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Dancing in the Great Hall, Winchester at the WMM 50th Anniversary
Ring Meeting in 2003
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The Ravensbourne
Morris was formed in the immediate aftermath of the Second
World War. Many Morris clubs which were active before the
war did not get together again thereafter.
Two such clubs were Morley College (admitted
to The Ring 1935) and Balgowan (1938).
On 28th October 1946, six men met in Jean’s Café
on Bromley High Street. They were: from Morley College, -
Walter Faires, Eddie Jenkinson and Geoff Metcalf; from Balgowan
(a boy’s side taught by Walter Faires) - Dennis Harding
& Peter Paddon and from St Albans - Bert Simons.
At this meeting it was agreed to form a Morris
club to operate in North West Kent, and Geoff Metcalf was
elected first Squire and Bagman. (Geoff became Squire Of The
Morris Ring from 1952 to 1954.) Nothing could be done until
a musician was found, and after some arm-twisting, Joe Whiddett
was persuaded to bring his concertina to the first practice
at Bromley Road School, Beckenham on 13th January 1947. The
six founder-members were present, plus Paul Paddon (brother
of Peter), also ex-Balgowan. It was at this practice that
Walter Faires’ suggestion of Ravensbourne be adopted
as the club name.
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The club made its first public appearance on 10th March
1947 when it provided illustrations to a talk given by Douglas
Kennedy at Beckenham and Penge County School. On 20th March,
the club attended the first post-war Ring Meeting at Cecil
Sharp House and was admitted to membership and received
its staff of office, which is that formerly held by the
Squire of Balgowan. Because of this, Ravensbourne can be
considered to be a continuation of the Balgowan club.
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During the early fifties, the standard of dancing was very
high, due to the membership being fairly static, and drawn
from men who had previous experience and were still young
enough to dance with vigor. However, with the passing of
time, as men got older, standards declined, and in addition,
Bert Simons left the club to start the Orpington Morris
Men. The club was seriously weakened for a time, but eventually
the Orpington MM disbanded and Bert rejoined Ravensbourne
with some of the Orpington men. This, together with a few
other new members gave the club a new lease of life in the
early sixties.
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An influx in the 70’s
gave rise to a completely different problem - too many members!
A separate beginners’ night had to be initiated, and
recruitment was halted for a year. Oh, for such days again!
Following a quite period during the late
90's the side is thriving with a strong membership undertaking
a full programme with regular overseas trips and visits to
Ring Meetings and Ale's across the UK. |
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| Notable
Occasions in Our History
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