On 18th November we went on a road trip to Tavistock to take part on the annual Day of Morris arranged by Dartmoor Border Morris in aid of Pudsey BBC’s Children in Need. What a truly fabulous day we had!
Thanks to Laurence, a member of our side who happens to collect buses(!), we were able to travel in style in an old double decker and make quite an entrance! Despite some mild drizzle much of the day, we have a great time, meeting other sides and dancing a number of times.
With 16 sides from around the South West and three locations to dance in, there was plenty of variety from clog to border to Cotswold. Fortunately we had time to watch many of the other sides between trips to Bob’s East End Cafe who were giving an appreciated discount to those in tatters! We particularly liked the planned and ad hoc mass dances where we all piled into Bedford Square and danced a Tinners’ Rabbit of Cuckoo’s Nest together – an amazing feeling. Plenty of stick chucking dances too!
The day was rounded up back at the Stannary Arms, who kindly let us have their back room, where beer was £2 a pint (Jail Ale, very nice!) and all the musicians from the various sides got together for a jam session. We also sang our new “Dance ’til the Sun Goes Down” Boscastle Border Morris song! Then back on the bus for the journey home.
The day raised £1,957 for the BBC Children in Need appeal – and a whole lot of fun was had doing it!