Ladies’ Morris dancing group, Cogs and Wheels, celebrated its 25th anniversary at the St Clements’ Day celebrations at Finch Foundry on Saturday (November 20).

The ladies planted a silver birch tree, donated by Stone Lane Gardens, on Sticklepath’s playing fields in honour of the group’s silver anniversary.

At the ceremony, Cogs and Wheels foreman Fiona Elsworth said: ’After seeing Heather and Gorse [a Newton Abbot based ladies- only morris dancing group] dance at [St Clement’s Day], Brenda and Yvonne [two of the group’s founding members] said ’We can do that!’ Who knew back in 1996 that [we] would still be here in kit?’

After an hour’s dancing at Finch Foundry to celebrate St Clement’s Day the patron saint of blacksmiths, at Finch Foundry the ladies processed across the road to the village’s playing field where they planted the silver birch tree.

The group was founded in 1996 and initially had only eight dancers and one musician; Libby Watson, Brenda Tombs, Sallie and Yvonne Reason, Shirley Denford, Shelagh Palmer, Fiona Elsworth and the group’s musician Mike Palmer.

’And we mustn’t forget our Oily Rags [husbands] who were our constant support, audience and chauffeurs,’ added Ms Elsworth.

The group started practising in the gallery of Finch Foundry where, Ms Elsworth said, they received a lot of complaints from National Trust volunteers about the amount of dust that fell into the forge’s shop during rehearsals.

The costumes were chosen to reflect the colours of Dartmoor and their first dances included Jenny Jones, Haste to the Wedding, Shepherd’s Hey, Bumpus of Stretton and Bonny Green Garters. Since they were founded the group has garnered more members and danced as far afield as Swanage, Widecombe, Plymouth, Exeter, Weymouth, Sidmouth, Lustleigh and even France.

’We’re having great fun today and we hope for another 25 years,’ said dancer Alison Cruse, echoing other members’ thoughts about the day and their wishes for the future.

The Cogs and Wheels’ celebration was just one part of the St Clement’s Day’s events to promote traditional blacksmithing.

Sticklepath’s Finch Foundry opened especially for the occasion and hosted blacksmithing competitions and special tours of the foundry, the last working water-powered forge in England.

The event started with three attempts of the firing of the anvil to begin the celebrations and was followed by the Cogs and Wheels’ Morris dancing and blacksmithing competitions.

Blacksmiths came from across the country to show off their skills and participate in the competition which consisted of a snail-making race won by Harvey Munroe. Greg Abel from Moreton Forge in Moretonhampstead won the best snail award and the poker-making competition.

Forge-made products were available for sale, from jewellery to ornaments, and the National Trust offered free entry to the site where a volunteer gave a demonstration of the forge in action.