Beccy Blackwood is a Business Support Administrator in our Estates and Facilities Directorate. Beccy provides essential administrative and organisational support to the directorate. Her responsibilities typically include diary management, purchasing, meeting support, project support and overseeing staff and student car parking administration.
We spoke to Beccy about her favourite pastime, and here is what she told us…
Beccy Blackwood with her husband and two daughters
Tell us about your hobby…
I am a Morris dancer with Benfieldside Morris, where we perform dances from the Cotswold Morris tradition. Cotswold Morris, practised into the 20th century, played an important part in village festivities. Our traditional attire includes white shirts with black trousers, breeches, or skirts, complemented by a hat or cap that can be decorated with flowers, ribbons, and badges. We also wear an orange and black baldric - two sashes, or thick ribbons, which are worn diagonally across the shoulder and meet in the centre front and back - featuring our side emblem on the front. The most important part of our outfit is the bell pads we tie to our shins. I love the sound our bells make. For me, it is a quintessentially English sound that evokes images of maypoles, village greens and warm summer days.
How did you get into Morris dancing?
Last September I attended a dance aerobics class with my friend, and though the class itself was fine, I was just rubbish at it. I vowed I'd never go again and would need to find another way to keep fit. When my friend mentioned this to her husband, who has been Morris dancing for many years, he suggested we give Morris dancing a go. After a couple of weeks, I even convinced my two daughters and my husband to join in. I don’t profess to have any great skill in Morris dancing yet, but some of the steps and moves feel familiar because they are similar to Scottish Ceilidh dance moves. Growing up in the north of Scotland, Ceilidh dancing was always a regular part of our PE curriculum at school, and I loved it.
Why is it important to you?
Morris dancing has a long tradition in England dating back to at least the 15th century. Despite facing periods of decline and waning popularity, I am proud to be part of this old cultural tradition. It’s heartening to see a rise in popularity especially with the emergence of progressive sides like Boss Morris. I also love the social aspect of Morris dancing and the intergenerational connections that are formed. Our youngest dancer is 9 and the oldest is 89. It’s also just a lot of fun! You get to dance with sticks and hankies and the music is great. I would encourage anyone to give it a try and help this tradition to continue for many more generations to come.