We arrived in Upton at around 2ish, and with Angie, Doug and Clive, saw some good acts. Quite a few friends were dancing as well, Lizzie was with Stone the Crows, the hard dancin', hard drinkin' Lancashire border side, and Fi was with Foxs, who do the whole weekend. Bellyfusion were there, and Bourne Borderers too. A great afternoon, watching rather than dancing for a change. And when it was all finished, we had fish and chips on the river front. A great day. We spent the evening in the Swan, always a good place when there's a folk festival on, and slept well.
Sunday dawned bright, dry but a little windy. Angie did us some lovely bacon sandwiches and we had the last of the cat's milk in the tea. Not out of the cat's bowl, you understand, it was milk in the fridge, set aside for the cat. Think I've cleared that one up Angie! Thanks for looking after us!
We were dancing our show spot at 1110am, so we'd all agreed to meet up before 1030 for a quick run through. Practice over, we made our way down to the show spot. We kicked off with a Manning Tree, Lizzie's excellent dance honouring the so-called witches executed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Jane's Dance, a long dance in the Manx tradition followed. Both got some good applause. "Can you do one more?" said the organiser, "a quick one?" so we finished with a Katie Cruel. Rapturous applause. A quick sprint down to the rugby fields, about a mile away, and we were ready to start the procession. I don't know whether I've mentioned it before, if I have, I apologise. I hate processions.
Reason 1: No two Morris sides process at the same speed. You end up with a mixture of shuffling about on the spot, and sprinting to catch up.
Reason 2: They always seem to go for a least a mile, sometimes two. I'm a fairly stoutish sort of fellow, with small legs. It's hard work for me.
Reason 3: You try walking and playing a big mediaeval drum at the same time. It swings all over the place, gets between your legs, falls off.....
Reason 4: Most processional dances are in fact rubbish. This is in no way a reflection on the writers, it's just more or less impossible to write a dance where you keep moving forward all the time in a medium that is meant for static dancing.
Reason 5: Nobody can hear what's going on. There I am, walking alongside the dancers, banging away for all it's worth, in 4/4 time, and just in front there's a pipe band. Or a Samba band. Or three accordions and a set of English pipes playing something in 6/8.
Reason 6. I could go on all night, but I think I've said enough.
On the upside, when we all get to the other end, we all form a sort of guard of honour, and everybody walks through everybody else, to applause and back slapping, that sort of thing. Until we get to the end, and then nobody knows where we started and we start again. After about an hour, we're done. There, I've just cancelled out the upside.
Anyway, procession over, it was time for lunch. On Dougie's recommendation I immediately ran over to the Anchor, for a pint of Sharpe's Doom Bar. Another followed. What a great pint of bitter Doom Bar is! Spicy, malty, fruity and bitter. A meal in a glass. Apparently I had some food to, but I can't for the life of me remember what....
Upton is an interesting festival, in that you just dance where you like. There about a dozen spots, up and down the town, along the waterfront, but you just pick your spot and away you go. Some memories of the afternoon:
Flagcrackers of Craven outside the Swan. Do a magnificent dance called Bedlam. I love theatrical, and this was THEATRE! Brilliant. Watch it when you can!
Bellyfusion, outside the Anchor. I've been trying to get them interested in Tom Waits for a while now, and they've done a dance to a Tom Waits song, just for me! Well, probably not just for me, but that's what they said. It was great! So thank you Angie, it was wonderful!
Good to see Chris Butler-Hall and Rosie, looking so well! Here's looking at you kid! Didn't see your dad though, he was probably in a pub somewhere....Hope you had a good time Steve, see you soon.
All in all, a cracking day, weather held good, some good dancing, company, and beer. Not necessarily in that order. Obviously.
Now how do I describe Clun? Have you seen Deliverance? It's a border town. Right on the border really. From Craven Arms, you drive through Aston on Clun. And Clunton. And eventually you come across this town, nestling in the valley. Of the River Clun. We parked up on a field and walked into town. We walked into this town square, where there were terraced houses, shops, and a pub. A first floor sash window flew up, and some kids looked out, like that scene in The Wicker Man. The sun was shining brightly and some old friends were sitting on the steps of the pub. Iron Men and Severn Gilders were there, ready to start. Drinking or dancing, anybody's guess, but I know what my money was on. They hadn't been at Upton, and we hadn't seen them for...ooh, a week, so hugs and handshakes followed.
They were sensibly dancing in the same spot all day, near the pub. We, as newcomers, had been allocated the spot near the bridge, where all the Green Man/ Ice Queen action kicks off, so we walked down a fairly steep hill to set up. Down at the river, it was packed. Last year, the whole thing had had to be cancelled due to flooding. This year, kids were paddling in the river, people were sunbathing on the grass, and the ice cream vans were doing a roaring trade. After the road had been closed, we started off, to a fairly big and appreciative audience. We raced through a Twiglet, a Titterstone Clee, a Sorting Hat, and a Brimfield. All to wild applause. A Manning Tree, our new Oddington dance, Young Collings, and then disaster struck! During Katie Cruel, Kylie pulled up and hobbled off. Dangerous Steve, quick as a flash, stepped in almost seamlessly and finished the dance. Luckily, we had Jodie, a very qualified nurse with us, and she had a look at Kylie's injury. An Achilles tendon problem. Poor Jodie missed the whole of the Green Man/ Ice Queen action, as she administered to Kylie's heel. Thanks a lot Jodie, for being such a patient nurse!
The Green Man bit over, we were due up the hill and outside the pub again, for an action packed afternoon with the Ironmen and Severn Gilders. Kylie, hobbling over the bridge, spied a chap on a mobility scooter. "You couldn't lend me that to get up the hill could you?" she cheekily asked. He carried on, but seconds later his wife came running back, saying, "he felt guilty watching you struggle, do you want some help?" He very kindly lent Kylie his crutches to walk up the hill with. What a really nice couple!
An excellent afternoon ensued. A few pints of the ever popular Butty Bach from the White Horse, great dancing and a fabulous time was had by all. Congratulations to Martyn and Sheena for their first dance with Wytchwood, a Pershore Hanky and a Brimfield respectively. Good to see all our friends from the Ironmen and Severn Gilders again. And a combined Sheepskins to finish off. The good people of Clun have probably never been so comprehensively entertained!
Great write-up!
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