FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Dances
Our afternoon dance will be held at Scotton Village Hall on Saturday 14th November 2026 with music by Màrtainn Skene.
Burns night ceilidh 22nd January 2027 Ian Slater playing.
Spring dance 10th April 2027 Colin Dewar playing.
Other events
The annual walk will take place on Wednesday 3rd June 2026. There will be a meal after the walk. Jim and Joanne are considering routes and pubs and will choose presently. Further details will be posted when they are available.
Our annual trip to Hawkshead will take place from 11th to 13th October 2026.
PREVIOUS EVENTS from 1st September 2025. Earlier events are on ‘Past events’.
On Thursday 30th April 2026, a group of members met to have a meal together at The Fisherman’s wife, which was much enjoyed and then went to Harrogate theatre for a performance of ‘Sherlock Holmes – the Hunt for Moriarty’. It was an intriguing experience; a rather complicated plot to follow, but a murderer was revealed by the end! We admired the clever changes of scene and the adaptability of several actors who took on different roles convincingly. A thoroughly enjoyable and social evening.
Spring dance 11th April 2026
A great atmosphere, fantastic music, a lovely programme – these were the sort of comments we were getting at the end of our Spring Dance on April 11. Dancers from far and near joined us at Scotton Village Hall, Knaresborough, for what turned out to be a particularly enjoyable evening of dancing.
Phill Jones, the accordionist, played lively music and a great selection of tunes to the dances both old and new on the varied programme. One of the dances was The Countess of Dunmore’s Reel. Oliver captured the perfectly executed chaperoned chain progression.
Burns night ceilidh 23rd January 2026
On a miserably cold and very wet January evening, Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall was a haven of warmth and hospitality for our annual Burns Ceilidh. Our musician, as usual, was Ian Slater, who not only played a splendid variety of toe-tapping tunes, but also produced a realistic imitation of the bagpipes for the procession of the haggis (Oliver) and crossed whisky bottles (Ian), after which Graham recited Burns Address to the Haggis.
Betty led the very enjoyable dancing with admirable clarity, patience and good humour. At supper time Alison and her team served delicious haggis, with home cooked neeps and tatties, followed by trifle, tea and coffee. Everyone voted the evening a huge success.
On Wednesday 10 December 2025, we held our Christmas Party from 7.45-10.30 pm, with music by Ian Slater. Programme link.
We held our first ever Afternoon Dance on Saturday 22 November 2025 and it went very well. Just over four sets danced in Scotton Village Hall, which has excellent facilities and a good floor for dancing. We danced a very mixed programme of dances, accompanied by excellent accordion music from Màrtainn Skene, who travelled down from Glasgow to play for us. There were many compliments about the sumptuous array of homemade scones and cakes made by a team of bakers from among our members.
Dancing at Hawkshead
Our annual trip to Hawkshead took place from 12th to 14th October 2025. We stayed at Yewfield Guest House where we danced on Sunday night and Monday afternoon. After a delicious evening meal at Yewfield the dancing on Sunday night was led by Betty. We were joined by 4 dancers from a local club who helped to make up our numbers to 2 sets. Monday morning was free time and a group of us walked into Hawkshead for coffee. Another group went to Grasmere to sample the excellent local gingerbread.
Everyone had the opportunity to submit dances to the Monday afternoon programme and teach the dance. We had a good mix of familiar and unusual dances and Jim got us all through the Celtic Reel. In the evening we ate out at a local pub in Hawkshead, followed by drinks and plenty of chat in the lounge at Yewfield.
On Tuesday morning after check-out we all drove to Langdale for a very scenic walk when the sun finally made an appearance. There was the choice of either a walk of 2.5 miles or a longer one of 4.5 miles. Afterwards we all met up at another local pub for a final lunch before making our way home.
