And so it came to pass that the Kennet Morris Men had been in existence for forty years and felt the need to celebrate the event......
Various celebrations were agreed upon: days of dance, reunions with former members etc. But Morris dancing was traditionally supposed to be an activity for the young men of the village, and while many of us can no longer claim to fit this description we are nevertheless still active and young at heart, and our thoughts went back to our student days when we were expected to drink 21 pints of beer on our 21st birthday. So why not dance at 40 pubs in one day on our 40th anniversary year? Such an event we hoped would raise the public's awareness of Morris dancing, help attract new members to the tradition, and give kennet something to talk about during its next 40 years.
Fortified by our traditional pre-tour round of G&Ts, we started the tour at 9.30 a.m. at the Three Guineas public house by Reading railway station. Miraculously we kept to our tight schedule, which left us little free time apart from lunch at the Fisherman's Cottage, tea at the Three Bs, and a number of pre-arranged 'jug stops' for refilling our tankards. An unforseen danger to the schedule arose early in the tour: generous landlords offering us liquid refreshment at venues where we had not allowed any extra time. However, we had 25 dancers and 4 musicians available throughout the day, so we could take our turns at performing. At some stops we put up two sides, and one of our members - Chris Tunnicliffe - danced all 40 dances (is this a record?). We approached the Town Hall (the area for our final three dances) with a Winster Processional, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Reading greeted us for our final dance at 6.45 p.m.
We were certainly given the publicity that we had hoped for. The Reading Post covered the event before-hand and afterwards, Thames Valley FM covered us in three slots on the morning of the event, and Meridian TV covered us on their regional news on the Friday before and each news broadcast on the Saturday and Sunday. Jim Lloyd also gave us advance publicity on "Folk on Two".
As for the future - we are now in training for the 45 Pubs Tour in five years time!
The footsore Kennet MM at the end of the tour
| No. | Venue | Time | Dance |
| 1 | Three Guineas | 9.30 am | Vandalls of Hammerwich (Lichfield) |
| 2 | Jolly Porter | 9.40 am | How do you do (Sherborne) |
| 3 | Scruffy Murphy's | 9.50 am | Room for the Cuckold (Bucknell) |
| 4 | Allied Arms | 10.05 am | Bumpus o' Stretton (Illmington) |
| 5 | Sweeney Todd | 10.15 am | Bean Setting (Brackley) |
| 6 | Sun Inn | 10.25 am | Boys of the Bunch (Ducklington) |
| 7 | Brewery Tap | 10.35 am | Nuts in May (Lichfield) |
| 8 | Hook & Tackle | 10.50 am | Highland Mary (Oddington) |
| 9 | Red Lion | 11.00 am | Balance the Straw (Brackley) |
| 10 | Red Cow | 11.10 am | Blue Eyed Stranger (Bucknell) |
| 11 | Crown | 11.20 am | Constant Billy (Oddington) |
| 12 | Hop Leaf | 11.35 am | Nutting Girl (Ducklington) |
| 13 | Greyhound | 11.45 am | Sheriff's Ride (Lichfield) |
| 14 | Fez & Firkin | 11.55 am | Jack o' Newbury (Bucknell) |
| 15 | MacDevitts | 12.05 pm | Orange in Bloom (Sherborne) |
| 16 | County Arms | 12.20 pm | Getting Upstairs (Hinton) |
| 17 | Lyndhurst Ale House | 12.30 pm | Cuckoo's Nest (Illmington) |
| 18 | Retreat | 12.40 pm | Jockey to the Fair (Brackley) |
| 19 | Eldon Arms | 12.50 pm | Milley's Bequest (Lichfield) |
| 20 | Kings Tavern | 1.00 pm | Lads a Bunchum (Sherborne) |
| 21 | Dove | 1.10 pm | Green Garters (Ducklington) |
| 22 | Jolly Angler | 1.20 pm | 29th of May (Bucknell) |
| 23 | Fisherman's Cottage | 1.30 pm | Castlering (Lichfield) |
| 24 | Ben's Wine Bar | 3.10 pm | Black Joke (hands) (Illmington) |
| 25 | Wynford Arms | 3.25 pm | Queen's Delight (Bucknell) |
| 26 | Back o' Beyond | 3.35 pm | Constant Billy (Sherborne) |
| 27 | Warwick Arms | 3.45 pm | Old Tyler (Ducklington) |
| 28 | Forbury Vaults | 4.00 pm | Young Collins (Oddington) |
| 29 | Rat & Parrot | 4.10 pm | Haste to the Wedding (Brackley) |
| 30 | Hobgoblin | 4.20 pm | Bonnets so Blue (Brackley) |
| 31 | George Hotel | 4.30 pm | Jubilee Dance (Illmington) |
| 32 | Ship Hotel | 4.40 pm | The Old Frog (Oddington) |
| 33 | Three Bs | 4.50 pm | The Woodman (Bucknell) |
| 34 | Rising Sun | 5.35 pm | Princess Royal (Ducklington) |
| 35 | Corn Exchange | 5.45 pm | Black Joke (sticks) (Illmington) |
| 36 | Flyer & Firkin | 5.55 pm | Bare Fotted Quaker (Lichfield) |
| 37 | Blagrave Arms | 6.10 pm | Upton on Severn Stick Dance |
| 38 | Newt & Cucumber | 6.20 pm | Glorishers (Bledington) |
| 39 | Monks Retreat | 6.30 pm | Cuckoo's Nest (Sherborne) |
| 40 | Old Society | 6.45 pm | Ring o' Bells (Lichfield) |
Last updated 21st February 1998
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