Following our diverse experiences at the Weymouth Festival early in May, we returned to a more traditional environment on Sun 22nd May at the Kirtlington Lamb Ale, which featured the usual fine line up of Morris and other entertainment including the Kirtlington Maids dance with their cute little lamb (not on wheels this year). There was more than a hint of rain in the air at several stages during the day including some actual downpours (not, unfortunately, during the processions, the traditional stamina tests) but as we all know by now it never rains on Berkshire Bedlam (except when it does), and we were able to perform our show dance in the school playground as usual – this year featuring our sword dance, which seemed to go down well, even though performed in our normal kit as opposed to the frilly shirts due to a personal wardrobe memory malfunction problem issue.
On Thurs 9 Jun we were at The Bell at Aldworth once again, with Old Speckled Hen and Kirtlington, which proved as usual a very pleasant evening with good company, crowned once more by the appearance of a range of consumables after the dancing finished (and that’s consumables in the traditional sense rather than printer ink cartridges and paper). Amongst other things during the evening we were able to show Kirtlington once again just how much we had improved the hey figure of theirs which we had nicked (sorry, should say ‘used as a loose starting point only’) for our Lucky Pierre dance.
And then it was festival time, from 17 – 19 June, at the Beverley Festival in North Yorkshire. Due to various circumstances we were a little short of numbers on the Saturday, but we managed to perform a good selection of 5 and 4 person dances, plus some double jigs, and the odd Coconuts with a pressganged Bob, on an exceptionally hot day, the passing of which was eased somewhat by the selective application of cocktail (a refreshing Blue Cherry variety) to our internal organs. Accompanied mostly by Solstice, a young school based side performing an interesting repertoire including a version of the Matachins dance, we performed at a variety of spots in town, outside the Minster (a particularly imposing setting), and at the main Festival site before most of us headed off for an excellent evening meal at the Valencia restaurant near the station, and then on to the Whapweasel ceilidh. On the Sunday Jerry joined us, swelling our numbers to 6, and we had some more good spots and more cocktail, this time a pink Woo-woo – nice, but a bit more sickly. Overall though another very enjoyable weekend, with an abiding memory of – cocktail.
The following Thursday (24th June) it was off to Avebury once again for the semi-regular midsummer dance out with Holt at the Red Lion. This has become easier and less dangerous since the car park surface was relaid, and it is also an easier though quieter gig if, like this year, it does not coincide exactly with the summer solstice which tends to brings out various free spirits (not from behind the bar though). This year the only nutters evident were the ones from BB and Holt, though a fine evening was had by all, with a little bit of community singing afterwards at which Andy revealed a fine singing voice and appropriate song for the evening i.e. not trad-finger-in-the-ear stuff.
Sunday 26th saw us off to Adderbury for the second time in 2 months, this time for the Adderbury sides 30th anniversary day, with another varied line up of (mainly Cotswold) teams. Another hot day, with no refreshing cocktails in sight this time, though since all the dance locations appeared to be directly outside pubs this was not a big issue. The day wore on, the sun shone throughout, the dances and dancers came and went, the beer and conversation and music all flowed, and we got most of our dances right – what more could you ask for?
On Thurs 7 July we had another very pleasant pub evening at the Bull at Riseley with Mayflower and Muddy River, a ladies Cotswold team from Massachusetts, and then on Sat 9th we joined in the Jackstraws Day of Dance, along with Thames Valley Morris, in and around Farnham. Once again another hot, sunny day, and a further opportunity (though somewhat enforced) for us to go through our repertoire of 4 and 5 person dances – though we briefly peaked at 6 dancers at one point. A particular highlight was a late afternoon version of Coconuts, where the 5 of us still left ‘randomly’ roped in from the audience a certain L. Hiscott to join us, and we’re not talking Lee either. (“What’s your name, dear? Linda? Never seen this dance before, have you dear?…”). Actually Linda was excellent at it, just shows she’d been paying attention on our course all that time ago. After the dancing finished there was some extremely welcome tea, cakes and barbeque, including a particularly fine chocolate cake, made by the aforementioned L. Hiscott, with minimal help from the other one – indeed a cake to get your teeth firmly into.
The beginning of August saw us once again off on our annual Dorset Tour, which turned out to be another fabulously organised weekend thanks to Rob and Miriam’s sterling efforts. We started at the Farmer’s Market in Poundbury (though if there was one teensy criticism of the weekend’s organisation it would be that Rob’s directions to it were somewhat vague and perhaps a little ambiguous e.g. for ‘left’ read ‘right’, for ‘just off first roundabout’ read ‘actually quite a long way off second roundabout’ – but only a minor quibble really….). This was an excellent spot in the middle of the market area outside the excellent Poet Laureate pub, so Malcolm chose to introduce the side (as Rob had requested) in verse which was only mildly embarrassing for everyone, so not too bad then. The market stall holders liked us too – one gave us some excellent slices of cooked mushroom, while another offered us discounts on their very nice but very rich organic desserts.
We then headed for the Swan Inn at Abbotsbury for lunch and a short dance spot, followed by an appearance on the edge of the beach outside the Hive Beach Cafe, Burton Bradstock, much to the bemusement of the people who had come for a nice quiet afternoon by the blustery (being kind) English seaside. After this we set up camp on the beach, and the hardier and foolhardier went for a swim, though it would be fair to say the sea was not at its warmest. Later on we returned to the campsite for an early evening barbeque, and its amazing just how black those chicken legs will turn when you’re not looking. Still the nibbles, Pimms and gin were all good, so suitably refreshed we set off for the long walk down the hill into the village of Cerne Abbas, arriving at the Royal Oak rather later than intended, in fact about 10 minutes after some people Rob had invited to come and see us had given up and gone home for a nice warm by the fire. But we performed away gamely to a small but select audience before returning back up the hill, through the cowpats (literally in some cases), looking out all the time for the once again non existent glow-worms, which several of us have come to realise over the years are merely a rumour perpetrated by the Cerne Abbas Giant’s Head Campsite Let’s Get Them Walking Up That Hill In the Dark For No Good Reason Society.
The next day saw us at Stourhead House and Gardens, a huge National Trust property just outside Mere in Wiltshire. The weather had considerably perked up and we had a good audience to see us perform in a good audience-catching spot just outside the cafe, information point and toilets. The dancing went well, and after it several of us took the opportunity to go round the really fabulous estate, including a celebrated 18th century landscaped garden with enchanting temples, monuments and rare planting around a tranquil lake. A very English sort of experience somehow, especially when washed down in the pub on the edge of the estate with cider, beer or a cream tea depending on your poison as it were. And once again we agreed Rob had made a serious mistake in setting such a high tour standard for the future ……