ATMD Diary for 2023

Sunday 1st January: New Year’s Day pub tour: Punch Bowl 2pm, Broad Face 3pm, finishing at Punch Bowl.

Saturday 18th March: we had a table at Abingdon Clubs and Societies Day.

Good Friday 7th April: danced at the beer Festival at Love Beer Brewery. Milton.  Generous supply of free beer!

Easter Saturday 8th April: danced twice (1230 and 1330) on the Market Place for Abingdon EggStravaganza, and afterwards retired to the Punch Bowl.

Sunday 16th April: Folk Weekend Oxford: 1130-1200 Radcliffe Square with Victory; 1230-1300 Ashmolean with Kaleidoscope; 1300-1415 Lunch (liquid) at the Blenheim with a few tunes; 1430-1500 Ashmolean with Knights of King Ina; 1530-1600 Broad Street with Clausentum.  Afterwarda at the White Horse.

Sunday 23rd April: St George’s Day Tour 3pm Punch Bowl, 4pm Broad Face, finished at Punch Bowl with a few tunes.

Sunday 7th May: Coronation Bun Throwing, we danced at 4.50pm, the actual Bun Throw was at 5.15.  Afterwards, dancing outside the Punch Bowl.

Saturday 13th May: danced at the Big Marcham Weekend, we did two shows at 2.15 and 3.15.

Monday 15th May: danced in the new town mayor, 6pm at St Helens Church

Thursday 25th May: Pub tour at the George, Sutton Courteney, 7.30 onwards.  Very pleasant.

Saturday 17th June: Mayor’s Day.  Result: Roger Cox 89 votes, Harry Knight 70.  Guest sides Old Speckled Hen, Bampton Traditional.   11:00 Polling Station at Brewery Tap opened, procession into town behind Horns;  11:15  Black Swan; 11:40 Abbey Gateway; 12:15 – 12:45   Market Place; (break for lunch at St Ethelwold’s House);  14:15 Broad Face; 14:50  Long Alley Almshouses, dance round Tony’s tree; 15:00  Brewery Cottages, Coopers Lane; 15:45  Brewery Tap; 16:15  Election of Mayor of Ock Street, followed by chairing and dancing (Brewery Tap); 17:15  Procession along Ock Street; 17:30 Mayott House (ATMD only);  18:00   Dancing in Ock Street, including the White Horse White Horse;  19:30  Return to Brewery Tap.

Wednesday 21st June: danced at Cosener’s House for Abingdon Arts Society Lunch.  Pleasant occasion and some free drink.

Sunday 25th June: back to Cosener’s House, this time to dance for the 60th wedding anniversary party for Richard’s parents.  He generously made a donation which we converted into beer at the Punch Bowl.

Saturday 1st July: danced at Thomas Reade School fete, two shows.  Free burger and soft drink as alcohol not allowed on the premises.

Saturday 8th July: Westminster Abbey School Fete: Early start to get there by 10.30 so time for a pint or two in the Sanctuary House before performing outside the abbey’s main entrance.  Then two shows inside the fete in Dean’s Yard – the second one during some fairly persistent rain.  Despite the rain, an enjoyable away fixture, as ever.

Sunday 29th July: WADStock fete.  We did a half hour show, following Cry Havoc and the Vale Islanders.

Thursday 24th August 2023: Pub Tour: Prince of Wales Shipppon.  A small but appreciative audience.

Sunday 27th August: Danced at Abingdon Lock for the annual party of Osney boaters that they call Frankfest.  This is so named in honour of the wonderful volunteer assistant lock-keeper Frank Jordan.  Frank, now in his eighties, is the oldest surviving Abingdon morris dancer, having joined as a young teenager in 1952.  As well as us dancing for the event, our President Stuart Jackson presented Frank with some photos of him with Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers in the 1950s.  We were generously rewarded with food and drink and a very good time was had by all.

Sunday 3rd September: Wallingford Bunkfest.  1200-1230 The Dolphin with Chiltern Hundreds, 1330-1400 The C&WR railway station with Meon Valley, 1500-1530 The Dolphin with Basingclog, 1630-1700 Market Place with Eynsham.  We had a great time on a really hot sunny day.  Thanks to the programme we were given we had plenty of rest and recovery time, and the beers served at the Dolphin, the Kinecroft Beet Tent and the C&W Railway Station were excellent.  We especially enjoyed Meon Valley dancing to Glen Miller’s music.  The last dance on the Market Place was our Nutting Girl with a good proportion of the audience joining in.

Sunday 17th September: Heritage Open Days.  We danced on the lawn at St Ethelwold’s House at 12, then retired to the Punch Bowl for some refreshment.  At 2pm it was raining hard, so we danced underneath the County Hall to a surprisingly large and enthusiastic audience.  Then back to the Punch Bowl for some more refreshment and a few tunes.

Sunday 24th September: some of us attended the  celebration of the life of Peter Green, ex town mayor and a good friend of ATMD, at the British Legion (in kit but no formal dancing, though there was a jig at the end, music on a mouth organ).

Saturday 2nd December: Abingdon Christmas Extravaganza (Parade at 12, dancing in Bath Street 13:45-14:15 and on the Market Place 15:30-16:00).  An extremely cold day, with warming back up in the Punch Bowl between and after events a necessity.

Tuesday 12th December: Mummers Play Out of Town Tour: 7.15 Plum Pudding (Milton), 8.00 Cherry Tree (Steventon), 8.30 North Star (Steventon), 9.15 Red Lion (Drayton), 9.45 Wheatsheaf (Drayton).

Tuesday 19th December: Mummers Play Town Tour: 3pm Mayor’s Tea Party; 7.15 Punch Bowl, 7.45 Brewery Tap,. 8.30 Tipsy Mercer, 9.00 Kings Head & Bell, 9.30 Broad Face, 10.00 Stocks Bar, Crown & Thistle.

The Mummers raised a total of £661.41 for the Abingdon Foodbank.

 

Click here for some 2023 photos