Well, Australia seems a distant memory, good though it was, it was followed with the amazing Day of Dance in Exeter on 20th April, where we enjoyed good weather, good company and great dancing. More good weather on May Day at Totnes, and quite a change to see the castle in the dry!
Thaxted Morris Meeting 31 May to 2 June
The season really got under way for me as Squire of The Ring with a very Traditional Ring Meeting at Thaxted weekend 31 May to 2 June. Accompanied by Iain and Tim and with the Ring Treasurer , we were accommodated in the tennis club. This is a newly built clubhouse, and appeared to have all possible facilities, from a 'fridge and cooker, to en-suite shower! However, we were to discover next morning that the shower had not been commissioned – oh well, and that the picture windows onto the tennis courts faced east and had no blinds or curtains, and the sun does come up very, very early in June! The weekend was blessed with really wonderful weather, and 17 sides were represented. The Ring officers were conveyed round to see the dancing in Roy Page's Jaguar – very appropriate! You will all know that after the Feast dancing is resumed in the road through Thaxted, until the very atmospheric dancing of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is danced by Thaxted just as the light fades. This year the large audience were very appreciative and it was danced in complete silence. The weekend finished with the Sunday parade to church, the service, where Thaxted danced and a massed display outside the church; the whole weekend enjoyed wonderful weather. My first UK Ring Meeting as Squire, but most definitely a classic Thaxted meeting.
Hartley Weekend of Dance 7 to 9 June
Next came the Hartley weekend of dance, 7 to 9 June, which is a Ring Meeting in all but name, and little different from the Ring meeting where I danced in last year. Once again I was accompanied by Iain and Tim, and despite quite a cold wind, the whole weekend was dry and sunny, and a good time was had by all. The sports theme continued with us all being accommodated in a brand new cricket pavilion; the only snag was the showers set off the fire alarm, which sounded continuously all day Saturday! If I was to nitpick, we did spend rather a long time on the bus between dance spots, and the pub in the village did run out of whisky on the Friday and beer on the Saturday! But Hartley very cunningly used school double-decker buses at half the cost of coaches and, with well worked out logistics, were able to share them between two tours - food for thought for future Ring Meetings. On the way back to Devon on Sunday I jumped ship at my cousin's house near Leatherhead, as I had a meeting in London Monday. A week later I was in London again, but that was for a day's cricket at Lords – nothing to do with the Morris.
Dolphin Morris Meeting 21 to 23 June
OMG! Just when we were getting used to weather which was passing as summer, along came the Dolphin Ring Meeting with wind and rain. For someone who rarely these days ventures north of Watford, except for the Morris, Nottingham is a long way north – its the East Midlands of course, but on a cold and wet weekend camping in a very muddy field, it feels very far north! Yes, this was to be a camping weekend with no accommodation except that which we provided ourselves. This time, Tim had more sense than to come, and Iain and I put up our little single tents on the Friday in glorious sunshine in the camping field along with everyone else; our only real worry was to dodge the dried cow pats. The rain didn't really start until the Saturday morning, but the walk to the village hall for breakfast was accompanied by torrential rain, so we started out wet and just got wetter from then on. When we got back to the field, the entrance, which was very low lying anyway, had started to flood (OK, so the people with caravans were warm and dry, but would they get off I wondered come Sunday?). I appreciate Dolphin had no control over the weather, which was very unkind to say the least. However, Dolphin arranged things so well in the camping field that there were toilets and hot showers, and in the admin tent we could get a hot drink and a piece of cake at any time; how good is that! In fact, the food was plentiful and good the whole weekend, especially the Feast. Well done to their catering team! Sunday was also wet. Saddleworth started their journey home after breakfast, which is what we should have done, but I had to do the church thing. After church, in addition to the sides attending the Ring Meeting, Dolphin had invited several other local Fed and Open sides. We danced outside the church and then processed to the pub. We bailed out early, as it was still raining, and we had a long drive home, but thanks guys, I had a great time!
Martlet Morris Meeting 5 to 7 July
For the Martlet Ring Meeting, attended by Dartington as a side, we were blessed with quite fabulous weather. Martlet were celebrating their 60th anniversary, as were 2 of the sides attending, Westminster and Whitchurch. This Ring Meeting, the 338th, was so well organised and free with the beer, that I have only a hazy recollection of some parts, but a couple of things; we learnt that Martlets are legless birds, and were reminded just how much traffic there is in West Sussex when the Saturday Tour of Tours spent nearly an hour on the Chichester bypass! The school accommodation was good; the food was excellent and never ending, as was the beer, and the Feast quite outstanding. I had been looking forward to reacquainting myself with Chichester, as I went there when I was 19 and stayed 3 years. The massed display outside the Cathedral in Chichester in glorious sunshine, watched by a large and good natured crowd on Saturday afternoon, was for me really fun and the epitome of the Morris. Sunday dancing after church near the Festival Theatre was well set up for dancing, but we had no audience to speak of, and it was somewhat of a disappointment. Good Ring Meeting though!
Silkeborg Morris Meeting - Copenhagen 23 to 25 August 2013
Along with Bathampton, who were travelling in kit, Iain and I flew from Bristol to Copenhagen, where we met up with the Ring Treasurer, and got the Metro into central station, from where it was a short walk to the Dan Hostel where we were accommodated in 4 and 6 bed rooms. We got a plastic key, packet of linen and towel, found our rooms, unpacked and headed for the bar. No sooner had we got a pint (yes, really even in a pint glass) than the host side were chasing us outside to walk across the bridge to the waterside location for the evening meal. There was one problem with that plan, it meant passing a really nice bar selling a wide choice of draft beers. Sadly I failed this test, and 2 beers later – my God, are they really 7.2%? - found my way into the waterfront venue where Morris Men and others were being fed. Silkeborg were putting in a lot of effort, as they had transformed a bare room into a fine dining facility with food beer (oh, and plates cutlery too). It was a taster for things to come, and our first introduction to Simon and his good lady, who were doing the catering on the Friday and Saturday. We ate, drank, danced and somehow found our way back to bed.
Saturday breakfast was taken in the hostel and we left at 09.00 prompt for our walking tour of this fine city. As luck would have it, the weather was fabulous, without being too hot, and would remain so all weekend. Two tours had been programmed; Kings and Helmond were on one, and Bathampton and Shakespeare the other. Silkeborg invited me and Iain to join them and tour with Kings and Helmond in the morning and the other tour in the afternoon. The first 2 spots we danced for ourselves, but things picked up and we danced at some really nice venues with good audiences. (The other tour was not so lucky and got embroiled in a Gay Pride parade, with loud music, which made dancing impossible. Unfortunately, the guide didn't have the experience to sort this out quickly; we on the other tour were blissfully unaware of these problems.) Lunch for the first tour was taken at the Red Lion pub, and the second tour on the waterfront. Both venues were fine, and at the second lunch spot, along with our hosts, I joined up with the second tour. After a couple of really well watched dance spots at the old harbour and along the waterfront, we all arrived at the St Albans Church fête, some 15 minutes late.
St Albans is the Anglican church for Copenhagen, and as such has a very British congregation; mainly working expats and those married to Danes. The fête was just like any other that Morris men dance at home; they were very welcoming and had even set up a good public address. There was time for each side to do 2 dances before we finished and had to think about the feast. We would, of course be back to St Albans church on the Sunday. I headed back to the hostel with a few others to get sorted out for the Feast. One or two guys had found the day rather exhausting and had decided not to make the trek out to the suburbs for the feast, a shame. The rest of us piled onto the metro to go 3 stations and another long walk to the venue for the Feast, which was in the attic of what looked like an old barrack block. 
Cooking was done outside on two large BBQs, by the amazing Simon. (Silkeborg had booked the Friday venue for the feast; it would have been ideal – by the water, a short walk from Dan Hostel, but they had the booking cancelled with less than 3 weeks to go, so had done well to find anywhere, and, quirky as it was, with its sloping roof, and the food being brought up 3 floors by a lift which stopped working a couple of times, just to add colour to the evening, it was OK!) Despite (or perhaps because of) all these problems, the food was continuous, with five types of salad, a starter of smoked tuna and salmon, followed by steamed mussels, then grilled langoustine, followed by some amazing roast beef. Well done Simon and partner; considering the difficulty, the Feast was unusual, beautifully cooked and imaginative. All to be washed down with Hancocks HB! The after dinner speeches, following the welcome to the guests from the hosts, were kicked off by the Ring Treasurer giving an imaginative piece on the link between Nine Days Morris, Copenhagen, and The Immortal Memory, which had us all baffled. The guest of honour – quite a coup for Silkeborg – was Her Excellency, The British Ambassador, one Vivien Life, who replied with an amusing piece about her association with Morris Dancing during her years as an undergraduate; she shared memories and anecdotes which we all enjoyed. All the sides entertained us with song, and the formalities ended with a special request from Vivien for “A Drop of Nelson's Blood” ably orchestrated by Bathampton. What a great evening; unusual, but fun. The ambassador obviously enjoyed herself, as when she arrived she told me she had to be out of the door for 10pm, and 40 minutes later than that, she was still chatting!! Although singing was permitted, the location of the Feast in a residential area prevented us from playing music and dancing (obviously that restriction was designed for rock music, but hey ho). After finishing the beer, we somehow, all of us, managed to stagger to the train station and get ourselves back to the hostel. I have this recurring vision of Bathampton dancing on a lost platform somewhere and trying to collect from the other passengers on the platform, but then, it might not have happened like that!
Sunday was a good deal more relaxed; we had to vacate our rooms by 09.00 and a baggage room was provided for our use. We were due at St Albans church around 10.30, and it had been decided that we would walk (yes, really) to the Old Harbour (charmingly called the New Harbour in Danish), where we would process the half mile or so from there entirely along the waterfront. We duly lined up outside the tourist restaurants – at this early hour on a Sunday, largely empty – to Winster all the way to church. Somehow, as soon as we set off at 10, the Chinese tourists appeared, and we had quite an audience as we danced and walked for an unbroken 25 minutes. The Anglican service was OK, but the regular preacher was away in UK as his Dad had died, and the Danish replacement, despite being a Canon, didn't really know anything about the Morris. Also, the lady deacon who preached the sermon went on for over 20 minutes, and lost me I am afraid, as she seemed to say the same thing 4 or 5 times. At the end of the service Silkeborg danced Princess Royal quite beautifully in the aisle. We should have had an hour massed dance, but only had 20 minutes or so. Disappointing for those who had come to watch, but inevitable I am afraid. After dancing, those who needed to left, others partook of the tea and coffee kindly provided by the church stalwarts; some simply went to a waterfront bar a few yards from the church. I, after a pilgrimage of maybe 300 yards to see the Little Mermaid, joined them, and passed a few hours in the sun there, before getting the water taxi to the hostel (yes, there are water taxis, and we didn't use them before, damn!), to change, and go our various ways; in my case for a few days bird watching in Sweden. To Silkeborg Morris Men, I would like to say a big thank you; I had a great time, and Copenhagen is most definitely the place for a Morris Festival; the format needs a little tweaking, maybe less walking and more water taxi! Please do it again soon, maybe as a day of dance and invite me!! Oh, I love the Tee shirt too!
Post Script
Well, quite a year for me, which started in Adelaide in April, went via Thaxted in the sun, Nottingham in the rain, Chichester in the sun and finished in glorious weather in Copenhagen. (And which meeting was out door camping?) All very enjoyable, with great company; please host sides, I and others do appreciate all the hard work you put in, and it was certainly very evident all through this year just how committed everyone is.
From being undecided on the format of Meetings of The Morris Ring Sides, to use the correct term, I am now certain that, with the one exception of Thaxted, the formal Sunday church service is no longer either popular or needed, and should be available as option. Guys, there is no need to do a meeting any particular way, the format is yours and yours alone and you can also have a BBQ instead of a feast, or do without entirely if you like; there were certainly some novel ideas this year so how about some new sides being encouraged to step forward and try something new? Next year, we have formality with Thaxted and informality at Saddleworth, I look forward to both, Devil's Dyke and Dartington as well! Wassail!!
Robin Springett