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Any thoughts about dancing out tonight were still up in the air at 6pm as it was still raining, was misty and hardly looked like the sort of evening for a dance out. Miraculously, when we arrived at the Welcome Inn, the rain had stopped and there was brightness in the sky. Someone claimed to see blue sky, and further investigation at the bar of the pub showed they served Fullers London Pride, Pedigree and the ever local Gower Gold which lit up everyone’s faces as much as any blue sky! The Pride was good!
Stewart adopted a brave approach of suggesting Sweet Jenny Jones as an opener, and in fairness, it was a good call as the dance looked good. We followed that with British Grenadiers/Skirmish and Step and Fetch Her, before going on to Vandals and Valentines. Several people from the pub came out to watch us with one Australian lady being keen to take pics of us. A lady called Betty thoroughly enjoyed what we performed and claimed to have only seen Morris on the TV, so seeing it live and in the flesh was a really magical thing for her. Ahhhh xx By 8pm, the light was beginning to fade and so we finished and drove over to The Millers in Ynystawe. Sadly, I was unable to join the side there to record what happened, but anyone else there can add their write up in the comments, together with a few pics? We’re going to miss these Thursday night dance outs! Words & Pics by Paul Tarrant
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We were invited to dance at the Little Summer Market at the Gower Heritage Centre, Parkmill. We had nearly the full side out to this enjoyable event, and went through the broad spectrum of our dance inventory of Adderbury, Bampton, Fieldtown dances, as well as a smattering of Badby, Headington, and of course, Y Caseg Eira Nantgarw. We met Ella the Stand Up Paddle Boarding dog and her dad Stu, amongst several other local worthies who are known to us.
The ShedHead Cider on offer in the Mill was an enjoyable beverage to consume and provided necessary rehydration after dancing. The night air had a coolness about it suggesting that our summer is spent and autumn is just around the corner! Below are some photos of the event - as ever, more on our FB page. Words & Pics by Paul Tarrant We danced out at the Piazza on Thursday and encouragingly, there was a crowd of people to watch, a tide that was well high giving good views of Swansea Bay, and grey clouds that whilst threatening rain, actually didn’t!
We kicked off with Country Gardens Fieldtown, and progressed through a long set that included Vandals, Y Caseg Eira, Postman’s Knock amongst other mainly Adderbury, Bampton, and Fieldtown dances. A couple from Shropshire Bedlams and Martha Rodens Tuppeny Dish introduced themselves to us, and I had a lovely chat with a lady who claimed that she had seen similar dancing done in Libya, where short sticks were used and white shirts and trousers worn by the dancers. At that point she excitedly pointed out our dance of Constant Billy Headington, saying ‘They dance just like that!’ So good to have that discussion. We were also visited by long term member Jonathan Baker who was home for a short while after Sidmouth Festival. Good to see you Jon! Twilight at 9pm determined a visit to the pub for most and it looks like our Thursday dancing out gigs will soon be over for another year, although hopefully we may squeeze another few gigs in, if the weather is kind! Text & Photos by Paul Tarrant with assistance from Stewart Wright. It’s Thursday evening and miraculously, it’s not raining! How we have managed to get out as we have, during what can only be described as a shabby summer, I don’t know. Still, we had a good team out at the Afan Tafarn and it is a good place to dance, despite the initial failure of some in the side (the Scribe!) to locate the real ale taps that were hidden away out the back in the third small bar! Still, Peroni on tap is a fine beer and palatable when dancing, and especially so when the pub brings out free beer whilst we were performing! Thanks & big respect!
We were dancing to several people who were enjoying a bit of late evening sunshine, and some of the residents opposite also came out to watch. We started off with Vandals, and breezed through a repertoire that included, amongst others, Step & Fetch Her, Shooting Adderbury, Speed the Plough, Postman’s Knock, and Y Caseg Eira. We had eager volunteers to join us in Brighton Camp before we ended the session with Bonnie Green. Jaunty our horse was allowed out and he pranced around like a pit pony that had been brought up to the surface from a coal mine of which there were several in this area! We were to have ventured on to the Rolling Mill and The Brit but sadly the light had started to fade as it tends to do at this time of year, and especially in valleys such as this, so we could not make the other pubs. Hopefully we can do these next year! Text & Photos Paul Tarrant. We ventured westwards to join neighbouring side and friends Carreg Las Morris, dancing at the Mansel Arms at Porthyrhyd. This was the first time for us to dance here and it proved a great spot with a large danceable forecourt outside the pub, plus four hand pumped ales!
We were fortunate to be blessed with a sunny evening - it looked a little doubtful earlier in the day as to whether we would be able to dance out. We danced in turn with Carreg Las who did their own Border dances which contrasted nicely with our Cotswold and Welsh Morris. With regards the latter, we were able to perform Y Caseg Eira from Nantgarw after coercing Alison H & Alison B into performing amidst their protestations that they did not really know it well enough. They were clearly fibbing as they did fine and they should have no problems joining in, in future! Words & Pics by Paul Tarrant & Stewart Wright |
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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
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