Ripley Green Garters was formed as a North West Morris dance side in March 1982.
After three months of practice sessions a group of ladies who wanted to keep North
West Morris dances alive, began, with two of their daughters to dance out some of the
dances they had learned. The first dance out was in May 1982.
With a small number of the original members along with others who have joined over
the past 40 years, we continue to enjoy learning dances to share with the public.
We have regular weekly evening practices throughout the autumn and winter months
and we go out and about, now mainly in Derbyshire but occasionally further afield for
weekend events.
Over the years the side has travelled far and wide in Great Britain and has hosted
weekends of up to 25 visiting teams giving us an opportunity to show off some
Derbyshire traditions and beautiful countryside.
Ripley Green Garters have been seen performing in France on five occasions, at an
International Festival in Germany and in the Netherlands at Maastricht. These trips
combined sharing dances in a sociable way and enjoying excellent holidays together.
The dancers could not do any of this without our wonderful and dedicated musicians.
Sometimes we leave the clogs, bells, garlands, sticks and costumes at home
and head off for walking weekends and theatre trips.