DDMM Ale, 8 March 2003

Most Morris clubs have an annual event, sometimes a feast, or sometimes an Ale. 'Ale' is an ancient term used to describe an annual village festival, often organised to raise funds for something like the church, at which everyone would get away from the stresses and strains of life and let their hair down and celebrate for sometimes as much as several days. There was lots of dancing and drinking, and in the 18th and 19th centuries some of the bigger events used to attract various teams of Morris dancers.
So that's an old-style Ale. For DDMM is usually an evening of dancing with members of lots of other clubs with a meal in the middle of the evening. This year White Rose Morris Men were coming down from Huddersfield and we wanted to make it worth their while coming and so we organised some dancing during the day.

Great Wilbraham

White Rose

Linton

Hildersham

David Marr of Coventry does a jig

The DDMM Ale itself

Text © Nigel Strudwick 2003
Photos © Nigel Strudwick 2003

Most Morris clubs have an annual event, sometimes a feast, or sometimes an Ale. 'Ale' is an ancient term used to describe an annual village festival, often organised to raise funds for something like the church, at which everyone would get away from the stresses and strains of life and let their hair down and celebrate for sometimes as much as several days. There was lots of dancing and drinking, and in the 18th and 19th centuries some of the bigger events used to attract various teams of Morris dancers. So that's an old-style Ale. For DDMM is usually an evening of dancing with members of lots of other clubs with a meal in the middle of the evening. This year White Rose Morris Men were coming down from Huddersfield and we wanted to make it worth their while coming and so we organised some dancing during the day.

Great Wilbraham

	White Rose
Linton


Hildersham

		David Marr of Coventry does a jig
The DDMM Ale itself



		Text © Nigel Strudwick 2003 Photos © Nigel Strudwick 2003