Plum Jerkum were formed in 1986 by Max and Rose Smith as a mixed Border Morris side and were based in the village of Eathorpe. At this time there were no other mixed dance sides in the area so the formation of PJ gave many couples the opportunity to dance together in the same side. The name Plum Jerkum was taken from a plum-based cider brewed from the Warwickshire Drooper plum which has the reputation of 'leaving the head crystal clear whilst paralyzing the legs'!! The casual observer must decide for themselves whether this in any way influences our style of dancing! The recipe for Plum Jerkum can be found on the PJ web site - www.plumjerkum.co.uk. PJ are known for their 'big band' of which everyone is a member. If we are not dancing, we are playing an instrument, whether this be a melodeon, tambourine, cow bell (oh no! not the cow bell!!), whistle or the foot. You'll see this in-between our dances !We moved to our current base in Warwick in 2005
They have prepared two dances for us at Folk Weekend.
Fanny Frail - one of our more popular dances, Adapted from traditional dance 'Evesham Stick Dance', Fanny Frail - one of our more popular dances, Adapted from traditional dance 'Evesham Stick Dance', good fun to dance with fast sticking at the end. Warwickshire Droopers - created some 30 years back by Max and Rose, named in honour of our local plum, but also as a dance where we change axis 90deg during the set. Alot of energy in this dance ! Danced to tune of 'dark girl dressed in blue' good fun to dance with fast sticking at the end.
Jackie is a singer and fiddle player hailing from Staffordshire and now living in Oxford. Her unique treatment of English ballads and songs, and pure, haunting singing style has attracted increasing attention. Since appearing as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2003, she has performed extensively at festivals and folk clubs across the country, in a solo capacity and with a number of bands. Her second album 'The Violet Hour' was one of the Top 10 on the Mojo folk album of the year chart in 2008, followed by 'Hyperboreans' reaching number five in the chart the following year. Also in 2009 Jackie won two BBC Folk Awards - The Horizon Award for best new comer, and the Best Traditional Track Award. She is currently singing with her own band, and touring as a member of The Imagined Village alongside Eliza Carthy. When not busy with all this Jackie dances with 
John Spiers, known better in folk circles as Squeezy, has made a name for himself as one of the leading squeezebox players of his generation. Well known for his long-standing duo partnership with Jon Boden in the formidable Spiers & Boden as well as his contribution to the massively popular Bellowhead, John has also played with Eliza Carthy’s Ratcatchers and a number of local folk-dance bands.
In normal times we are always delighted to welcome Morris dancers to Folk Weekend, who perform in the streets and at fantastic locations across the City centre including the Botanic Gardens and the Ashmolean Museum. Things are a litte different at the moment, but Morris will return. For more information, go to our