An all-women’s Morris dancing group will be back with a bang for a full day of dancing and music in Barnoldswick.

After two years in the Covid wilderness, Malkin Morris and some guest teams will be taking over Barlick for a spectacular day of dance in and around the town square on Saturday, July 2.

The team’s band, the Roughlee Ruffians, and guests will also be in fine fettle at the Cross Keys in Church Street.

The day of dance, which starts at 10.30 am, will see performances by teams from Otley, Knaresborough, Newburgh, Craven and Shipley as well as Malkin, a women’s team which specialises in traditional dances from East Lancashire.

Malkin squire Gin Crewe says: “We are all so excited about this.

"Barnoldswick is the perfect town for a day of dance, with plenty of places for dancing and the most friendly and helpful people imaginable.

“We’ve had so much support and positive feedback from everybody we have spoken to about it.

"The town council has bent over backwards to help us, and so have the people at Holy Trinity Church, while at the Cross Keys we’ve been welcomed with open arms.”

The Roughlee-based Malkin dancers, who recently celebrated their sixth anniversary, are also hoping to recruit more members at event.

Gin added: “We feel it very important to keep the dance alive for future generations.

“It is a living tradition, which is also fantastic fun, superb exercise and a great boost for your social life. There are no real age limits.

“Our youngest dancers are 15 and 23, although we also have a six-year-old who trips a measure with us on occasion, and as for the rest of us, I think it’s enough to say that some of us have been dancing for well over 40 years and have no intention of giving up yet.”