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4/7/2025

All wales morris weekend 4-6/7/25

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Traveling from Swansea to Trefnant in North Wales through the scenic route spotting red kites and imaginary Man Sized sea Eagles (long story!). the mountains were, as ALWAYS BREATHTAKING. We travelled up on Friday the 4th arriving at Trefnant Village Hall and Playing Fields (for camping) to be warmly welcomed with tea and cakes by Clerical Error Morris, our hosts for the weekend. We met Friday evening in the local pub for a Sweyns Ey meal and refreshments (beer not great). Saturday day of dance was a coach trip to Conwy, with Sweyns Ey taking up the usual naughty seats in the back.

THE TOWN and castle are beautiful settings for Morris DANCING WHICH we shared our tour with Cardiff Morris. The historic atmosphere and bustling atmosphere of the town complimented the lively performances perfectly.

DANCING in SUCH an iconic location as Conwy Castle was a memorable experience with a fine audience gathered in the courtyard and around the battlements. We then moved to dance in the centre of town at Lancaster Square and then onto the Quayside which was extremely busy.

Finally all sides met back in the castle for the end of the day. The Coach returned us to Trefnant and some of us enjoyed 40 winks prior to the evening ceilidh which was hosted by Clerical Error musicians and caller. An interesting interlude with hilarious song and actions ensued at half time. Erin also won a nice bottle of rum in the £1 coin rolling competition.

We had a downpour during the night on Saturday but cleared nicely for taking down tents and Sweyns Ey shelter on the Sunday morning. All then travelled to Erddig House (Large stately home and gardens) near Wrexham to meet up at 11:00 with the remaining sides and Clerical Error for dancing around the grounds with a final after lunch spot for all sides in front of the main house. All then made their 4 hour journey back to Swansea (some taking in a more scenic diversion)

Article by Geoff Pics by Erin, claire, Alison, Morwenn, zep & Geoff

3/7/2025

The ship Porteynon & worms head, rhossili

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We had an extremely enjoyable evening dancing at these two pubs, situated on the western extremities of the Gower peninsular. The sun was shining and there was a good crowd sat outside at the Ship, who enjoyed our performance of nine dances which included Curly Boar and Rigs of Doom, as well as Banks of the Lea.

A quick drive to Rhossili revealed several people sat on the patio of the Worm’s Head Hotel and this is where we danced, with us having to be mindful of the strong breeze that cooled us but also threatened to blow straw hats from heads over the cliffs and far away!

We noticed one of the people watching us singing the song that goes with Postman’s Knock and it turned out he was from Towersey Morris and enjoying a holiday in the area.

We did a six dance injury curtailed set against views that can only be described as stunning! There cannot be many places as magical as this, with Worms Head in the distance and the towering slopes of Rhossili Down above the golden sands of a beach that stretches on forever!

We danced until the sun set, being well content with the evening tour at these two lovely locations. We must return!

26/6/2025

The village Inn & Railway Inn, Killay

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Our Thursday evening tour to these two smashing pubs was a bit of a mixed bag due entirely to the vagaries of the weather. We started at The Village and managed to get a substantial way through our 8 dance set which included Sheriff’s Ride, The Nightingale, Banks of the Dee, Curly Boar/ Trwyth Cyrliog, and Beaux of London City/Shooting Badby, amongst others. A deep darkening sky and few spots of rain contradicted the BBC forecast of sunshine for the evening, so we closed our performance with Bonnie Green Garters. Dancing here had been good as we had been able to muster two sets up for Balance the Straw. The very large umbrellas outside the pub had also ensured that our three musicians did not get wet!

The Railway Inn is just a short drive away. This fine pub is set in a deep, disused railway cutting, so the gloom of the rapidly deteriorating weather situation was amplified somewhat. Still, we managed to dance British Grenadiers before the heavens opened and poured down on us. The Railway has a fine array of ales with Wadworth’s 6X complimenting their own brewed ales, of which the Deep Slade Dark is a very fine example! The pub also boasts a very large marquee which enabled us to discuss tactics and to have a nice natter about the recent lovely weekend we had spent at the Vale of Evesham Morris Festival!

When the rain abated, we were able to deliver five more dances of our intended 8 dance set, with Y Gaseg Eira, Vandals, Rigs of Doom, Country Gardens, and Bonny Green Garters to close what was a very fine evening.

Pics by Paul.

20/6/2025

Vale of Evesham national morris weekend

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Evesham Morris Festival!
It was hot and it was sticky, but what a superb weekend we had in the good company of 40+ Morris sides of all denominations. The quality of dance styles on display was simply bewildering with Cotswold, Welsh Border, North West Clog, Molly Dancing, Rapper and Sword, step and clog dancing.
Our highlights were our al fresco teas eaten under the team gazebo in temperatures so hot the Brie nearly ran off the plate, just like it would do in southern France! The Friday evening ceilidh with Banter and The Seven Champions Molly Dancers performing faultless display dances with a complete absence of calling was amazing, and setting out the stall early for what fun we were going to have!
Saturday’s coach tour with Ledbury & Cuckoos Nest saw us visit Chipping Camden and the amazing pub, The Fleece at Bretforton where we enjoyed dancing, drinking and eating there, along with Pebworth Morris who were also enjoying lunch. There was one moment of high drama when a few spots of rain had Erin trying to deploy the Musoes brolly, only to put it up, inside out! We need a new one! A heavy duty golf brolly in Team colours is what we need.
Further drama centred on Alex D’s personal stick (he could not make the w/e) which had been left in the stick bag. It appeared as though someone had used it, without permission and somehow had absentmindedly left it by a car tyre, resulting in the stick’s partial destruction when the car drove off. There was little we could do but take the stick to The Fleece to see if it was repairable, which sadly it was not! See the photos!
We were coached back to Evesham for display dances in the Market Square where we performed Rigs of Doom, Bampton which went very well and drew praise from the audience! Further display dances were done at Abbey Park after we had taken ice creams which did little to cool us down. We were on early as performance number 8 and did Curly Boar which again drew praise due to the distinctly different figures and the tune.
We returned to our tents for a cuppa tea, more incredibly runny cheese, bread, wine and superb provender before heading to the Granny’s Attic gig which was excellent, and where Customs & Exiles delivered a blisteringly good half time spot of NW Clog which I think was Ripon no.9!
Sunday dawned slightly cooler and gave us opportunity to dance in the procession. Before doing so, we met a lady called Robynne who was Lancashire and Cheshire champion three years in a row, and was asking where Keith was.
The procession was done using Speed the Plough Bampton adapted for this purpose, following a path that led us to the Market Square and then our arrival there went slightly awry when a miscall on the previously discussed & agreed figure saw us go all over the place, demonstrating the importance of dancing what was called!
The side did Rigs of Doom and Valentines as our two show dances which went ok although placing the musicians behind the set led to slight disorientation in the hey of Rigs, but I think we got away with that!
The Rose & Crown pub in the square laid on large chilled water containers for rehydration, as well as Butcombe, Butty Bach and other ales in tip top condition, plus a huge pile of cheese rolls at a reasonable price to soak up the ale!
All that remained was for us to pack away gear, and return home, floating on a feeling of euphoria that this had been a truly excellent weekend which we must do again next year!
photos by Alison, Claire, Erin, morwen, sian & paul
Participants: Musoes Sian, Kev, Roger Dancers Alex H. Alison, Ben, Claire, Di, Erin, Geoff, Nigel, & Paul. Alison B and Morwen & baby Rowan also attended the weekend.

19/6/2025

King Arthur &Arthur’s Stone, Cefn bryn

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King Arthur Hotel & Arthur’s Stone, Reynoldston, Gower Thurs 19/6

The side danced at these two superb venues last night as a prelude to Saturday’s Summer Solstice. We are away at Evesham Weekend of Dance, and so last night was the closest we could get to dancing out locally.

We had a great and very generous crowd watch us dancing in the searing heat of the evening, which required Butty Bach Ale to rehydrate! Around 8:45pm we moved up to Arthur’s Stone on Cefn Bryn, finding several people from the King Arthur had come to watch us again!

photos by Paul
PS the sunset was sublime!

14/6/2025

Gower Folk festival

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The Gower Folk Festival was in full swing after a damp start on Friday night and Sweyn’s Ey Morris had the pleasure of entertaining crowds there from 11:30 until 1pm.

We performed 12 dances in total and got a lot of people joining in on a couple of them, with some promises to join us at our practices when they recommence in the autumn. Alex H’s stick broke but in fairness to paul who was dancing opposite him in Banks of the Lea, the stick was lightweight and probably terminally flawed. Erin captured that event on her camera, see the last two photos!

It was good seeing ex Sweyns Ey Morris dancers, George Causley and Andy Mackay and having a chat with them. Some of the Team stayed to see the acts performing in the marquee. Alex D was not enamoured with a beef burger that was served to him in the cafe, set up in the barn. It was total black carbon and definitely inedible!

A good dance out at this iconic site at Weobley Castle. Think our dances brought the sun out! Good effort from all the dancers able to turn out, despite some carrying injuries.
photos by Paul & Erin

12/6/2025

The angel & prince of wales, kenfig Part 2

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Part 2

claire took some fine photos of us dancing at the Prince of Wales and they’re Included below.

Pics by Claire

12/6/2025

The Angel & Prince of Wales,Kenfig

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Kenfig Thurs 12th June

A day of heavy rainfall gave considerable doubt as to whether we would be able to perform, but advanced forecasting apps suggested a dry window of opportunity around 6pm. Guess what, the forecast was correct and we congregated at a slightly dampened pub, The Angel at Kenfig and performed several dances to a small audience there. We did one dance, Lads O’Bunchum and then rain stopped play for half an hour! This gave us scope to revise our original dance list to reflect the dancers who weren’t afflicted with dodgy knees or bad backs!

We gave a good display of five further dances which included Banks of the Dee and the Banks of the Lea! The Angel was selling an excellent ale in the form of Black Sheep Velo!

The Prince of Wales is just down the road from The Angel, and whilst there were few people there, those that were gave praise, demanded to be taught a dance and provided us with two jugs of Bass which sort of glided down the throats of the side’s designated drinkers!

A great evening out in the end that looked highly improbable earlier on.

Pics by Paul & Alison.

5/6/2025

Gower Inn

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The weather prior to our planned weekly dance out at The Gower Inn was really shocking with heavy rainfall in the morning, but, the forecast said it would improve, so we we clung on to hope that it would, and it did!

The Gower Inn has been taken over by people who have definitely improved the place with a couple of ales (Gower Gold and Irreverent James) and a draught cider too. The food menu looked good and there are lots of attentive, polite staff too.

We were allowed to dance in the car park and so we did two dance sets of about thirty minutes. It was good to see Morwen bringing baby Rowan along with Ben. He even had baby Sweyn’s Ey kit on! Ahhhh! One time Sweyn’s Ey dancer Yotin also came along with his young son Otto who seems keen on what we do! Gwen, Ken’s wife, looked in on us whilst walking their dog and Joann Randles also popped in to say ‘Hallo’ and took a few pics of us with Paul’s camera!

As to the dances we performed in the first set, we did Grenadiers, Lads a Bunchum, Valentine’s, Curly Boar/Twrch Cyrlliog, Rigs of Doom and Vandals which fair wore us out, necessitating an ale break! The dances done in the second half were succinctly captured on a photograph of the side’s white board!

This was a good, enjoyable evening of dancing. Can’t wait for next Thursday’s gig at Kenfig!

Thanks to Claire, Keith, Joann and Paul for their photographic contributions and Geoff for arranging the tour, even though he was unable to join us on this occasion.

4/6/2025

Sandy Lane, pennard

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A much reduced side danced at Sandy Lane, Pennard at an event arranged for asylum seekers. A heavy rain shower forced us to dance in the large marquee, erected in case of such weather, and so we did Brighton Camp for four, and then proceeded to teach everyone the intricacies of this Adderbury dance. People seemed to enjoy the dance so we had to do two lots of it, so as to include all and to keep everyone happy! Lots of smiling, happy people!
Big Thanks to Andrea who took the photos.