The ladies morris dance team, Betty Lupton’s Ladle Laikers, was formed in 1977 – the year of the Queen’s silver jubilee. The kit of the dancers reflects the national colours; red tights, white smocks and blue dresses with black shoes and bell pads. We use striped sticks, garlands and white hankies. The team performs a range of traditional and written by the team dances originally in a North West Morris style. The lively style and standard of dancing is maintained by weekly practices. In this, our forty ninth year, we are performing at several festivals, days of dance and many local display events.
The team took its name from a local character from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, who was responsible for ladling out the medicinal spa waters to the visitors to the town during the 19th century. She was based at the pump room, now a museum, where you can still sample the waters and see a model of Betty Lupton.
