Historical Bit
The side was formed in September 1983 by Terry Newton a Caddington notable, who felt the village needed a Morris side. He then conned a group of people into going to the village hall to "give it a go". The total novices were taught by a teacher from the local middle school, who had some past connection with Redbourne Stoke. We had a tape of four tunes supplied by Barry Goodman.
Three weeks later the teacher put her back out and was never seen again. (Were we really that bad?) Fortunately we had been joined by a couple of her former pupils who "remembered" some of the dances so we struggled on. Terry then "was injured" never to recover. However those that were left were hooked.
We needed to think of a name and an identity. Caddington had once been a centre of a thriving brick industry with an engineering brick a "Caddington Blue" being well known. That was the name sorted. Our original kit was based on a concept of a workman's outfit. Navy blue cords, white collarless shirts, braces and a flat cord cap.
We grew slowly in number and by November 1984 we were ready to risk being seen in public, at the local bonfire night. (It would of course be dark) We overlooked the fact that all the dancers were known to a large proportion of the audience. Very scary but great fun.
1984 also saw the first women joining the side. We were still a very small side and welcomed the boost. The side grew steadily, became more organised with Squire Bagman and Forman. Early AGM minutes show a regular debate about kit resulting in the loss of the caps and braces and the introduction of waistcoats. Kit is still being debated so some things never change.
By the early 90s we had grown to over 20 in number and were to be seen out throughout the spring and summer. We did exchanges Caddington’s "Twin" , Oststeinbek in Germany. Somehow our visits over there always coincided with a festival and large beer tents! Hospitality was superb both in East and West.
The mid 90s saw the onset of work. Increasing workloads, companies moved and working patterns changed. Suddenly the side was losing members faster than it could recruit. Eventually we were down to a maximum of 7. Practices were often only 4. We decided to struggle on. The only solution to dances was to create our own. The "Caddington Tradition" of 3 or 4 man dances was born. We are very slowly recovering. However the Caddington small side dances will continue. They are different visually and give greater variety to our potential.