 Sussex is the heart of the English countryside, stretching from the evocative
coastline of the Seven Sisters Cliffs to the
Ashdown Forest, ancient hunting ground of kings.<Top right>Morris
dancing is a centuries-old form of ritual dance from Britain. It's origins lie in the
fertility rituals of the ancient Celtic Britons who were later pushed into Wales and
Scotland. Morris dancing has always been quite a vigorous tradition in the farming
villages, where fertility has always been a prime concern. Today its stronghold is the
Cotswold region in the English Midlands. Considered ancient in Shakespeare's day, Morris
dancing and the related sword dance traditions of the North are still done today
throughout England--and in England's old colonies: Canada, Australia, and the United
States
 <Below left>Typical Sussex Village Pub. Notice the flint
wall. A typical Sussex building material at the time this pub was built
<Below right>A tiny Church in the middle of a field in the heart
of Sussex. The village has a farm and three houses. The walls are of flint and the roof of
stone quarried in Horsham in Sussex. |