the children and some of the parents and teachers before the children joined in with a dance. We then danced Chevin Shindig our Mayday dance. We were fortunate that the driving rain from the morning had cleared and we were even treated to a short burst of sunshine whilst we danced!

We were greatly honoured to then be asked to judge the Easter bonnet competition. There were some amazing designs including one made entirely of Lego!

Thank you to everyone at Burton Salmon school for having us- we had a lovely day!

Great Yorkshire Morris' Day of Dance - Leeds

2010-03-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

Saturday 27th March was Great Yorkshire Morris' day of dance in Leeds City Centre. The day coincided with Leeds Morris Men's AGM so they joined us for a dance in the afternoon along with other sides such as Persephone, Medusa.
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Great Yorkshire Morris
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We started the day in City Square and danced for a while there:

and later moved to Briggate to dance some more dances.

As we were on Briggate and the name of our side comes from this street in Leeds, we thought we it was a good photo opportunity which then turned a little silly!!

Fylde Coast Workshop - Lytham St Annes

2010-03-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 27th February we were invited to Fylde Coast Cloggers' annual workshop. Their guest side who was teaching the dance was 'Newburgh Morris' who taught a garland dance called 'Lancashire Rose'. We all enjoyed the day and loved learning the new dance which we may later teach to our side and add to our own repetoire. ..................................Cathy, Rob and Lucy who attended the day.

'Lancashire Rose'

In the afternoon we all had a chance to try out somthing new with a Rapper workshop lead by 'Lamb and Flag' in which we learnt the different movements of the sword dancing and stepping in between figures.

This is us learning the dance

.......and this is how it should look!!!

Guy who plays for Fylde Coast Cloggers also comes along with us somtimes to play our tunes along with our regular musicians............as long a there is a treat in store!!!

Later in the evening, we attended the Ryburn Three Step Celidh in Brighouse. It was the first time we had been to this celidh but we saw some familar faces and had a very lively evening.

Haiti Fund Raiser - Iveson Fitness Group

2010-02-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 6th February we were invited to dance by a keep fit club at Iveson Primary School in Leeds, at their charity fund raising day for the Haiti disaster.

We arrived to start dancing at 3.00pm and demonstrated two dances 'Chandos 5' and 'Black Rod'. After we had shown the group 'Black rod', we then taught them the dance, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

Above : Lizzie-Briggate and her aray of many caps!!! :)

Here are some photos of the afternoon...

This is our demonstration of 'Chandos 5', good high knees girls, keep up the good work!

The group being taught the chorus of 'Black Rod' (nice straight lines - very good).

A blurry 'Crossover' (1st figure of the dance)

The next figure is 'Stars' as shown above.

The final figure is a 'Cast' (down the middle of the set in two's), before parading off together to finish the dance.

Above is a video of the fitness group demonstrating their finished dance - they were all very quick to learn the dance and very enthusiastic.

All in all, a very fun and exciting afternoon, thanks to the keep fit group at Iveson Primary School for the invite to help with such a good cause and a wopping £650 was raised on the day.

Practice makes perfect!

2010-01-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

Its cold outside and the snow is still on the ground. The long hot summer days, sitting with a tankard of ale outside a picture perfect country pub with the jingle of bells and melodeon music in the air seem a long way away. Morris dancers however are not creatures who hibernate, the work still goes on, practising to perfect dances and to learn new ones.

Here is Hannah and Lucy showing us how to do 'Celebration'

If you are thinking of joining, this is the best time as we are currently teaching dances to our newer members. We meet every Monday evening rain (snow) or shine in Horsforth. Send us an email or give us a call if you want to give it a try... it keeps you fit and is a lot more fun than going to the gym to burn off the Christmas calories!

2009-12-29T06:32:00.000-08:00

Just came accross this in the Morris Fed news letter. Some of you may know about it already but its a nice little piece of history for Briggate. :)

http://www.mfnewsletter.info/2009-winter.pdf

Morris 18-30 - Pontefract.

2009-10-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

''So... what's it all about then?
Morris 18-30 provides a network for young Morris Men. Its primary activity is to organise an annual weekend, hosted by a Morris Ring side, to which all young Morris Men are invited. Morris 18-30 also seeks to represent the views of all young Morris Men''.
http://www.morris1830.org.uk/home/On

Sunday 11th October, a small number of Briggate Morris (3 dancers and one musician) attended the Sunday dance out in Pontefract as local guests. We danced at the Buttercross with the 18-30's made up of mostly Cotswold morris men from around the country. Sides included; Leeds Morris men, Pontefract morris, Jig Crew and many more. Wakefield Morris Dancers also joined the 18-30's for the Sunday dancing.

We did a couple of dances (Chevin Shindig and Kirkstall garlands) and to finish, Sarah and John (Wakefild morris) joined us to dance Celebration. At the end of the afternoon, the 18-30's did a huge mass dance, started off with the squire of 09 and ended it a huge circle off all the men which was very impressive.

Later most of the dancers retired to the pub, where we all had a nice session and a few beers!!

Morris: A life with bells on Cinema Trip

2009-10-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

A small group of dancers from Briggate joined the Leeds Morris Men and Buttercross Belles at the Hyde Park Picture House on Sunday to see the new Morris film 'Morris: A life with bells on'.
There was a bit of a dance outside the Royal Park Pub, and then some dancing outside the cinema before we all went in and took our seats (after first removing our bells) to watch the film.

You can see the trailer fro the film here

The film was very funny and reasonably accurate and we all really enjoyed it!

Otley Folk Festival

2009-09-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

Briggate didn't dance at this event, but many of our members attended either as spectators or as members of other sides. Here are some photos:

does anyone else have any other photos to add

UPDATE: Morris a life with Bells on.

2009-09-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

Briggate have now decided to attend the showing of the film on the 27th September at Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds.
http://www.hydeparkpicturehouse.co.uk/

We will meet at the Royal Park pub on Queens Road at 2pm to dance then walk to the Hyde Park cinema on the corner of Brudenell Road and Queens Road, get to the cinema around 3pm, dance at 3.15pm. The film starts at 4pm.

We will be joined by Leeds Morris men, Wakefield Morris, The Buttercross Belles and possibly Persephone, Rainbow morris and Miscendi.

Whitby Folk Festival

2009-08-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

It was a bright & sunny day in Whitby, we met at "The Plough" at 12:00.
There were 12 dancers & 4 musicians.

We entertained a large crowd for over 2 hours & really enjoyed ourselves.
The sailing ship "Grand Turk" made an excellent background.

We were joined by Jig Crew with their inimitable dance style & also a dancing dog!

Thanks to all who came, (or tried to).

Stanhope Court Horsforth Garden Party

2009-08-12T04:24:00.000-07:00

29th July 2pm, Stanhope Court Horsforth

"I just wanted to say a huge thank you and well done to you all for yesterday.

The early feedback I have had was that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and thought you guys were fantastic. I really liked the way you explained about what your dances and things meant.

I’ve also name dropped you for the post press release that we will hopefully get out into the local papers (usually the Wharfe valley Times).

In total we raised £168 for Marie Curie which I am really pleased about too.

I don’t know if you got chance to speak to Jean (House Manager) personally but I think a couple of the other ladies did and I’m sure I over heard her talking about getting you back up here to dance for the residents at some point and maybe for you guys to use it as a rehearsal if you have new dancers or dances. If you do ever have any ideas you are very welcome to either pop in or drop me an email here.

Many, many thanks again and I will be in touch when I get the photos.

Kindest regards

Rachael" Sales Consultant.

The Owl, Rodley

2009-08-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

We were invited to perform at "The Owl" in Rodley, by Rainbow Morris. The weather was overcast but warm & Rainbow made us very welcome.

The dancing went well with both teams doing individual dances & joining forces for some others.Some of the audience joined in & a fun time was had by us all.

Morris: A Life With Bells On!

2009-07-27T15:09:00.001-07:00

Briggate will be attending the screeaning of 'Morris: A life with Bells on, on the 27th Sept 2009 at the City Screen, York - 14:45. A large number of teams will be going 'IN KIT' to mark the occasion and there may be dancing before-hand outside the cinema.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO BOOK TICKETS!!!!!!!!
MORRIS: A LIFE WITH BELLS ON

Shared via AddThis
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''Dear Followers of Morris

GREAT NEWS!
Thanks in no small part to you, we have a deal with the Picturehouse/City Screen chain of cinemas to give Morris a national release from the 27th September 2009.

The film will open on the following screens on that Sunday, so save the date and let’s make the 27th of September into St Morris Day!

The Little Theatre, Bath
Exeter Picturehouse
Harbour Lights Picturehouse, Southampton
Regal Picturehouse, Henley-on-Thames
Cinema City, Norwich
Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford
Stratford on Avon Picturehouse
City Screen, York
The Cameo, Edinburgh
Belmont, Aberdeen
The Screen at Oxted
The Screen at Reigate
The Screen at Winchester
The Ritz Cinema, Belper

Other dates and venues will be added, but I wanted to let you know the good news straight away!

We could not have got this far without your help. We at Twist Films have been humbled by the support you have given us. Your emails, letters and comments on the petition have given us hope and laughter in our darkest moments. Your belief in the film has strengthened ours.

I would like to end with a comment from the petition:

“We will fight them on the Village Green.
We will fight them at the Villlage Fete.
We will fight them in the Village Pub.
And we will NEVER surrender!”

Thank you. This dance is for you.
Lucy''

http://www.morrismovie.com/

Bonsall Well Dressing 2009

2009-07-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

Once again we were delighted to be invited to the picturesque village of Bonsall in Derbyshire to attend the Annual Well Dressing Festival.

10 dancers and the musicians joined in with the parade on Saturday afternoon, following the carnival floats through the village. When the hills got too steep we left the parade and stopped outside the Kings Head pub at the Market Cross and danced for a few minutes. The brass band also stopped and played some tunes before the carnival passed back through the village and we were able to rejoin the procession.

We then stopped at the Auto Garage where we did another dance and then was kindly treated to some cold beers and buffet lunch.

After the refreshments we did another spot of dancing on the junction between the village hall and the playing field where the fete was being held, before we headed up the hill to the Barley Mow pub for our final dances.

There we were joined by a stag party who asked us if the groom to be, Ben could dance with us. Although his kit didn't quite match ours we allowed him to join us in dancing the Plymouth reel. We were very impressed with his footwork, not bad for a beginner!

Afterwards we relaxed in the Barley Mow with a well deserved drink (its hot work dancing up and down hills in the blazing sunshine that we always seem to get in Bonsall). We had a great music session... even the dog joined in! The Landlord also played a tune for us on his accordion.

From the Barley Mow there was a bit of a ramble across a 'shortcut' back into the village!

In the evening we all gathered at Jenny and Mick's (Nicolas parents) where Jenny had laid on a huge feast of a buffet! Whilst some of us had to leave early for the long drive back to Leeds, others were able to camp overnight in the village.

Sunday was a quieter day and 3 of us managed to make it to the church service at 9am..... the 'Vicar of Dibley' is tame compared to what we encountered there! We then went for a lovely walk, a quick lunch, joined in the blessing service for a couple of the wells then had to sadly pack up to come home. We could have also danced in the church on the Sunday morning and also at the wells in the afternoon. Perhaps that's something for next year if a few more people can stay over to the Sunday.

Bonsall is a beautiful village and the Well Dressing is a lovely occasion that we all enjoy. Thanks to Nicola and her family for arranging for us to go!

Fylde Coast Weekend 09

2009-07-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Briggate were invited to participate in the Fylde Coast Cloggers Weekend of Dance in St Annes, Lancashire.

We arrived at our accommodation (The Fylde Scout Centre) on Friday evening. After pitching our tents and refuelling on soup, bread, tea, cake and (most importantly) wine, we spent the evening in the hall with the other Morris sides present. People took it in turns to sing, dance and play music to the group.

Saturday we were up bright and early to dance in the centre of St Annes as part of the carnival day. There was dancing in two locations in the High Street. We were joined in our group by Singleton Cloggers, Jig Crew and Fylde Coast Cloggers.The carnival atmosphere was helped by the presence a cake stall, tombola, face painting, charity collectors in fancy dress and musicians placed in various locations through the town centre.

We headed back to the Scout Hut for lunch where our hosts had put on an excellent buffet, including salads, quiches, pies and pizza with trifle and chocolate cake for pudding.The afternoon was spent dancing in the Piazza in Lytham. This time all the teams were together so we got to watch Fiddlers Fancy and a guest side from Holland called Maids of the Mill.

The Piazza was an excellent place to perform as there was plenty of room to dance about in and there was a good sized audience with the passing shoppers and people sat at the adjacent cafe. We finished with a couple of mass dances in which all of the sides participated.The evening was spent back at the Scout centre, were we had dinner and a Ceilidh led by the Festival Ceilidh Band.

Mid way through the evening, (after a few beers had been consumed) there was a chance for each side to do a party piece.

Fylde read a poem about dancing in the olden days when people had to make do with what they had to hand, and proceeded to dance with sticks made from rolled up newspaper.

Maids of the Mill started their turn by singing the Banana Boat Song dressed only in grass skirts and swimsuits. At the end of the song much to every ones amusement they began Morris dancing, using banana skins as hankies!

Briggate danced the Plymouth Reel, joined by our special guest Doris and ~~his~~ her friend Daisy.

The Jig Crew finished by performing their potentially dangerous and painful looking tray dance.
The dancing on Sunday morning started by the Band Stand on St Annes sea front. The sky was grey when we arrived but soon brightened up. We were joined by an additional side for the day, Regency Rejigged. The elegant genteel Regency dancing was an interesting contrast to the Morris!

The Matthews' kindly invited the side back to their house for lunch, (where Alison showed us her swish new bathroom) before we moved up to Fairhaven Lake for the final dances of the weekend.

Thank you to our hosts the Fylde Coast Cloggers for again organising such a great weekend!

Links:
Fylde Coast Cloggers
Regency Rejigged
Singleton Cloggers
Fidlers Fancy
Jig Crew
Maids of the Mill

Lobster Potties Weekend of Dance.

2009-07-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July 2009, five Briggate dancers plus one Wakefield and a Musician danced at the Potties Festival in Sheringham, Norfolk. We met up at 10am in the town, where we processed around the streets with 20 other sides, until we reached the arena. We danced a few dances, and then moved on to the next spot.

It was a very hot weekend so we decided to have a paddle in the sea after dinner, which turned into a full blown dancing opportunity. We performed a dance called 'Celebration' which had been recently taught to us by one of Wakefield Morris's dancers (the plus one). It was very exhausting and we got very wet but we had a nice cool kit on for a couple of hours that afternoon!!

We danced at many spots throughout the town and ate lots of lovely creamy ice cream. We were also fortunate enough to dance one of our dances with the 'Lobster Potties' (the hosts of the weekend) which made it look even more impressive with all the different colours from both sides kits.

At the end of the each days dancing all the teams congregated at the main arena where all the teams did a mass dance. Each team in tern went onto dance their final dance of the day followed by a mass dance which all the teams joined in. This was a traditional Cotswold mass dance called 'Bonny Green Garters' to finish off the days dancing.

Birthday

2009-07-01T04:07:00.000-07:00

Excellent dance-out in Otley, girls & THANK YOU for my birthday party.

Love you all.
Brian.

Otley Walking Festival Dance Out

2009-07-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

We were invited by the Wharfedale Wayzgoose to join them and 2 other sides- Kitchen Taps Appalachian and Thieving Magpies in their walking tour that they hold to coincide with the Otley Walking Festival.

Last years event was a complete washout, so we were thankful when the thundery rain that had been pouring down in Otley all afternoon stopped just before we were due to start dancing.

We met at the maypole and had a quick dance there, before we walked down to the Junction Inn and did 3 dances. The tour then moved onto the yard behind the Bay Horse Inn, where we did our final dances.

To finish Wayzgoose invited everyone to join in with one of their dances. It was a lot of fun but complete chaos as there was about 30 people with big sticks trying to dance around a tiny yard!

Afterwards we went 'back to the Manor' for food and drinks. Whilst we were there we also had a little sing song for Brian who was celebrating his birthday.

The walking festival runs until the weekend, so there is still time to take part in some of the activities.

Otley Walking Festival Programme
Wharfedale Wayzgoose
Kitchen Taps
Thieving Magpie

Start of the season - 2009

2009-06-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

"We've had a really good start to the season with several new dancers now dancing out. I wrote a list of people and we now have 14 regular dancers at practices with Rob and Brian providing excellent music each week for us. We've also got several more people who are hopefully going to come along to practise, and others who come to dance out with us or who come to play music for us at danceouts, everyone is always very welcome.

Our first dance out was at Henshaws Art and Craft Centre in Knaresborough. We had a great day with about 8 different sides taking part. If you have never been to Henshaws it is definitely worth a visit. There is a large sensory garden and the story tree is very impressive. There are also some really good folk evenings coming up.. go on the website to find out more.

Henshaws Arts & Crafts Centre

50 Bond End, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire HG5 9AL

Tel: 01423 541888

We braved Otley Chevin once again at about 3.45am on May 1st and once again we were the first side there and were later joined by Wayzgoose, Buttercross Belles and a photographer that we had already met at Henshaws. It was actually quite a mild morning without the biting winds of previous years and the sun rising was magnificent. It stopped everyone in their tracks and we all stood and stared whilst the man with the expanding horn blew a resounding welcome to the summer!

The next 2 events were in May at the Bradford Industrial Museum, both very enjoyable. On the first occasion there were some good crowds due to the Bank Holiday and on the second occasion we were lucky enough to dance inside the museum in a space amongst the mill machinery. The sound of the clogs was amazing and on both occasions the dancing was impressive.

The Dales Tour weekend was really good as usual. We actually had a warm and sunny weekend and met up with lots of old friends.

We managed to dance out one of the new dances that Alison Matthews taught us thanks to Alison being there to dance with us. Also, on the Saturday night 3 of us managed to join Sarah Matthews and John Earnshaw to dance the Celebration dance as one of the turns at the ceilidh. It's a great dance and worth putting in all the practise that we have been doing. It did rain at the final spot in Kettlewell but that did not deter most of the morris dancers and musicians and with the help of several pub umbrellas to keep the musicians dry".

Oakworth's Weekend of Dance

2009-06-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Today 7 of us (including 2 dancers borrowed from Wakefield) headed out to Haworth for the Oakworth Village Morris Men's Weekend of Dance.

We met at Haworth station, where we joined Oakworth, Beverly Garland, Coton, Kinnerton and Leeds in doing a couple of dances each on the station forecourt. We then all jumped on a lovely old steam train and travelled along the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway down to Oxenhope.

We did another dance on the platform there, before getting back on the train to Oakworth station. There we watched Kinnerton Morris do a quick dance before we all then got back on the train again and returned to Haworth.

We spent the afternoon dancing outside the Fleece Inn, and in the centre of Haworth Village. We found the cobbles and slopes of Bronte Country particularly tricky in our clogs, but we all survived!

OakworthVillage Morris Men website
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway website