Adlington Morris visit Haddenham and Thame

Today, on a glorious sunny Saturday morning Haddenham Hoofers (Appalachian Step Dancers) met touring Adlington Morris Men from Cheshire (http://www.adlingtonmorrismen.ik.com/) for a morning of dance. We started at the village green, Haddenham, Bucks at 10am!

Adlington Morris with Haddenham village green in the background.

Adlington Morris with The Red Lion, Haddenham in the background. Saturday morning seemed to be rather difficult for some Hoofers to make. I was the only one providing the music and a number of dances featured the junior section of the Hoofers.

Haddenham Hoofers with Haddenham village green in the background.

We then all moved on to the busy Thame High Street - Adlington Morris outside Thame Town Hall.

Haddenham Hoofers outside Thame Town Hall. We all moved on to perform outside The Abingdon Arms in Thame before lunch.

Festival Time

Yesterday was the start of the festival season for Haddenham Hoofers - two festivals in a day!

We started off at the Buckingham Festival at lunchtime, performing outside the old gaol in the town centre.

The Hoofers' Band - Ed Houghton (guitar) Tim Brooks (fiddle) me (double bass) Tim Mason (5 string banjo) and Penny Heydon (fiddle)

We then went on to the Haddenham Beer Festival to perform in the afternoon. The weather stayed sunny (despite the forecast) and the Beer Festival was extremely busy.

This photo shows the Hoofers getting ready for the first dance with the beer festival crowds looking on.

The Haddenham Hoofers are performing at the Sidmouth Folk Festival 1-8 August and Towersey Village Festival 21-25 August

A busy June weekend

This weekend was the start of some busy musical weekends for me. Friday evening saw me playing double bass in a 50s band at Brill Sports and Social Club - an interesting experience!

By Saturday afternoon, I was on more familiar territory playing banjo for the Haddenham Hoofers at Bourton Meadow, Buckingham. Musicians also pictured are Ed Houghton -guitar, Penny Heydon - fiddle and Tim Mason - 5 string banjo.


Saturday evening was an open air barn dance at Ardley, Oxfordshire with the Mizen Ramblers. The sun was still shining when this photo was taken but it got a bit chilly in the darkness later on! I'm playing my 5 string acoustic/electric bass guitar. Also pictured from left to right: Tom Bell-Richards - fiddle, Jed Mugford -fiddle, Mike Gardiner - fiddle and Trevor Toms - guitar.

Haddenham Hoofers in Antwerp

The Haddenham Hoofers (Appalachian Step Dance Group) travelled to Antwerp on the weekend of May 9-11 May to take part in a folk dance festival. I played banjo for the dancing which included very hot open air performances in the square in Antwerp on Saturday and concert performances on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Other groups performing were Les Joyeux Vendéens from France and De Kegelaar, the host group from Belgium.

Haddenham Hoofers meet every Thursday evening in St Mary's Church Hall, Haddenham, Buckinhamshire to rehearse Appalachian Step Dancing to live music. They perform mainly in the Summer months locally at festivals, fetes and other events. They also perform at National Folk Festivals. In 2008, performances include: The Straw Bear Festival of Dance, Whittlesea, Sidmouth Folk Festival and Towersey Village Festival.

For more information: https://sites.google.com/site/haddenhamhoofers/