BB - News + Events

Click Future Event Listing for full details of future programme  

Remember you can read about our earlier year's activities in our previous year's diaries here: 2024 2023 2022 2020-1 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

2025 News:

A great start to the year with new recruits on board!

First event, as in previous years, was the Kennet Ale on Sat 15th February - always an enjoyable evening. But no outdoor event until Thursday 23rd April - St. George's Day - an evening in Odiham and Hartley Wintney hosted by Hook Eagle and featuring several other fine local teams.







After that it was the Wokingham May Fayre on Monday 5th May - an annual event which gets bigger and better each year, where we found ourselves performing in Elms Field on and off through the day to generally appreciative audiences. This was followed a few days later by Jameson's big birthday tour of Wokingham - less of a tour, more of a crossing the road between 2 pubs, but still a good evening and chance for Jameson to show that he's still got it - in his head, anyway.




Next, on Saturday 17th May, we found ourselves in Moulton, Northamptonshire, as guests of Moulton Morris for the annual Moulton Village Festival - the first time we had been since 2012. The festival has grown enormously since our last visit and it has become a major event for the village, with a variety of activities going on including stalls, rides for children, craft displays and more. Part of our day consisted of helping pull a Maycart, featuring a May Queen, round the village. Some of us had learned its much easier to pull from the rear, which involves no work, as opposed to pulling from the front which involves some, especially for the uphill bits. But we had a very enjoyable day, excellently organised by Moulton, and our team, including our new young recruits, acquitted itself very well throughout the day. 

Following this we had a series of midweek pub evenings with other fine local teams, including Hurst Morris, Taeppas Tump, and Basingclog - all very enjoyable evenings. In the middle of those on Sun 15th June we were at the Kirtlington Lamb Ale, always a great traditional morris day, and as usual Kirtlington Morris were excellent hosts and ensured teams had plenty of opportunities to dance (and process!) with the other teams taking part.

Sat 24th Jun was another strange day for us. A small but select team started by meeting at lunchtime at The George, Vernham Dean, Wiltshire, before going on to nearby Fosbury Manor where we had agreed for a suitable fee to take part in a private event there. The event turned out to be a 40th birthday party with a couple of hundred guests, and it would be fair to say not so many of them were interested in our performance. However we were treated very well while there, with our own 'green room' beforehand, and felt we put on a good show for those who were interested. We were also pleased to receive some good compliments afterwards, and in fact despite some misgivings beforehand it turned into an enjoyable day for us. The fee helped too!


More excellent pub evenings followed, with Old Speckled Hen, Fleet, and Alton, interspersed with a day in Newbury as part of Windsor's 50th birthday weekend celebrations. But soon it was time for the main event of our summer - a week long appearance at Whitby Folk Week, where we had last been in 2019.

And what a week it was! Some great dance spots with other fine festival teams at Captain Cook's monument (the Whalebone Arch), the Bandstand, and Dock End. We also had some excellent social occasions, including an evening meal in the Captains Quarters on The Endeavour, a gin-ny afternoon at the Rusty Shears, and a competitive mini golf match with Sussex Junction (but no-one wants to know who won, do they?). Perhaps the highlight for us though was a ceilidh spot on the Thursday evening, our last day, at the 60's themed ceilidh, where we decided to portray the story of the 1966 World Cup Final through the medium of interpretative dance. Robert and George had planned the spot, a 3 part act - first half (Highland Mary), second half (Boggle), extra time (Mazurka), while Jen had resourced outfits for the 2 teams, the musicians also had suitable costumes, Roy had made a fabulous trophy, and Malcolm introduced and refereed. Despite limited rehearsal and co-opting Rhys back into the team at short notice to make up numbers, the spot seemed to go down well with the audience and we were able to finish our week on something of a high.

And still more great events to come!  

Meanwhile reports from earlier years are also available - 2024 2023 2022 2020-1 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001