Woodside Morris Men - Origins of Woodside Morris Men

Origins of Woodside Morris Men

Woodside Morris Men were formed in Finchley, North London. The name comes from the School at which the Phoenix Folk Club met, which happened to be situated in a part of Finchley known as Woodside Park. The decision to form a men's Morris side to perform the Cotswold dance traditions, along with a little Rapper Sword Dancing, was taken following the Phoenix club's 1956 Whit Monday tour. Previously the club had flirted with Morris as one of their many folk activities, but it was felt that the time had come for a permanent, dedicated Morris section.

The man charged with organising the new Morris club was Edmund 'Eddie' Reavell. Eddie would go on to become Squire of the side in the long term, but in seeking guidance for getting the club together, and developing a repertoire, he obtained the help of legendary dancer and instructor, Bert Cleaver. Bert Cleaver took on the role of Squire during this formative time for the club, and under his eye, and the organisation of Eddie Reavell, the club gained members, produced a kit utilising a purpose designed tree emblem to reflect the name, and prepared to dance out in public. The first official meeting of the club took place in September 1956, and it was almost exactly a year later that they finally kitted up and danced in anger for the first time.

From the start, Woodside Morris Men adopted the profile of a team that would seek association with the Morris Ring - all male membership with officers and a constitution that reflected Ring policy. Fittingly then, it was a Morris Ring event at which they first danced; the association's 61st meeting, hosted by Thames Valley Morris Men, and based around Kingston upon Thames, London . Two years later, at the 68th meeting of the Ring, the side danced for the first time as members; the now Squire Eddie Reavell being presented with Woodside's staff of association by Ring Squire Jim Phillips .

The early years for the club were taken up with local social and community events, regular involvement with Morris Ring meetings, and privately arranged trips to various locations, though Deal, Kent was a particular favourite, in the company of Westminster Morris Men, and later joined by the Hammersmith Morris Men. at this time, there were a few dancers that were involved in just about all of these three side's at one time or another. Bert Cleaver had ended his direct association with Woodside when they reached the stage where they were ready to dance out, and subsequently became involved with a few other London sides, and would go on to become Squire of the Morris Ring. Another busy Morris Man was Hugh Rippon, who at that time was something of a Morris firebrand, being involved with all of these teams to some extent, and remains to this day an influential figure on the English folk scene.

Originally, Woodside Morris Men were intended to remain part of the Phoenix Folk Club, but discussion with a number of early members indicates that the link to the parent club was tenuous from the very start. If it were intended that the membership should originally be drawn from the Phoenix Club, then such expectations were sadly not met. In March 1965, Woodside Squire, Graham Wild, wrote a letter to all members of the team to inform them that, for one week only, the side would be meeting at the Railway Club, Watford, for practice, but not to worry, as practice would return to Finchley as soon as possible. As much as this may not have been an intentional first step away from the now only notionally parent club, as well as the area in which the club was formed, a page in the history of Woodside Morris Men had been turned, and there would be no going back. By July of that same year, meetings had been firmly established as taking place at the Railway's social club in Watford.