75th Anniversary Dance
Over sixty people came together in the Adastra Hall in Keymer on 12 October 2025 to celebrate the Keymer Folk Dance Club’s seventy-fifth Anniversary Dance.
Formed in Spring 1950 from St. Cosmo’s Young Fellowship Group (a posh name for the village Youth Club) and local folk dance enthusiasts it has maintained a modest presence in the village ever since. It has an ethos where actual dancing and enjoyment supersedes that of perfection. Like all clubs it has experienced a roller coaster journey of membership numbers but currently the future is bright and the club is proud to have reached the milestone of seventy-five years old.
It was celebrated in grand style with a Sunday afternoon Cake dance. Everybody brought a different kind of cake, with special commissioned Anniversary Cake made by Liz Boyers, a member of the Heathfield Folk Dance Club.
Calling was provided by Sean Goddard. Sean first came to the club about 1966 aged four and has been associated with the club continually since and he is currently the club’s Chairman. The music was provided by Chris Jewell and two members, Rowena and Mark from Touchstone, a Sussex based folk group. Chris joined the club a year or two after Sean and although he has lived in Devon for many years maintains a great interest in the club’s development. The combination of caller and band is essential for great dancing and Sean and Chris complemented each other wonderfully. Sean and Chris played at the clubs fortieth Anniversary dance, and Sean probably called the same dances, and Chris played the same tunes in the same order. In any case, lots of feedback was received saying the music was great, the dances were expertly called, and the dances were the ones we liked. Of course there was an Anniversary Speech. Given in two parts by Sean and Janet. Sean emphasised the history of the club: the role Hal and Joyce Wallis, Don Lewry and John Goddard (Sean’s dad) as founder members played, the dance style changes within the club through the years, and acknowledged the role of members. He especially brought Shirley Jewell and Brenda Farr to the attention of the
assembly as past Chair people.
Janet Avery spoke about dancing at the club when she was a teenager. When she returned to the area, she rejoined the club and has been the club’s Treasurer for thirty years. Janet spoke about the community-spirit of the club. It welcomes everybody and makes no judgement on their dancing ability. Janet then cut the ‘blue cake’.
Teas and coffees were provided at half-time by club members, which allowed the various cakes to be consumed and washed down. It also allowed people to have good chats and look at the Washing Line History. Elaine Jenkins had produced a Washing Line History of the club. This interested everybody, and it contained posters, comments, and photographs of goings-on in the club throughout the years. Efforts are being made to make this available on the club’s website.
There were also a couple of maps showing where our current club members live, and where people travelled to for this dance. The longest distance was Wendy from Switzerland followed by Shirley Jewell up from Westward Ho in Devon. We were so thrilled Shirley was able to attend as she contributed so much to the club. Following up a close third was Heather from Cambridge.
The vote of appreciation for the success of the Keymer club, and the Anniversary dance itself was proposed by Keith Calver. Keith is the Chairman of the Shoreham Folk Dance Club, and he and his wife Margaret are newbie members at Keymer. He had good things to say about the club meetings, including how welcoming everybody is, how much people smile, and he is constantly astounded that the average attendance of a club night is 35. He said, something is happening at the Keymer Folk Dance Club which is contributing to its current success, and he doesn’t know what it is. Maybe it is the ethos that has been one of enjoyment, good fiscal management, a strong committee which works together, club member involvement, and continual engagement with the local community. It has developed a well-earned reputation for organising excellent events.
Here are a few facts about Keymer Folk Dance Club.
We have had four national EFDSS Gold Badge recipients
Seven members have received Scan Tester Awards
We have given thirteen club Life Memberships
There are over fifty ‘signed up’ members, and club meeting regularly exceeds
thirty-five.
All club members who attended the Anniversary dance had free entry
We reduced the fortnightly admission charge last year
We have introduced a ‘Buy five club nights and get the Sixth free’ scheme.
With our ‘Train your own caller experiment’, we currently have ten club callers.
Right now, Keymer Folk Dance Club is in an excellent place and is looking forward to their eightieth anniversary in 2030.
Summer Evening Dance – monday 1st June 2026 7-9pm
Each summer we hold an evening dance at The Barn on Ditchling Village Green. This is a lovely evening dancing outside (weather permitting) to a live band.
Here are photographs from June 2025
