Belle D’Vain
Belle D’Vain were formed in 1989 by the wives and daughters of Pebworth Morris Men.
Our kit colours are taken from a locally grown plum called Belle D’Louvain.
We dance North West and are based at The Fleece Bretforton in Worcestershire.
Beverley Garland Dancers
We are from Beverley, the county town of East Yorkshire. We are a ladies’ team dancing mainly NorthWest style Morris dances.
We are well known for our smiley faces and aththoough we strive for perfection (which we sometimes acheive) our main aim is to entertain and spread some joy!
We dance with ribbon sticks, bobbins, bell sticks and hankies, and our gorgeous flowery garlands and traditional costumes set us apart from the crowd! Our clogs beat out the rhythm and our talented musicians play a variety of instruments from whistles to melodeons.
www.beverleygarlanddancers.co.uk
beverleygarlanddancers@gmail.com
Bow Brook Border Morris
Bow Brook Border Morris….a joyous bunch who provide a wonderful splash of colour and hope to put a smile on people’s faces. Based in the lovely little village of Upton Snodsbury in Worcestershire.
Cardiff Morris
Cardiff Morris burst onto the folk scene in 1970 and have been laying siege (ever so politely) to a multitude of pubs across south Wales and beyond ever since. Originally a men’s team with a sister side in the shape of Cardiff Ladies Morris, the two sides joined forces in 2004. With our distinctive Welsh tapestry weave baldricks, you can’t miss us when we’re out on tour!
A friendly, mixed-gender side, dancing mostly Cotswold traditions, we’re also the keepers of the Nantgarw tradition, one of the very few surviving Welsh Morris dance styles.
We meet to practice indoors every Tuesday evening from October to April in Birchgrove, Cardiff, and are always glad to welcome potential new dancers and musicians to the side.
Fancy joining us? We’ll be holding a taster evening on Tuesday 8th October for anyone to come along and give Morris a go. For more details, check out the Cardiff Morris website.
Carreg Las
Carreg las are a Border Morris side based in Abergwili, Carmarthenshire. Over the years we have developed our own style of dance that has it’s origins in the dancing practised originally around the Welsh/English border.
City Clickers
City Clickers Clog and Step Dance Group, Bristol We are told we are among the country’s finest exponents of clog and step dancing. We perform clog dances from Northern England, Wales and Scotland in both clogs and hard soled shoes. We formed as a group in 1995 and have been going strong since this time. We currently have 11 active members and a further three experienced clog dancers joining us in September 2024. We are lively and energetic dancers and our special appeal is in the choreography we create for our dances. Our performances will delight as the hypnotic percussive rhythms of our clogs and step-shoes blend with the melodic piano-accordion and fiddle accompaniment. A treat to watch.
info@city-clickers.org.uk
Clerical Error
Clerical Error Morris Dancers and Street Entertainers are a mixed Welsh Border Morris dance team based in Flintshire, North Wales. Rather than hankies we dance with sledge hammer handles and have the bruises to prove it. We perform at local pubs and festivals throughout the UK and have bemused audiences in France, Germany and the Czech Republic. We hold the totally unofficial world record for the fastest Morris dance at Carfest and managed to be on the same billing as the Manic Street Preachers at the Interceltic festival in Lorient, Brittany. If music be the food of love….Clerical Error is the indigestion…
Cobblers Awl Clog Dancers
Now firmly based in Cardiff, though drawing membership from as far afield as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and the Vale of Glamorgan, Cobblers Awl have been keeping both Welsh and English clog-step traditions alive for almost fifty years since the group first convened in Cwmbrân. Their repertoire includes routines from Lancashire, Lakeland and the North-east of England, as well as Welsh stepping, embedding traditional elements within a contemporary polyrhythmic framework. Members wear hand-made leather clogs and meet every Monday night in The Community Space at Tesco Extra, off Western Avenue in Cardiff.
England’s Glory Ladies Morris
England’s Glory was one of the first women’s Morris sides to the be founded, in 1973, so this is our 51st year of dancing! We are based in the Gloucester area – our name comes from the famous brand of Morelands matches that used to be manufactured in the city. Our main dances are in the Cotswold tradition from Ilmington, but we also perform garland dances and some from other traditions.
Forest of Dean Morris
We are a mixed revival side of all genders and ages based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, dancing Cotswold and Forest (Ruardean) traditions. We dance for enjoyment and to keep the tradition alive. We have danced at weddings, festivals, birthdays, fetes, fayres, and anniversary events all over the UK. We have also danced in France, Germany, and Belgium.
Full Moon Morris
Full Moon is a mixed Cotswold Morris side based around South Wales with members from other parts of Wales, the Forest of Dean and further afield. We dance in blue and yellow waistcoats.
Hips and Haws Clog
Hips and Haws Clog, a dance side from Chippenham in our 41st year of dancing for your entertainment. Our team dances are mainly made up by our team members. These can be using short sticks, hankies, or garlands. The styles can be North Westish or our very own! And to give more variety we do various traditions of Clog Stepping.
Isca Morris
Isca Morris, a mixed side, follow the Cotswold Tradition of dance. Performing across South East Wales since 1976 at festivals, pubs and local events, the side adore entertaining and engaging with the public. We practice from Autumn to Spring at Panteg House, Pontypool on a Wednesday evening from 8 to 9.30pm We have a taster evening on October 26th and welcome people to join us as dancers or musicians. Morris dancing is an entertaining and skilful form of dance and music and hope many other people will join us to keep this ancient tradition alive
http://www.isca-morris.co.uk/
LakeSarah690@gmail.com
Knights of King Ina
The Knights of King Ina (KOKI for short) are an enthusiastic collective of Cotswold Morris Jig dancers, whose members are merrily scattered all over the place, even abroad! Referring back to the earliest written record, KOKI jigs are danced in a traditional style, but in order to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to properly stretch their legs when out and about, solo and double jigs are often performed as a group with a brilliant sense of comradery for ‘all those who will’.
Mabel Gubbins Rapper
Mabel Gubbins Rapper is a sword dance team from Oxfordshire, performing traditional and evolved rapper sword dances, and occasionally prone to outbursts of step clogging. The best way to find a Mabel is to wave a bottle of gin in the air, and the best way to get rid of them is to tell them the way to a really good cake shop…
Mendip Morris
Founded in 1956 as “Mendip Morris Men” since 2018 we have been a mixed side. We are based in Congresbury south of Bristol in the Mendip Hills and dance around the Somerset/North Somerset area. The our repertoire is predominantly in the Cotswold style but also includes dances from the Welsh Borders, North-West clog dances from Lancashire and North East sword dances from Yorkshire. We have a long history of travel to foreign events throughout Europe, having made 45 trips since the early 1990s as well as attending festivals and Days of Dance around the UK. Mendip wear black breeches, white shirts, red socks and can be identified by our red, gold and blue baldricks with two distinctive badges. On the front is a Wyvern the mythical beast which forms the Somerset crest while on the back is King Alfred’s Jewel. Alfred was the Anglo Saxon king of Wessex and his jewel was discovered in 1693 and is held in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Mersey Morris
Mersey Morris has been entertaining the people of Cheshire and Merseyside since 1960, when it formed through the merger of the Liverpool and Wirral Morris teams. We are a mixed-sex side, spanning the ages teens to seventies. Mersey mainly dances in the Cotswold Morris style (think hankies, sticks and bells). But we also perform dances from the Border and Molly traditions, together with rapper and longsword. During the summer months we dance at a different pub every Monday night, interspersed with a series of weekend community events. And during the cold, dark winter months, Mersey Morris meets to practise every Monday night at the Village Hall in Thornton Hough (Wirral) from 8-10pm. We are always open to anyone interested in having a go at morris dancing, getting some exercise and having some fun.
Mockbeggar Morris
Mockbeggar Morris is a ladies North West side based in Wirral. We take our name from Mockbeggar Wharf (a sandbank off the north Wirral coast) and have been entertaining the public for over 25 years , helping to keep alive the North West Morris traditions of Lancashire and Cheshire. Our dancers wear a black bodiced dress with a panelled skirt using a variety of cotton fabric which reflect the fabric produced in the cotton mills of the industrial towns. Black stockings and clogs with bells attached complete the outfit. Hoops decorated with ribbons, short sticks with bells attached or hankies are often used in our dances. Mockbeggar Morris would be nothing without the support of our musicians who provide musical accompaniment using a range of instruments, notably melodeon , fiddle ,saxophone, concertina and drum.
Mr Wilkins Shilling
Mr Wilkins’ Shilling is a very friendly mixed-gender Morris team from Bath, Somerset. We dance mostly North-West clog dances at various venues around Bath and the southwest of England and attend several Folk Festivals through the year fairly regularly, such as Bradford-on-Avon, Chippenham, Wimborne and Swanage.
Old Meg Morris
Old Meg is a mixed side dancing traditional Northwest Morris. Intricate patterns are created by the red/black/white colour combinations of our kit. We are based in Malvern, Worcestershire.
Pinsley Mill Morris
Pinsley Mill Morris are a women’s morris side based around Leominster, Herefordshire, established in Dec 2023. We dance North-West morris, traditionally associated with the cotton mill areas of England. Although Herefordshire was not known for cotton mills (in fact, better known for sheep and wool), our name comes from a local cotton mill that functioned for a short time in the 1700s at Pinsley Brook. We love dancing in our clogs and hope you enjoy watching us!
Rag Morris
Rag Morris is a vibrant and enthusiastic morris side based in Bristol. We dance mainly Cotswold traditions, with just a dash of the Welsh Borders, and you can easily spot us in our eclectic multicoloured tatterjackets and bells.
Ripley Green Garters Ladies NW Morris
Ripley Green Garters are a women’s Morris side, dancing mainly North West Morris, with the addition of some of our own dances. We were formed in 1982, and have a few original members still involved. We dance in clogs, and our green and yellow kit colours represent those on the Ripley (Derbyshire) town coat of arms. To notice particularly are the colourful individual patchwork waistcoats.
Stroud Morris
Stroud Morris bring you dances hewn from the Cotswold limestone of the Five Valleys. We dance in a kaleidoscope of colour representing our white sheep, green hills and the red cloth made in Stroud for the soldiers of King George. A ladies’ side based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, we have danced all over the UK in the last 40 years but can’t wait to dance for you in Cardiff this Summer.
Sutton Masque
A mixed border side hailing from Sutton in the southern reaches of the Cambridgeshire fens. Sutton Masque are an explosive and vibrant side recognisable by their green man inspired kit. They pride themselves on being an all-inclusive side with a passion for dancing, fun and friendship. Sutton Masque have been very fortunate to dance at festivals and events all over the UK and always draw a crowd with their energetic performances. They are known for being a very sociable bunch so do find them and say hello!
Sweyn’s Ey Morris and Sword Dancers
Sweyn’s Ey Morris are a mixed side, based in Swansea. We perform mostly Cotswold morris, a few border dances, and occasionally rapper sword dancing. We also take several local mummers plays around the pubs of Swansea and Gower at Christmas, raising money for charity.
The Outside Capering Crew
The Outside Capering Crew presents morris dance for the 21st century: sometimes flashy, sometimes comic, and always with exhilarating music. Our eclectic repertoire includes broom dances (tricky spins, throws and kick-ups) and brain-bending “bacca pipes” jigs – England’s answer to the Scottish sword dance, but more edgy. It’s all served up with a dash of showmanship (and occasionally a very silly horse. Or maybe a cow). Comprising of 5 energetic, handsome dancers and two gorgeous, elegant musicians, the Crew take pride in putting on a show that’s entertaining for the general public and morris aficionados alike. All members of the team have been winners of the John Gasson Jig Competition at Sidmouth. We’ve performed in America, Dubai, Sark and mainland Europe, and at major UK folk festivals.
The Widders
Widders Border Morris are a Welsh Border Morris side from Chepstow. Formed in 2001 by Mick Lewis, we are named for The Black Widows biker gang from the film Every Which Way but Loose, hence the spider theme that you’ll see repeated in our hat decorations, our badges and t-shirts. Our colours; black, purple, blue and silver were chosen for no other reason than that we liked them, and think they reflect the menace of the Border Morris Tradition. Keeping it in the family, Mick’s brother, Terry Lewis is now our Squire. Affectionately known as “The Widders”, we meet weekly on a Thursday evening, and like to show some attitude, make noise and have fun. Widders Border Morris also host the famous annual Chepstow Mari Lwyd and Wassail.
Tourbillion
Awaiting Update
Winkleigh Morris
We are mixed side performing dances in Cotswold and Border style. We were formed in 1990 as a result of Morris dance evening classes requested by the landlady of a Winkleigh pub. We have danced at festivals and weekends of dance all over the UK and have visited France, Ireland and Holland. There is much more detailed information on our website.