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Welcome to the Plymouth Morris Website!
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Plymouth Morris are currently being supported by Summerskills Brewery |
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Presenting Hannah from Friends and Families of Special Children with a cheque for £450.00 on May Day 2019
New Book about
The Plymouth Morris Tradition The Plymouth Morris Tradition is a set of (mostly) four man dances first performed in public during 1989. A new 24 page book compiles a short history of early Morris dancing (including Tudor records for Plymouth), and the music and dance notation for the tradition. The book is available as a free download using this link. The book is also available in a paperback edition for £3 in person, or £4 including postage and packing (cheques payable to Plymouth Morris should be sent to Plymouth Morris, 92 Ponsonby Road, Plymouth PL3 4HW). The proceeds from the sale of the book will be dedicated to renewal of the Plymouth Morris costume in preparation for the Mayflower 400 celebrations. Plymouth Morris hold their practice nights on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at the School of Creative Arts, Millbay Road, Plymouth, PL1 8EZ from October to April and welcome prospective new members at any time. Return Trip On Sunday 12th May 2019 we made our 3rd trip to Plymouth Breakwater where we spent an hour or so dancing and wandering around this amazing feat of 19th century engineering. |
Each year we make a donation to a charity and have raised over £6,000 over the
last 10 years. Our nominated charity for 2018 was Friends and Families of Special Children Ltd. We presented them with a cheque for £450 on May Day outside The Dolphin on Plymouth Barbican, representing the money we raised for them during 2018. Friends and Families are a non-profit organisation unique to Plymouth, providing information, support and services for families with disabled children. Our chosen charity for this year is the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Derriford Hospital. Collections raised by the 7 performances of our Mummers Play in December 2018 raised £447.12 for NICU, which we will round up to £450.00 and add some more to it at the end of the season. Our collection on New Year's Day at The Dolphin was £150.00 which we donated to their chosen Charity. Trafalgar Day Celebration On Saturday 20th October 2018 we performed for The Nelson Society annual Trafalgar Dinner in the Officers' Mess at the Royal Marine Barracks, Stonehouse, in Plymouth. It was a fantastic event and an honour and privilege to be asked to perform at such a prestigious occasion and our Naval themed costume fitted the occasion well. Jeff gave a rendition of 'A sailor ain't a sailor...' and Ray sang 'On Board A Man O' War' - a song about the battle and death of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. We were well received and even had a standing ovation when we finished. This year we will be celebrating Trafalgar Day at The Lord High Admiral, Stonehouse Street, Plymouth, with dancing, Sea Shanties and Tunes from 8pm onwards. |
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What's happening next?
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Some Summer Doings
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Plymouth Morris - now a mixed Morris side for men and women - are holding another taster session on Wednesday
16th October at 7.30pm - 9.30pm. We practice weekly at The School for Creative Arts, the red building opposite the entrance to Brittany Ferries, from October to April then we dance out regularly in Plymouth and around the local area from May to September. All welcome! Wear trainers and comfy clothes, sticks and wavers provided! Contact bagman@plymouthmorrismen.org.uk for more info. 2019 Programme Our provisional programme for 2019 is still available for downloading here. Please note all dates are provisional, unless otherwise stated, and are subject to change. The programme will be updated throughout the season with any changes so always check back here for the latest information. On Monday 21st October we will be dancing at The Lord High Admiral, Stonehouse Street, Plymouth, from 8pm, for Trafalgar Day, and at the Pudsey day of Dance where several local dance teams will be meeting in Tavistock to raise money for Children in Need on Saturday 16th November from 10am onwards.
On Friday 19th July 2019 we travelled to Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire for the 361st Meeting of The Morris Ring, hosted by Jockey Men's Morris and Shakespeare Morris. A weekend of dance from the 19th - 21st July 2019 as part of their respective 70th and 60th anniversary celebrations and the 85th anniversary of The Morris Ring, to which we belong. Four coach tours crossed the county on Saturday showcasing the beautiful countryside (and pubs!). Our dance spots included Leamington Spa, Kenilworth Castle, Warwick and Solihull, where we joined up with the other tours for a mass display. On Sunday we formed part of the group of 200 Morris dancers who performed near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon.
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In April 2017 we were in Southampton for the annual Day of Dance hosted by our great friends of King John Morris Men.
On Sunday on our return home we stopped off to celebrate St. George's Day at Tolpuddle in Dorset to visit the Tolpuddle Martyrs Museum and to have lunch at The Martyrs Inn. On return to Plymouth we thought it only fit to have a photo taken where the plaque to commemorate the return from exile in Australia of 4 of the Martyrs on 18th March 1838 is situated, near the place where they came ashore, at Mayflower Steps on Plymouth Barbican. 
On Saturday 1st July 2017 we performed at The Horse and Groom, Bittaford, for their annual Charity Fundraising weekend, and raised over £73.00 for the Brain Tumour Charity and Riding for the Disabled. We're about to do it all again this year at the Charity Beer Festival on Saturday 7th July 2018. We'll be there from 1pm.
On Friday 28th July 2017 we travelled to Kent for the 355th Morris Ring Meeting hosted by Ravensbourne Morris Men. They took us on a tour around London's South Bank where we performed at various famous landmarks culminating in a massed dance of all the invited Morris sides at the Tower of London. 
Thirsty work for furry animals
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Foreign Trips
Plymouth Morris Men have had several foreign trips in recent years, including Holland in 2005, a trip to Hungary and Serbia in July 2006 and Jersey in May 2007. In August 2009 we went to south-western France for the 50th Annual International Folklore Festival at Montrejeau. We have had several trips to Brest in conjunction with the Plymouth-Brest Twinning Association, including the Maritime Festival held every 4 years. Our Practices These are now held at The School of Creative Arts, 22 Millbay Road, Millbay, Plymouth, PL1 3EG (the big red building opposite the entrance to the Brittany Ferries port) on Wednesday evenings from 7.30pm until 9.30pm. Come along at 7.30pm any Wednesday evening to have a go and see what is involved. No charge! Practices start on Wednesday evenings from 9th October 2019 when we will be holding an Open Evening for anyone to come and have a look and try Morris Dancing. Practices continue until the end of April 2019. We are looking for new recruits, male or female, either dancers or musicians, to train up ready for the Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020, when we will also be celebrating our 50th anniversary. We would particularly love to start an 18 - 30 Morris Side to take part in the Mayflower 400 celebrations. Everyone is welcome at any time to come and have a look or maybe have a go. Check our programme for details and just turn up! |
Ratass goes to London
Our display boards showing off what we do
Charity Each year we make a donation to a charity and have raised over £5,000 over the last 9 years. On Sunday 21st March 2010 members of Plymouth Morris Men danced their way around the Plymouth Mile course for Sport Relief. We raised over £900! Thank you for your support! At our 48th Annual Ceilidh on Saturday 24th February 2018 we presented HeartSWell South West with a cheque for £500 which will be used to provide defibrillators locally in Plymouth. More details of our charitable giving can be found on our 'Charitable Donations' page. If you've seen us recently, have found this site helpful or have any comments to make about the site, please e-mail us via the 'Contact Us' page. It would be great to hear from you. |
Site last updated 15th October 2019 21:05
