The Buttercross Belles

We are a North West Morris dancing side, based in Otley, West Yorkshire.

Established in 1992, The Buttercross Belles dance in the North West Morris tradition at events all over the UK and Europe ever since. We dance in ‘suffragette colours’ – a white dress, with a distinctive green smock decorated with embroidery and purple ribbons, and a straw hat with flowers and ribbons to match. Many North West Morris sides dance in clogs, however we choose to wear tap shoes, to represent the tradition of the female dancers wearing their ‘Sunday Best’ leather shoes. 

North West Morris dances originated in the textile mill towns of Lancashire and Cheshire during the Industrial Revolution. This is reflected in the figures of the dances, and the use of the milling ‘bobbins’, evoking the patterns of weaving and the sounds of the looms, as well as in the names of dances. We keep the tradition of Maypole Dancing alive in our home town organising a community event every May Day at Otley’s historic maypole. 

We have a good age range of dancers and musicians from 18 years upwards. We practice on Thursday evenings at Ashfield Primary School in Otley from 7.30 pm until 9.30 pm. We currently have around 20 dancers, some of whom also play instruments in the band.

Events

Annual events include Mother's Day at a local venue such as Harewood house, Fountain's Abbey or Bolton Abbey. 

May Day involves dancing up the sun on 1st May. Along with Wayzgoose and Briggate Morris, we meet on the top of Otley Chevin around 4am and dance until sunrise to welcome the first dawn of the summer. Later in the day on 1st May, the Belles organise a community maypole dancing event at the Otley Maypole in Otley, for a traditional Mayday celebration. Click for further info: May day traditions

Boxing Day is the team's firm favourite with friends and family. This was held at The Woolpack until 2009, when it sadly closed. Since then The White Swan have been happy for us to dance outside, along with Otley's Border Morris side, Wayzgoose. 

In addition to these annual fixtures, the team dances throughout the year at a variety of events, both locally and nationally. Previous years have seen the Belles venture across the Channel to France, Belgium, Switzerland,  Prague, Vilnius and Germany.   

Please visit our Calendar to see what we're up to next!

Our History

Click here to see a brief History of the Belles

Constitution

Click here to see The Buttercross Belles Constitution

Projects

The Belles have been involved in the Otley Maypole Restoration Project, which has seen successful reinstatement of Otley's Maypole in Manchester Square.

The entire square has also been transformed from a run down car park into an attractive paved and planted area.

Open Morris

The Buttercross Belles are a member of Open Morris

Contacts

Please see our Contact page to contact a member of The Buttercross Belles.