What a fab weekend this was! Sweyns Ey Morris were invited by Belle d’Vain Morris to this wonderful weekend of dance in the lovely town of Evesham after they saw us performing at last year's JMO Bath Day of Dance. It just goes to show, that the more you dance away from home, the more you will get noticed and invited to great events like this one.

Camp Sweyn was swiftly established on Friday evening with our gazebo and flag showing where to pitch tents. Evesham Rowing Club provided great facilities to help make the weekend the success it was. Friday night was spent playing & listening to the music session.

Saturday saw us up early, breakfasted, and on one of the ten coaches that would take 30+ Morris sides to areas in the Vale of Evesham. We shared our coach with Hereburgh Morris, Ragged Oak Border, and Nancy Butterfly Clog and we were dropped at the Cornmarket at Worcester where each side did 2-3 dances before we moved on to the main shopping street where we performed a faultless Y Gaseg Eira.

Droitwich was next visited and lunch and ale had at The Talbot Arms which was a very pleasant pub. Droitwich shopping precinct provided opportunity to dance, before we returned to The Talbot where we danced on land adjacent to it, and where, for the very first time, a ladies set of Sweyn’s Ey performed a perfect Brighton Camp Adderbury. Good to see girls! The following paragraph is Di's thoughts on this.
'MASSIVE thanks also to our fab musicians, Sian, Kevin and Roger, and to Morwen for calling the lady's set on Saturday. Felt like an important moment.. '

Return to the campsite followed a coach journey made more pleasant by singing, with highlights being being Ben’s rendition of The Pirate song and Nigel the Gossip John song. At the Gardens all sides performed a show dance and we gave a good account of ourselves by doing Y Gaseg Eira again. Then it was time to eat ice cream, drink tea and recover after the day’s exertions before joining the ceilidh with the band Banter for some more dancing that got the heart pounding a bit, or as Di and Kev did, join the music session at The Fleece. During the ceilidh, Sussex Junction Morris wowed everyone with their imaginative, and very athletic dancing.

Sunday saw most of us woken at an unearthly time due to a hot air balloon landing in the adjacent field to take on paying clients but the dancing that took place later in the day needs to be described by another scribe as I was not there to see it! I understand the Side performed Postman's Knock as a show dance to the masses.
Top marks to Belle d’Vain Morris who put on a really excellent weekend. We must go again! 
​Most pics by Paul and Claire.

Last night’s Solstice Tour was perfect! We started at the King Arthur at Reynoldston where there was a good crowd of people there enjoying the warm evening sun. The Felinfoel Double Dragon ale was on top form as always and helped in keeping us hydrated, dancing in such warm conditions.

We left the King Arthur at 9pm to make our way to Cefn Bryn and the walk over to Arthur’s Stone/ Maen Ceti to dance to a crowd of over fifty people who had assembled there to watch the Solstice sunset. The views of the Llwchwr/Loughor estuary were magical as the tide was high and presented a glittering vista, stretching the eye as far as Pembroke in the far distance.

​Our display at the stone saw us dancing Sherrif’s Ride which was a good dance we don’t often do. It certainly stretches the calves and Achilles’ tendons more than most dances and for one individual, Paul, it stretched them a little bit too much! We finished dancing after a Alex H spectacularly bit the dust dancing on the bumpy surface! A superb evening of dancing.

Sadly, this tour never happened due to poor weather.

The side enjoyed dancing again at this year’s festival. A few, Sian, Kevin, Di and Paul went to the Friday evening Blowzabella gig which was good but not perhaps as good as when they started out in 1980 when they produced a wall of sound which threatened to knock you over. I think it was the absence of the two Hurdy Gurdies that caused this notion! Camping facilities were good.

The side performed in the barn from noon until 2pm doing a variety of Cotswold Morris dances but were also able to do Y Gaseg Eira (Welsh Morris dance from Nantgarw) and we aired our own dance The Curly Boar/ Y Baedd Cyrliog which still requires a bit of practice to make it perfect. It would be good to be able to perform outside and not be hidden away. We invited willing members of the audience to have a go at Brighton Camp and we found one of Chippenham Morris Men joining in! We saw Paula & Ian Jones from Carreg Las Morris and many other worthies from years passed.

Here’s a selection of pics that Paul took of the day. There can be no other festival that boasts views as good as this one!

The side danced at both places but no write up or photos were taken of the event.

The Side danced here but no one wrote up what happened! Scribe was on vacation.

We danced at this entertaining Folk Festival in Chippenham, along with 35+ other dance sides, swamping the streets and the good people of the Town with Morris, Clog Dancing, Welsh Folk Dancing, Belly Dancing and Appalachian Dancing. It would have been impossible not to notice us all, dancing in the High St; which had been closed & pedestrianized for the Festival.

We danced throughout the day at several spots in the High St; and Borough Parade in the good company of New Moon Morris, Icknield Way Morris (their Squire, Jim Birch, used to be our Squire back in the 70s), England’s Glory Morris, Temporary Measure North West Clog and Kittiwake Border who we all thought were a very good entertaining young side.

We danced in The Parade, doing Speed the Plough adapted as a processional dance, and whilst it was all downhill to the Festival Field, it was hard work but we danced well, drawing applause from the appreciative crowd watching the event.

The good thing about Folk Festivals is you’re always going to bump into people you knew forty odd years ago, and this year proved to be no exception! Ex Sweyn’s Ey Musoes Martin Hughes, MJ Searle & Ollie Athelstan-Price were there, as were ex dancers Mick Tems, Jim Birch, Dave Lock, Paul Rosser and Jonathan Baker. Who knows where the time goes?

Our numbers were depleted due to illness but we were able to call upon Morwenna James from Cardiff Morris to assist us and Keith Lascelles joined us for the mid day spot as he was dancing with Tipyn y Bopeth Welsh Dancers. Claire being a relative newcomer to the side, danced extremely well, and as always, our Musoes Sian, and Roger played without fault throughout the day and provided excellent music for us to dance to.

Our final dance spot in High St; was danced with Temporary Measure Clog and also Kittiwake Border whose youth, vigour and vim rather stole the show. It was a bit hard following their dance style, but hey, we thought them exceedingly good, and due to the lateness of the day and wearied limbs we were more than happy to see them dance so well to the wall of sound their Musoes provided. They ended what had been a very good day all round. We must go again, but go early as car parking is hell with the main one not taking cash and not accepting cards in the traditional way! 

Words and photos by Paul with major assistance from Andrea!

New Inn Clydach, Millers Arms Ynystawe

The side danced at both these excellent pubs, situated in northern Clydach & Ynystawe as part of our regular Thursday evening summer tours. Any notion that it was summer was dispelled by the grey clouds and chilly winds that greeted us when we arrived at the New Inn. However, the winds dropped, the temperatures started to rise and then hordes of midges (there are rivers by both pubs) descended to feed upon us in a frenzy. They got everywhere and Kevin our box player will probably remove a kilo of the little blighters that have been sucked into his melodeon!

Illness & holidays had afflicted some of the side, so our dance repertoire was limited to what everyone was happy & familiar with. Several people from the New Inn came out to watch us, they being forced out of the bar by the Landlord! We like this kind of positivity!

The Millers provided respite of sorts with fewer midges to bother us, but they were still there! We danced until it got dark and then retired to the bar for a bit of socialising in a midge free zone!

We were invited to dance at the Folk Festival (one of three this year alongside Gower Folk Festival & Evesham). Apart from ourselves, Isca and Mendip Morris were also there on a very hot Saturday. I think we did well, entertaining the crowds and consuming some of the ales at the CAMRA Bar, where Jemima Pitchfork was particularly good quality. Alongside ourselves there were dancers from Holland, Flanders [special mention of these as they performed a Longsword Dance just like North Skelton which we used to do a longtime back] Hungary and Welsh dancers from Pen y Fai. All in all a good day out.
Words and some pics by Paul. Andrea took quite a few!

Murton Fete May Bank Holiday Monday.

A lot of people came to watch us perform this year, so many in fact that the Army had to control the crowds! Murton Fete was a great gig with plenty of cake stalls, people, Swansea Silver Band and the D-Day 80th Anniversary re-enactors of the South Wales Borderers et al who were there with their vehicles and motorcycles and equipment.
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We performed an extended set of dances mainly in front of the Burger stall which attracted a steadily changing crowd of people, with some young folk eagerly joining us in one dance opened to volunteers.
This was one of the best Murton Fetes we have been to. A good day out.
Words & Pics: Paul T.