This work, which I loosely call a book, is an attempt to chronicle the first forty years of the Nottingham Dolphin Morris Men. Rather than being the complete and unequivocal story, it can be more accurately described as a work in progress.

I have tried since the Christmas of 2003 to recover the ‘lost’ history of the side and by ‘lost’ I mean ‘never kept’. Being more concerned with dancing, drinking and having a good time, the acquisition and preservation of memorabilia was never considered as a priority. Couple this with an unwritten and mainly sub-conscious belief that the side was never going to last, and that the future was a few good dancing seasons at best, it is hardly surprising that little formal archiving was attempted.

Fortunately, there are always those who quietly put together their own selection of treasured keepsakes which were stored in a drawer or cupboard and never looked at from one decade to the next, but are always there should they wish to. It is these small and scattered collections of random material that I have sought out and thankfully been given access to, and been allowed to copy, and which have often been donated, that have allowed me to compile this story so far.

This book is a chronological look at the Dolphin Morris Men, year by year and season by season. It is illustrated where appropriate and illuminated with the reminiscences of the men who were there. Each chapter covers a whole year and each of the four books a complete decade.

There are still many events, and in some cases whole seasons, that elude my searches and enquiries. I am confidant that many of the missing pieces of the jigsaw are still out there and will yet turn up.

More information is required, many old Dolphin men have still to be contacted and several have promised information but it has not yet been passed on. This ‘work in progress’ will only truly be finished when everyone who was there gives up their own pieces of the jigsaw.

It is not perfect and it is definitely not an academic work of great importance but it is an attempt to chronicle those facts and memories that will help you to recall the days when you were a Dolphin Morris Man.

ANDY PADMORE

THE FIRST 30  YEARS …