As written by Club Member Elaine Jenkins for the 75th Anniversay Dance
Before the Keymer Folk Dance Club
The Sussex Branch of the English Folk Dance Society was formed in 1927 under the direction of County Branch Teacher, Elsie Whiteman and this led to an upsurge in the popularity of folk dancing in Sussex.
By the start of World War Two over seventy clubs existed in Sussex, in fact almost every village and town had one.
Country dancing also became popular in schools, and to support this activity, the Sussex Branch had a Junior Organisation .
School children displayed country dancing at Branch’s Summer Parties held at Goodwood House, Glynde House and at fêtes and fairs.
Post-war, Cuckfield and Albourne had small clubs, while Brighton, Henfield and Haywards Heath had much larger clubs.
The repertoire was: Some, such as Newcastle and Picking Up Sticks, based on the pre-war EFDS dances transcribed from historical dance books by Cecil Sharp;
Some traditional dances collected and published in the 1930s, including Morpeth Rant and Cumberland Square.
Three Key Factors in the Formation of Keymer Folk Dance Club
Two well-to-do-ladies Elsie Whiteman and Kathleen Church-Bliss, dubbed “the toffee-nosed pair” due to their Kensington accents, transformed the structure and repertoire in Sussex. Keymer followed their model.
The local vicar, Rev. W. Davis-Winstone started a youth club in 1948, The Keymer Young Peoples’ Fellowship at the church hall – a ready-made collection of young, energetic young people.
Hal Wallis and his wife Joyce moved from London in 1947. Hal was the Warden at Stafford House and both were enthusiastic folk dancers. Hal had learnt folk dancing at the Finchley Club in the 1930s run by Mr Pritchard who had previously been taught by Cecil Sharp, Joyce had learnt a wider repertoire of dances at the Teachers Training College in Brighton. One evening Hal Wallis introduced himself to Rev. Davis-Winstone, asking if the club would be interested in learning English Folk Dancing. At that time, they had some groups of English Folk Dancers staying at Stafford House and Hal Wallis brought them along.
The enthusiasm of the Young Peoples’ Fellowship, local folk dancers who supported the new club and Hal and Joyce Wallis as leaders combined effectively.
Keymer Folk Dance Club was formed in March 1950 and was part of the post-war surge in the popularity of folk dancing.
Early Dances
To gain support, Hal Wallis and the Young Peoples’ Fellowship organised some local dances at Keymer Church Hall. Hal Wallis would call, but he also encouraged other people to take a turn including a young Don Lewry. These dances proved popular, however as they used 78 rpm records, the repertoire was limited and the sound, compared to today’s standards poor!
From January 1950 and subsequently, monthly Square Dances were held at Keymer Church Hall. The January dance was taken by Brighton based caller, Michael Bell with music by the Benacre Band and was well attended. The February dance was taken by the director of the EFDSS, Douglas Kennedy with music again by the Benacre Band. A larger attendance this time, not only by villagers but also local folk dancers. The Benacre consisted of Elsie Whiteman (English Concertina), Kathleen Church-Bliss (Orcon or Orkon Flute, a vertical flageolet or recorder with a simplified Boehm System keywork) with Mrs Rolt from Fittleworth on the piano.
At the inaugural March 1950 meeting of the club a committee was formed to run the new venture. Hal Wallis was chairman and other committee members were: Mrs. B. Buckingham, Mrs. A. Chappell, Mr. D. Lewry, Miss. B. Page and Miss. M. Davis-Winstone. Other people listed as attending included local folk dancers Mr. J. Goddard, Mr. J. Roberts, Mr. E. Colyer-Kendall, Mr. S. Ashworth, Miss F. Nash and from the Young Peoples’ Fellowship Mr. M. Farrall, Mr. I. Clayton, Miss C. Kilbride and Miss. S. Goring. Others’ names are now sadly forgotten. The first meeting was in the Adastra Hall, known locally as the Tin-Hut, and then on alternate Wednesdays. Club evenings cost half-a-crown. The members of the Young Peoples’ Fellowship and early members of the Keymer Folk Dance Club only liked the fast dances, and Hal Wallis had difficulty introducing the slower, sedate and complicated Playford dances that he enjoyed and had learnt from Mr. Pritchard. Mary Davis-Winstone remembers that on one occasion during an American Square dance, one boy accidentally flung his girl across the room much to the amusement of the other dancers, but he got a stern look from Hal!
Music
The club used 78rpm recordings: scratchy, noisy, jumps and easily cracked or broken! An extra weight like an old penny was placed on top of the arm to stop it jumping! Between 1929 and 1960 the EFDSS issued 496 individual recordings. Popular dances were recorded several times, Sellengers Round (11 recordings), Gathering Peascods, Old Mole, Parson’s Farewell and Rufty Tufty (8) and Newcastle (only 5). For those who like stats; between 1920 and 1960 the EFDSS issued 320 Playford style tracks and only 176 generally simpler Community dance tracks.
In 1947 Douglas Kennedy introduced the English Country Dance small band: with violin, accordion/melodeon, piano etc. However, these were slow to get going and the clubs of the 1950s relied heavily on EFDSS pre-war orchestral musical style records. There were a few attempts to employ ‘Big Band Sounds’.
From 1947 onwards, as part of the re-generation of English Folk Dancing, Douglas Kennedy started the Community Dance Manuals. These were an alternative to the Cecil Sharp dances. However, suitable music was a challenge for callers, especially for a club with lots of young people. John Goddard recalls that the Keymer Club liked dances that were easy to explain: ’we liked dancing and that’s what we came for – not long walk-throughs’.
Small band
(The Birmingham Square Dance Band [which included a young Beryl Marriott who later moved to Keymer and taught at local schools], Country Dance Band and the Jolly Waggoners) records became available in the 1950s to accompany the Community Dances Manual. They all played rhythmically and fast. Dances included Cumberland Square, Danish Double Quadrille, La Russe and Nottingham Swing all firm club favourites.
Chris Jewell vividly remembers the problems of the old technology. This is how he recalls the dancers coping: “We always had to do a fake jump in Danish Double Quadrille to avoid the needle jumping.” The Danish Double Quadrille was introduced to Sussex dancers by Elise Whiteman and Kathleen Church-Bliss in 1951 after they danced it at the Country Dance Society of America in Massachusetts. They presented it at the Shoreham Folk Dance Club, and the following week at Keymer. It is not an original US dance as its origins are from Northern Europe, the Sønderborg Doppel dance being a possible source (though the people from Sønderborg think it is English). It was first published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1952. It is an excellent dance, and lends itself for many second tunes, including The Happy Wanderer (a hit in 1954 for The Stargazers), and Y Viva Espana (another hit in 1974, this time for Sylva Vrethammar).
Larger Dances
In the early years the Keymer Club held a larger dance on the last Friday of every month. The band was the Benacre Band, with a different caller each month. Some, like Pat Shaw, Douglas Kennedy and John Armstrong were well known and came from Cecil Sharp House. Others, such as Francis Hawkins, Paul Plumb, Jim Hoare and Michael Bell were more local.
Later, the annual Barbeque (sausages and jacket potatoes) started, firstly at a large house in South Bank, and then later at Clare and Ian Clayton’s house and included folk singing, Morris Dancing and jumping over the fire.
Dances were held to celebrate the twenty-first, twenty-fifth, thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries.
The club also organised the Kitchen Dance to help raise funds for a new kitchen in the Old Adastra Hall, as well as the Keymer Village dance to celebrate the Millennium.
Dances were held in many locations around the area. The Keymer Church Hall was the hall of choice in the early years as it was the right size to accommodate the dancers, largely between fifty and seventy-five. As it was near The Greyhound pub, some dancers, and sometimes members of the band and callers would nip across at half-time! Later halls used included Hurstpierpoint and Ditchling Village Halls and The Hassocks Hotel. The fiftieth and sixtieth anniversary dances were held in the new Adastra Hall.
1960s and 70s
Hal Wallis continued to lead the club with calling support from Don Lewry, John Goddard, Bill Horton and many others. The arrival of the 45 rpm extended play(EP) records had a slow effect on the repertoire of the club as newer and longer EFDSS or HMV recordings became available. 78 rpm records could play a maximum of 3:30sec, but a 45 EP could last 7 minutes. Some dances on 45 rpm were dubbed from 78s and sounded dull, but others were newly recorded and included more and different Playford and Community dances. The removal of 78 rpm records from the club was slow and we still used 78’s in the 1970s for some obscure dances.
The newer recordings, with a more modern and brighter sound, were made by newer bands such as The Ranchers and The Southerners. However, the club (or at least Sean and Chris!) preferred particular bands over others. Folk dance researcher Pat Shaw started to publish his composed dances, such as Walpole Cottage, Twelve Reel, and other historical collections that Cecil Sharp had overlooked, in the EFDSS. He also composed the dance K and E for Kathleen and Elsie. The EFDSS issued recordings of Pat Shaw’s dances including Walpole Cottage, Holborn March (Don Lewry’s favourite dance) and Nonesuch (where Shaw introduced a change of tune) and these became extremely popular with club callers and dancers.
In the mid-1960s, Beryl and Roger Marriott moved to the area. Beryl was a well-known pianist and Roger a respected folk dance researcher. In October 1970, the Sussex District of the EFDSS with Beryl as initial leader and organiser started a monthly ‘Players Club’ to help folk musicians in the area, originally at the Congregational Church Hall (now the URC Church Hall). Beryl, Roger and others had organised a similar club in Birmingham which had been very effective. Roger always said: “You must ensure the tempo is correct and put the dancers first!” In 1976 Roger and Beryl compiled a music book for the EFDSS; Tunes for the Band, based on successful tunes used at the Players’ Club. John Wickens, who played in many Sussex based bands vividly remembers Beryl playing the piano-accordion, with her music stand and an overflowing ashtray next to her. It is also where he first met Chris Jewell. When the need arose, dancers were invited along to help to ensure the musicians could play at the correct tempo and length. This started a Keymer ad-hoc Band which played for alternate club evenings, and at special evenings such as the Christmas Party. Band members included Beryl and Roger Marriott, Paddy Wright, Ian Clayton, Chris, Shirley and David Jewell and Cyril Charman and later included, Don Curtis, Ann Hughes, Ursula Cleaver and many others. The Players’ Club led to the formation of many local Barn Dance Bands that played around the area. The Paddywacks led by Paddy Wright; Derek Lockwood and Robin Aronzie were the Silver Buckle Band, so named because if the dancers/band went out of time, they always played Bobby Shafto in any tempo to get realigned; The Keymer Band centred around the Jewell Family. All these bands led to more bands being formed. These bands would play for dances organised by local folk dance clubs, but also other events such as church do’s, weddings etc.
Life after the Wallis’s
Debate surrounding dance standards of the club always bubbled just under the surface. The Wallis’s always strove to uphold the pre-war country-dance standards, when performers could gain certificates for performing dances to an EFDS standard.
However, change was happening in the EFDSS with new callers, having a new direction with the formation of the English Ceilidh Band movement and new research being published about the origins of folk dance. This directly affected the Keymer club: established callers within the club began to challenge the Wallis’s style wanting to introduce newer dances or different music. In 1975, after twenty-five years the Wallis’s retired and a new era started, under the Chairmanship of John Cleaver, with David Jewell as Secretary and John Goddard as Leader. These three people set the tone for the further development of the club. Although there were occasional disagreements, the club set forth and put personal enjoyment ahead of dancing figures in a specific style. Newer callers from within were encouraged to call, such as introducing Come-all-Ye evenings when established club callers took a step back and encouraged other members to call, perhaps just one dance during such an evening. This allowed more callers to develop within the club, including John Butler, Brenda Farr and more recently Sally Course and Janet Avery.
Since the mid-1970s, the club invited local callers who were not associated with the club to call an evening. Often, these took place on the fifth Monday of each month and these included Gordon Brooks who specialised in Square and related dances. Also, John Portlock and Paul Plumb from the Shoreham Club, and later Walter White from East Sussex and most recently Chris Woodward who is based in Tunbridge Wells. Other callers who ‘passed through’ included Colin Millington from Burgess Hill, Ray Taylor from Brighton and Jim Perry and James Barry from Keymer. For many years the club regularly met on Easter Monday and the dance was taken by Ron Meads from Groombridge, Kent. It was always so well attended that, when calling the dance Northern Lights they had to stop the record half-way through and start again in order to allow the dance to be completed. Ron always brought a scraggy-flea-bitten-dog who would sit contently in the corner all evening. No-one dared go near it! On some fifth Mondays, alternative folk related events took place. John Goddard would pull together evenings exploring other folk activities including Morris or Sword Dancing, and once a year do a ‘Folk Pie’. This involved everybody doing something, such as poems, telling a story or playing an instrument. Sean particularly remembers David Jewell making a Hammered Dulcimer to play tunes such as the Irish Washerwoman.
The 1990’s onwards
From the 1990s onwards, newer dances and recordings became available, issued by the EFDSS, by bands or independent record companies. Imports from the USA, bringing different sounds and longer recordings (many English recordings for longways dances go through 7 times, while the USA recordings may go for 9,10 or more times). Not only were alternative records available, but newly composed dances too. Although many of these dances required specific music and sometimes these were available, club callers became adept at finding suitable alternatives. There have been a number of dances composed for the club or its members. David Jewell composed Hal’s Quadrille, a stately dance based on historical Quadrille dance figures suggesting elegance that Hal Wallis had always tried to achieve. David subsequently entered it into the annual Sussex Folk Harvest competition for new dances in 1988 where it was commended (obviously – at Keymer we thought it should have won!). Mike Barraclough composed the Keymer Stomp, based on an early Playford dance, and Shirley Jewell JMG for John Goddard. John Portlock composed the Keymer Anniversary Dance for the clubs sixtieth year, just fifteen years ago.
Here’s to the future!
Just like the Starship Enterprise, the Keymer Club continues its onward journey. New people join, leave and sometimes re-join, the second time perhaps bringing along a friend. There have been marriages and occasionally they have stolen members from other clubs! Sometimes members agree with each other, and at times disagree but the club continues to develop and thrive. New callers are actively encouraged and supported, with expert guidance on the choice of dances and music as well as coaching in how to deliver dances to the group, and how to work with both recorded and live music.
We currently meet at the URC Church Hall on first, third and fifth Mondays of each month and the club is in excellent health. We are a fully inclusive club drawing members of various abilities from around Keymer and further afield and with club evenings usually exceeding thirty. We perform a wide variety of dances, from the earliest Playford dances to the most modern composed dances, and sometimes the dancers (and occasionally the callers) get in a muddle and just laugh! Keymer has lasted seventy-five years: it is not the oldest club in the county (a tip of the hat here to the Felpham and Middleton club formed way back in October 1933), and probably not the largest but it has weathered the storms over the last seventy-five years and has continually moulded to the changing needs of the local and folk dance communities.
So, cheers everybody! To the Keymer Club!