DIARY DATES, REPORTS AND PHOTOS 1988

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1998

Date	Time	Venue	Location	Guests (of)
26 April 1998	18:00 to 20:00	Lichfield	Market Square	Coventry Morris Men
2,3,4 May 1998	All Day	Upton-on-Severn	Around the Town	Folk Festival
17 May 1998	12:00 to 16:00	Etwall	Village Square	Well Dressing
23,24 May 1998	All Day	Whitby	Around the Town	Sword Spectacular
6,7 June 1998	All Day	Grassington	Around the Area	Flag Crackers
20 June 1998	All Day	Lichfield	Around the Town	Folk Festival
27 June 1998	14.30 to 15:00	Lichfield	Market Square	Twinning Association
28 June 1998	12:00 to 13:30	Wychnor Hall	Wychnor Park
3,4,5 July 1998	All Day	Bushbury	Around the Farm	Folk-on-the-Farm
5 July 1998	19:00	Lichfield	Stowe Fields	Fringe Festival
17,18,19 July 1998	All Day	Windermere	Around the Lake	Crook Morris
13 Sept 1998	13:00 to 14:30	Wychnor Hall	Wychnor Park
4 Oct 1998	12:00 to 15:00	Bushbury	Northycote Farm	Charity Toy Run
30 Nov 1998	20:30 to 22:30	Streethay	Anchor Public House	(Sword and Clog)
15 Dec 1998	20:30 to 22:30	Lichfield	Sozzled Sausage Pub	(Sword and Clog)

Rabble Diary 1998

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26 April 1998 - Lichfield Market Place

Despite the occasional shower there was a good turn out for the first outing of the year to welcome the Coventry Morris Men at the last venue of their weekend tour.
Several Lichfield dances were performed in recognition of the location and several Rabble members joined in with a Coventry Dance which they learnt on the spot.
New border side member Stephanie was press ganged into dancing in a borrowed hat and ragged coat and acquitted herself admirably.
Thanks to Coventry Morris Men for an enjoyable precursor to the season.

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2,3 and 4 May 1998 - Upton-on-Severn

Marvellous weather all weekend added to the superb atmosphere at Upton to make this a very enjoyable event. Many of our local sides were represented and put on a good show at the display venue outside of the King's Head. The Ripley Morris Men's "sitwell" dance (which they do sitting down in chairs !) was particularly well received.
There was plenty of opportunity for busking at various other sites in the area which the Rabble took advantage of, although at times it did get a bit crowded outside some of the more popular pubs.
Despite an attempted sabotage by a Flagcracker musician who tried to speed up the music for the "Speed the Plough" 1/2 hour endurance event at the Rabble end, you will be pleased to hear that we managed to go the distance with no problems. Despite the elevated temperatures the Rapper side mysteriously elected to dance in their matching ? team sweatshirts. Unconfirmed rumours suggested that not all the side had added a tasteful new colour scheme to their white shirts at breakfast.
Also Mike's solo virtuoso single note performance during a clog tune should indeed not be allowed to go unrecognised.
Due to other commitments the Rabble was not able to field a team after about mid-day on Sunday but several member stayed on to soak up the atmosphere and visit the numerous workshops and sessions.

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17 May 1998 - Etwall

The Sunday of the Etwall Well Dressing event saw the return of the Rabble to perform as part of the organised entertainment. This event is a favourite of the side and this year was no exception with a very good turn out. A team photo was taken between the two dance venues and is available by clicking on the link (200K)

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23, 24 May 1998 - Swords at Whitby

The Rabble Sword dancers took part in the Whitby Sword Spectactular where they received very favourable comments on the performance of the newly introduced Long Sword routines. Congratulations to the side in being awarded a certificate of merit.

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6, 7 June 1998 - Flagcrackers Weekend of Dance

Another good turn out for the Flagcrackers 10th anniversary day of Dance at Grassington. The whole weekend was superbly organised with 7 coaches arranged to transport the tours, together with their packed lunches, to various locations (local pubs) on the Saturday.
The Rabble were on tour 4 with Claro Sword and Palatine Clog which visited the more remote locations. Unfortunately the weather was a bit variable and the second venue turned into more of a session although this provided the opportunity for some indoor singing and dancing.
An experimental form of clog dancing was introduced on this tour where Doc Martins replaced the more traditional footwear. History will record if this was the dawning of a new age.
Despite a brave effort on the part of three Rabble entrants in the Sunday morning competitions, it is my sad duty to inform you that they were all beaten by a wooden puppet !
The traditional Sunday procession, with all sides forming an arched tunnel at the end, was followed by dancing in the main street of Grassington until mid-afternoon.

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20 June 1998 - Lichfield Folk Festival

Unseasonal (sic) wet weather dogged the morning proceedings, although the numerous brightly coloured umbrellas protecting the musicians and their instruments added to the soggy but lively spectacle in the main shopping thoroughfare.
Dispite this setback there are of course always those who like to pose for the camera and true to form the culprits can be readily identified on page 7 of the Lichfield Mercury (25/06/98 issue)
A little later it was found that the covered arcway at the side of the Scales public house not only provided shelter for the musicians but also conveniently projected the music into the street (or so they said) so only the dancers continued to get wet.
The weather cleared up a bit after lunch only to find a small but intrepid band of break-away Rabblers providing a their own interpretation of Ragged Crow (the only dance they all knew) to a crowd (if four people can form a crowd) outside of the cathederal, whilst the rest of the Rabble (and Festival Dancers) were congregated 1/2 a mile away inside a school hall.
Rapid on-foot communications, forced marches and rearranged schedules ensured a re-grouped Rabble did not to miss out on the indoor dance displays.

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27 June 1998 - Lichfield Twinning

Lichfield is twinned with Sainte Foy in France and Limburg in Germany and the Rabble performed in the market square as the last turn of the entertainment arranged by the twinning association.
As if pre-arranged the rain started at the same time as the Rabble and by the time the first dance was over nearly all the audience had taken cover (followed closely by the musicians and dancers).
Fortunately the storm was over quickly and with some artistic mopping of their dance boards by the clog team, the proceeding were under way again with minimal delay.
Throughout the set an enterprising MC provided some interesting musical interludes with his up-close (and personal) wandering microphone with Lynn's performance on bicycle pump certainly being one of the more "interesting" shall we say.

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28 June 1998 - Wychnor Hall

Wychnor Hall is set in its own extensive grounds near Alrewas and offers panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. It has been converted into a timeshare appartment complex and, due to the village hall in King's Bromley being booked, was the setting this weeks (dance-out) practice.
The first set from 12:00 to 12:30 was enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd of spectators and staff after which the Rabble retired to the lounge area and enjoyed sandwiches and drinks provided by the management.
The second set saw active participation by a member of Wychnor Hall staff, who had expressed an interest (she should have known better !), and the press-ganging of two German lads who were visiting as part of the Lichfield twinning event.
During the after event refreshments everone agreed it have been a very enjoyable afternoon and hoped that it could and would be repeated.

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4, 5 July 1998 - Folk on the Farm

This was the first year that "Folk-on-the-Farm" has extended over the weekend (rather than just the Saturday) but on the Friday evening / Saturday morning it seemed that, apart from the pigs and turkeys, everbody else had decided to come on the Sunday.
Things picked up for Saturday afternoon and the Rabble (with Penny Royal and One Step) performed two intense 3/4 hr dance sessions covering the entire repetoire known by the "just sufficient" number of dancers. The repeats being cunningly disguised by playing different tunes !
It must have gone down OK as the Rabble were invited to dance on the Sunday afternoon of the farm's BIG charity event which takes place later in the year and attracts a crowd of some 20,000 people. Details appear in the table above.
Unfortunately there weren't enough team members available on Sunday to form a side but the large crowd and appearance of other dance sides made it a worthwhile spectator event.

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5 July 1998 - Lichfied Fringe

The focal point of the Lichfield Fringe is the marquee situated on Stowe field near the cathederal. This year the Rabble were invited to dance as part of the bar opening ceremony !
On the stroke of 7.00pm (following the evening service) the congregation leaving the tent were treated to an exibition of morris and clog dancing, which was enjoyed by quite a respectable crowd. In a short break between the two dance sessions, the bar was officially opening by Gareth Armstrong (Sean from the Archers).
Aside for those under 30:- The Archers is a long running radio soap opera. It has a well known theme tune which goes Dum-de-Dum-de-Dum-de-Dum, Dum-de-Dum-de-Dum-Dum etc).
After the dancing, a team photo with Gareth was taken by the fringe photographer and there was just time to take advantage of the happy hour prices and watch the antics of Mr and Mrs Sideways (honest ?) a New Zealand juggling duo.

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17, 18, 19 July 1998 - Windermere

All those on the campsite friday night had their tents fully tested for water tightness which rather set the scene for the weekend.
Saturday morning saw the Rabble and the Bunnies from Hell (a cotswold side) sharing a coach and on route to Ambleside for dancing in the shopping square. The arrangements were that two tour buses met at each location so that throughout the day each side had a chance to dance with all the others.
Due to Bobs suberb timing (luck ?) the Rabble managed to get the dance slots between showers, although the rain didn't allow a particularly large audience to build up.
Not so after (a large packed) lunch in Hawkshead town centre where all the teams received enthusiastic applause from a large crowd which stayed for all of the performances.
At each of these two venues Lynn was draughted in (under the expert guidance of Peter) to help out the Bunnies, and following her performance could well be in line for a place with Lichfield MM next season.
The last spot of the afternoon was at the ferry terminal at Lakeside where the Rabble were joined by First (four daughters of Rabble members) who gave a hypnotic display of Irish dancing.
The day was rounded off with a boat trip back to Windermere.
The circus moved off to Kirkby Lonsdale for Sunday afternoon and the traditional procession was followed by individual teams dancing in the market square.
The rain never really let up all day and the covered market cross and the local cafes were all well used to keep dry until the final massed Dorset four hand reel when everbody got wet at the same time.
Superb organisation by Crook made sure nobody was left wanting and the whole weekend went very smoothly.

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13 Sept 1998 - Wychnor Hall

Following morning practice the Rabble made a welcome return to Wychnor Hall to give a dance display for the residents and visitors.
They must have been expecting us as there was an area of the car park marked out (with beer barrels) and a row of chairs set out for the spectators. After a quick reviving drink, the border side performed some of the dances polished-up in the morning session and were also joined by two members of First who performed some irish dancing.
After another reviving drink the remainder of the border dances practiced in the morning (and some that weren't) were performed. These were interspersed with a fine display of rapper sword and more irish dancing from First.
The whole display seemed to go down very well with the appreciative audience and the refreshments at the end, provided by the staff at Wychnor Hall, were very welcome.
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4 Oct 1998 - Northycote Farm

The final outing of the 1998 season saw the Rabble return to Northycote farm, the venue for Folk-on-the-Farm earlier in the year.
This time it was for the final day of the Wolverhampton Charity Toy Run where bikers deliver toys to children in hospital and other institutions.
The first session was in the courtyard at the farm buildings and in addition to the normal mixture of border, sword and clog dancing a small audience was treated to a long sword dance, which seemed to take advantage of all the available space.
The second session was in the field where the Toy Run was based, and for a while it looked like we were going to have to compete with generators, bouncy castles, fire engine sirens, disco music and fairground rides which were all fighting for attention on all sides of the arena.
Fortunately there was a large marquee where it was a bit quieter, and despite the uneven footing a full set was performed to a moderately sized mainly leather clad (yes Stephanie leather clad) crowd, who for some reason insisted on standing close to the exit, (although it was true that it was also the entrance to the beer tent).
The prize for "most unlikely" must go to the Clog dancing team for their interpretation of the Wombles of Wimbledon Common (was that Great Uncle Bulgaria on accordian ?).
It was then back down at the courtyard for a final apperance to a small audience mainly consisting of members of the sealed knot who were on their break from giving a demonstration of bygone warfare and lifestyle in a paddock adjacent to the farm.
Well done to Peter who stepped in for an absent Bob. Who knows as next weekend is the AGM he may be the new foreman for the 1999 season !
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30 Nov 1998 - Anchor Pub - Streethay

Unlike the Border dances, Clog and Rapper Sword can be performed in fairly confined spaces and and so a series of evenings out to pubs in the Lichfield area has been proposed.
The Anchor pub in Streethay was the first venue where the four regulars and the landlady were treated to a full programme of dance and music interludes.
This outing saw the debut of a new Rapper recruit, in the form of our regular clog musician Colin, who gave a stirling performance after only a few weeks of practice.
Especially noteworthy was the precise and controlled movements which made full use of the available space, plus a little bit more on some occassions, and the spectacular "falling leaf" sword display to celibrate the changing seasons (or so they said).
For most of the evening it was up to Adrienne to provide all the clog dancing entertainment by herself, although Liz (a new Clog recruit ?) joined in later on.
All agreed that the evening had been a success and more of the same would be planned.
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15 Dec 1998 - Sozzled Sausage - Green Hill

After the inital shock of the colour scheme and zebra skin pattern couches, the Sozzled Sausage proved to be an ideal venue. The manager had made the effort to set aside a wooden floored area for us with the tables moved back and the piped music turned off.
Perhaps because of the location, there was a good turn out of the general Rabble to support the four cloggers and the sword team.
There seemed to be some genuine interest from some of the pub regulars (and the bar staff) some of who watched all the performances and listened to the musical interludes.
At one point even the the hardened border team members in the crowd were moved to sing along to the clog medley of "old time favourites".
The evening was rounded off with the musicians playing a few tunes and eventually persuading the seemingly reluctant crowd to join in with "the wild rover". For a finale we were treated to Peter and Liz's impromptu version of "the nutting girl".
A good evening out (albeit the beer was a bit pricey) and a definitely one to be put on the list for a return visit.
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Last updated on 17/12/1998