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Morris dancing side celebrates 10th anniversary with day of music and dance
Rumburgh Morris performing in Bungay to mark their 10th anniversary. Picture: Amy Smith - Credit: Archant
A Morris dancing side has marked its 10th anniversary with a day of traditional music and dance.
Rumburgh Morris, a mixed side formed in 2008, were joined by eight other Morris dancing groups who travelled to Bungay to join the celebration yesterday.
The day of dance saw the groups performing at four locations around the town - two in public at the Butter Cross and outside Jesters and two at pubs where Rumburgh Morris perform, The Chequers Inn and The Green Dragon.
The visiting groups included a side from Fenstanton, near Cambridge, and Holt Ridge Morris based in North Norfolk, with Bungay Town Crier Martin Payne on hand for the introductions.
Paul Wisdom, who has been performing with Rumburgh Morris since the group was formed, said: “In Morris sides people come and people go so it is not everyday that a side manages to reach 10 years, although there are some in the country who have been going much longer for 40 or 50 years.
“Morris dancers in general like dancing with each other because we know people in the other sides and we like the difference in traditions.
“The day has gone really well. We were keeping our fingers crossed for the weather to stay dry.”
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The day of dance is the first time Rumburgh Morris has organised for other sides to come together to perform and featured a range of styles of Morris dancing.
Rumburgh Morris members dance the Cotswold style, with sticks, bells and handkerchiefs, while sides like Fiddlesticks from Norwich perform the North West style with clogs.
The celebrations continued into the evening at Rumburgh Village Hall with a bar serving beer brewed specially for the occasion, along with more music and dancing. Rumburgh Morris is based in the village of Rumburgh, with The Buck pub as its headquarters. Practice sessions are held at the nearby St Margaret South Elmham village hall.
The side will be up early to dance again on May Day Broome Common to dance at dawn, a tradition to welcome the summer sun.
For more information about the group visit www.rumburghmorris.org.uk