ATMD diary of 1954
Italic font like this is comment added at the time of typing this out (2017). Unless otherwise marked, the text is taken from Jack Hyde’s third notebook. It is not always transcribed word for word.
[There is an entry in the accounts for Jan 1954 of 5 tickets for the Royal Albert Hall at 5s each, though no description of who went or whether this was in conjunction with going to a Ring reps’ meeting as in the previous years.]
February 25th: Meeting Caldecott House. Practice 8-10pm, childrens’ playroom. Tom (Hemmings), MF (Major Fryer), R.Annetts, Fred Coxhead, Charlie Brett, John H(emmings), John Mooring, John Grimsdale, L.Bardwell. Drinks at the Anchor (£1-7-3 1/2). Maj Fryer returning Mace after repair, then took it back, for alteration to box. It was decided to attend Ring Meetings at Aylesbury, Bedford and Coventry and Windsor Day of Dancing. Suggested tour on 12th June in company with South Berks. Balance sheet for 1953 passed as read.
March 18th: Meeting Caldecott House. Present C.Brett, J.Grimsdale, Maj Fryer, L.Argyle, L.Bardwell, J.Hyde. Invitations to Sutton Courtenay June 5th and Walden, Jordans accepted provisionally.
April 1st: Meeting Caldecott House. Practice from 8.15 to 9pm. Charlie B, J.Mooring, J.Grimsdale, R.Annetts, L.Argyle, L.Bardwell, Maj Fryer, J.Hyde. Drinks at the Anchor (15/9 1/2). Decided to go to Sutton on June 5th and made plans for the tour on June 12th.
April 15th: Practice meeting Caldecott House. Tom, Charlie, John Grimsdale, John Mooring, J.Hyde, Maj Fryer, Mr Bardwell, W. Kent. 1) Tour on June 12th; 2) Coronation Horns mounting; 3) Sutton Courtenay fete June 5th, Wargrave men proceed direct; 4) Walden Jordans May 15th team and time of starting; 5) Windsor May 29th. Drinks Anchor (8/5).
April 29th: Meeting Caldecott House. 1) Practice; 2) Tour June 12th details; 3) Horns mounting; 4) Walden Jordans start 1.15. Present Tom, Charlie, J.Mooring, J.Grimsdale, L.Argyle, J.Hyde, L.Bardwell, Maj F, W.Kent. Drinks Anchor (15/9 1/2).
May 13th: meeting at Anchor: arrangements made for Jordans, May 15th, start 2pm.
May 15th: Jordans (Bucks). Arrived 3.30pm (raining), dancing in barn, left 6pm, drinks (£1-3-1). Received gift of £1 from Mr Pennyfather, Sutton Courtenay, plus a fee of £3-10-0. Maj F, Fred C, Chas B, J.Hyde, J.Mooring, L.Argyle, J.Grimsdale, F.Jordan. [The North Berks Herald of 14th May 1954 (p1) describes the forthcoming visit to Walden Jordans (Beaconsfield, Bucks) at the invitation of the Bucks English Folk Dancing Society and how the intention was to have both country and morris dancing on the village green. The ATMD scrapbook has some fine black and white photos of this event, and the dancing was described as being in the Mayflower Barn.]
May 29th: Windsor. Left 1.15, arrived 2.30 (raining). Danced in street and at British Legion Hut. Maj Fryer, Fred C, Chas B, Leslie A, J.Mooring, J.Grimsdale, J.Hyde, Mr Bardwell, F.Jordan, E.Constance. Collection 12/11 1/2 handed to Windsor Folk Dance Club, per Rupert Tofield, South Berks Bagman. Drinks at Burchetts Green. Receipts £2-10-0, expenses £1-2-7 1/2.
Saturday June 5th: Sutton Courtenay fete. Arrived 3pm (raining), spent 2 hours in garage, no dancing. Meeting postponed until June 7th. Received £1 (in August), transport expenses 12/0. [The North Berks Herald of 14th May 1954 (p1) describes this as the childrens’ sports day.]
Saturday June 12th: Tour: Wantage, Uffington, Shrivenham, Faringdon, Longworth, Fyfield, Dog House, Shippon. Departed Abingdon 2pm, arrived Wantage 2.45, raining, no dancing. Proceeded to Shrivenham, still raining, no dancing. Had tea, then Faringdon, bypassed Longworth to Southmoor, took drinks at Waggon & Horses, stopped at Dog House, nothing doing. Went on to Shippon, had drink, stopped raining 8pm, gave display at the Prince of Wales. Receipts £1-13-10, expenses 19s1d (teas 8/6, drinks 10/7).
June 15th: Meeting, Anchor, re election of Mayor. Charlie, John M, R.Hemmings, J.Hyde. 1) Tea at Cross Keys; 2) Squire’s visit; 3) Procedure; also 4) Smock on loan from Miss Brewer, returned to Miss Glass, 29 Victoria Road; 5) Re Stratford outing, letter read from Maj Fryer, letter sent to Mr Clark, Midland organiser; 6) Tour – suggest first open date. Expenses drinks 5/7, bladder 1/0.
Saturday June 19th: Election of the Mayor of Ock Street. Voting took place between the hours of 12 noon until 4.30. During the afternnon, the Mayor of Abingdon [Gerald O’Connor] and the late [previous] Mayor Alderman [Percy] Holmes registered their votes. Alderman Holmes also declared the result which was as follows: Tom Hemmings 131, Raymond Hemmings 37, Charles Brett 35. The traditional ceremony of chairing the newly-elected Mayor of Ock Street was carried out. Tea was taken at the Cross Keys, presided over by the Squire of the Morris Ring, Mr Geoffrey Metcalf. Dancing in the streets from 6pm until 10.30, finishing up at the Saxton Arms, Saxton Road. Tom, Maj F, Reg A(nnetts), F Cox, J M(ooring), J G(rimsdale), C B(rett), Les A(rgyle), B.Coxhead, Ray H(emmings), John H(emmings), E.Constance. Receipts £7-9-1 1/2, expenses £4-0-5 (printing £1-18-0, teas £1-6-0, drinks 12/6, taxi 4/0). [North Berks Herald of 25th June 1954 p1 has a photo and some description of the event – including the story that the ‘applewood chalice-shape cup’ was ‘presented to the Hemmings family by Edward VII’.] [As tea was taken at the Cross Keys this year, it is probable that the polling station was not the Happy Dick, 143 Ock Street, as in previous years, but either the Cross Keys itself (148 Ock Street) or, as in 1955, 144 Ock Street, which was the house of Tom Hemmings a couple of doors down the street from the Cross Keys.]
Saturday June 26th: Caldecott House fete. Dancing by the two boys teams. Maj F, JH, RH, Tom H, JM, FJ. Receipts nil, expenses nil.
July 15th: Meeting Caldecott House. Agenda: Stratford Aug 3rd, Sutton Fete, Coventry. Expenses 6/9.
July 29th: Meeting Caldecott House. Practice from 8.15 to 9. Met at Anchor. Select team for Stratford Aug 3rd. Wargrave men decide not to attend Salisbury Ring Meeting. Sutton Courtenay fete, start from Saxton 3pm. Tom, Ray, Maj F, Fred C, Charlie, John M, John H, Bryan Coxhead. Expenses 17/6.
Tuesday August 3rd: Stratford. Left Abingdon 1pm, arrived Stratford 2.45. Gave three dances in Memorial Hall, tea 4.30. Danced along riverside, outside White Hart and outside Dirty Dick. Left Stratford 8.30, arrived Abingdon 9.45. Tom, Ray, Maj F, Fred C, Bryan C, John M, John G, Charlie, J Hyde, W Kent, E Constance (+ Mrs Fred Coxhead & Albert). Collection £7-14-4, expenses £6-5-3 1/2 (2 men lost time £3, tea & tip £2-15-6, car park 2/-, drinks 7/9 1/2). [This was the day after the August Bank Holiday Monday. There is no mention of transport but it is unlikely that all 13 people would have fitted into the shooting brake.]
Saturday August 7th: Sutton Courtenay Fete. Commenced dancing in the garden of Sutton Manor House at 3.45. Tea 5pm. Dancing 5.30-6.15. Drinks at New Inn. Arrived back at 8pm. Transport provided by Mr Linnagar’s van. Maj Fryer, Tom, Ray, Charlie, JM, JH, Mr Bardwell, E.Constance. Receipts £3-2-4 (gift from Mr D Astor £1, collection 12/4, fee £1-10-0), expenses (drinks at New Inn) 18/2 1/2). [David Astor was the owner of Sutton Courtenay Manor, and editor of the Observer.]
August 19th: Meeting Caldecott House. Tour, Coventry, Ring Letter, Sutton, Mr Bardwell. Expenses 8/0 1/2.
Saturday August 21st: Tour. Left Abingdon 2.15, visited Wantage, Uffington, Shrivenham, Faringdon, Longworth and Shippon, arrived back 9.15. Maj Fryer, Reg Annetts, Fred Coxhead, R.Hemmings, C.Brett, E.Constance, L.Argyle, J.Mooring, J.Grimsdale, F.Jordan, J.Hyde. Tom did not go. People and money scarce. Slight rain at first, thunderstorm evening. Collection £3-2-6 1/2, expenses £1-5-4 (tea 15/11, drinks 9/5).
September 9th: Meeting Caldecott House, re Ring Meeting Coventry Sept 11th-12th. Start from Abingdon 7.30am, proceed Blacknall Road, Ock Street. Team: Tom Hemmings, Major Fryer, J.Mooring, E.Constance, W.Kent, C.Brett, J.Hyde, L.Argyle, J.Grimsdale, Ray Hemmings, L.Bardwell, B.Coxhead. Expenses 8/9.
September 11th-12th: Coventry Ring Meeting. Arrived Coventry 9.30. Paid £1-7-6 for extra men. Brian Coxhead lodgings for Saturday. Tours Saturday, displays in park, Sunday service cathedral ruins. Arrived home 4.30.
September 17th-18th: Concerts Checker Hall, Abingdon. Two performances each evening, 8.30-9.30. Friday: Tom, Ray, J.Mooring, L.Argyle, L.Bardwell, J.Hyde, Charlie B, E.Constance, Maj Fryer. Saturday: Tom, Ray, J.Hyde, Maj Fryer, Fred C, L.Bardwell, Frank J, J.Mooring, J.Gillett, E.Constance.
October 7th: Meeting Anchor. 1) Balance sheet quarter ending Sept 30th; 2) correspondence; 3) practice meetings; 4) Royal Albert Hall; 5) Horns.
Thursday October 14th: Practice, Caldecott. First visit of Michael Bell and R.Blencowe. Expenses 9/6.
October 28th: Practice, Caldecott. Expenses 5/6.
11th November: Meeting, Caldecott. 1) Baldricks, 2) Horns. [Possibly this is the first time that a change in kit from a sash to a baldrick was discussed – the change came in 1956 when the Queen visited the town.]
November 25th: Practice Meeting, Caldecott. Meeting commenced 8pm. M.Bell. Drinks at Anchor 10/7 1/2. Paid John Grimsdale for lost time £1-10-0.
Meeting arranged for Thursday December 9th cancelled. Further meetings held over until the new year.
As this year’s notebook entries in particular have a good list of persons attending each time, here is a list of all those who are recorded as dancing or playing for the Abingdon Morris Dancers in 1954.
- Tom Hemmings (Mayor of Ock Street)
- Major Fryer (music)
- Reg Annetts (Wargrave man)
- Les Argyle (also member of Oxford Morris Men)
- Len Bardwell (music when needed, otherwise danced. Also prominent member of Oxford Morris Men)
- Charlie Brett
- Ernie Constance
- Bryan Coxhead (Wargrave man?)
- Fred Coxhead (Wargrave man)
- John Gillett (South Berks man, formerly Wargrave man)
- John Grimsdale
- John Hemmings (son of Ray, carried the Horns)
- Ray Hemmings
- Jack Hyde (bagman)
- Frank Jordan
- Bill Kent (Wargrave man)
- John Mooring (aka Slim)
- Michael Bell novice
- R.Blencowe novice