Morris dancing as seen by a morris dancer.
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Alfriston Take a bronze ingot, cast it to a desired shape then get another piece of bronze and vigorously hit the two together for over 5 million times. What happens, well read on.
We were Morris Dancing at Alfriston's 600 anniversary of being granted a market charter on Sunday, a glorious hot and sunny day. Before we started dancing I wandered around the various market stalls and went into the small info barn which gave a history of the charter and of Alfriston. Now being a bellringer I was particularly interested in the description of the big tenor bell. I have rung this several times in the past without realizing just how old the bell really is. It is even older than the market charter.
Just think for a moment, way back in 1406 this bell would have been donging away not just for Church services, but to bring the people together for many other meetings, since then 7 other bells have joined it and we now get the melodious sound drifting across the meadows.
This tenor bell is over 600 years old it has never been repaired, just had new bearings a couple of times but still rings steady and true. A quick calculation shows that it has been struck over 5 million times. If you are not a bellringer, buy one a pint and check it out at a local pub.
It is reassuring to know that modern bells are produced in the same time honored way so they too could still be ringing in 2606.
Anyway back to Morris Dancing, my bells are just 40 years old and already falling apart. They worked well on the tye (green) and we did a very spirited performance, we could have done with a few more of the men turning up, don't see why a football match way over in Germany should have influenced their attendance. We supplemented our performance by getting some of the audience to join in with our last dance, I think by the end of it they understood why we were dancing so near to the beer tent.
Warm beer after 30 minutes of vigorous Morris Dancing much better than ice cold lager!
