Meet the Team
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Lewis "Vulgarian" Elliott
Foreman/Dancer
In a competition with Rob Jukes to see how many sides he can dance for.
Lewis is always on the lookout for a particularly terrible double entendre - the team, to a man, were happy to give him one.
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Humphrey "Humph" Jones
Bagman/Dancer
All round decent bloke, mainly because he agreed to be bagman.
Sartorial advisor, chess enthusiast, alpine hat wearer and occasional owner of a luxurious moustache.
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John "J-Lo" Offord
Fiddler/Dancer.
Keeper of the knowledge of all things folk and morris. Fiddler of some enviable ability, collector of tunes, eater of radishes.
Makes our bell pads - or “joffords” as we call them.
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James Pugh
Dancer
When not on the beach at Cannes Film Festival surrounded by beautiful women
Special adviser to the bagman and Legal Eagle.
Leader of the Blackheath Urban Men’s Singers (BUMS) where his basso profundo is much noted.
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Aaron "Ivor" Horlock
Dancer/Musician
(melodeon, fiddle, guitar, bloody anything frankly) hyperactive and swoonworthy younger member. Also in bands. Annoyingly talented . This is Joel Gilbert’s fault.
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Jamie Hunter-Lawes
Dancer
One of the Hunter-Lawes of Hartfordshire.
Absurdist poet, badge maker and collector of arcane Metal bands with names like Deathgoblin.
All round good egg, and coneptual genius.
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Mick "the Pole" The Pole
Dancer/Musician
Reformed Character. Holds the course and distance for falling down the escalator at Bank Tube Station.
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Jill Skrzypiec
Melodeon
Blackheath are a men’s Morris side, but we do have a female musician. Jill provides us with perfectly bouncy and energetic music.
She quite literally keeps us on our toes.
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Jon "Tardis" Slater
Dancer
A traveller in Time and Space (Largely between London and Hastings on Thursday nights)
Appointed the first Team Scapegoat by popular acclamation. A postion he held with some reliability until his unseating at the last AGM.
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Ken "Luddite" Brewster
Dancer/Scapegoat
Occupation - Demolition.
Hates anything modern.
He thinks a computer is just a typewriter with a TV on top, and smartphones are the work of the devil.
He may have a point - but it would be a first.
Voted Team Scapegoat November 2023
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Colin Bessant
Dancer/The King of Morris.
Perma-smiling golden ray of sunshine.
His more wayward movements have been recorded by scholars and are destined to be included in future morris dances. “At this point we insert the Colin manouevre” many a teacher will exclaim.
Annointed “King of Morris” at an AGM for reasons no-one can remember.
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Allan Roadknight
Melodeon/Dancer
Owner of an improbably cool name.
Ironically an extremely cautious driver.
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Nick "The Books" Fowle
Dancer/Treasurer
Enthusiastic prop forward. Took on the banking as he was the only one left who understood it.
It goes without saying that this is Joel Gilbert’s fault.
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Paul "Little Vegan" Salkeld
Dancer
Proud innovator of the clingfilm wrapped morris dancer for wet weather appearances.
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Simon Varney
Dancer
Saw Blackheath Morris and wisely/insanely thought “These are my people” and brought with him a level of computer expertise previously unseen in the team -the rest of us are all just various shades of “Ken” in comparison.
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Steve Goldsmith
Dancer
Formerly accomplished dancer with the wonderful, but sadly mothballed Wadard Morris, and welcomed into Blackheath with open arms.
Has requisite beard (sometimes)
Occasionally baffled by the more recondite ways of Blackheath - but frankly who isn’t?
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David "Doc" Birch
Dancer
Brixton Agent.
Our previous Squire.
He is the Doctor, good and bold.
He’ll cure this man if he’s not too cold.
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Richard "the 2nd" Sanderson
Dancer/Musician
Another exiled Northerner.
Specialises in the experimental “Sanderson Calling Technique” where he visualises a move and relies on the team’s ESP to respond to it.. Then calls it 10 seconds after the move has finished.
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David "The Admiral" Znak
Dancer
He used to keep Britain’s fleet afloat.
Now he’s progressed to being a student.
God help us if there’s a war…
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Nigel "Patch" Patching
Dancer
Occupation - Ex Blue Peter pet.
Joined Blackheath Morris after a falling out with Valerie Simpleton.
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Nicky Donald
Melodeon/ Dancer
Wild-haired and wild-bearded Scot.
An enthusiastic plugger-inner of high voltage electrical things.
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Billy Dudley
Concertina
Following in his father’s footsteps (Bill Dudley played for Blackheath decades ago) Billy is learning our tunes with gusto.
Prefers to sit down when playing, but we won’t let him.. We’re like that.
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You!
Admit it, you want to join don’t you?
You want to bash sticks and wave hankies around, don’t you?
You want to hang around with all these lunatics don’t you?
Contact us and have a go!
(Details below)
Country Members
Blackheath Morris has sleeper agents throughout the country ready to leap into action in full kit at the mere utterance of a key word, or, as is more likely, an appearance by Blackheath in their neck of the woods and the promise of beer. These are our valued “Country Members”
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Nodge "Nodge" Norris
Dancer/Magician
South Coast Agent
Much loved former Squire and Foreman.
Occupation - Magician
Best trick - Walking down the road and turning into a pub.
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David Rubyan-Ling
Dancer
Midlands Agent
Joined just before the pandemic, then with disastrous timing, moved away when we came back.
Joel Gilbert’s fault, all of it.
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Joel "Swamps" Gilbert
Dancer
North of England Agent
Another former Squire/top chap tempted away by the delights of the frozen North.
Will rejoin us if we’ve signed the correct petitions, and spent a month occupying a motorway or something.
Appointed Team Scapegoat in his absence at the last AGM. This act was the last thing that was Jon Slater’s fault.
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Rob Jukes
Dancer
South Coast Agent
Retired to Bognor Regis to sell “antiques”.
Will do a jig at the drop of a hat (and very considerately giving the rest of us a chance to get a pint)
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Esbjörn "TSB" Wettermark
Melodeon
North of England/Swedish Agent
Master of the one-row squeezebox
Has a habit of moving to towns with very good morris sides, despite insisting this is a pure coincidence. Yeah, right…
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Mick "Shifty" Scrivens
Dancer/Melodeon
Midlands Agent
Dancer with the superb (and not entirely dissimilar) Anstey Morris Men. Willing to exchange his waistcoat for appropriate liquid renumeration.
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Neil "The Obscure" Parker
Dancer/Pipe and Tabor
North of England Agent
Happy to hold forth on such topics as bagpipe seasoning, the fermentation of pears and alternative ways of folding hankies, Neil is a fount of arcane knowledge, as well a master of v. trad morris accompaniment.