It all started purely by chance in 1979 when the (then) Vicar of Ewell (Peter Hogben) prevailed upon his Young Wives Group to volunteer their husbands for a “mock-morris” event for the village fete, when he couldn’t book an established side.
The wives thought it would all be a bit of a laugh and issued the necessary instructions for their men to report down to the Church Hall – not realising they were saying goodbye to 30 years or more of redecoration and a farewell forever to all those odd-jobs & weekend shopping trips in season!
The truth was that the lads got bitten by the bug and soon decided to form a ‘proper,’ Morris side – with the help of the nearest Morris sides; Thames Valley MM from Claygate & Spring Grove MM from Kingston. They eventually “qualified” by dancing into The Morris Ring (The association of Morris Men) at Worksop, Notts in 1986.
Practice nights are Thursdays at the Scout Hut ‘out of season,’ and apart from dancing out at the many excellent Surrey pubs which the lads regard as a home from home – they also do various tours, most in the UK but at least one a year on The Continent where they have had tomatoes thrown at them at a Boulogne Market place – have terrorised the burgers of Bruges with a cycle tour, and impeded a serious Cycle race in West Flanders!
