FIVE decades of Morris dancing in Saddleworth are being celebrated as the area’s team marks its 50th anniversary.
Not bad for an idea born out of a love of music and having a good time with mates.
Saddleworth Morris Men are essentially touring the area to celebrate the landmark, starting with performances in Greenfield on Maundy Thursday, March 28.
Good Friday, March 29, sees them start at Delph’s Swan Inn at 11am before heading to its Dobcross namesake at noon and The Navigation Inn at 1.30pm.
From there, they head to Uppermill for four performances – the Museum car park at 3pm, Uppermill Park at 4pm, The Church Inn at 5.15pm and The Cross Keys Inn at 6pm.
Saddleworth’s first dance in 1974 was the Upton on Severn stick dance of the ‘Border’ tradition, but in clogs.
After that Easter, they met with Derek Froome of Manchester Morris Men, who taught them the Ashton dance, and they have danced the ‘North West’ tradition ever since.
And founding member Pete Ashworth, who lives in Dobcross, believes some of the reasons Saddleworth Morris Men was founded in 1974 still apply today.
He said: “It’s basically all about having a good time with your mates, that includes a few beers and it’s been quite successful.
“You’ve had to adapt and come down a bit – instead of having 10 pints, you have three!
“A lot of people have grown up with it in this area. When we started, it was like, ‘Well these blokes are a bit weird, what are they doing?’
“In those days, we had plumbers, bricklayers, solicitors, doctors, a very good mix of people and we all got along really well with each other.
“That still exists today but it has changed over the years.
“It came from interest in folk music, especially Irish folk music and I worked with a lot of Irish lads.
“Other groups started up around that time, Moulton and Earlsdon are joining us and several still exist.
“You’ve got to work at it. You can’t just set something up, sit there and expect something to happen.
“You’ve got to really work at it and we have done over the years.”
Three of the original members still perform with Saddleworth Morris Men – Pete, Ronnie Yates and John Dunning.
And it is not just in Saddleworth where they have showed their skills, they have even performed in Brazil in 2001.
Pete added: “We got invited to Sao Paulo as one of the lads worked for the British Council and they were looking for people to go over and show off English culture.
“We were selected to go and do Morris dancing but it was a bit like the wild west, you could hear gunshots going off every night.
“It was certainly different to Saddleworth. We all got a fee of 250 Reals each. We asked, ‘What’s that?’ and the answer was, ‘Well, a police sergeant gets 200 Reals a month.
“I remember that across the road from the hotel was a bar and we asked for two beers. The owner came with one beer and two glasses. We said, ‘No, two beers.’
“His eyes lit up and all 16 of us went every night. The guy ended up redecorating his bar!
Taxi drivers in the area used to come and join us.”
Saddleworth Morris Men have seen changes in society over the 50 years, as well as a change in membership.
The kit changed significantly after that first dance out, introducing the red and blue sashes and bowler hats decorated with fresh flowers.
The famous ‘stripey’ waistcoats were introduced to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee in 1977 and were woven at Kenworthy’s Mill, since being produced at Saddleworth Museum and by Mallalieu’s of Delph.
That group is still men only, with practice sessions at The Church Inn every Thursday, but a ladies’ team is just getting started.
And Pete believes adapting is helping keep a traditional form of entertainment alive.
He told Saddleworth Independent: “I hope the next generation takes an interest – you must change to move on.
“The biggest change has been having to have checks to run a kids’ side like we used to, we can’t do that anymore.
“Morris dancing is an English folk tradition. All these blokes dancing together is a bit unusual, I know, but more women are getting involved in Morris.
“We’re just a male side but there is one starting up, Saddleworth Women’s Morris and Clog. It’s just starting so women can go there.”
