THE jingle of bells became a familiar sound in Malvern on the weekend.

Thirteen Morris Dancing sides turned out to take part in the Day of Dance, organised by Malvern's own troupe, Old Meg.

The event saw dancing sides come together to put on a number of street performances from 11am until 4pm on Saturday.

Anne Lewis, a member of Old Meg Morris dancing group and organiser of the event, said it was "a fantastic day".

"It was lovely. The weather was very kind to us — it was nice and warm but not as boiling hot as in previous days, and it poured down the night before so we were lucky to miss that," she said.

"We had sides travel from all around the West Midlands and Wales to join in with our event, such as the Clocs Cant from Cardiff, the Full Moon Morris from South Wales and the Glorishears of Brummagem, from Birmingham.

"We performed all around Malvern, doing dances outside St Anne's Well, by the Abbey and outside the library, who are always very supportive and this year put a little display of pictures inside the library for us.

We were well received at all dance spots and the market traders even moved their stalls to allow us to dance in front of the archway rather than behind it. No one seemed to mind the bells jangling through the library and Malvern Hills District Council helped us a lot with publicity."

Mrs Lewis said Old Meg Morris are always interested in hearing about people who want to get involved in Morris Dancing.

"We had a lot of positive feedback from members of the public. Lots of people turned out to watch us, and we even had some people who travelled specifically to come see us and enjoy the day.

"Although all the groups are Morris dancers, everyone does it differently. Many have their own twist on the traditional dancing, so it's all very entertaining to watch.

"We are always open to hearing from people who want to get involved, either solely with the dancing, the music, or both. It's great fun, and events like this are a fantastic social event for Morris dancers to get together."

To find out more, visit www.oldmegmorris.org.uk or call 01684 574628.