Whitethorn's 30th Anniversary

On a splendid autumn Saturday, Woodside foregathered with a number of other local sides to celebrate the 30 anniversary of Whitethorn Clog Morris. The meet took place at the Three Horseshoes, Letchmore Heath, and good fun was had all round. Once again, Dave Dunham does the Woodside blog thing, and relates his side of the story.

With plans to go on and watch the rugby (England v Australia in the 2007 World Cup quarter final), I asked the splendid Roger Bang’s if he wouldn’t mind picking me up and giving me a lift to the pub. I had contemplated cycling, but only for the briefest of infinitesimal moments, before picking up the phone, though when talking to Roger I made it sound like the temptation to ride had been considerable more compelling, and that the decision to travel in the climate controlled luxury of his automobile was far more agonising than was actually the case.

Such guilt ridden concerns were soon forgotten though, as we set out on the journey. At this point there were other concerns, such as whether to go round the back to get to Letchmore, or to take the M1 link road from Watford town centre. The traffic seemed pretty clear, which was a relief after the previous week, when the one way’s integrity was breached, and traffic was diverted out of town along said link road, so we opted for the more direct route, only to discover, just after the last chance to turn back, that all was distinctly unwell at the M1 junction, and apparently backing into London. Ultimately, this was responsible for our arrival some 45 minutes late for the do, for which, rather unfairly I thought, I got the blame and no one would listen when I tried to explain. It’s a tough life.

Thankfully, although we were late, the side had managed to dance, mainly due to the assistance of a stray Whitchurch man or two; a favour we were able to repay a little later.  

There was a delightful welcome for us from Whitethorn, who are a very gregarious team with lots of friends in the world of Morris. They know how to keep their public happy, particularly me; they always let me join in somehow, usually with the garland dance, which is a particular favourite of mine - maybe it's intricate stepping, maybe it's the lovely tune, or maybe it's just the nice flowers.

Woodside have a number of connections with the side, with Lank being one of their musicians, and his wife Mary, who formerly danced, but is now content to assist in the playing via the use of her legendary Jingle Stick. Also, Sue Pearse, our Foreman’s wife, dances with the side (and has kindly sorted the photos on this page out for me).

Now for my cock-up of the event: I had heard that the dancing finished at two o’clock, but had not heard that we would be eating after that time, I had also arranged to get a lift back to Charlie’s (Woodside’s new baby) house, where we were to watch the Rugger. Wayne had never intended to go on for the food (he is fromageally challenged, leading to an unfortunate ploughman’s intolerance), so it looked as though I would be unlucky in lunch. A quick word with a few of Whitethorn’s delightful dance-force soon sorted out my conundrum, and I was given an early dinner chit to grab an out of protocol ploughman’s. I told you they know how to keep us (me!) happy.

We were dancing in rounds of five or six teams, with Whitethorn’s other guests. Whitethorn’s guests on the day were Dave Pearce’s other side, Hoddesdon Crownsmen, Hertfordshire Hollies, Whitchurch Morris Men, and, of course, Woodside Morris Men. We were after the Hollies in the rotation, which had a number of impromptu other performances from some mixed and double sets, as well as a young woman from the Crownsmen who was doing some very nice step dances.

Just before piling off to the hall for my sneak preview dinner, I got my chance to dance with Whitethorn when they danced Colne Royal, be it as a Molly, up the other end from Trish who was doing it properly. Thus satisfied in dance, I went to satisfy myself in a more gastronomic manner, obtaining two of the bigger pickled onions into the bargain.

The time for the Rugby had drawn near, and Wayne had been give leave to depart, though it was not understood at first that I would be heading off with him! This left a perplexing situation behind us that I later found out was dealt with through the use of our other new boy John, who was able to replace me in a quick Banks of the Dee, which had been committed to just a few minutes before Wayne and I departed. Hats off to John though, he’s only been dancing with us two weeks; honestly, it makes you want to spit sometimes!

So it came to pass that I was not present when the throng moved on, to a Letchmore Heath village hall filled with cheese, ham and very sizeable pickled onions - oh, and a rather tasty and appropriately decorated cake.

A very healthily stocked Whitethorn posed with the cake, and I can only assume that the picture was taken very early in the lunchtime proceedings, as the idea of the poor thing lasting much longer than a few seconds is practically inconceivable, given the assembled personnel.

The consensus afterwards was that it was a very happy birthday indeed.