Corley Meet Report - July 2026
On a beautiful summer afternoon, we headed for Corley Village Hall in North Warwickshire for the weekend, for which the theme was ‘Wimbledon’. Greeted by our Stewards June and Jeff, we were soon parked up in the large, mostly level car park. There was a grassy area, shaded from the hot sun, where the early arrivals were sitting enjoying catching up. We joined them, having timed our arrival perfectly, as a cup of tea was just being served.
Later, we took our evening meals into the hall and ate together, before heading back outside for a very laid-back sing around. Eventually when the evening cooled down a little, we moved into the hall. June was MC and did a great job, despite some gentle teasing on the ‘running order’ from a member of the group! It was too hot for dancing, which was perhaps just as well as we had no band and no experienced callers, although Bob was willing to put the calling skills he had acquired during the Spring Festival at Easter to the test!
On Saturday morning, Bill and I arrived for tea and coffee appropriately dressed in our tennis whites! Then, several people took part in the craft activity led by June, the bizarrely named ‘tea bag folding’. This is actually based on the historic re-use of the decorative bags that tea used to come packed in, to create very pretty cards. Others occupied themselves outside, as it was another very hot, sunny day, but Bob was busy honing his calling skills with the intention of calling at least one dance during the evening entertainment.
After lunch we gathered once more on the grass, this time however it was for the main event i.e. The Midland Folk Group Men’s and Ladies Swing Ball Championships. Fiercely contested, it was agreed by all that this should become a yearly event. Bill won the men’s and Em won the ladies’ competition. We were then invited into the hall for ‘Après Tennis’ a delicious treat of scones, jam and cream with strawberries and Pimm’s.
We enjoyed our shared supper in the hall, then it was ‘everyone back outside’ again for the first half of the evening entertainment, for which Bob was MC. As well as the usual singing, tunes and poetry, he was pleased to invite our youngest participant, Jacob age 6, to read us some poems. Jacob was visiting us for the first time from North Central group, with his mum, grandma and granddad, Bethany, Susan and Raymond. Back in the hall for the second half of the evening’s entertainment, under Bob’s able guidance we managed to complete two dances and June led us in a third. There was also a raffle, with some highly desirable prizes, but both Daphne and Bob were disappointed when Tom won the coveted festival stool! Never mind…. maybe next time! Richard, Val, Susan and Tom were worthy prize winners of the Wimbledon and July themed quiz.
This was our first visit to Corley, but it will surely not be our last, as everyone agreed that it was a really great hall and ideal for our meets. Hopefully future meets here will be better attended as we were missing some of our regular members due to illness and holidays amongst other things. However, we were pleased to welcome our visitors from North Central, which boosted our numbers to 13 units. Thank you, June and Jeff, for a superb weekend.
Report By: Beth Hughes