Woodside Morris Men
Encyclopedia
Woodside Morris Men are a UK Morris dance
side based in Watford
, Hertfordshire
. The side dance Cotswold Morris locally in the towns and villages around Watford
, Rickmansworth
, Hemel Hempstead
and St Albans
, and further afield at events and folk festivals across the country, as well as occasional trips abroad.
, North London
. The name comes from the School at which the Phoenix Folk Club
met, which happened to be situated in a part of Finchley
known as Woodside Park
. The decision to form a men's Morris side to perform the Cotswold dance traditions, along with a little Rapper Sword
Dancing, was taken following the Phoenix club's 1956 Whit Monday
tour. Previously the club had flirted with Morris as one of their many folk activities, but it was felt that the time had come for a permanent, dedicated Morris section.
The man charged with organising the new Morris club was Edmund 'Eddie' Reavell. Eddie would go on to become Squire of the side in the long term, but in seeking guidance for getting the club together, and developing a repertoire, he obtained the help of legendary dancer and instructor, Bert Cleaver. Bert Cleaver took on the role of Squire during this formative time for the club, and under his eye, and the organisation of Eddie Reavell, the club gained members, produced a kit utilising a purpose designed tree emblem to reflect the name, and prepared to dance out in public. The first official meeting of the club took place in September of 1956, and it was almost exactly a year later that they finally kitted up and danced in anger for the first time.
From the start, Woodside Morris Men adopted the profile of a team that would seek association with the Morris Ring
- all male membership with officers and a constitution that reflected Ring policy. Fittingly then, it was a Morris Ring
event at which they first danced; the association's 61st meeting, hosted by Thames Valley Morris Men, and based around Kingston upon Thames
, London http://www.tradcap.com/archive/Ring%20Documents/Log%203/3log12.htm. Two years later, at the 68th meeting of the Ring, the side danced for the first time as members; the now Squire Eddie Reavell being presented with Woodside's staff of association by Ring Squire Jim Phillipshttp://www.tradcap.com/archive/Ring%20Documents/Log%203/3log20.htm.
The early years for the club were taken up with local social and community events, regular involvement with Morris Ring
meetings, and privately arranged trips to various locations, though Deal, Kent
was a particular favourite, in the company of Westminster
Morris Men, and later joined by the Hammersmith
Morris Men. at this time, there were a few dancers that were involved in just about all of these three side's at one time or another. Bert Cleaver had ended his direct association with Woodside when they reached the stage where they were ready to dance out, and subsequently became involved with a few other London sides, and would go on to become Squire of the Morris Ring. Another busy Morris Man was Hugh Rippon, who at that time was something of a Morris firebrand, being involved with all of these teams to some extent, and remains to this day an influential figure on the English folk scene.
Originally, Woodside Morris Men were intended to remain part of the Phoenix Folk Club
, but discussion with a number of early members indicates that the link to the parent club was tenuous from the very start. If it were intended that the membership should originally be drawn from the Phoenix Club, then such expectations were sadly not met. In March of 1965, Woodside Squire, Graham Wild, wrote a letter to all members of the team to inform them that, for one week only, the side would be meeting at the Railway Club, Watford
, for practice, but not to worry, as practice would return to Finchley
as soon as possible. As much as this may not have been an intentional first step away from the now only notionally parent club, as well as the area in which the club was formed, a page in the history of Woodside Morris Men had been turned, and there would be no going back. By July of that same year, meetings had been firmly established as taking place at the Railway's social club in Watford
.
One of Woodside's members was an employee of British Rail
, and also a member of their British Railways Staff Association, which had premises just off the St Albans Road in Watford. This member was able to arrange a favourable rate for using one of the rooms on a Wednesday evening, for reasons of practise.
As well as the side moving to the area for rehearsals, they also started to gravitate their other activities, such as feast evenings and days of dance, into the surrounding towns and villages.
At this time, Woodside were still very active in the Morris Ring
, and the profile of events that were participated in was dominated by days of dance, and Ring meetings. The countryside surrounding Watford
was ideal for hosting other teams for club events and the move to a more suburban area meant less competition from the wealth of London
sides. Woodside became involved in local community events, even appearing at the assembly rooms of the Watford
Town Hall, an internationally recognised recording venue for major orchestral and operatic projects. All this activity in and around the side's new home didn't prevent Woodside from continuing to dance at some of their old haunts in London
, a legacy that is still apparent today.
Relationships changed with the London
sides, which was as much to do the change in membership as it was to do with the change of base, and Woodside looked to form new bonds with teams based outside of London
. Just as the side were settling in comfortably to their new environment, disaster struck, albeit on a rather minor scale.
In 1969, having discovered that Woodside's British Rail
employee member had long since parted for pastures new, the Railway Club decided that the accommodation agreement was no longer appropriate. Woodside Morris Men promptly found themselves without a home. A few new venues were tried stop gap, but eventually, by the end of the year, an agreement had been made with the Hertfordshire
County Council
Divisional Education Officer to set up camp on a long term base at Chater School, Watford.
The side moved on and it was business as usual, for a while, when the side moved to the Red Lion in Nash Mills, near Hemel Hempstead. Unfortunately this era saw a dwindling membership, which in turn lead to a reduction in funds, which are usually raised through membership, collections at dance outs and fees for performances. It became difficult to maintain the side, culminating in the team failing to meet throughout the whole of 1973.
Throughout this period, it was down to the determination and correspondence of then Bagman Mike 'Lank' Broughton, that the team continued in even this notional form. Lank was a dancer of many years experience, he had seen William Kimber perform at the Royal Albert Hall, and had danced in Watford
on the Queen's Coronation Day - though which Queen he has never disclosed. Lank had joined Woodside when they moved to Watford
, and if it had not been for his involvement, it seems likely that Woodside's history would have ended c 1972. Having struggled to raise a side for a number of events in that year, there was no choice but to suspend activities until new membership could be found. Lank already had a plan that he suspected could change the clubs current bad fortune, and although the side did not meet during 1973, the Bagman was not idle.
Lank's hard work paid off, and salvation came to the team, providing not only a new base of operations, but also a ready made pool of members.
's Lower High Street, which had fallen into disrepair following many years of sterling service, became the location of a local centre for arts groups. One particular group, which was particularly influential in the development of the Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre, as it came to be known, was the Watford Folk Club
. Woodside's interest in the project, and willingness to become actively involved, created a link not only with the Pump House, where the side still meet today, but also with the Folk Club
. What seemed a promising venue for the previously struggling side, also became the source of many new dancers. It had taken a lot of hard work on the part of Lank to negotiate a place at the Pump House, lobbying the committee throughout the preceding year to allow Woodside a home on Wednesday nights, and in the end a place was found - originally in a much smaller venue than the current Colne River Rooms - on the grounds that the side be associated with the folk club.
The new membership brought with it a slightly changed attitude to dance venues, and the frequency of dancing out. Where pub's had never been a deterrent to Woodside Morris Men, they now became the mainstay for performances. This was not a complete change in attitude - the tours, [Morris Ring] meetings, days of dance and feasts still remained part of the side's schedule - but the pub evenings became an opportunity to dance out more regularly, and to promote Woodside in the local area.
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
side based in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. The side dance Cotswold Morris locally in the towns and villages around Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a town in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England, 4¼ miles west of Watford.The town has a population of around 15,000 people and lies on the Grand Union Canal and the River Colne, at the northern end of the Colne Valley regional park.Rickmansworth is a small town in...
, Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
and St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, and further afield at events and folk festivals across the country, as well as occasional trips abroad.
Origins of Woodside Morris Men
Woodside Morris Men were formed in FinchleyFinchley
Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
. The name comes from the School at which the Phoenix Folk Club
Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
met, which happened to be situated in a part of Finchley
Finchley
Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
known as Woodside Park
Woodside Park
Woodside Park is a suburban residential development in the London Borough of Barnet, in postal district N12.It is very varied in character. The area to the east of the tube station consists predominantly of large Victorian and Edwardian houses, many of which have been converted into flats...
. The decision to form a men's Morris side to perform the Cotswold dance traditions, along with a little Rapper Sword
Rapper sword
Rapper sword is a kind of sword dance associated with the North-East of England.-History:The rapper sword tradition was traditionally performed in the mining villages of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield in North East England, especially in Tyneside...
Dancing, was taken following the Phoenix club's 1956 Whit Monday
Whit Monday
Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter....
tour. Previously the club had flirted with Morris as one of their many folk activities, but it was felt that the time had come for a permanent, dedicated Morris section.
From the start, Woodside Morris Men adopted the profile of a team that would seek association with the Morris Ring
Morris Ring
The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. They meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hosted by a different member side...
- all male membership with officers and a constitution that reflected Ring policy. Fittingly then, it was a Morris Ring
Morris Ring
The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. They meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hosted by a different member side...
event at which they first danced; the association's 61st meeting, hosted by Thames Valley Morris Men, and based around Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
, London http://www.tradcap.com/archive/Ring%20Documents/Log%203/3log12.htm. Two years later, at the 68th meeting of the Ring, the side danced for the first time as members; the now Squire Eddie Reavell being presented with Woodside's staff of association by Ring Squire Jim Phillipshttp://www.tradcap.com/archive/Ring%20Documents/Log%203/3log20.htm.
The early years for the club were taken up with local social and community events, regular involvement with Morris Ring
Morris Ring
The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. They meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hosted by a different member side...
meetings, and privately arranged trips to various locations, though Deal, Kent
Deal, Kent
Deal is a town in Kent England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town...
was a particular favourite, in the company of Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
Morris Men, and later joined by the Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
Morris Men. at this time, there were a few dancers that were involved in just about all of these three side's at one time or another. Bert Cleaver had ended his direct association with Woodside when they reached the stage where they were ready to dance out, and subsequently became involved with a few other London sides, and would go on to become Squire of the Morris Ring. Another busy Morris Man was Hugh Rippon, who at that time was something of a Morris firebrand, being involved with all of these teams to some extent, and remains to this day an influential figure on the English folk scene.
Originally, Woodside Morris Men were intended to remain part of the Phoenix Folk Club
Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
, but discussion with a number of early members indicates that the link to the parent club was tenuous from the very start. If it were intended that the membership should originally be drawn from the Phoenix Club, then such expectations were sadly not met. In March of 1965, Woodside Squire, Graham Wild, wrote a letter to all members of the team to inform them that, for one week only, the side would be meeting at the Railway Club, Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, for practice, but not to worry, as practice would return to Finchley
Finchley
Finchley is a district in Barnet in north London, England. Finchley is on high ground, about north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a municipal borough in 1933, and has formed part of Greater London since 1965...
as soon as possible. As much as this may not have been an intentional first step away from the now only notionally parent club, as well as the area in which the club was formed, a page in the history of Woodside Morris Men had been turned, and there would be no going back. By July of that same year, meetings had been firmly established as taking place at the Railway's social club in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
.
Life in Watford
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
, and also a member of their British Railways Staff Association, which had premises just off the St Albans Road in Watford. This member was able to arrange a favourable rate for using one of the rooms on a Wednesday evening, for reasons of practise.
As well as the side moving to the area for rehearsals, they also started to gravitate their other activities, such as feast evenings and days of dance, into the surrounding towns and villages.
At this time, Woodside were still very active in the Morris Ring
Morris Ring
The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. They meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hosted by a different member side...
, and the profile of events that were participated in was dominated by days of dance, and Ring meetings. The countryside surrounding Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
was ideal for hosting other teams for club events and the move to a more suburban area meant less competition from the wealth of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
sides. Woodside became involved in local community events, even appearing at the assembly rooms of the Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
Town Hall, an internationally recognised recording venue for major orchestral and operatic projects. All this activity in and around the side's new home didn't prevent Woodside from continuing to dance at some of their old haunts in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, a legacy that is still apparent today.
Relationships changed with the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
sides, which was as much to do the change in membership as it was to do with the change of base, and Woodside looked to form new bonds with teams based outside of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Just as the side were settling in comfortably to their new environment, disaster struck, albeit on a rather minor scale.
In 1969, having discovered that Woodside's British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
employee member had long since parted for pastures new, the Railway Club decided that the accommodation agreement was no longer appropriate. Woodside Morris Men promptly found themselves without a home. A few new venues were tried stop gap, but eventually, by the end of the year, an agreement had been made with the Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
County Council
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...
Divisional Education Officer to set up camp on a long term base at Chater School, Watford.
The side moved on and it was business as usual, for a while, when the side moved to the Red Lion in Nash Mills, near Hemel Hempstead. Unfortunately this era saw a dwindling membership, which in turn lead to a reduction in funds, which are usually raised through membership, collections at dance outs and fees for performances. It became difficult to maintain the side, culminating in the team failing to meet throughout the whole of 1973.
Throughout this period, it was down to the determination and correspondence of then Bagman Mike 'Lank' Broughton, that the team continued in even this notional form. Lank was a dancer of many years experience, he had seen William Kimber perform at the Royal Albert Hall, and had danced in Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
on the Queen's Coronation Day - though which Queen he has never disclosed. Lank had joined Woodside when they moved to Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, and if it had not been for his involvement, it seems likely that Woodside's history would have ended c 1972. Having struggled to raise a side for a number of events in that year, there was no choice but to suspend activities until new membership could be found. Lank already had a plan that he suspected could change the clubs current bad fortune, and although the side did not meet during 1973, the Bagman was not idle.
Lank's hard work paid off, and salvation came to the team, providing not only a new base of operations, but also a ready made pool of members.
The Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre
In the early 1970s, the old Water Board buildings just off WatfordWatford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
's Lower High Street, which had fallen into disrepair following many years of sterling service, became the location of a local centre for arts groups. One particular group, which was particularly influential in the development of the Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre, as it came to be known, was the Watford Folk Club
Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
. Woodside's interest in the project, and willingness to become actively involved, created a link not only with the Pump House, where the side still meet today, but also with the Folk Club
Folk clubs
A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk revival, but continue today there and elsewhere...
. What seemed a promising venue for the previously struggling side, also became the source of many new dancers. It had taken a lot of hard work on the part of Lank to negotiate a place at the Pump House, lobbying the committee throughout the preceding year to allow Woodside a home on Wednesday nights, and in the end a place was found - originally in a much smaller venue than the current Colne River Rooms - on the grounds that the side be associated with the folk club.
The new membership brought with it a slightly changed attitude to dance venues, and the frequency of dancing out. Where pub's had never been a deterrent to Woodside Morris Men, they now became the mainstay for performances. This was not a complete change in attitude - the tours, [Morris Ring] meetings, days of dance and feasts still remained part of the side's schedule - but the pub evenings became an opportunity to dance out more regularly, and to promote Woodside in the local area.