To properly celebrate Jenny & Barney’s visit (see previous posts), our Squire hosted an English barbie. The experience is much like the more famous Australian version, but colder.
Warming up around the fire.
As well as the usual sausages and burgers, veggie kebabs and asparagus were on offer. And PUDDING!
Conversation flows as we thaw.
There was a little singing, too, to accompany the never-ending search for firewood.
What’s Barney seen?
Oxford takes its May Morning tradition seriously. And Havoc is no exception. For the last few years, the Friends of the Botanic Garden have kindly invited us to their early May Morning gathering. A lovely location, even if it means we start dancing at 05:15.
Starting Constant Billy
At that time in the morning, some brisk exercise is necessary to keep out the cold.
Warming up
It’s all very well if you’re dancing. Our poor musicians have to wrap up warm.
Musicians feeling the temperature
Now let’s get the long handles out.
And some precision long stick work
When it’s fully light, we can appreciate the Botanic Gardens. Just over the road from Magdalen Tower, it’s a prime position to watch the choir sing at 6am.
It’s light!
After listening to the Magdalen choir, we wandered down to the Said Business School and provided a little diversion for the early commuters. From there, it was on to our home pub, the Seacourt Bridge, to round off the morning.
At the Seacourt Bridge
And thanks to Tracy and the team – breakfast at last.
Breakfast!
In recent years, the first Havoc dance out of the summer season has been at Oxford Folk Weekend. The organisers of that were having a break this year, so our first appearance of the summer was a low-key celebration of St George’s Day at the Eight Bells at Eaton.
They’re under starters orders…
This year we are once again very pleased to welcome our old friends Jenny and Barney from Brisbane’s own Bellswagger morris.
… and they’re off!
We have to admit being a little late; we were dancing on Thursday 25th April, 2 days after St George’s Day.
Constant Billy
But the 2019 dance out season is properly launched.
All up!
The AGM has been and gone, and we’re about to embark on a new practice season. One last snippet of the summer dance out programme remains, Swanage Folk Festival.
We took part in the dance programme on Saturday, starting outside the Heritage Centre with Beetlecrushers Step and Clog, and then on to the classical setting of the Prince Albert Gardens with Marlings Morris.
Marlings Morris at Prince Albert Gardens
Locals Baharah Bellydance on the Sea Front
Dancing on the pier at Swanage
Cry Havoc on the pier at Swanage
Oxford Folk Weekend starts today. We’re out and about in the City Centre tomorrow. We’ll definitely be at the Botanic Gardens at 10am and the Ashmolean Steps at midday, but may pop up elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Oxford City Council have announced a change in crowd management for this year’s May Morning. This was covered on the BBC and ITV local news; both used their library footage of last year and we appeared in both. ITV shot footage in the Botanic Gardens last year, and apparently they had a lot of us, but I don’t have any video. But we do have a video of the BBC report:
Well, in the event we got about 22 seconds of screen time.
To save you all the trouble of watching an entire hour for those 22 seconds, I’ve extracted the Havocy bits.
This coming Saturday, 10th Feb, on Channel 4 between 8 and 9pm. The final of Village of the Year.
http://www.channel4.com/…/village-of-the-year…/episode-guide
Of course, we may have been edited out. But there’s a risk you’ll have to see a scratch Havoc side doing Constant Billy while trying to ignore the camera drone hovering just overhead.
Saturday 6th January, so somewhere in the region of Twelfth Night, and it’s wassailing time again at Hogacre.
About which we should really write more. Suffice it to say it was the usual fun and games, and lots of loud noises to ensure a fruitful year, and when I can find some pictures I’ll post them.
The last Thursday in July saw us at the Newlands Inn in Eynsham, as guests of Eynsham Morris. They’d also invited Ducklington Morris and Cornucopia Appalachian. We’re all old friends.
Ducklington in action
Emma did her jig. Judging by the photo, at some speed.
Sometimes Emma dances so quickly, she’s just a blur
Later on we moved on to the Queen’s Head for some more dancing.
Eynsham turn up the energy
Eynsham’s musicians working hard
Kate concentrating
And once danced out it was inside the pub for a most splendid music session. A most excellent evening.
Our recent trip to All Saints in Gerrards Cross has come to the notice of their local paper, the Buckinghamshire Advertiser.
Not that we are media tarts or anything. Oh no.