Broad Street and Morris dancing

I have already told about the vantage point of my parents' house during Alresford Fair.  Broad Street was also the focal point of other events.

From time to time Morris dancers performed outside our house.  The first picture is my own taken from a bedroom window.  The next two are from the internet and I think both are in Broad Street.

There is something odd about Morris dancing.  OK, now-a-days performers do it for fun then enjoy a pint of beer afterwards so possibly it is harmless.  But why?  Not shown in the pictures (I could not find any that resemble what I remember) is the hobby horse which is an outfit worn by a dancer that hardly resembles a real horse - the hobby horse kind of gets in the way of the other dancers and does strange things to passers by.  It is distinctly odd and perhaps hails from Old England, the Dark Ages, when druids and witches held sway over men and women.

On one occasion the Welsh Guards (I think) turned up and did their bit.  I have no idea what the occasion was but I suppose there must have been one.  It was at least fun watching them.

And then the climax of the year, the Christmas tree erected every year.  The picture is not my own, but must have been taken from just outside our house.

Father Christmas would (and still does) arrive by a different means every year at the carol singing evening, and would give gifts to all the children.  Regrettably I have no pictures of this, but I have memories of a town notary singing "Silent Night" in a deep voice, accompanied by my father on the piano.

So Broad Street was a cool place to grow up, and so far I have only described what went on at the front of the house!  This picture is a recent one of my own.  My parents' house is behind the tree on the left, and the entrance to The George Yard at the left.  More about this in a later blog maybe.