Bramble Bank Ring Meeting

New! picture gallery of the Ring Meeting

Click above to open a slide show of some of the hunderds of pictures taken during the weekend. This gallery is not yet complete, more will be added over the coming days.

Over the weekend of 21^st - 23^rd August 2009, the Men of Wight hosted the 320^th meeting of the Morris Ring. This involved seven visiting Morris sides, in addition to ourselves, all of whom danced at various locations around the Island.

There were over 100 morris men in total, and during the day on the Saturday they divided into two groups which each toured parts of the Island by coach, dancing at various locations during the day. At 4:00 pm, all the men met up at Sandown, and performed a number of display and massed dances on the seafront.

Dancing on Bramble Bank

Why did we call it the Bramble Bank meeting? Well, Saturday 22^nd August was the date of the lowest Autumn spring tides of the year, and Bramble Bank, the sandbank which lies in the Solent about halfway between Cowes and Southampton Water, was exposed for some 30 minutes at low tide.

About 80 of the morris men were taken out to the bank by hovercraft (kind courtesy of Ryde-based Hovertravel), and as the sand first started to emerge from the water at around 6:30 in the evening, the hovercraft gently settled down and the men emerged.

After an initial massed performance of "Banbury Bill", any semblance of organisation quickly disappeared with each side finding it's own patch of dryish sand and everyone enthusiastically indulging in their favourite dances - all at the same time! As the water continued to recede there was increasing space to spread out, and the entire scene, together with spectators who had come out to the bank in a variety of small craft, took on an increasingly surreal air. Quite what the passengers on the passing ferries made of it is hard to imagine!

Dancing on wet sand is hard work, and everyone was quite ready to climb back onto the hovercraft when the time came, but not before a massed rendition of the traditional farewell "Bonny Green Garters". It was a memorable event for all concerned.

For those familiar with the Bank and its traditions, the annual cricket match took place on the morning low tide, so there was no case of any morris men trampling on the pitch!

On Sunday 23^rd the men attended a special service at St. Mary's Church, Cowes, at 11:00 am. Before the service they danced on the Parade and at Town Quay, and then processed up Sun Hill to the church. Afterwards they processed through Northwood Park back down to the Parade, where there was more display and massed dancing.

The men had gathered in Cowes on the evening of Friday 21st, and if you were around the town at that time you may well have encountered several of them participating in their favourite relaxation of some dancing, singing, and a few beers!

The visiting Morris sides were Bristol, Colchester, Dartington, King John's (Southampton), Martlet (Chichester), Rutland, and West Somerset.

If you saw us, we hope you enjoyed the show!

Other reports of the Bramble Bank event:

Ventnor Blog

Solent Shipping News