BISLEY MUMMERS
- 2026 PERFORMANCE ANNOUNCED
Achtung! Achtung! This is not a drill!
Lock up your grannies - the Mummers are coming.
This year's performance will be on Sunday December 20.
Timings and pubs tbc, but the basic details are below.
Lock up your grannies - the Mummers are coming.
This year's performance will be on Sunday December 20.
Timings and pubs tbc, but the basic details are below.
WHAT ON EARTH ARE THE
BISLEY MUMMERS?
Bisley Mummers have been in action for many years - when they started is unknown, but they were still going in the village under the capable directorship of Colin Hassall until about 2015, when that iteration of the troupe decided to call it a day.
There followed a dark time - a grey interregnum with no Mumming in the village, when people were forced to get on with their lives without the Mummers.
(They somehow managed.)
This was a particular shame since there were and are very few other villages in Gloucestershire with Mummers.
Happily, Dave Partridge* restarted the group in about 2017 or so, and, while there are websites which suggest otherwise, we think Bisley's may well be the last remaining group in Gloucestershire.
In a sense, this is bad news: we won't be inspiring many others to take it up.
But what is Mumming?
It's an ancient and once widespread English tradition in which groups of strolling players would visit various hostelries just before Christmas to drink ale and tell the tale of St George slaying the dragon, usually using the same script year after year.
Most performances featured an appearance by Father Christmas, the Town Crier (as a sort of narrator), good and bad knights who would fight it out to the death, and a doctor who brings the good knight back to life when he is slain.
There would also be much wassailing.
The origins of the tradition are obscure, but that is in any case irrelevant to the Bisley Mummers - we have long moved on from St George, and, while we do retain Father Christmas, the Town Crier, good and bad knights, and a doctor, our scripts are original, and tend to be aimed at our mortal enemies in the dastardly neighbouring village of O*kr*dge.
Essentially, we defame them, cruelly, and annually. (They don't mind. In fact, they don't really get it.)
We usually perform on the final Sunday before Christmas, first at The Butcher's Arms in Sheepscombe, then at The Woolpack in Slad, then behind enemy lines at The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, and finally at The Bear.
(If The Stirrup Cup is open, we perform there, too; we have yet to discuss it with the new landlord, Jason, but I assume this will happen this year, 2026.)
We collect for two local hospices along the way.
The day starts out reasonably coherent, but beer is pressed on us, despite our protests, and by the time of the final performance no-one can remember the words.
Many people find this improves the whole experience.
*Dave has been front and centre as Town Crier since the reintroduction of Mummers to the wild, but, sadly, age and the general vicissitudes of life have finally forced him to put away his bell.
We've replaced Dave with Kim McCroddan, who will be louder, clearer, and probably (slightly) soberer.
We might still need others, though: if you fancy joining in, send an email.
We don't need good actors, just stout-hearted Bisleyites who can remember and deliver terrible lines, have working eyebrows (to indicate double entendres), and are prepared to invade Oakridge and stare the bounders down.
A match-fit liver would also come in handy.
You'll need to be available for the pub tour performances on Sunday December 20, and for a one-hour midweek 'rehearsal' each week in the six or seven weeks running up to the big day.
There followed a dark time - a grey interregnum with no Mumming in the village, when people were forced to get on with their lives without the Mummers.
(They somehow managed.)
This was a particular shame since there were and are very few other villages in Gloucestershire with Mummers.
Happily, Dave Partridge* restarted the group in about 2017 or so, and, while there are websites which suggest otherwise, we think Bisley's may well be the last remaining group in Gloucestershire.
In a sense, this is bad news: we won't be inspiring many others to take it up.
But what is Mumming?
It's an ancient and once widespread English tradition in which groups of strolling players would visit various hostelries just before Christmas to drink ale and tell the tale of St George slaying the dragon, usually using the same script year after year.
Most performances featured an appearance by Father Christmas, the Town Crier (as a sort of narrator), good and bad knights who would fight it out to the death, and a doctor who brings the good knight back to life when he is slain.
There would also be much wassailing.
The origins of the tradition are obscure, but that is in any case irrelevant to the Bisley Mummers - we have long moved on from St George, and, while we do retain Father Christmas, the Town Crier, good and bad knights, and a doctor, our scripts are original, and tend to be aimed at our mortal enemies in the dastardly neighbouring village of O*kr*dge.
Essentially, we defame them, cruelly, and annually. (They don't mind. In fact, they don't really get it.)
We usually perform on the final Sunday before Christmas, first at The Butcher's Arms in Sheepscombe, then at The Woolpack in Slad, then behind enemy lines at The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, and finally at The Bear.
(If The Stirrup Cup is open, we perform there, too; we have yet to discuss it with the new landlord, Jason, but I assume this will happen this year, 2026.)
We collect for two local hospices along the way.
The day starts out reasonably coherent, but beer is pressed on us, despite our protests, and by the time of the final performance no-one can remember the words.
Many people find this improves the whole experience.
*Dave has been front and centre as Town Crier since the reintroduction of Mummers to the wild, but, sadly, age and the general vicissitudes of life have finally forced him to put away his bell.
We've replaced Dave with Kim McCroddan, who will be louder, clearer, and probably (slightly) soberer.
We might still need others, though: if you fancy joining in, send an email.
We don't need good actors, just stout-hearted Bisleyites who can remember and deliver terrible lines, have working eyebrows (to indicate double entendres), and are prepared to invade Oakridge and stare the bounders down.
A match-fit liver would also come in handy.
You'll need to be available for the pub tour performances on Sunday December 20, and for a one-hour midweek 'rehearsal' each week in the six or seven weeks running up to the big day.
MUMMERS 2025 -
COTSWOLDER: THERE
CAN BE ONLY ONE
The 2025 play COTSWOLDER: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE was loosely (extremely loosely) based on Highlander, and featured a wicked plot by Oakridge's evil but also dimwitted criminal mastermind Sir Rob Itall and his villainous henchladies, Lady Ivana Yourstuff and Lady Isla Pinchit, to steal Bisley's recently awarded crown as the No1 village in the Cotswolds, and by extension, England, and by further extension, the world.
You don't get stuff like this on the telly.
With The Stirrup Cup closed, the Mummers added The Butcher's Arms at Sheepscombe to the list of lucky venues - they greatly enjoyed it, actually, and have already invited us back for 2026.
This means that, if The Stirrup is reopened, we will put on five performances next year.
Good news for hepatologists everywhere.
From Sheepscombe we went to Slad, where Dan Chadwick very kindly plied us with more beer and also shots of sambuca, and then it was on to Oakridge, for a daring mission right into the heart of enemy territory; many felt it was reminiscent of Paddy Mayne and his crew driving into Tripoli, albeit that ours was objectively a more dangerous caper.
As ever, Oakridge were good sports, and we understand that they have plans to hit back at us in 2026.
Bring. It. On.
The grand finale - it wasn't very grand, to be honest, but it was a finale - took place at The Bear, in the gathering gloom, and so another year of this absurd nonsense stumbled to a close.
We collected £633.14 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
If anyone has any suggestions for a 2026 script theme, please pass them on.
You don't get stuff like this on the telly.
With The Stirrup Cup closed, the Mummers added The Butcher's Arms at Sheepscombe to the list of lucky venues - they greatly enjoyed it, actually, and have already invited us back for 2026.
This means that, if The Stirrup is reopened, we will put on five performances next year.
Good news for hepatologists everywhere.
From Sheepscombe we went to Slad, where Dan Chadwick very kindly plied us with more beer and also shots of sambuca, and then it was on to Oakridge, for a daring mission right into the heart of enemy territory; many felt it was reminiscent of Paddy Mayne and his crew driving into Tripoli, albeit that ours was objectively a more dangerous caper.
As ever, Oakridge were good sports, and we understand that they have plans to hit back at us in 2026.
Bring. It. On.
The grand finale - it wasn't very grand, to be honest, but it was a finale - took place at The Bear, in the gathering gloom, and so another year of this absurd nonsense stumbled to a close.
We collected £633.14 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
If anyone has any suggestions for a 2026 script theme, please pass them on.
MUMMERS 2024 REPORT
Previous Mummers' plays we have performed have been lost in the mists of time (Agatha Pissdie's The Pale Ale, written to mark the filming in Bisley of Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse, is one that we vaguely recall; for posterity we will record details of future efforts here.
The Mummers duly played Slad, Oakridge, The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, The Bear, and then The Stirrup Cup on Sunday December 15, with THE ODDFATHER, their tale of Bisley's brave battle against the notorious Oakridge mafia gang The Simplanos.
The Butcher's was probably our best show, actually - the Oakridge locals really got into it and gave as good as they got, which made for a lot of fun.
We raised £476.76 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
Thanks in alphabetical order to: Amber, Dan, Dave, Dean, Doug, Jake, Lucca, Neil, Rob, Sam, and Toni.
Special mentions for Mark, our musical director and squeezebox maestro, and for Dean, who only moved to the village from Ireland last year and pitched straight in.
There is some discussion of staging a Summer Mummers, and the script for next Christmas has already started percolating under the working title THE OAKRIDGE SCROOGE: HOW BISLEY SAVED CHRISTMAS.
Thanks in particular to Dave Partridge for driving the whole thing; to Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup for allowing us to ‘rehearse' there in the weeks beforehand, to Bev and Eve for bacon sarnies on the morning, and to them all for hosting our final show; to Henry at The Woolpack, to Ben at The Butcher's Arms, and to The Bear for hosting our other ‘performances'; and, finally, to Shane and Ceri Nash for their sterling efforts with the collection buckets.
The Mummers duly played Slad, Oakridge, The Butcher's Arms in Oakridge, The Bear, and then The Stirrup Cup on Sunday December 15, with THE ODDFATHER, their tale of Bisley's brave battle against the notorious Oakridge mafia gang The Simplanos.
The Butcher's was probably our best show, actually - the Oakridge locals really got into it and gave as good as they got, which made for a lot of fun.
We raised £476.76 for Longfields and Acorns Hospices.
Thanks in alphabetical order to: Amber, Dan, Dave, Dean, Doug, Jake, Lucca, Neil, Rob, Sam, and Toni.
Special mentions for Mark, our musical director and squeezebox maestro, and for Dean, who only moved to the village from Ireland last year and pitched straight in.
There is some discussion of staging a Summer Mummers, and the script for next Christmas has already started percolating under the working title THE OAKRIDGE SCROOGE: HOW BISLEY SAVED CHRISTMAS.
Thanks in particular to Dave Partridge for driving the whole thing; to Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup for allowing us to ‘rehearse' there in the weeks beforehand, to Bev and Eve for bacon sarnies on the morning, and to them all for hosting our final show; to Henry at The Woolpack, to Ben at The Butcher's Arms, and to The Bear for hosting our other ‘performances'; and, finally, to Shane and Ceri Nash for their sterling efforts with the collection buckets.
