Heather And Gorse Clog Morris Entertain At Widecombe In The Moor

A Memory of Widecombe in the Moor.

It was a fine summer evening in June and the dancers and musicians of the Heather and Gorse Clog Morris team met at The Old Inn at Widecombe to put on an entertainment of morris dancing and music.

Although the village appeared quiet this was deceptive as no sooner had we all struck up some lively tunes in front of the Inn than a very large party of school children appeared! They were visiting from their junior school in Shaftesbury and gathered round along with their teachers to watch the dancing. The clog dancers looked splendid in their blue and white dresses and shiny black clogs and put on a good display of garland and stick dances. The Heather and Gorse band provided a medley of toe tapping jigs and polkas and I joined in the music making with my small piano accordian.

The school children applauded and asked to join in so we showed them the moves for a dance to include them all and we had one very long set of almost fifty people dancing in the road! The band provided a well known tune called "Rattling Bog" and it worked perfectly!

The teachers filmed the entertainment and the children loved it. Even passing motorists stopped their cars to watch the unusual spectacle! It was most definitely an evening to remember!