Bowing to the inevitable

Yes, things has moved on and so must we. We have another exciting new website, plus on Facebook and Twitter as @NorthgateRapper.

The sad corollary of this is that we'll be letting this little blog wither on the vine unless we get very bored. Thanks to all who took the time to mail us from here!

No such thing as free beer?

A lovely little crawl last night, comprising as it did The Assembly Inn (twice), The Bell, The Curfew, The Barley Mow and inevitably The Star. Three of the pubs gave us beer for our troubles, which of course made things even nicer for us!

Beer Festival Crawl this Friday

Yes indeed, we're appearing at the splendid Assembly Inn's beer festival on Friday night, albeit on Comedy Night. Are they trying to tell us something? No idea. Whatever, come along and buy us a pint, because we're worth it.

Engaged

Excellent time last night dancing at Vince and Hat's engagement party in The Bell. Thanks to Frank Lee for showing us that Will's melodeon actually has tunes in it, and of course all the very best to the happy couple!

DERT 2012 - The Rapperlympics!

It's 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee, the year of the London Olympics... but these events pale into insignificance when compared to the majesty of the rapper world's premier competition: DERT 2012 - The Rapperlympics!

Despite their best efforts, this year's hosts (the inimitable Thrales Rapper) have been unable to provoke the London Olympic Committee into a highly publicised lawsuit over the name. However, the weekend still promises to be the very highlight of the year for those interested in watching lots of rapper sides dancing in pubs in London. It's a fairly specialist fetish, but there you are. And talking of fetishes, this year's pubs are scattered throughout Soho and Camden, which will open the eyes of the younger dancers and the wallets of the more middle-aged ones who simply can't resist a bargain in those delightful markets, darling.

Inevitably, Northgate will be there representing Bath and fully expect to have a very jolly time.

Crawl announcement: Bradford on Avon, 9th March

We haven't been to the delightful pubs of Bradford on Avon for a year or two, so it's time to visit them once more. Look out for us on the night of Friday the 9th of March. We'll be the ones dressed as sword dancers.

Well, it was a little cold...

Last night's crawl was rather truncated due to the incredibly cold temperature (for Bath) of -5 Centigrade. We visited just five pubs, and didn't even dance in one of them! Nevertheless, it was all jolly good fun. We started in the Assembly Inn, crashing a birthday party with a most excellent dance. Next was The Porter, then The Salamander, complete with a lovely Polish lady who turned down our request that in return for our traditional English dancing she show us some traditional Pole dancing. It was worth a try, even if the joke didn't really translate.

The Farmhouse was next, where we interrupted a poetry evening (this is true), then decided it was all getting rather too cold for our delicate knees, so we retired to The Star for a quick one while we decided on a Plan.

However, once settled, there was no way we could muster the courage to brave the freezing cold outside, so we decided that the roaring fire of The Star was preferable to the two mile, sub-zero walk to Larkhall to crash a ceilidh. This was, of course, the original excuse for the crawl. Oh well.

Ceilidh-Crashing Crawl

So we've noticed that there's a ceilidh happening near some of our favourites pubs and have therefore decided to organise a crawl around the area and Crash the Ceilidh!

More details to follow...

The Royal Oak is BACK!

Yes, following a short hiatus, the Royal Oak has reopened and we are once again back in our comfy practice headquarters, replete with plenty of good beer and roaring fires. Not even the music session playing many, many morris tunes could interfere with our dancing or dampen out pleasure! It's good to be back.

AGM - officers confirmed

 Following last night's AGM, the following officers have been appointed:

• Bagman and Bursar     Dave
• PR and Recruitment    Edwin
• Captain and arbiter     Martin

Now begins the work to decide which bookings to accept for the year!

AGM tonight

A reminder to all that the AGM starts at 7:30 sharp in The Star.

Anniversary Crawl Finally Happens!

After a couple of months of delay, last Friday saw our Twentieth Anniversary Crawl finally take place, and what a corker it was!

We only took in eight pubs, mostly because one of us decided that it was more important that everyone tried the beer from his village's brewery rather than dance [which was a good idea - Martin], but nevertheless it was marvellous throughout.

First dance was in the Rose and Crown, where Mike managed to trap his leg between the bar and the foot-bar during the dance, leaving him unable to walk for a good half an hour. This meant he missed out on Edwin inadvertently wrapping himself in curtains in the Bladud's Head, which was of course comedy gold for quips along the lines of "Pull yourself together, man." How we laughed. Luckily, so did the audience.

The Larkhall Inn was next, then the Piccadilly. After that the packed King William, where we had the tiniest of spaces with Tommy holding the chandelier out of the way of the dance. This is where we came across the Devilfish beer which delayed us so very much.

The Curfew followed that, then we interrupted a sixty-fifth birthday at the Barley Mow before heading off the The Star for a final, triumphant dance.

So there we are. We've now officially blooded our new swords. With real blood. What a night.

Northgate AGM 11th January

Our AGM will be held in The Star on Wednesday the 11th of January, starting at 7:30pm sharp. Be there or... well, miss out on an interesting and in-depth discussion with many people making some very valid points.

Twentieth Anniversary Crawl THIS WEEK

OK, Christmas is out of the way, our presents have been opened (see previous post) and all our injuries are now healed, so it's time to get back into the pubs and finally hold our Twentieth Anniversary Crawl.

Starting at 8pm in the Rose and Crown in Larkhall, we'll be weaving our way back into town along the London Road. Pubs included so far are:

• The Rose and Crown
• The Bladud's Head
• The Larkhall Inn
• The Rising Sun
• The Picadilly
• The Prince William
• The Curfew
• The Crown
• The Barley Mow
• The Star

Frankly, this list is a little short so we'll no doubt add a few en route. See you there!

A late Christmas present

Given that we were very good last year, Father Christmas has rewarded us with a shiny new set of swords. And what a joy they are: fixed handles either end like our short set, but they're a couple of inches longer which makes all the difference.

Kudos to Frank Lee for making yet another fine set!

Return to Grove Street

Following the sudden closure of the Royal Oak, we'll be returning to our old practice venue in Grove Street from this Wednesday, 7:30 onwards.

Sadly, although there'll be plenty of space to practice, the choice of beers will be severely limited. To none.