Traditional Music and Dance in the Yorkshire Dales

The Dales Music and Dance Revival

The launch of the Yorkshire Dales Folk Dance and Tunes Project at the Dales Country Museum in Hawes and the publication in 2020 of Bob Ellis’ book “There was None of this Lazy Dancing!”, a collection of folk tunes and dances from the Yorkshire Dales, sparked a lot of interest in traditions of music making in the Dales which were in danger of slipping away.

Bob Ellis Eulogy

We were devastated to hear of the death in January 2024 of Bob Ellis, whose book (see above) is central to the Dales music and dance revival. Bob will be much missed for his tune sessions and workshops at folk festivals, and the annual "Melodeons in Wensleydale" weekends.
10 January 2024

Mark Sheridan give this Eulogy at Bob's funeral.
22 February 2024

Events

A series of events is being planned to keep this revival expanding. There have been several dances and sessions in the region already, and this web site will keep you up to date on what's happened and what's going to happen next.

Music at Buckden

There is already one regular session based on traditional Dales music. It's at the Buck Inn, Buckden, every second Sunday afternoon of the month, from October to March with maybe a refresher summer session in June. They are afternoon sessions to link up with the Dalesbus service from Leeds to Buckden so that non-driving musicians, singers and poets can join in. Times are
October: 2pm to 5pm
November – March: 1pm to 4pm.

Coming soon...

Apr 28 : MusicalTribute to Bob Ellis

Jun 09 : Session at the Buck, Buckden

See Events page for full details

Monthly Newsletter

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Dance at Kettlewell
Dance at Kettlewell
Session at the Buck
Session at the Buck Inn, Buckden (2nd Sunday of each month)