The arrival of Pretty Grim at Fort Pitt was literally a traffic stopping event. First of all Harry had the unenviable task of reserving roughly half the school field for the Pretty Grim / Bounty Hounds encampment. However the drama really erupted when Becs reached the foot of Fort Pitt Hill; her car took one look and refused to tow the caravan any further. Fortunately Jem arrived at just the right moment in her Land Rover. With the assistance of the Kent Constabulary the caravan was unhitched and cars were swapped over without loss of life or limb.
Saturday morning saw an outraged saxophonist as Ruth 'The Youth' was refused service at the bar as she didn't have any ID. Like the good Squire I am I stepped in to buy the beer before the band went on strike.
With six new members doing their first festival with Pretty Grim I was slightly anxious about how well we would dance. However my fears were totally unfounded. Of course there was the odd mistake but mostly these were from the old hands not the beginners; and overall we danced very well. After several years of struggling to get 8 dancers up at once it was fantastic to see double sets of Ally Pally, a triple set of Grim Reaper and as many as 16 dancers in four sets of Salmon Slapping.
We received some very complimentary comments from Mythago Morris, the Gong Scourers and Westrefelda. It really means something when people who know their Morris tell you that you are doing well. We also met a member of Hunters Moon Morris who told us that she had been inspired to join her local morris side after enjoying our workshop so much at Folk East last summer!
On Sunday morning we did another couple of dance spots before finishing up for the weekend at lunchtime. Most of us would have liked to do some more dancing but sadly other commitments conspired against us. At least we should all be eager and raring to go for our next dance out on Tuesday week.