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Now retired but busy still living..

Saturday 20 May 2017

A Day of Morris.....

We leave Sells Green on Monday and are heading up to a site in the Cotswolds....
Today we went over to Bradford on Avon for a Festival of Morris Dance... It was a great day out and the perfect way to finish off our stay in this area...

Bradford on Avon is a very attractive place and is often called 'The Jewel of Wiltshire'. The packhorse bridge in the town was initially built in the 13th century . There is a small building on the bridge that was used as the town lock up. On top this building is a weather vane in the shape of a small fish and if you were locked up locals would say that you were 'under the fish and over the water'

The town is an architectural treasure chest and made the perfect setting for the festival....
I have always been a great fan of Morris dancing but don't exactly know why....
A lot of people think that the Morris dance was a Victorian invention but in actual fact it's earliest mention is from 1458.....

There are many forms of Morris dance.... Border Morris....Traditional Cotswold Morris.....Modern Cotswold Morris....Molly.....NW Clog/step...Rapper Sword dances etc..

My favourite types have always been Border Morris and Molly....
Border hails from Herefordshire,Worcestershire and Shropshire while Molly comes from East Anglia/East Midlands.

Border Morris dates back to the 17th century. Dancers would blacken their faces with soot to provide anonymity from both employers and the church. They would generally wear black with masses of highly colourful rag ribbons and elaborate headresses, often featuring tall pheasant feathers....
It's a vigorous form of Morris with plenty of crashing of sticks and wild dances and I really enjoy it...
As I said it was a great way for Anne and I to end our stay in the area....

Tomorrow is our packing up day ready for our travel day on Monday...

I was hoping to have posted an assortment of picures that I took during our visit to the festival...
Unfortunately for some reason I seem unable to access any of today's pictures in my photoalbum from blogger even though all previous images are visible....

If I manage to sort the problem I will post them at a later date.....
In the meantime I have posted a couple of images to show that since we have been here I have managed to get out on the bike a few times....






3 comments:

Dave said...

Bradford on Avon is good although some of the roads around there can be tight for a caravan or motor home. I'm not a Morris dance fan but I like the tradition of it and always stop and have a look if they're performing. The Cotswolds are great too and there's some good cycling around there. We have stayed at Cirencester and Morten in Marsh. In fact we're going there in August as the CTC/ UK Cycling festival is being held in Morten this year.

Steve A said...

When is Eriba coming to the US? We've got power, water and sewer waiting for y'all in Ocean Shores!

TrevorW�� said...

*Dave*
You are right about the roads around Bradford on Avon...very tight for a caravan or motorhome....
Always good cycling around the Cotswolds which I am enjoying right now....

*Steve A*
The US is a bit beyond the reach of Eva the Eriba....
Mind you you can hire a 19ft Hymer caravan and a jeep Wrangler Sahara to tow it with from www.besttimerv.com in Las Vegas so I've just read in a magazine.... Eribas are known by the parent company name of Hymer in the US. The model up for hire is the same model as Eva......

Six weeks off.

 The visit to see the Consultant went quite well really ...   My ' numbers' have started to creep up again so I am going to be given...