Adderbury 2026
The day had finally arrived ! - Saturday 25th April 2026 and the first event of the year circled on my calendar for getting out with the camera to a Cotswold Morris event that has a longstanding history & tradition attached to it, the Adderbury Morris Day of Dance.
This is the first of four Oxfordshire calendar custom events that I have scheduled for 2026 based on Cotswold Morris, the others being Bampton Whitsuntide Monday & Kirtlington Lamb Ale, both taking place in the month of May, followed by Abingdon Mayor of Ock Street, taking place in June.
On a very bright & sunny Saturday morning I left Leicestershire in good time to allow for a comfortable 80 minute journey to this wonderfully picturesque village, in fact the precaution of factor 50 sun lotion and a decent hat was also in order for this day as the UK was experiencing a bizarre, maybe unseasonable ? (if seasons still exist) heatwave - one thing was for sure and that was the harsh contrasty light may be troublesome for some of my intent but at the same time may provide opportunity for the occasional more artistic renaissance era style of chiaroscuro imagery, see the below image, it’s an almost but not quite attempt of that style.
Following a rather splendid frothy mocha & bakewell slice curtesy of the highly recommended Burrow Coffee House the clock ticked around 10:30am and I set about locating the teams.
Adderbury village has two active teams, Adderbury Morris Men & Adderbury Village Morris Men, and as this was my first ever visit to this calendar custom I was keen to kick my photographic season off with hopefully capturing some half respectable images from the day, thus I split my time between AMM for the morning and into lunchtime, then post lunch I followed AVMM.
As very much the case with many Morris Day of Dance events they are a village celebration that celebrates all things (in this instance) Adderbury and it’s wonderful to experience the vibe of a community village, it’s a welcoming fun packed carnival atmosphere with the crowds enjoying the sunshine, fine ales (other drinks are available) and excellent barbecued food (other options also available) - oh, and of course the dancing !
I used my 35mm lens for all images on this day, but in hindsight I wish I’d also taken my 28mm lens as I was able to get closer than expected (at times) to the dancers and when that opportunity affords itself then 28mm allows me to really get into the scene and the resulting images usually show that, nevertheless I’m pleased enough with what I came back with for a first outing and my curated efforts from the day can be viewed in the projects section on this website.
Adderbury Morris Men - Adderbury, Oxfordshire - April 2026