We didn’t let a little rain dampen our enthusiasm when we danced out in Aldbourne outside the Blue Boar on Sunday afternoon, 30th October. We loved the position of the pub on the edge of the village green and our audience included several horses and their riders. It was a pleasure to share the ‘stage’ (or road!) with Chippenham Town Morris who had invited us to come along

Chippenham Town Morris had met one of our melodeon players, Jon, when they performed at Ramsbury Fete a few weeks ago and suggested we dance out together. We had been practising some new dances, but stuck to the old favourites for this occasion, but hope to try them out soon. At one stage our melodeon players had to protect their instruments with plastic bags – how clever of them to be able to play without looking! Fortunately, the drizzle stopped after a short time which made the session even more enjoyable.

We were surprised when a group of cyclists in strange outfits rode through when Chippenham were dancing. It turned out they were members of a quirky cycling club having their final outing of the year and were known to the Chippenham dancers.

Things turned even stranger later when they had a wheelbarrow race around the green. We rather liked their horse outfit and wondered if we ought to get one!

We finished with a shared dance, taught to us by the other Morris side, which was very fast and great fun.

Text : Jackie Breadmore
Photos : Sharon Causebrook