A Brief History

Now in our eleventh year

Exmoor Border Morris was founded in October 1998 by the remaining few members of the Muddiford & Milltown Morris Men, who danced Adderbury and Fieldtown and others, round the villages and resorts of North Devon, until dwindling numbers saw us down to just a handful by the end of summer 1997.

 Some of Our Ancestors . . . .

Barnstaple Morris Men  Muddiford & Milltown Morris Men

Everyone wants to do Border
Autumn 1997 - A couple of other local sides suggested that we should all form a large mixed, combined Border side just for that coming winter. As a team of over 30, we danced at the switching on of the Christmas lights at Ilfracombe in December 1997, under the guise of "Mixed Bag Morris".

No turning back
The new year meant the other sides went back to their own, leaving us few (men only) remnants of Muddiford and Milltown Morris Men with two choices.

      
Either pack up, and bury the dead horse we'd been flogging, or accept the inevitable, invite the wives and girlfriends in, and go Mixed Border. That was the way we spent 1998, with a mixed assortment of kit, a very definite mixed assortment of dancing talent, but at least Muddiford Morris Dancers kept going.

The 1998 Muddiford and Milltown Border Team

The whole hog - new name, new kit, new team
September 1998, ten new members arrived. At the AGM in October, we let go the name Muddiford and Milltown Morris, and took on a new identity proper. The very appropriate title was Exmoor Border Morris. Half of us live on the border of Exmoor, and we dance Border (clever eh?)

From strength to strength
And so we were 27-strong by the Spring of 1999, and spent the season still tramping round the resorts and villages of North Devon, as well as Crediton, Sidmouth, and Dartmoor Festivals, where our energy and obvious enjoyment won us a great deal of praise.

2000 - 2006
Not wishing to write a complete diary of all we did over those years (You'll have to look at the scrapbook for that), we can summarise by saying that we were 30-strong, with a talented band of musicians of anything from 5 to 10. With a full programme of events, we were regular visitors to festivals across the West Country, especially Wimborne, Sidmouth, Swanage, and others. We continued to create new dances and 'borrowed' the best ones we saw (thank you Planet Morris, Wicket Brood and Witchmen). Onwards and upwards

The family album
Just a little of the stuff we did . . . . .

 

2008
10 Years Young ~ August Bank Holiday ~ The Fabulous 10th Birthday Party!!