|
Sweyn’s Ey Morris danced out last Thursday. We did not have sufficient numbers who could make the Wednesday Solstice but we were close enough dancing the following evening!
We found the King Arthur at Reynoldston to be well crowded with people, eating and drinking there and many watched us dance our set of dances which lasted for over an hour during a sun drenched, warm evening. It really does not get much better than this. Sweyns Ey Morris really like this pub as it has all the ingredients for a successful evening out with a good forecourt to dance on, lots of people, good Ale, with the ever special Felinfoel Double Dragon or some of the guest Ales, and one that caught my eye was the London Pride which rarely comes this far west! We initially could only do hankie dances as someone forgot the sticks, but when these eventually arrived, all our dances went down well with the crowd. Highlights included Bampton Step & Fetch Her and Speed The Plough, Lichfield Vandalls of Hammerwich plus Sherrif’s Ride and Caseg Eira from Nantgarw. We left in good time to travel up to Arthur’s Stone and it was great being able to walk over open mountain terrain without getting wet, the whole area being very dry following an absence of rainfall for over a month. Despite the fact we had missed the actual Solstice, there were people up at the stone who came to watch. We did several dances from our Bampton and Adderbury repertoire, saw the sun set below a big wedge of cloud over the distant Preseli mountains of Pembrokeshire and then members of the side did some posed photo shots for Jo Randles, a professional photographer who took some very good pics of us a few years ago. Can’t wait to see those. Another great Sweyn’s Ey dance out! Words & Pics by Paul Tarrant
0 Comments
Sweyn’s Ey visited Llwchwr for our regular Thursday evening Dance Out on a pleasant, hot evening.
We visited the Reverend James for the first time and we speculated whether there was family connection with our Squire Ben James, but it turned out there wasn’t! The ale on sale was, you’ve guessed it, Rev James, and the landlord brought us out a huge refreshing jug of the stuff, plus iced water, before we had started dancing! There was a good crowd in the beer garden who watched us, with some keen to learn more about what we do, and some indicating that they may come along to practice in the autumn! A great place to visit and a return in the future is most definite. We left the Rev. James and drove a short distance to the Boat Club which we have visited several times in the last decade, but not last year as The Queen sadly passed away just as we were driving to the venue! The riverside location, the people, the ale, and the atmospheric sunsets have made it a perennial favourite with several in the side and our visit there Thursday was truly wonderful. Not only did we encounter much generosity from the crowd watching us there, (the fantastic landlady went amongst them rustling up monetary contributions in a jar) we found that the patio had been relaid nice and flat which made it a joy to dance on. The DoomBar Ale supplied necessary hydration and the sunset on the dropping tide was manna for the soul! Dance wise we did our usual repertoire of Adderbury stick dances, Bampton, and Fieldtown, plus dances from Badby, Lichfield, and Caseg Eira, the Welsh Morris! A very good evening despite reduced numbers of dancers and musoes! Script & Photos by Paul Tarrant, with some pics by Di Clark. The side was invited to visit this annual event which was held at the Weobley Castle Farm on north Gower, with the site boasting incomparable views across the Loughor estuary and Cefn Sidan sands.
We were due to dance in the barn at noon which gave Kev, Keith & Paul the opportunity to visit Pat Smith’s excellent musical workshop which explored tunes known and not so known for a wide variety of instruments that people had brought along. There were some well behaved dogs there! The Barn is where we danced, which conveniently provided cover from an irritating shower (only one in over a week!) and it also gave convenient access to essential supplies of ale and burgers and other food which helped supplement our two performances that we gave there. During the second performance a lot more people came in to watch and many were given the opportunity to dance Brighton Camp which went down well. We were finished by 2pm but all felt well tired, probably as it was very warm in the Barn. It was dusty too which is why some of my photos have those strange orb like artefacts in them! This was an enjoyable festival, and those who stayed for the complete weekend certainly were treated to some great musical acts. Another gloriously sunny evening saw Sweyn’s Ey Morris heading out to Killay in West Swansea. This is a particular favourite annual tour for myself and Geoff, as it is local to where we live and means we can walk – which in turn means neither of us have to be the designated driver.. Cheers!
We started out at The Village Inn in Killay precinct, where for much of the time we were watched by a grand total audience of one. Whilst we are always sad when our tremendous dancing skills are missed out on, this was augmented in part by Roger buying the entire side a round of drinks in celebration of Alison’s recent birthday just before we started. Happy birthday Alison B! Our disappointing audience quickly turned into several more people, including a lovely couple who were utterly delighted to see us: “I was having a rubbish day and you’ve totally cheered me up” said the guy (or words to that effect…) So chuffed were we to have appreciative watchers that we did a few extra dances over and above what was planned. This was too much for one of Geoff’s bell pads, which decided to slip down right in the middle of some vigorous furry capers (probably – that’s an actual proper Morris term by the way). Fortunately with a subtle sideways shimmy, Ken saved the day and swapped in and back out again with Geoff, ensuring the show went on. Smooth. Following a delightful photo shoot by the said appreciative couple, off we went to the Railway Inn, conveniently located right next to the Clyne cycle path ensuring a continuous stream of cyclist of all persuasions dropping by to sample the establishment’s top tipple. Livesaver comes highly recommended, proving beyond doubt that drinking beer really does save lives.. In the fading light we performed a good number of our side’s staple dances, alongside the wonderful y Casig Eira, an Actual Welsh Dance from Nantgarw. Our lovely audience clapped and cheered, took group photos with us and generally made us all feel warm and fuzzy inside. Well, perhaps not all of us. But it is always a good thing to know we have put a smile on people’s faces, despite the fact that we have to wear silly outfits and throw ourselves about in a jangly sort of way to do so. When the light began to dim, the midges began to munch and the beer began to call, we retired to the safety of the gazebo and a few of us played some folky tunes and yarned with two lovely guys, one from Spain, the other from Bosnia, who said they’d had the best time. Drinks were offered all round and were taken up by some, before we said goodbye to what had been a wonderful evening. (For the pedants amongst you, the dances we performed are in one of the additional photos on FB.) Words and photos by Di (and a couple of randoms took the group shots). |
Details
AuthorSMost of our blog posts are written by Paul Tarrant (our archivist), with occasional contributions from other members of the side. Each post goes up first on our Facebook page, alongside a lot more photos than we put on the blog. Check out our Facebook page right here if you want to see more! Archives
August 2024
Categories |