| Blackhorse and Standard Women’s North West Morris | |
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morris This began as a hobby of mill workers in Lancashire and Cheshire, in the early 19th century. The dances we perform today are derived from the original dances, and are usually named after the town where they were created. Equipment had to be cheap and readily available, so they used mill bobbins which they decorated with ribbons. Clogs were the mill workers’ normal footwear at that time. Garlands were decorated with fabric strips. The history of Blackhorse and Standard The morris side Blackhorse and Standard was conceived, as no doubt some humans were, on the stony beach of Sidmouth. Janet Dowling, who had danced with New Esperance, was attending the festival, as was an acquaintance of hers, Judy Nancarrow, who both played the melodeon and had danced with a North West side in Cheshire, the authentic home of North West Morris dancing. As they sat on the beach, watching the many morris sides perform, it dawned on them they had the basic requirements to start their own side. Handbills were printed and left in suitable venues, such as folk clubs, and the first meetings began in October 1981. The side was born and its early training began. The name came from Blackhorse Road in Walthamstow, which is the area the side has always been based in. The Standard is a pub on that road, popular for music events, where it was intended the practice nights to be. However, as Judy’s bit of moonlighting as a barmaid in a rival establishment, the Lord Palmerston, where she was good friends with the landlord’s wife, provided a free room upstairs, the Standard never was used. The first dance out was at the Essex Arms, in Walthamstow of course, the following Spring. All, barring Janet and Judy, were new to dancing out and the mass nervousness built up to near mass hysteria, but their baptism was completed successfully. Our original kit was a black pinafore dress over a blue blouse, plus blue knee-length socks and of course, the clogs. A hat was later added. Then the pinafore was replaced after only a few years by a much cooler blue dress adorned with ribbons, and red tights replaced the football socks. Practises continued at the Lord Palmerston, until the side were forced to search for fresh premises, following a serious case of arson. It so happened that the Palmerston was the favourite haunt of the fireman from the fire station across the road The story goes, that when the landlord discovered that his wife, friend of our Judy, was having an affair with one of the fireman, in a fit of irony he set fire to his own pub. After a little research, a new practice hall was found at the Chestnut Tree in Lea Bridge Road, Walthamstow, which by now also boasted a folk club. Several years of happy practices followed here, which included taking part in the now defunct Walthamstow folk festivals. After the dancing business was out of the way each Wednesday evening, both dancers and musicians would retire in traditional fashion to the bar downstairs. Composing quiz questions was a popular activity, even if the rest of the pub regulars insisted in supplying the answers. This idyll came to an end, when the landlord of this pub was also feeling the heat; rumour has it he was discovered to have been “cooking the books”. His replacement failed to acknowledge a single folky cell in his body, so again we looked for new premises. We eventually moved to another corner of Walthamstow, the Truro Road Community Centre, where we not only had a large hall, a stage, but our own cupboard. We began to consider a new kit, as our dresses were becoming faded, and after at least a year of discussion, decided to have new dresses almost exactly the same as before. We moved a few years ago to our present location, St. Gabriel’s Church Hall, this time not because of any scandal, but because the rent was lower. We celebrated our 20th anniversary here, where lots of past members turned up and tried their hands (feet?) at long-forgotten dances. Only two members remain from the originals, but we continue to attract new members who wish to join a side of dancers who are only there for the “tea and cakes.” |