History of the Belles

A brief history.

"The Buttercross Belles" took their name from the Buttercross on the edge of the market square in Otley town centre. A tiled roof structure with open sides, the Buttercross was used by the local farmers' wives to sell their fresh produce on market day. Situated next to the Clock Tower, Farmers' Markets are still held in the Market Square each month. As well as the Farmers' Market, the Buttercross is used for organised fund raising events held on a Friday or Saturday morning.

1992: Formation

Jenny Liston and a group of enthusiastic friends founded the team in January 1992. Jenny had been a member of Betty Lupton's Ladle Lakers, a woman's morris side from Harrogate and wished to form a similar group in Otley. The Belles made their debut at Westgate School on May 1st 1992 with only two dances to their name, but went from strength to strength during the succeeding years. In the autumn we visited Montereaux, Otleys French twining town.

1993

In September, The Buttercross Belles danced at the 1st Otley Black Sheep Folk Festival.

1994

In May saw the first apperance of the Betty and Green man.

1995

The Buttercross Belles first warm winter dance out in their new cardigans.

1996

The Buttercross Belles danced at Pool Gala on the 7th July 1996. In the Autumn Irene Hurlow was elected Squire. The Green Man appeared as an accompaniment to the Belles.

1997

The Buttercross Belles held a weekend of dance to celebrate our 5th birthday.

2000

In Summer 2000 we re-visited Coutancec in Normandy.

We also took part in the Pageant - Farming through the ages - held in the Main Arena at the Great Yorkshire Show.

2001

Dancing at dawn on Otley Chevin, Mayday 2001

2002

The Belles celebrated their 10th birthday with a day of dance, followed by a summer trip to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland.

2004

In 2004, the Belles re-visited their friends Trachtengruppe Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland.

Linda Pennington was elected Squire.

2006

Following our visits to Switzerland, Trachtengruppe (the swiss team) visited Otley.

In the Autumn, the new Constitution was adopted.

2009

In 2009 the Buttercross Belles visits Trachtengruppe in Switzerland. "Speaking to some spectators, they commented that they couldn't believe their luck to have seen us whilst in Brugges, Belgium in 2007 and again in Switzerland and had to take some pictures as proof for their friends back home" Lucy

2010

On Mothers Day 2010, The Buttercross Belles danced out in their newly designed cardigans. At the AGM, Susan Wright was elected as Squire.

2011

The Buttercross Belles danced at an international folk-dance festival in Prague.

2012

The Buttercross Belles celebrated their 20th Anniversary by hosting the Morris Federation AGM and

Day of Dance. The celebrations continued with a ceilidh in the evening.

At the AGM, Clare King was elected as Squire.

2014

The Belles spent a weekend dancing in Lille.

2015

The Tour de France came through Otley and the Belles danced as part of the street fair.

2016

The Buttercross Belles visited Lithuania to dance in the capital, Vilnius.

Jaci Bowman took over as Squire in November and was formally elected at the 2017 AGM.

2017

The Buttercross Belles celebrated 25 years with a party at the Black Horse Hotel, organised by Mary

Klemm, Julie Parr, Janet Porteous and Margaret Guest, all of whom were still dancing with the Belles

25 years on. Many former Belles joined us for the evening.

2018

The Buttercross Belles spent a weekend dancing in Dusseldorf.

2020

Due to Covid restrictions we danced online using zoom.

2022

Our first dance outs post Covid. In November Rachel Hill was elected as Squire