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Sword dancer celebrates his 50th Boxing Day event

BBC Ray Ellison stands outside the Old Harrow Inn, a traditional-looking stone-built pub, in Sheffield. He is holding a fiddle and bow and wearing a traditional sword-dancing jacket, which is black with an elaborate paisley design in shades of red and white.BBC
Ray Ellison, 76, hopes new members will join the troupe

A sword dancer who has performed at his club's Boxing Day event for 50 consecutive years was commemorated with a special award earlier.

Ray Ellison is the team leader of the Grenoside Sword Dancers in Sheffield and has been a performer and its chief musician since 1974 – even during Covid.

At the annual event, Mr Ellison, 76, was given a engraved tankard by his fellow sword dancers at the Old Harrow Inn in Grenoside.

He told the BBC he felt "honoured" and that he hoped it was not his last dance.

A group of sword dancers wearing black caps and traditional jackets - black, with an elaborate paisley design in shades of red and white - dancing with their swords outside a stone-built pub.
The Grenocide Sword Dancers have been meeting for more than 200 years

Fellow dancer Ashley Powell said Mr Ellison's 100% record of Boxing Day attendance was "quite an achievement".

When not dancing, Mr Ellison plays the fiddle at events and there has "rarely been a occasion when he has not performed".

The tankard was adorned with ribbons representing the paisley jackets the sword dancers have worn over the years.

Eight sword dancers parade through a street. They are wearing their paisley jackets, black caps and white trousers, which have a red stripe. A woman with a fiddle follows them. Spectators watch from the pavement.
Organisers say anyone is welcome to come and join them

Mr Powell said the group had been going for more than 200 years and he wanted it to continue for "as long as possible".

People of any age were welcome to "come and have a go".

"Once you're fit enough to do the dance, that's all that matters," he added.

Every year, one participant dresses in a black hood to help control the traffic. The macabre costume is chosen because "no one messes with the Grim Reaper".

A man dressed as the Grim Reaper holding a scythe and a sign in the shape of a gravestone, which reads "diversion".
The Grim Reaper helps to control the traffic

The Grenoside Sword Dancers are part of the wider Morris dancing scene. They lock swords as they dance in groups of six or eight.

The group is among a handful that perform the traditional folk dance in the UK.

The sword dancers were joined at the event by local Morris teams Five Rivers and Lizzie Dripping, along with the Maltby Sword Dancers.

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