Morris dancers, from left, Chris Stephenson, Paul Whitehead and Janis Yeoman at the Jug Inn in Chapel Haddlesey

The Fourp'ney Plough team has just started a pub tour of the Selby area, and plans to dance out at a different pub each month to keep an age-old tradition alive.

Secretary Geraldine Stephenson, 43, a teaching assistant from Hirst Courtney, said they launched the group after discovering there had been a strong Morris dancing tradition at Snaith over 80 years ago.

She said: "Apparently they used to dance in the villages around Selby, on Whit Sunday and Plough Monday, which is just after the new year, and we are trying to follow some of their traditions and style of dancing.

"We have also found a photograph, taken in 1902, of 'plough stott' dancers from Carlton, which gave us more ideas."

The team comprises ten dancers and four musicians - three fiddlers and one squeeze box player. They dress in old farmworker jackets, bowler and top hats decorated with pheasant feathers, with ribbons round their legs and black boots.

They wave short sticks and flags as they dance to traditional tunes and nursery rhymes such as the Grand Old Duke of York, occasionally turning up the volume by shouting and screaming.

Their first venue on the pub tour was The Jug at Chapel Haddlesey, near Selby, where Geraldine said they got a brilliant reception.

Next month they plan to visit the Royal Oak at Hirst Courtney, along with a guest appearance at Riccall Tennis Club's gala.

Geraldine, whose husband Chris is a fellow dancer and treasurer, says they are looking to recruit new members.

She said: "We like to think we are keeping an old tradition going, and while some Morris dancing teams perform all over the country we plan to concentrate on local events and venues.

"I enjoy it because it keeps me fit and I enjoy the company."

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