Heather And Gorse Clog Morris Entertain At Haytor And Christow

A Memory of Haytor Vale.

It was the weekend of the Royal Wedding and on Sunday, the day before the May Bank Holiday, our friends in Grimspound Border Morris were in a party mood.

Our own group of dancers and musicians from Heather and Gorse Clog Morris joined the party at the Teign House Inn which is a delightful country pub several miles north along the lanes from Christow. The jolly landlord provided a camping field for some folks to to stay for the entire long weekend as there is a tradition among Morris Dancers to rise at dawn on May Day to greet the sun at the start of summer on Haytor! On this particular Sunday we had more than fifty dancers and a lot of musicians too.

We came from many different "sides" around Devon and also Tinners Morris from Cornwall. I brought along my small piano accordian and played along with the band for the Heather and Gorse Clog Dancers. They looked splendid in their blue and white kit with shiny black clogs although they did find it tough dancing on the grass! The sun shone and there was a light breeze so it was ideal weather for some vigorous dancing!

Our band provded a medley of jigs and polkas for the traditional dances which originate in the north west of England. The landlord had advertised the event so a stream of cars drew up and the watching crowd grew bigger. The different Morris sides took turns to entertain and put on a show lasting several hours altogether so it was a lovely day to remember.

Just enough energy was in reserve to follow this with an early start on May Day morning to dance at Haytor!