Newton Bushel Morris
Welcome to Newton Bushel Morris
Founded in 1972, Newton Bushel Morris is a mixed Cotswold side from South Devon. Our ethos is to have fun and enjoy dancing outside in beautiful places. Read more
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Contact us/Join us/ Book us
Newton Bushel are always looking to welcome new dancers (no experience needed) as well as new musicians. If you fancy having a go, you are welcome to come along to one of our Thursday practice sessions, we are a fun and friendly group and it’s free! The tunes are fairly easy to play, our band includes box players, whistle players and a drummer but other instruments will make a great addition! Get in touch via the contact us page.
We are available to perform at festivals, fetes, Fairs, charity events, weddings, care homes, cultural events. It is best to book us before May as our calendar soon fills up, but we are always happy to try to fit in later engagements. During the winter months we are available for indoor events or care home entertainment. See the contact us page for details.
Calendar
The practice season is underway. Every Thursday evening, from 7.30pm - 9.30pm, we practise our dances in Kingskerswell community Hall, Dobbin Arch, Kingskerswell, Devon TQ12 5FJ.
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We are taking bookings for indoor events and care home entertainment so please get in touch on the contact us page.
Our dancing season starts at the end of April 2025 when we can be seen dancing at the Green Man festival in Bovey Tracey in Devon.
On the 1st of May 2025 we will be dancing at dawn at the Labrador Bay car park, watching the sun rise over the sea, followed by a slap-up breakfast!
Next Event
Fundraiser ceilidh at The Richard Newton Hall, Teignmouth TQ14 8QP on Sunday 24th of November 2-5pm.
This is to raise money for the Teignmouth Folk Festival which will be held next summer, 2025. The band is Fiddling Fish and Newton Bushel will be performing during the interval.
On Thursday evenings, throughout the summer, we dance outside various local pubs in our local villages, or in idyllic places by the sea, including Babbacombe Downs and Berry Head. We usually end the evening inside the pub with some jolly singing. We also dance at festivals, fêtes, fairs and charity events. It’s always super fun to meet up with other Morris sides, especially at festivals! We have a broad repertoire of over 30 dances, mainly traditional Cotswold, from 9 different traditions - to keep us on our toes (literally). Our emblem is the Clock Tower in Newton Abbot of which Newton Bushel was once a district.
Newton Bushel Morris are proud to support The Park Inn, Kingskerswell, and we can usually be found there, during the winter months, on Thursday evenings, singing and chatting after practice.
About us
Dances
There are so many exciting and varied cotswold dances to choose from! Over the past 50 years, the Bushellers have indulged in 11 Adderbury, 9 Bampton, 2 Bucknel, 3 Ducklington, 3 Bledington, 1 Badby, 4 Lichfield, 1 Stretton-on-Foss, 1 Brackley and the Upton on Severn Stick Dance!
Of course it would be too arduous to practise all of these dances over the winter, so for 2025 our repertoire will be:
Adderbury tradition: Bluebells, Landlord, Lads a Bunchem, South Australia, Black Joke and The Bell.
Bampton tradition:
Trunkles and Banbury Bill.
Bledington tradition:
Young Collins
Ducklington tradition:
Nutting Girl and Mrs Casey.
Fieldtown tradition:
The Poppy
Lichfield tradition:
Vandals, Sheriff’s Ride, Jenny Lind and Ring O Bells.
There are a nice mix of styles, around half are stick dances and the rest are waiver dances.
Peck
Peck is our friendly seagull, he hatched in 1975 so next year he’ll be 50 years old!! His youthful looks are due to a couple of face-lifts over the years.
Morris Federation
Newton Bushel Morris are proud members of the Morris Federation. Their website features a wealth of resources and information on Morris dancing, clog, rapper and Longsword.
www.morrisfed.org.uk
