ATMD Diary for 1956 to 1959
Material for these years is quite limited. There are some entries and photos in Scrapbook no 1 (SB1), press cuttings from the North Berks Herald (NBH) and Oxford Mail (OM), miscellaneous items in the paper archives including balance sheets (BS) for 56,57 and 59, plus an online reference.
1956
Balance sheet for 1956 first half year (BS56-1) mentions expenses for drinks at meetings on 8th March, 19th April, 31st May, 22nd June. All except the latter would have been practice meetings.
Saturday 12th May 1956 : London. The online archive of the folk collector Peter Kennedy describes sound recordings in Trafalgar Square made on this date of seven Abingdon morris dances, with Francis Fryer as musician ( http://folktrax-archive.org/menus/cassprogs/116abingdon.htm ). Sadly, these recordings are no longer commercially available. BS56-1 records for this date ‘Folk Dancing Abbey Grounds’ with receipts of £5/8/10. At first this might appear to mean dancing in Abingdon’s Abbey Grounds, but the high receipts and the above recordings in London suggest that the Abbey in question might be Westminster Abbey.
Saturday 9th June 1956 : Pageant Day – no further details in BS56-1 except for receipts of £1 from Major Fryer + £1/2/3 collection. Major Fryer’s £1 was later spent on drinks in the Cross Keys on the same day. It is likely that this was an event organised by Major Fryer, possibly at Wargrave.
Saturday 23rd June 1956 : Mayor’s Day. Tom Hemmings 183 votes, John Mooring 71. Reported in OM (25.6.56 p6) and Auckland Weekly News (New Zealand). Dancing 6-8pm in Ock Street as well as after the election and chairing. NBH 29.6.1956: p1 has photos of Tom Hemmings dancing, Stuart Jackson (8) and Maurice Hemmings (10) as boys in kit with Horns, and dancing in Ock Street; p11 describes the Mayor Making and history. £12/6/0 was collected, teas at Cross Keys cost £3.
Saturday 7th July: Buckland , probably a fete as BS56-2 records a fee of 1 guinea (£1/1s) collected, but also 16/8d spent the same day on ‘drinks on tour (Buckland)’.
Friday 14th to Sunday 16th September: Abingdon Ring Meeting. Saturday 10 separate daytime tours. Evening procession to Abbey Grounds for a public display, followed by a feast in the Corn Exchange. Sunday morning procession to St Michael’s church followed by dancing in Ock Street and Market Place.
Friday 2nd November 1956: The Queen visited Abingdon for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Abingdon Town charter. Morris dancing before the Queen at the bottom of Conduit Road. Pathe News footage also shows Barnardo’s Boys* dancing (not an Abingdon dance, but what looks like Headington). The archives have the official programme for the Queen’s visit, plus a sheet of supplementary information, which describes route: Abingdon station (1215) 4 cars proceed along Broad Street, Park Road, Conduit Road, Ock Street, High Street to County Hall with morris dancing as procession passes end of Conduit Road. The Queen re-opened County Hall and after a tour of the museum there was a bun throwing. After lunch the Queen’s car left for Wallingford via Ock Street and Drayton Road. According to SB1 there was Morris Dancing in Ock Street until the queen had left town. BS56-2 records a collection of 18s2½d. NBHerald 9.11.1956 (Royal Visit supplement) has a photo of Tom Hemmings and the morris dancers.
* SB1 has undated photos of the Dr Barnardo’s Home Boys team from 1956, stating that they were trained by Jack Hyde and Len Bardwell. One of these photos has Les Argyle playing the melodeon for them. This was a different boys’ team from the one based at Boxhill school.
It is often stated that the Queen’s visit in 1956 was the first time the Abingdon morris dancers changed their uniform from a sash to crossed baldricks in the green and yellow colours of the Abingdon town council, and that the council had paid for these new baldricks. From the archives, neither of these seem to be true. Photos from Mayor’s Day 1956 show the team already wearing the new baldricks in June and whilst there is a total expenditure of £3/2/6 for braid and cotton in March and May 1956, there is no record of any income from the council or anyone else to pay for this. The change had probably been planned for some time as ‘baldricks’ was a topic of the meeting of 11th November 1954.
1957
Saturday 11th May 1957 : visit to Westminster: 11 men for tea and feast so this was probably Westminster MM day of dance.
Saturday 25th May 1957 : tour with Headington. Expenses were £6 for a coach and £4 for teas. £9/7/3 was collected.
Saturday 1st June 1957 : Windsor. Collection was £1/10/0 and Major Fryer contributed £1. Expenses for the day were 17/2 for drinks, and a 10s tip (maybe for a driver?).
Whit Monday 10th June 1957 : Harwell Feast and Radley WI fete, Wick Hall. £3 fee, £6/1/2 collection and Maj Fryer contributed £1/10s. Drinks came to 18/10. NBH 14.6.1957 p1 described the morris at Radley WI fete. NBH 14.6.1957 p11 also had a fanciful article about the morris called ‘With Streamers & Bells’ (copy in SB1).
Saturday 22nd June 1957 : Mayors Day was reported in the North Berks Herald (28-6-57 pp1&2), Oxford Mail (24.6.57) and the News Chronicle. Tom Hemmings 157 votes, John Grimsdale 28, Charlie Brett 48. Polling station was 144 Ock Street (Tom’s house), Ald F Stimpson was returning officer. There was BBC coverage by Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly as one of 4 talks about the Thames, for which payment of 10 guineas was received in September. NBH 21.6.57 p2 had an announcement of the election on the following Saturday describing the candidates Tom Hemmings, John Grimsdale (‘well known football referee and former secretary of local Horticultural Society’), and Charlie Brett (‘scribe to the morris dancers’).
Saturday 29th June 1957 : Winchester Ring Meeting (14 men at 7s each plus 6s6d each lodging = expenditure of £9/9/0).
Saturday 21st September 1957 : Kingston Ring Meeting (9 men tea & feast at 10/6 each, drinks 5/6, tip £1).
Saturday 7th September 1957 : Banbury Band fete (fee £5)
1958
Saturday 21st June 1958 : Mayor’s Day Tom Hemmings Mayor with 146 votes, C Brett 48, J. Mooring 30. Fred Stimpson wasreturning officer. Described in Oxford Mail 23rd June 1958. NBH Friday 27th June 1958 has a photo (Mayor of Ock Street Rides in State’) (original clip in the archives).
Apart from the above, there is nothing in the scrapbook or archives about 1958.
1959
English Dance & Song magazine April 1959 magazine featured Abingdon morris on the front cover and an article (both of which were for Mayor’s Day 1955!)
Saturday 9th May 1959 : Westminster day of dancing, 12 men for lunch (3/6 each) and the Feast (4s each).
Saturday 13th June 1959 : Kennington fete . Fee £3/10s.
Saturday 20th June 1959 : Mayors Day . Tom Hemmings 114 votes, Ray Hemmings 62, described in OM 22.6.1959: p1.
Saturday 18th July : Wortley (?) church fete . Fee £6.
5th-7th September : Headington ring meeting . SB1 has photos of dancing in Bury Knowle park. 11 men attended, expenses included lodgings. The feast was quite expensive (10s each) and Major Fryer made a donation of £2 to help pay for the weekend expenses.