Bristol Ring Meeting, July 2002

On Saturday and Sunday July 27th & 28th, 2002, the Bristol Morris Men hosted the 292nd Meeting of the Morris Ring of England, the association of men's morris dance clubs. It was a big success!

Members of 16 morris sides, from all over the country, converged on Bristol for a weekend of dance, music and song. The dancers were accommodated at Ashton Gate School, Blackmoors Lane, Bower Ashton, Bristol BS3 2TL.

Clubs in attendance were:

In addition, members of Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men were in attendance to see their member Cliff Marchant take over the office of Squire of the Morris Ring, from Gerald Willey of Shakespeare Morris Men.

On Saturday, July 27th there were six separate Morris Tours to towns and villages in the Bristol area, as well as some dancing in the centre of Bristol. Bristol Morris Men, as "Home Side" perfgormed with tours 1 and 2. With so many morris men present in Bristol over the weekend, you may need to look at this list of side costumes so you can tell Who was Who!

Sunday, July 28th at 11.10 a.m. saw a procession of dancers through Bristol from Narrow Quay to the Cathedral, where there was a church service, open to members of the public. At 12.30 there was a massed show featuring some 200 morris dancers, fools and animals (hobbyhorses, etc.) in Millennium Square, as part of the Harbour Festival.

For further information, please mail: ringmeeting@bristolmorrismen.co.uk, or telephone Nigel Cooke on 01934-862698

Here are some pictures from the Ring Meeting. If you have any other good ones, please send them to us!