The new millennium started well for East Surrey. Plans for the 2001 Ring Meeting that we were to host (to celebrate ESMM's 75th anniversary) were well under way, thanks primarily to the efforts of Alan Vaughan, and we also managed to maintain our usual full programme during the year. In addition to all our normal local tours, we also had a grand evening with Chantonbury Ring MM (for extract of pub session music click here), we performed at Crawley Folk Festival had a great day's tour on Ron's narrow boat and spent two excellent weekends with Greensleeves MM and Bedford MM. A new departure for ESMM saw us dancing at the City of London Lord Mayor's Show in November; the weather was atrocious (cold and wet) but, hardy souls that we are, we resolved to "do it again" in 2001. (In the event - we didn't!!) As a bonus in 2000, we gained four new members.

We performed another full dancing programme in 2001 joining up during the summer for tours with Hammersmith MM, Winchester MM and Chanctonbury Ring. A potentially disastrous Youngs Dray Tour - torrential rain for much of the time - was saved by Ray Fuller's forward thinking in bringing with him a huge tarpaulin which we rigged up as a temporary roof over the Dray. The poor horse and driver got soaked to the bone!
OUR 2001 RING MEETING. The weekend was intermittently wet and, unfortunately, the massed display in Reigate Priory Park had to be somewhat shortened because of a downpour.

The highlight of the weekend (if that is the correct description), however, was the setting off of the fire alarm system in the small hours of Sunday morning. Although it transpired to be a false alarm, the Surrey Fire Brigade arrived and insisted that everybody evacuate the building (wearing their pajamas in the cold and rain) whilst they carried out a full investigation. Things might have been completed and everyone got back to bed in short order, had the Fire Brigade not discovered that a Silkeborg man had unilaterally decided to try to silence the alarm system! Understandably perhaps, they were not amused - nor were the local Constabulary who were called out to ask questions about the alleged "criminal damage"!

The majority of the men had very little sleep that night which resulted in the Sunday's activities being somewhat muted - or was it the hangovers? ESMM danced during the Church service and luckily the rain held off for our dancing outside the Church.

Many thanks are due to Epsom College who provided the accommodation and food for the weekend. The venue was absolutely ideal and the setting magnificent. We understand that the damage to the fire alarm system has now been rectified and we hope that we may be allowed to use the facilities again at some point in the future.