CONTENTS TO BLACK UP OR NOT BLACK UP PAUL WHITE’S DIARY SPONSORSHIP & SOCIAL NETWORKING NORTH-WEST IN THE SOUTH-WEST FLAGCRACKERS OF CRAVEN 25 YEARS WHEN DARKNESS FALLS CHELMSFORD MORRIS X-FACTORED DANSCAPE SCHOOLS MORRIS WORKSHOPS THIRTY YEARS YOUNG PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT? MALLE’S BEER QUEST? CHILDREN IN NEED CLOGFEST © THE MORRIS FEDERATION 2013 Morris Federation Committee President Notation Of cer Melanie Barber Jerry West 23 Avondale Road, Fleet, Hants, GU51 3BH tel: 01252 628190 or 07754 435170 [email protected] email: [email protected] Secretary Newsletter Editor Fee Lock Colin Andrews 28 Fairstone Close Bonny Green, HASTINGS Morchard Bishop, TN35 5EZ Crediton, 01424-436052 EX17 6PG [email protected] 01363 877216 [email protected] Treasurer Jenny Everett Co-opted members: Corner Cottage 2 Lower Street Web Site Editor Sproughton Kevin Taylor IPSWICH [email protected] IP8 3AA www.morrisfed.org.uk 01473 742334 [email protected] John Bacon – Licensing Bill Archive Of cer [email protected] Mike Everett Corner Cottage Adrian Williams – Dommett Collection and 2 Lower Street Wantage [email protected] Sproughton IPSWICH To contact all email-able Federation members: IP8 3AA [email protected] 01473 742334 To notify us of a change of contact details: [email protected] [email protected] NEWSLETTER COPY DATES 15th February 2014 15th May 2014 15th August 2014 15th November 2014 Contributions for the Spring edition to the Newsletter Editor by Saturday 15th February 2014 www.morrisfed.org.uk CONTENTS EDITORIAL Winter 2013 Morris dancers are generally a pretty friendly bunch Committee Contacts 2 of lads and lassies. This comes through not only in the Federation Shop 4 camaraderie one experiences when meeting up with other President’s Prologue 5 sides at festivals and weekends of dance but also in the To Black Up Or Not Black Up? 6 joy and commitment I perceive in many of the articles Paul White’s Diary 10 published in this Newsletter. Coming Events 11 Sponsorship & Social Networking 12 There are occasions, however, when tensions within a North-West In The South-West 14 side due to personality classes or unresolved differences Flagcrackers of Craven 25 Years On 15 of opinion on key issues can unfortunately lead to a When Darkness Falls 16 split. There are several instances where this has led to Danscape 17 the establishment of a new ‘rival’ side. Although there is Chelmsford Morris X-Factored 19 Thirty Years Young 20 inevitably likely to be some friction between new and old it Obituaries 21, 22 is important that in public they demonstrate a reasonable Shropshire School Morris Workshops 22 degree of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. Practice Mkes Perfect - Or Does It? 23 Malle’s Beer Quest? 24 The other issue, in the event of a split, is what happens Snippets 25 to a side’s assets ? Who has the right to the name, the Children In Need 26 costume and any funds in the bank? It is worthwhile Clogfest 26 making provisions for such an eventuality in the club’s constitution. It may save a lot of aggro should harmony ever change to discord. Colin Andrews NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING The Newsletter is the quarterly publication of The Morris Federation does not necessarily endorse any product the Morris Federation. The aim is to provide a or service advertised in or with the Newsletter. Enclosures, other platform for news, views and announcements circulars, and items of advertising relevant to commercial products can relating to the world of traditional dance and be distributed with the Newsletter. A fee is charged to the advertiser associated activities. The Newsletter goes out for this service. Enquiries concerning any form of advertising through to each member group and individual member the MF should be addressed to the Newsletter Editor. of the Morris Federation. Additional copies can be ordered by group members at an additional NEW ADVERTISING RATES (from Dec. 2011) cost per copy of £10 for one year’s issues. To Non-member MF Member Side or Individual be a living publication the Newsletter must be commercial business event/recruit read so PLEASE make sure that your copy Colour B&W Colour B&W gets circulated as widely as possible. 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All copy & payment to the Newsletter Editor. Front cover photograph: Heb Enw Musicians Printed by: Hedgerow Print Ltd, Crediton, Devon. 01363 777595 3 4 traditional carol season is upon us once more, and I’m also fortunate enough to be able to don my boots and walk over the hills to Dungworth! It’s amazing how things evolve over the years. As a founder member of the Lancashire Wallopers I co-organised their rst Weekend of Lancashire Clog. At that time we purposefully focused on traditional Lancashire clog with workshops Hello! by Sam Sherry and Pat Tracey, along with some lesser known traditional dancers like Bill Well, I thought I was off the hook until January, Gibbons, Bert Bowden and Theresa Hindle, all but no, the President-elect duties start with of whom members of the team had learnt from. writing the prologue for the Winter edition of the The weekend still happens, but now includes all Morris Federation Newsletter! regional clog styles, both traditional and new. That’s the wonderful world of dancing, we can I’d like to start with a huge thank you to Barry for cherish and enjoy the old traditions - I’ll be off all his hard work over the past four years; it’s not to Grenoside and Handsworth on Boxing Day quite full retirement as he’ll be taking forward - while being part of the excitement of creating the work towards the Young People in Morris new ones! Dancing conference as a co-opted committee member, so I look forward to continuing to work It’s an exciting time to be part of the Morris with him. Federation as we prepare for our 40th anniversary in 2015. I look forward to working Secondly, thank you to Shrewsbury Morris for with the Morris Federation members, and hosting a great Day of Dance and AGM, including the committee, to further promote traditional fantastic weather into the bargain! Over 30 teams dance. performed lling the streets of Shrewsbury with dancing, which was appreciated by fellow teams Happy Dancing! and public alike. Next year Belfagan Women’s Melanie Morris are hosting the 2014 Day of Dance & AGM on 27th September in Keswick, and from what I’ve heard so far have an equally great day in store for us. For those of you who don’t know me, and despite being told otherwise I’m sure you far outnumber those that do, I thought tell you a bit about myself. I have been dancing all my life, clog dancing over 30 years, Morris dancing (North West) over 25 years, and rapper dancing over 10 years. Scarily I’ve just worked out that I’ve danced with 15 different teams over the years, mainly depending where I was living at the time! I also teach clog dancing and North West Morris, organise teams for Whitby Folk Week, and have judged at various dance competitions. I currently dance with Rivington Morris, Boojum Rapper, Silkstone Greens North West Morris, and most recently Strictly Clog. I know they’re quite widely spread, but I have the advantage of living in Shef eld, so have easy access North, South, East and West! Talking of Shef eld, the 5 To black up or not to black up? A personal journey by Chloe Metcalfe In October 2012 I made a to the almost historically plausible version mistake. I joined a Morris mentioned above. Pauline Greenhill in a chapter team without seeing them due to be published within a book on multicultural perform in public. Lulled Canadian dance, describes the development of by the powers of a facebook post advertising the explanation of the disguise theory to include a newly formed Border team who were looking persecution for begging as a fairly recent addition, for members and having knowledge into the in the last 10 years or so. Perhaps coinciding ways of the Morris, this being my second Border with increasing external pressure to justify the team I turned up at a practice. I got on with the practice. group and became a fully paid up member. Only at my rst dance out did I realise that whilst the A couple of years after starting Morris, but before kit wasn’t a full black face it was de nitely more my student friend asked me ‘the question’ I read black than I felt comfortable with.