THERE may be no Rushcart event this year – but that isn’t going to stop Saddleworth Morris Men putting on their clogs to entertain the community.
The group recently confirmed its ‘heartbreaking decision’ to cancel its popular annual event for the second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead the side will be dancing on Saturday, August 21 to mark the cancelled event.
They will be joined by visiting teams from across the country, including Earlsdon, Brighton, White Hart, Jockey and others.
David Biggs, Squire of Saddleworth Morris Men, said: “We are bitterly disappointed not to be able to put on the Rushcart again this year but at least we can still get out and perform unlike in 2020.
“We can’t wait to dance out in full kit for the first time in two years.”
The tour stops will be all timings are estimates):
- 12noon – The Commie (was The Commercial)
- 1.15pm – Saddleworth Museum
- 2pm – Hare & Hounds and Uppermill park
- 3.30pm – Cross Keys
- 4.30pm – Church Inn
- 5pm/5.30pm – Dancing ends.
The group also has a limited number of Rushcart leather badges which will be available to buy on the day for £4.
Any remaining badges will be dispatched by mail for £5 (including posting and packing).
To register your interest email rushcart.badges2021@gmail.com
The two-day Rushcart event, which was held for the 45th time in 2019, attracts hundreds of morris men from up and down the country for a weekend of festivities and dancing.
On Saturday, the sides pull the decorative cart, which is handmade from rushes cut from moorland above Saddleworth, through the villages and stop at villages along the way to dance.
On Sunday morning, a service is held at St Chad’s Church Saddleworth and the rushes from the cart are laid out across the church floor.
Then there is more dancing and the popular wrestling, gurning and the worst singer competitions outside the Church Inn and Cross Keys in Uppermill.
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