Manchester Morris Men were formed in 1930 and
dance both North-west Clog Morris and Cotswold Dances. Over the years, we have danced in many
places and at all sorts of events. On Thursday evenings in summer you
may see us dancing outside one of the pubs in the local area, and at weekends
we may be away in other parts of the UK or Europe. Further details of our tours in 2009
are in our Programme, and if
you missed us, there are photos & brief reports on foreign trips and recent events.
The photo on the left shows us dancing the North-west morris in the Knutsford Royal May Day procession 2009 (courtesy of Warren Pilkington). The photo below shows a Cotswold dance, at Altrincham Market, on May Morning 2009.
There are other photos of the MMM over the last 50 years in the Photo Gallery and these, along with the photos on this page, show our costume of red and yellow sashes, blue cummerbund. black breeches with yellow piping and red stockings. For the Cotswold morris we wear blue and yellow bell pads below our knees; but for the North-west dances we swap these for clogs and flowered bowler hats.
The North-west Dances we perform are from Oldham, Mossley, New Mills, Godley Hill, Colne,
Medlock, and Abram.
And the Cotswold Dances, selected each year by the squire,
are from various villages in Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties. These
currently include dances from Bampton, Bledington,
Bucknall, Fieldtown and Lichfield.
There are currently around 15 active members, and the music for the team normally consists of a melodeon (or two), concertina and accordion, with the addition of a drum for the North-west dances.
MMM practice in Stretford on Thursday
nights during the Autumn and Winter; please contact us
for details.
During the year, we try to dance out one Saturday
each month, and on most Thursday evenings during the
spring and summer we dance out at various places in
the Manchester area ; every Boxing Day for the past 30 years, we
have danced at Brookbottom, near to New Mills. See our Programme for 'where and when'.
Web pages maintained by Keith Ashman ;
Last modified 23rd October 2009
© Manchester Morris Men 2009