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.

Tribute to Muppett

See Colin Speakman’s Thoughts For Muppett at the Wake session in Guiseley on 14 September, 2024.

Buck Sessions — a Plea!

Numbers have been in decline in sessions this year, especially musician numbers. And with the sad passing of Bob Ellis and Muppett who between them led the whole project to re-establish the tradition of Dales music and song sessions at the Buck there is a big question to ask over the viability of their continuing. So can I/we pose the question: Is this session on October 20th to be:

An affirmation that the sessions must continue
  Or
A glorious swan song to celebrate the enjoyment of playing and singing Dales tunes and songs at the Buck from June 2022 to October 2024?

Please come to play, sing, recite or narrate at the session on Oct 20th. Even if you have attended rarely or have decided to withdraw from them please come for what may be the last time or the start of a vibrant new season of monthly Buck sessions.

Or if you can’t be there and would like to offer a comment or a view of your own please feel free to email Richard Hargreaves.

RIP "Muppett"

It is with great sadness we have to report the sudden death after a fatal heart attack, of our wonderful, inspiring, funny, very dear friend and colleague Michael Pascal who we all knew simply as “Muppett”.

It is almost inconceivable that larger than life character Muppett is no longer with us. With Bob Ellis he was the prime mover in the revival of monthly pub sessions at the Buck where his powerful rendering of a wide range of songs in broad Bradford/Yorkshire dialect can now be only a memory. They came from a lifetime of commitment to community support and fun in multi-ethnic Bradford.

Bob Ellis Eulogy

Mark Sheridan give this Eulogy at the funeral of Bob Ellis, who died in January 2024. His book (see above) is central to the Dales music and dance revival.
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...

Oct 20 : Session at the Buck, Buckden

Nov 14 : Remembering Muppett

Mar 01 : Dance at Grassington Town Hall

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)