And then on to a somewhat unique weekend on 14th / 15th May – a combination of attending the Joint Morris Organisations Day of Dance in Sheffield on the Saturday, and a stag weekend for Jameson. An unlikely sounding combination, but one which turned out very well with plenty of incidents! The weekend started on Friday evening when most of the team met up in Wokingham to travel up to Sheffield together by minibus. Arriving at the Travelodge just outside Sheffield around 10.30 pm, we were delighted to find the bar open – in fact until 3 a.m. though none of the side were ready to take advantage of this. On the Saturday morning we travelled together into the City Centre for a Day of Dance, performing in several spots around the city with some of the other 62 teams who were there on the day. Our last spot in the afternoon was in the Peace Gardens – probably a mistake, in hindsight, owing to the proximity to the dance spot of a large fountain. Ordinarily this wouldn’t have been a problem, but with being a bit of a special weekend spirits were running high at the same time as the level of spirits in the bottles of Jameson’s whisky were running low, and the temptation to run through the fountain and then throw in other members of the side proved too great. Suffice it to say several of the side got thoroughly soaked, including Jameson at the end of the Coconut dance despite his best efforts to resist. Much credit incidentally to Tim during the day who despite being unable to dance due to injury, did a great job in whipping up enthusiasm from the crowd wherever we went as well as collecting much money on behalf of the JMO to help fund the day.
After this it was back to the hotel to change before going out to dinner at Piccolino’s Italian restaurant in Millennium Square – well, all except Simon who had a bit of trouble raising himself from his bed once back at the hotel, the last session at the Brown Bear being largely to blame. There was a running gag during dinner where every member of the team took it in turns to provide something else for Jameson to wear, which had to be put on over the top of anything else he was already wearing. By the end of the meal, much to everyone’s amusement he was wearing (in no particular order) a tutu, fairy wings and wand, a lovely pink shirt, a nice moustache, a Superman cape, a tie with backward print, a smart bowtie, a large clowns tie, a cumberbund, a nice belt, an Aussie cork hat, a Viking helmet, a silk scarf, various headbands, handcuffs, a ball and chain, and a few other sundries, including the rubber truncheon which was seriously abused during the evening. But he carried it all off with a certain panache.
The Sunday was a more low key but no less enjoyable day as we headed for home via the edge of the Peak District. The minibus’s first stop was at Bakewell (home of tarts so particularly appropriate for Jameson) where we had a good dance spot outside the Tourist Information, and then a bit of free time to enjoy the various pastries. Next we moved on to Matlock, where we danced in the large and impressive municipal park (Hall Leys), initially to no one but then to a small but reasonably enthusiastic audience. And then in the afternoon before returning home we had a good walk which provided some commanding views over Matlock and some of the surrounding attractions.
Altogether an excellent weekend – but could Jameson and Emma’s actual wedding itself 3 weeks later live up to this? Of course!
