This is the 2006 diary for Winterbourn Down Border Morris. Tte status shows whether a commitment has been made to dance at the event. The comments are for any snippets about or after the event. Further information will be added as it becomes available.
We practise most Mondays; for details click here. But in the summer we alternate practices in the village hall with practices at local pubs - a schedule is posted click here below. Regular practices in All Saints Church Hall start again on 25th September.
Date |
Event |
Status |
Comments |
| Sunday 1st January | Ring o' bells, Priston | Confirmed | We were invited to join Priston Jubilee Morris at midday to celebrate whatever still needed celebrating in this festival of celebrations. So we went there just to make sure it was all duly....um...celebrated. And to dance and sup ale, of course. |
| Saturday 14th January | New Inn, Blagdon 12.15 pm | Confirmed | Wassailing, with Priston Jubilee and Somerset Morris. If you ain't done wassailing yet, go to one of these. We were mostly Wassail virgins, but came back with a Wassail Queen. Or whatever. |
| Sunday 29th January | Caldicot Labour Club, Newport Rd, Caldicot | Confirmed | Dance workshop with Widders - 10am till 2, break for lunch, bring food but tea/coffee provided. What they didn't mention was that there was also beer available.... Which definitely helped them to learn two of our dances. They taught us two of theirs as well, but since we had a few motorways to circumnavigate on the way home, as well as a major estuary amidst other obstacles, our alcohol intake was sadly circumscribed. But it was still great fun. |
| Monday 30th January | Rising Sun, Frampton Cotterell | Confirmed | Drink and a gossip, to recover from the winter break and persuade ourselves that we really want to do it all again in 2006. I think the answer was yes. |
| Monday 6th February | Church Hall, Winterbourn Down | Confirmed | First practice night - but we might need one or two more before the year is out. |
| Saturday 18th February | The Globe | Confirmed | Annual meal. Arrangements sorted by John, good food, good bash, thanks John. |
| Wednesday 22nd February | Miners' Club, Coalpit Heath. 8pm | Confirmed | We handed over the proceeds of the Winterbourn Mummers and our Boxing Day Collection to Paul's Place. I'm reliably informed that we strayed from the traditional pattern somewhat during an innovative performance of Craven's Stomp. All performed with our usual flair, naturally. And if you don't believe me, here's the Doc handing over the cheque to Annie Powell. |
| Saturday 29th April | Upton on Severn | Confirmed | Folk Festival - in shortened form this year. And so were we, at the end of the day, cos we danced our legs off. Good bash. |
| Sunday 30th April | Rag Morris, Bristol Harbourside. 11-4. | Confirmed | Their 25th Birthday Celebrations. Rag collected their ancient members from the four corners of Morrsisdom. Some, it was alleged, had to be traced via the Police National Computer. (Topical political comment, this. Could become a bit opaque as the years pass by.) Nevertheless they still knew some of the steps, even though not a one of them was more than 25 years old. |
| Monday 1st May | Brandon Hill - Dawn sun up ritual | Confirmed | 4.45-6 am or so. No Sun Up. Many Rag alumni appeared in the gloaming, some almost upright after a heavy day of much birthday cake and just a little bit of liquid. Rainy and cold and windy - Sarah failed to put the handbrake on our stick trolley and it proceeded to blow away. Only saved from catastrophe by a nameless individual who appeared out of the dark and leapt on it. However, we worked our magic yet again and by Carnival time ( see next ) the weather was brill. |
| Monday 1st May | Winterbourn Down Village Fete | Confirmed | Two dance spots, at noon and 12.45. Always good to be dancing on home territory. Well danced and well appreciated. |
| Saturday 20th May | Charfield Primary School Fete, 1.15 pm | Confirmed | An afternoon spot, closely followed by.... |
| Saturday 20th May | Frampton Cotterell Church Fete 2.30 pm
|
Confirmed | ...this one, fortunately in the same county. NOT ONLY Morris Dancing , BUT ALSO Tug o' War. David and Hugh single-handedly beat the whole of Westerleigh Brass Band, instruments an all. In fact, it was such a pull-over that David had time to give us a tune on his banjo as well. What a man! |
| Wednesday 24th May | North Road Primary School, Yate 7-8pm |
Confirmed | The school is part of an exchange scheme with an Italian town, and we were invited along to demonstrate the local folk dance tradition to their visitors, to the accompaniment of a few well chosen words by Linda. |
| Saturday 8th July | Widders Chepstow weekend | Confirmed |
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| Sunday 6th August | Sidmouth Folk Festival | Confirmed | As usual we went down on the Sunday of Folk Festival week, busked on the prom and savoured the sea breeze, not to mention the beer and ice cream. Also we gawked at all the happy bathers, cos it was a beautiful day, and even some Morris dancers were observed getting their finery damp. And to round off a perfect day, my favourite group was still alive and kicking. |
| Sunday 3rd December | Worcester Xmas Fayre | After many subtle hints, suggestions and bribes in the form of Bramley apples from she who shall be nameless's glut, I have been persuaded into changing the status of this gig to CONFIRMED | An enjoyable event which we've attended in previous years. Massed Morris - could you ask for more - except maybe earplugs? 11am to 4pm or so. |
| Saturday 9th December | Staple Hill, Bristol, Xmas Fayre | Confirmed | Entertainment along the main street, ourselves included, starting at 2pm. Meet at 1.45pm. Be prepared to do battle with a mechanical organ. Ask Pete whether its well lubricated. |
| Monday 11th December | Newton Mill Camping & Caravan site, Bath | Invitation received, and accepted after careful consideration, mainly about the merits of Bellringer Ale which should be available. | This is an alternative to our Monday night practice spot, helping Priston Jubilee Morris to sample the delights of a venue for their next year's celebration. See the campsite's website for directions and a video of the facilities..... |
| Tuesday 26th December | Winterbourn Down traditional village tour This was the 2005 spectacular | Meet up at the Cross Hands, 10am for final make-up check and titillation of costumes. | Some firsts this year - a new St George, a new hat for the Turkish Knight, and a new version of John Smith, specially performed at the Cross Hands. This involved appearing to completely lose the thread of the dance, and to be whipped back into shape by an apparently irate Squire. But it was all put on, of course, we knew exactly what we were doing (who said that?) |
We are also on tour around the local pubs on summer Monday evenings. Post codes are provided this time, so Vanessa can write to us if she gets lost again. Generally we meet at 7.30 for an 8pm start, Morris time. Other Mondays, we're in the hall as usual.
Date |
Pub |
Village and Post Code |
Comments |
| Monday 22nd May | Anchor | Oldbury on Severn BS35 1QA |
Dancing in the Drizzle. But it was much less soggy than it sounds. Good fun, good beer. |
| Monday 5th June | Fox and Hounds | Acton Turville GL9 1HW |
A lovely June evening. Brian bust a gut in his concertina, and was reduced to playing his recorder. (Or is that a promotion?) Anyway, a first time out for a new Winterbourn Sound from our musicians. And Terry did a repeat of his part in Three Jollies, which he last danced 10 years ago. Did well, except that he had to be prised away from Carol at the end...... So, all in all, a standard WDBM evening. |
| Monday 19th June | Codrington Arms | Wapley BS37 6RY |
Nice pub, good beer, nice nosh (thanks, landlord!). Pity about the ceiling, for those of us who are vertically challenging. But what really made the evening special was that it was Terry's Birthday. He is now older than he was. He danced his favourite dance, Winterbourn Down Stick, and almost got it right! But then he has only been doing it for 10 years so far, he says. |
| Monday 3rd July | Bird in Hand | Saltford BS31 3EJ |
With Priston Jubilee Morris and Chippenham Morris. Too hot to dance, really, but we soldiered on and all did themselves proud. Alan was back (hurrah) from his deep sea activities, and regaled us with tales of underwater sightings of dolphins and mermaids and colleens. He'd been to the Outer Blarney Isles. We await the pictures. |
| Monday 17th July | Fox | Old Down BS35 4PR |
With Rag Morris and Pigsty. Another hot day, in fact the hottest day ever recorded (in Old Down, that is). But we coped admirably, though several of the men were reduced to shorts - heaven forfend - and we only had to do a third of the dancing 'cos Pigsty and Rag strutted their stuff as well. A large audience, and some of them even stayed to the end. |
| Monday 31st July | White Lion | Frenchay BS16 1LZ |
With Priston Jubilee Morris. We were there, they were there, but also, to round off the hottest July on record, so was the rain. A very high ratio of raindrops to morris dancing was observed. In fact, infinitely high. Rumour has it that we are going to repeat the meeting in September, when, as we all know, evenings are balmy and conducive to a spot of gentle twirling. |
| Monday 18th September | Globe | Frampton Cotterell |
With Priston Jubilee Morris. This is a re-match of the 31st July event, and will go ahead come rain or shine, given that we can always dance inside at the Globe if necessary. |
| Contact : WDBM Last modified December 27, 2006 |
