ABOUT US

​When Cecil Sharp visited Winster in 1908 and documented the local Morris dances the tradition was already long established.  Although Winster Morris ceased to dance soon after Sharp's visit in 1908, there was a revival of interest in the 1920s and again in the 1950s.  Then in 1977 Roy Witham, Dave Bathe and Ian Russell re-established the team and it has danced every year since then - the centrepiece of the dance year being Wakes Day in Winster (below) when we dance all round the village throughout the day.  We welcome both men and women and dance as a mixed team.

WE LOVE TO DANCE

We wear the same traditional dress today as we did in 1908 when Cecil Sharp visited the village: white shirt and trousers, black shoes, cross-belts, bells (of course) and lots of colour - chosen individually by each dancer

OUR CHARACTERS

We dance with four 'characters': a King and Queen, a Witch and a Jester.  Here are John our King and Frank the Witch

We secured Lottery funding in 2008 for our heritage project celebrating the centenary of Sharp's visit to the village in 1908.  We ran school workshops on folksong and dance, commissioned a theatre piece about Sharp's life and invited all the traditional Morris teams he visited on his dance-collecting trips: Headington Quarry, Bampton, Eynsham, Abingdon, Ilminster and others.  We invited them to come and dance with us over a summer weekend in Winster in 2008.  Here 'Mr Sharp' meets a marionette of our King made by the children of Winster School (with the help of Babbling Vagabonds).

TRIPS ABROAD
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In 2012 we danced at the Pentecost Festival in Monterubbiano our twin village in Ascoli Piceno, Italy.  We also have links with Ungstein, near Bad Durkheim in Germany, Onzain, on the banks of the River Loire in France - and we've also danced in Romania, Denmark, Poland and Lithuania.  Here's a link to our 2012 trip to Monterubbiano: 

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AND WE ONCE APPEARED IN A CIDER ADVERT

This photograph, taken by Brian Shuel in a garden in Winster, appeared in every daily newspaper on Saturday November 27th 1993, advertising Dry Blackthorn's sponsorship of the England Rugby team.  It occupied the whole of page 33 in THE TIMES at the beginning of the Sports section.  The caption read 'All Blacks Psyched Out by English Haka - definitely a Dry Blackthorn day'.  England won 15 - 9!
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​Dancers: Ken Johnson, Dave Bull, Phil Shimwell, Rob Francis, Leon Hoskin-Stone, Bryan Skyrme and Matt Elliot