Morris dancing at Thaxted began in 1910, after a visit from Miss Blanche Payling, who came from the
Esperance Guild of Morris Dancers organized by Miss Mary Neal, and as a result of this visit Mrs Noel
soon had a large class of mixed dancers. Three Thaxted dancers were invited to dance throughout the
week at the Earls Court Exhibition of Shakespeare's England in 1912. In 1913 Father George Chambers
brought the Thaxted dancers into touch with Cecil Sharp's work by taking some of them to the classes
then being held at Dunmow by Mrs Hobbs; a friend of Cecil Sharp; these classes, however, were almost
entirely for country- and sword-dancing. There was no dancing from 1914 to 1918, but after the war
the Morris was revived by some of the old dancers, with the encouragement and help of the Letchworth
side and of other visiting teachers. The custom of dancing in the streets of Thaxted on Bank holidays
began about this time, and has continued ever since.
The first annual meeting of Morris Clubs was held at Ardeley in 1926. The next year it was held at
Thaxted, where it has continued to be held since that time, and when the Morris Ring was founded this
meeting became one of the big annual Ring gatherings. The long and happy association of Morris men
with Thaxted and with Thaxted Church led to a suggestion in 1948 that Morris Clubs, through the Ring,
might subscribe towards the recasting of one of the church bells, three of which were in a state of
bad repair, and for this object a sum of £45 in all was subscribed by the Clubs. The bell, inscribed
with beautiful figures of Morris and other traditional dances, was cast by the firm of Gillet and
Johnston, the work being carefully superintended by Michael Howard, one of the directors and himself
a Morris dancer, and the bell, with the two others, was dedicated by the Bishop of Colchester on
Saturday March 26th 1949, while a large gathering of Morris men, organized by the Ring, was dancing
in Cecil Sharp House. (G.Chambers, A.B.Hunter, J.Putterill)
Late in 1933 Francis Fryer and Reginald Annetts, who had become interested in English folk-dancing while
living near Newhury, moved to Wargrave. Here they found neither country-dance centre nor Morris Club in
existence, but regular (and separate) weekly practices for both kinds of dancing were soon begun.
Various local men took part in the Morris practices, and visitors sometimes put in an appearance.
Three local men proved to be stayers (John Gillet, Tom Jones, and Rae Jones), and later Fred Coxhead,
who had done a good deal of dancing with Fryer and Annetts in the Newbury district, joined the Club.
When the Morris Ring was formed in 1934, the Wargrave Morris Men were one of the Inaugural Members,
and early in September 1936 the Ring met at Wargrave Hall, the Wargrave Morris Men being responsible
for the local arrangements.
With the aid of one, or sometimes two, guest dancers, the Club was able to dance in public on various
occasions, for example at Brownlow Hill, Warfield, in October 1937, and at Selborne in July 1938 (as
part of a pageant attended by 2000 spectators), and about this time the Club organized an evening's
dancing tour of villages in the Lambourn valley. In July 1939, with one guest dancer, they performed
the Boosbeck Sword-dance at the summer festival of the E.F.D. & S. Society (Berkshire Branch), the music
being provided by Fryer playing an accordion similar to that used by George Tremain, the musician of
the traditional Boosbeck team. At the present time the Club is doing its best to resume the activities
interrupted by the war. (F.Fryer)
A keen group of dancers at Whitchurch were put into touch with Lionel Bacon at a meeting of the Ring, and with his help and tuition have made excellent progress. The Club was founded and admitted to association in the Ring in May 1949.
The Club was founded by Roger Pinniger. Help was given by the Vicar, the Rev. A. J. Hook, who knew Cecil Sharp. The side danced for two years, 1937 to 1939. (R.Pinniger)