FASH CHAT: Holidays for Dancers 'Woolacombe Folk Dance Weekend'
A folk dance weekend takes place at Woolacombe on the North Devon coast each October/November. The weekend is organised by Paul Eden's 'Holidays for Dancers'. Most of Paul's weekends are organised for ballroom dancers, but having worked on events with Pete Mac, Paul suggested a Folk Dance Weekend, and these have been hosted by Pete and Nicole Mac.
The venue is the Narracott Hotel, Woolacombe. The hotel must have one of the best ballrooms in England - superb dance floor with views over the extensive Woolacombe Sands and the sweep of the bay. The weekend is on a 'bed, breakfast and evening meal' basis. At lunchtime guests can buy themselves a meal in the hotel or go out to the nearby pubs and restaurants.
There are dances every evening and dance workshops on the Saturday and Sunday mornings. The dancers leave for home after breakfast on the Monday morning. The afternoons are free, to walk on the wonderful Woolacombe sands, take the coast path to Morte Point, or just relax.
The weekends started in 2006 with The Pete Mac Band as the anchor band and the Sunday evening dance with the Yetties very own mix of dancing, songs and fun, was a chance for everyone to let their hair down.
In 2007 the Pete Mac Band were again the musicians. Based at Exmouth in Devon, Pete plays piano accordion, Nicole plays English concertina when she is not the caller, Sue Mentz plays fiddle and mandolin and Mike Parkin plays guitar and banjo. Nicole took her usual slot as the caller for Friday evening and Geoff Cubitt, who specialises in squares and contras, called a very popular Saturday evening dance. The skill of the caller lies in their ability to get experienced and less experienced dancers through the dances. The Yetties provided the Sunday evening finale with Bonny Sartin the caller, Pete Shutler on piano accordion, Mac McCulloch on guitar and banjo and Richard Helson on fiddle. Their dances are the traditional ones that everyone knows and enjoys and the songs they sing are like the soundtrack to your life!
The dates for this year's weekend are Friday 31st October – Monday 3rd November 2008. The Pete Mac Band will be the resident band once again with Nicole as the caller for the Friday evening and Saturday morning dance workshop. On Saturday evening the well known Devon caller Jane Thomas will doubtless have us all laughing and dancing the evening away and probably be tying us in knots on the Sunday morning! We are fortunate to have the Yetties again to end the weekend in fine style with a ceilidh on Sunday evening. Numbers are already looking very good but there are still rooms available and we hope to see you there if you would enjoy a visit to Devon in the Autumn!
2008 will sadly be the last year that the weekend is held at The Narracott Hotel - after our weekend there, the hotel will be altered and the superb ballroom will no longer be available. So in 2009 we will be moving to a new venue, but still on the North Devon coast.
For booking forms for 2008 call 'Holidays for Dancers' on 01395 223645 or visit www.holidays4dancers.com. Or to chat about the weekend, feel free to call me on 01395 266553.
Hope to see you there! Pete Mac
FASH AGM
Many thanks to everyone who turned up and anyone who didn't attend missed a fantastic cream tea prepared by Elizabeth Haigh and a fun evening with Pete & Sue Hall playing and Rob Mills, Joy Simmons and Nigel Beaton calling and Rob leading some singing.
We welcome (ever so gratefully) Fran Sly and Daphne Hall to the Committee and the remaining Committee members are: Lin Rayner, John Turner, Syd Wilkins, Ian Norris, Elizabeth Haigh, Ted FitzGerald and Dennis Wheeler.
Especial thanks too to Audrey and George Grasmeder for many years of service. They have now stepped down from the Committee.
Farringdon Folk Dance Club
Farringdon FDC are delighted to be back at the Farringdon Village Hall (Massey's Folly) for their meetings. The Folly has been closed to undergo urgent repairs to the main hall which has now been passed as fit for use, even though the whole building is in a serious state of disrepair. The Massey's Folly Preservation Trust has been set up and has obtained some funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as the Architectural Heritage Fund. There are ambitious plans to make the building a centre for the use for the whole village. For further information on this fascinating building visit www.farringdon.biz
Lyng Hopwood
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Submitted by (to whom technical queries and requests for additional links only) and Edited by Dennis Wheeler, Penshurst, Vicarage Lane, Swanmore, Hants SO32 2PW 01489 892911 editor@fash.org.uk).