The Isca Morrismen, Traditional Morris Dancers from South Wales performing Welsh Border and Cotswold Morris dances together with local Mumming Plays, Wassailing ceremonies and the Mari Lwyd custom.

Welcome to the Isca Morrismen Website - Home of the Traditional Morris Dancers from South Wales performing Welsh Border and Cotswold Morris dances together with local Mumming Plays, Wassailing ceremonies and the Mari Lwyd custom

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2009 Tours - Wednesday 24th June
Wye Valley Pub Tour

Isca Morrismen dancing at the Tredegar House Folk Festival earlier this year Isca Morrismen dancing in Usk recently on a warm summer evening

This week we travel over to the east of our dancing area and to the Wye Valley where we will enjoy a tour of Tintern and surrounding villages.

We start tonight in Llandogo, a very attractive village nestling between wooded hillsides in the heart of the Wye Valley. William Wordsworth visited this area and wrote about 'the cottages on the hills' and the 'wreaths of smoke' sent up in silence from among the trees.

The village of Llandogo was a port long before Chepstow with many local builders of trows (small sailing barges) and was once an important docking point for vessels working between South Wales and Bristol. The village was also home to the small flat-bottomed trows which carried cargoes of bark and hazel hoops as far afield as Italy, returning with barrels of sherry with the Llandogo Trow immortalised by the name of a pub in Bristol to this day.

The small hamlet of Cleddon lies at the top of a winding walk from the stream at the Sloop Inn via the Cleddon Road up to the Cleddon shoots with Cleddon Hall famous as the birthplace of Bertrand Russell.

8.30 p.m. Sloop Inn, Llandogo

The Sloop Inn, Llandogo

Isca Morrismen dancing in Usk during our recent May Bank Holiday tour

The Sloop Inn is over 350 years old with a stone plaque on the older part of the building dated 1707 when it was built as a cider house and mill. Until fairly recently a stream ran through the middle of the cellars and we have danced here over the years, usually outside on the edge of the road.

Isca Morrismen dancing in Usk recently on a warm summer evening Isca Morrismen dancing at the ampitheatre to welcome in the dawn on 1st May 2009

After a few beers we move on to The Anchor Hotel in Tintern, now run by the landlord previously at the Cherry Tree Inn (a pub which has recently sadly gone the way of many others and closed down).

9.30 p.m. Anchor Hotel, Tintern

The Anchor Hotel, Tintern

The Anchor Hotel sits on the banks of the river Wye next to the magnificent ruins of Tintern Abbey, the first Cistercian abbey in Wales which was founded in 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow. What is now the Anchor Hotel was used as the monks cider mill, the mill is still in the bar of the Anchor and is believed to be the oldest working cider mill in Europe.

To the side of the hotel is an archway which was part of the surrounding wall of the abbey and was used to access the river Wye. In 1536 Henry VIII destroyed the abbey during the dissolution of the monasteries and gave most of the surrounding lands to the Duke of Beaufort. He used the Anchor as a boat house and toll station for river crossings and, until fairly recent times, the ferry to England continued to run from here linking the village with St Briavels.

The Isca Morrismen dancing outside the Hen and Chickens in Abergavenny last month

Isca Morrismen dancing recently in Schull in Southern Ireland

Do come and see us at some stage and if you have a liking for tradition then you will be made very welcome. For those males amongst you who enjoy a pint or two and would like to keep fit then you will be ideal as a dancer.

Isca Morrismen dancing in Aas, Belgium during a recent performance at the Akkermennekes Dance Festival Isca Morrismen at the Kulture Klub in Zolder Heusden, Belgium during a recent performance at the Akkermennekes Dance Festival

If you are a musician of either sex who enjoys folk music, then again you will be well received, so whatever instrument you play, provided that it is portable, come and join us and learn our music. Come along and we'll ensure that you enjoy yourself and hopefully come back for more as we tour our area over the summer months.

If you require any more information then please check our Contact and Feedback page for our current officers telephone numbers or email us at our address: Enquiries 'at' Isca-Morrismen.com. We are a lively bunch and travel a fair bit with our activities, both in the UK and Overseas, so come on - contact us today and join in the fun, you'll not regret it!

Click here to visit the website of the Otley Brewing Company

Click here to visit the website of Tomos Watkin Welsh Ales

Click here to visit the website of The Mount Pleasant

This year we are delighted that our traditional dancing programme is being sponsored by local Welsh Breweries, producers of excellent real ale to whom we are grateful for their wholehearted support.

Please enjoy their real ales and visit their websites to learn more by clicking on the pictures.

We also acknowledge the support and encouragement of The Mount Pleasant in Old Cwmbran, our after-practice venue during the winter.