Go on...You know you want to!

Ever wanted to try

Morris Dancing?

Now’s your chance!

It’s fun!

It’s friendly!

It’s a great way to help get fit!

Join Chalford Stick  Company

 At their taster session on

Thursday  3rd October at 8.00pm 

(if you can’t make it, we’re there most Thursdays)

At Woodchester Village Hall (next to the Royal Oak)

Men/Women/Old/Young/Beginners/Musicians/

 Jaded Old Dancers all welcome!

Next chance to see us

Look, I'm sorry, I haven't posted a blog for yonks!

Then, when I do, I want something!

Please, please, please come and see us, (look I'm grovelling now, if you could see me, you'd see a fool on his knees!)

Wednesday 17th July 2013

The Three Horseshoes, Frampton on Severn

8.00pm Morris Time

It's such a great pub with amazing beer.  Might be my favourite.

Meet the side

Ray

or..as we like to call him...

Ray

Ray has now been a professional Morris Dancer for over fifty years now.  His expert knowledge on all things "Morris" is vital to our traditions.

He came to us a couple of years ago, having danced many traditional styles over the years and we have gradually brought him over to our style, and actually he's rather good.

Favourite Colour:                 Blue
Favourite 80s Rock Band:    Saxon
Favourite Dance:                  Unsquare Dance
Favourite Beer:                     Timothy Taylor

When not dancing for us, Ray can also be seen dancing with a proper Morris side Icknield Way Morris Men  they do an awful lot of dancing and I really do recommend going to see them.  One day, I will!

The Ship Inn, Brimscombe

Blimey!

What a great pub.  A really good size pub with some decent beer (Uley, Doom and Bob).  Good size restaurant and nice chirpy landlady.

Also some great punters, some of which we persuaded to join in the mass Princess Royal.

We also had a couple of lost border dancers turn up to join in and finish the evening with a good beer and a shanty.

Nice!

To have a look at all of our pics - have a look at our photobucket account.

Click Here

Next chance to see us

Wednesday 29th May

The Star Inn, Whiteshill, Stroud

8.00pm Morris Time

Those cool dudes of Lassington Oak Morris Men dared to ask us to dance out with them!

Expect Morris.
Expect Mayhem
Expect Beer

It's an immense pub too!

Meet the side

Dave

Dave is quiet.

Dave has a secret crush on Jane.

Dave avoided dancing for many years.

We broke Dave down.

We won!

Dave dances.

Well.

Next chance to see us

OK, back to more comfortable teritory for us!

A Pub, and what a fine pub.

Rose and Crown, Nympsfield.

Thursday 23rd May

8.00pm Morris time.

It's going to be a good one!

Next Chance to see Us!

OK Zider fans

Woodchester Cider Festival is here!

Cider, Sausages and Us.

What better way to spend a Saturday?

French for "Help Me"

Rodborough Common

5.30am

Chalford Stick Company and The Police.

No, we weren't with Sting et al in some bizarre reunion concert.  We arrived at 5.15, belled-up and ready to dance.

We danced, and waited, danced a bit more and lo and behold!

The sun rose in the most beautiful way.

A stunning, morning.

We danced some more and then started to leave to all go our separate ways.

Then Mike arrived.  Something about his alarm not working.

Hmmm...

Don't know what he's looking so pleased about!

JMO Day of Dance - Exeter

What a fantastic day!

A great side amongst great sides!  Lovely weather and a warm welcome from our hosts Great Western Morris.

Notice the new baldricks!

This is the new side of 2013 and we're ready to go for the year!

To me, the high points were getting through Valakeinen in one piece, dragging Beltane Border into a Princess Royal and the mass dance at the end.

Oh...and the Beer!

See you all at Upton!

Next chance to see us.

Joint Morris Organisations' Day of Dance 2013 Saturday 20 April 2013 This year's JMO day of dance is being hosted by  Great Western! There will be will hundreds of dancers from all over the country doing their stuff in and around the city centre and quay, and an hour's free Morris Taster Session  for the public at the Phoenix Arts Centre from 3pm. There'll be Clog and Rapper and North-West and Sword and Cotswold and goodness knows what.  The 40-odd sides will be grouped into threes and fours and make their way around a circuit of  city centre spots, swapping groups as they go so that things are as different and confusing as possible.  All of the tour will be inside the city's Roman walls:
So we'll all be quite near each other all the time, and travel between spots will be a doddle.  We'll end up at the Cathedral's west front processional way for a mass stand at 4pm. This table shows the day's programme from the point of view of the sides (teams). But please bear in mind that we're still getting requests to take part and occasional news that others can't make it any more. So check back again soon! We'll keep this as up to date as we can. And this one from the point of view of the dance spots: The Golden Gondola Awards The Great Western Academy will be awarding several  Golden Gondola Awards for conspicuous  contributions to the cause of Morris during the day.  Amongst a number of exciting categories will be awards for the Most Memorable Performance, the Most Entertaining Moment, and the Most Embarrassing Gaff. Members of the Academy will be watching out for memorable moments and taking nominations throughout the day, and are the only people with a vote. Bribery is perfectly acceptable. There will also be a public access workshop in the afternoon. The Phoenix will also host a Morris shop, and has a bar.
For more information: 01626 354705 or email great western morris
Parking on the day: Click here for information about Exeter city centre parking Click here for information about the Exeter park and ride service Weather: Exeter is the home of the Met Office! Of course there'll be weather.
The map below shows where the different sides taking part come from. Click here for more details
View JMO Sides 28-02-2013 in a larger map

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Blackbird

Well, it seems that during the Practice Season our musician, Doug has been a bit busy.  He came out to us a few months ago at the post practice pub session.

"I'm a thespian!"  He proudly announced.

Since then, every week he has been hard at work getting ready for quite a production.

Blackbird

Presented by Hexagon Theatre Company on 25th to 27th April 2013 at 7.30 pm.
Winner of the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award (Best New Play)

A tense, edge-of-your-seat drama. A man has an unexpected meeting with a woman from his past, and their earlier relationship comes under close scrutiny. Where will your sympathies lie? Will it be a clear-cut, straightforward choice for you?  What will it lead to?

No interval, but stay to enjoy a drink and discussion after the show.
Not suitable for children
Tickets £12

If you're around, it's at the Cotswold Playhouse in Stroud.  Knowing Doug as I do, it'll be absolutely brilliant.  Here's a link to the website to buy tickets, and I recommend you do.

Cotswold Playhouse - Blackbird

Jigs

The brave, apprentice fool decided in the spirit of things to go and learn the dark art of Jigs.

Jigs, basically are either solo or duo dances is the Cotswold Morris tradition.  In their very loneliness they are usually only done by the better dancers as they are also a very competitive part of the tradition.

So I took Old Pete with me for company and it was a brilliant day!

It was run by the famous Knights of King Ina www.koki.org.uk and we learned a great deal, plus there were some mighty fine ales on offer!  We even tried other styles!  Bledington and Field Town being the most, and were relieved to get back to our favorite, Ducklington.

Have a look at some fine Jigs as done by the Knights.

Meet the side

Spring-heeled Pete
This man doesn't just dance, he can fly!
Originally from Flatland, where gravity is far stronger, young Pete learned the finest, most vigorous Morris in the land.  He leaps with such gusto and joy that defies logic.  I personally don't think he's human, more of a will o' the wisp.  He occasionally comes to practices.  He sometimes turns up when we dance out.  Oh but when he does, when he does...something special happens.

If you are looking for Pete, look up!

Happy Yule

As above, have the Happiest Christmas time and the best of New Years from AF on behalf of Chalford Stick Company

Mumming

Yep


It's here again!

That time of year when some of the more daft amongst us black our faces, don our tatty jackets and stab each other with wooden swords.  All in the name of beer!

http://stroudmummers.blogspot.co.uk/

I'll give more details when I know where we'll be!

The Illustrious Order of Fools and Beasts Unconvention 2012

What a time, what a time indeed.

So, your intrepid Apprentice Fool hot-footed it down to Southampton area, leaving at 6.30 and arrived at 9.00. 

Walked into a Scout Hut full of rather odd-looking people looking slightly bleary-eyed.  I grabbed the nearest pesron and he told me to look for Bob, who would help me out.  On spotting said "Bob" I approached him.

"Bob?" I asked.

"Er..Rob" he replied and then took me warmly in and welcomed me to the fold.

We then were gathered all together and given full instruction for the day, with the main proviso being to be as foolish as possible without disturbing the dancers.

We then all boarded the coach and for once, everything went quiet.

In a short time, we arrived at a quiet Wickham Square.  A lovely little town square where we met with King John's Morris Men, Red Stags Morris, Wickham Morris Men and Some delightful Morris Kids of Swanmore Primary School.  Everyone had a dance in the delightful morning sun and much fooling and beastiary was done.

We then clambered back on the coach and various beasts were squashed into the luggage compartment (not to their liking) and we went off to Botley Square, another pretty little square, where again joined by King Johns Morris, Red Stags and Wickham Morris,  we danced under the morning Sun.  We even had our first Fools dance.

Slight walk to the coach again and we ended up at Junction Road at St Denys.  More dancing with King Johns Morris, Red Stags and Wickham Morris, and even a couple more dances of our own with and without sticks.  Not a huge audience for this one, but those that were, were very appreciative.  we then settled down for more liquid refreshment and a spot of lunch.  Particularly notable was the Havant Brewery ale, Stopped Dancing which led us all to some fantastic music and song played by our musicians, making one of those moments that you want to just bottle and keep.

Prised out of the Pub by a very patient coach driver, we headed off to Southampton Art Gallery where we were preveliged to see a specially displayed "The Morris Dancer", portrait of "feathers" Russell, an Eynsham dancer, painted in 1902 by Sir William Nicholson.  Having a quick wander round, lost me a while in the display of some fine Burne Jones paintings.  Meanwhile, some fine Morris Dancing was being done in the gallery.

We then wandered into the Town Square and continued as before with some excellent dances by the Fools and Beasts and particularly noticeable was the sight of Henning (a particularly crazy Dutch Dancer) vanishing off in the distance on a skate-board!

Back to the coach and off to the Horse and Jockey in Curbridge for more Beer dancing, including some more Fools and Beasts dances.  Finally as the light went, we arrived back at The Scout Hut, for a few calm moments before the Evening's frivolities.

Naturally, the best thing I could do was to arrange to stay the night in order to join in!

The feast started and  we had a marvelous meal cooked by some fine Morris Men/Caterers.  Some marvelous beer was quaffed, spirits imbibed and Toasts were made.

New members were inducted, including myself (with a very proud glow! - or was it the ale?)

 The rest of the night was spent watching more dances, a very impressive "Princess Royal" and some brilliant songs were sung.  The rest of the night was a blur and we all carried on until the early hours.

We then slept for a few hours, inbetween the sound of heavy rain, light snoring and various other noises until light.

After another marvelous breakfast, the AGM got underway.  Lots of talking meant that unfortunately we didn't have time for a course, being time to dash off for yet more dancing in the centre of Winchester.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to join, much to my regret, as I dashed off home, a Fool.

Meet the side

Elisabeth

A fine dancer.  You'd never know it, but Elisabeth is one of our originals.  Having danced since the craddle, she's also one of our most experienced.  Our gain is certainly everyone else's loss as she's also one of our finest.  So there you have it.  Original, experienced and one of the best.  'nuff said.  Ah...she does sometimes fall over during Chalford Hill.  See, she's not perfect!

Wimmin In Nympsfield

Yes, Nympys finest were out in force to see us last night.

Women In Nympsfield are a fine bunch of fillies who, rather than become part of the Womens Institute, have started their own group of Jam Makers (they're going to kill me for that comment!).

It's so odd that it was a) inside and b) dark, however such a marvelous floor that Young Pete was bounding around even more than usual!

After a good display, we grabbed them and made them join in.  Have to say, they did marvelously and would make some brilliant potential new members, although alas I fear that our loss is Zumba's gain on a Thursday evening.  We got nearly half way through Bobbin Joan and no-one had any bruises- result!

Marvelous tea and biscuits and a warm welcome.

What more could we ask for?

Just in case....

Just in case Eastenders was too interesting last week and you're planning to make your first tentative steps in Morris Dancing next week (20th September), don't come along to the Village Hall in Woodchester, you might upset the WI.  (and you certainly wouldn't want to do that!)

We will be strutting our stuff at Woodchester School that evening, so it's just down the road, same village, same time, longer walk to the pub afterwards!

See you there?