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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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2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of Plymouth Morris. Although we are celebrating our 50th anniversary year, and were due to host the 364th meeting of The Morris Ring to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of The Mayflower from Plymouth in 1620, everything has been postponed due to Covid-19. Next year we hope to host the Ring Meeting in June as well as a 50th Birthday Day of Dance in May, and The Fools and Animals Unconvention weekend which was due to be held in October 2020.
What's happening next?
Due to the Covid 19 virus it was with regret that we had to take the decision in March 2020 to cancel our weekly practice sessions until further notice. The events we had planned from March until now have had to be cancelled and the amazing summer programme we had planned for our 50th Anniversary Year never happened. However, instead of our weekly dance outs during the Summer, we held online Zoom Quiz Evenings with each other thus managing to keep in touch with one another, and more importantly, keep our new recruits engaged. We also kept members busy learning jigs via Zoom instructionals posted on WhatsApp and Facebook and we met via Zoom for our St George's Day celebration and also on May Morning where we all danced together at home or somewhere local, at dawn, to welcome in the Summer. In August we were able to meet together for the Eat Out to help Out scheme and to support a couple of our amazing Landlords who are always keen to have us visit. We are very thankful to Olly and Dawn at The Horse and Groom, Bittaford, and also to John Govier and his team at The Brook Inn, Plympton.
When restrictions eased a little we were able to meet in small groups in members' gardens for 'patio practices' and now the nights have got colder and darker we are planning our weekly practices in a Covid-secure environment with social distancing, groups of 6 and with the of face masks. It is all very strange. Please check here regularly, or on our Facebook page, for further updates. We hope to resume our normal programme as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and continued support. Contact bagman@plymouthmorrismen.org.uk for more info. 2020 Programme Our first event of 2020 was on New Year's Day at The Dolphin on The Barbican when we raised £155.00 towards a defibrillator on behalf of The Dolphin. Our provisional programme for 2020 is now available here. Please note all dates are provisional, unless otherwise stated, and are subject to change, particularly in view of the Covid 19 virus. Any cancellations to the programme due to this will be posted on this page so always check back here for the latest information. 
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. Maurice Dart was a member of The Apple Jacks Morris Team in Plymouth in the early 1960's who, together with Cyril Tawney, were instrumental in the formation of Plymouth Morris Men in 1965.
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. 
Plymouth Morris at The Pannier Market, Tavistock for Children in Need Day of Dance 2019. Over £1750 was raised on the day.
Our Practices These are now held at St Mary's Church Hall, Tamerton Foliot, Plymouth, PL5 4NZ, from 8.15pm until 9.45pm. Unfortunately, due to the Covid 19 virus we have to follow Government guidance and meet in groups of 6 or less without the different groups being able to mingle. Please contact bagman@plymouthmorrismen.org.uk for more info. 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.
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Plymouth Morris dancing Skirmish with Naval pattern cutlasses in Leamington Spa for the Ring Meeting hosted by Jockey Morris Men and Shakespeare Morris in July 2019.
Charity Each year we make a donation to a charity and have raised over £6,000 over the last 10 years. On Sunday 21st March 2010 members of Plymouth Morris 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.  On 26 February 2020 Plymouth Morris presented a cheque for £560.00 to representatives of the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit based at Derriford Hospital.
This was done on Wednesday night at the regular practice session at the Red Shed Millbay.
The cheque was presented by Oscar Kennedy who benefited greatly from NICU's care and support.
He is helped by his brother Jacob and is held by Granda.
Our chosen charity for 2019 was 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. We rounded this up to £560.00 and presented them with a cheque on Wednesday 26th February 2020. Our collection on New Year's Day 2020 at The Dolphin was £155.00 to help them fund a defibrillator. Our nominated charity for 2020 was Amyloidosis (am-uh-loi-DO-sis). Amyloidosis is a rare disease that occurs when a substance called amyloid builds up in your organs. Amyloid is an abnormal protein that is produced in your bone marrow and can be deposited in any tissue or organ. On Saturday 17th October, despite not being able to dance out during the Summer and collect for charity as we usually do, we presented a cheque for £500 to Sandra Jeffery, who has been receiving treatment for Amyloidosis for several years, on Mount Batten Pier. Sandra will pass the cheque on to the National Charity. Most of the money was raised by the performances of our Mummers Play during December 2019.
Our Nominated Charity for 2021 is St Luke's Hospice, Plymouth. Hopefully we can soon start practising in readiness to dance out in public and start collecting for them.
We are pleased to support The Horse and Groom, Bittaford, with their annual Charity Fundraising weekend in July each year, raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity and Riding for the Disabled.
Some Summer Doings
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 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
Ratass goes to London
Our display boards showing off what we do
Foreign Trips
Plymouth Morris 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. 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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Site last updated 20th October 2020 18:18
