Who are we?
The Foresters
Morris Men (full title "The Foresters Morris and Sword Dancing Club")
was formed in 1952, and was the first morris dancing club in Nottingham.
It is still the best! Since we are near to Sherwood Forest, we have
Robin Hood as our logo. The club was formed from the demise of other
sides in nearby towns, which had been in existence in the 1930s, and
were kept going by ladies such as Frances Downing during the war years.
What do we do?
We perform mainly
English morris dances from the Cotswold and border regions, together
with some dances from Lichfield. At appropriate times of year we perform
a traditional local Plough Play (a type of
mummer's play, see photos and sound)
and mummer's play. We also include rapper
sword dancing in our repertoire. For more details about morris dancing,
You can read some of our handouts of background
information or more background information
or still more on morris dancing. Or would
you like the French versions of these
documents? Or for a more sober and serious view of the whole thing
you can look at a BBC programme transcript.
Where can we be seen
and heard live?
In the summer on
Monday evenings, we dance at pubs in the local area. At any time of
year we perform by request (for a fee!) at larger events. For an up-to-date
list of our summer 2010 planned bookings, see here.
Where
can we be seen in photos?
A selection of
photos of us from our formation in the 1900s to now arranged by year
is available here,
mostly copyright © Eric
Foxley. Photos of this April's Nottingham City St George's event
here.
Latest photos are from Thaxted.
Where can we be heard on-line?
A selection of
mp3 files of our dance music, singing and mumming are available here.
Why are we such good dancers?
Because we practise
every week at the Queen's
Walk Community Centre in the Meadows area of Nottingham on Monday
nights in winter, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., then socialise over a drink!
Visitors are always welcome to come and try it out, contact any
member.
How do we spell our name?
We are the "Foresters
Morris Men", not "Forresters" or "Forester's"
or "Forrester's" or "Foresters' "!
How can you contact us?
If you are interested
in finding out more, or in coming along for a taster session at one
of our practices, or in booking us to appear at a function of some sort,
phone our bagman Eric on 0115-978 6858 or our squire Stewart on 0115-914
1061 or email
our bagman .
Full details and
photos of Cecil Sharp's 3-hole pipe are here.
Members page is here.
Foresters
Morris Men support the Mallard brewery
Every
pint a winner!
