Sheffield City Morris: The green-trousered Morris dancers with a spring in their step after 50 years

Taking part is one of the events they are doing to mark 50 years of putting on a jolly, good show.

Sheffield City Morris was founded in 1975 by Bob Hazelwood who had moved back from London and wanted a team that would be, in his words "fit, young, sexy”.

Over the last five decades Sheffield City Morris has become known for its unique dance style, music, singing, and general entertainment.

They often get asked to perform songs at festivals and weekends of dance.

Songs like "Green trousers, green trousers, they are what we like to wear" accompanied by a melodeon, a drum, maybe a couple of violins and a lively show, with lots of jumping around, knocking sticks, the bells round their ankles jangling.

"Our green trousers is our USP - it's what people always comment on," says Dominic Rice, a member since 1990, who has travelled with the team around the country and abroad to appear at events.

There's at least half a dozen folk dance teams in the city with Sheffield City Morris having both men and women's teams. "Our youngest members are probably in their late 30s early 40s - it's all ages up to 70s.

"We had one or two teenagers who join us - they are a bit reticent about their friends seeing them.

"Morris dancing can get a bad Press – but people actually seem to like watching it.

"We are not too precious.”

The origins of Morris dancing are shrouded in mystery - some think it emerged in the 15th century, possibly as part of a wider European trend of courtly entertainment with "Moorish" influences.

In 1448, the Goldsmiths' Company in London paid "Moryssh daunsers" for their service.

Dominic says their dances are Cotswold Morris style “even if not always Cotswold as others would know it”.

Legend has it that detail of the ancient dances were found near the village of Midhopestones on the edge of the Peak District.

When Langsett Reservoir dried up during a drought in the 1970s, an oak chest was found in the bottom with details of dances from the local ‘Medup’ tradition and the closely associated Langsett tradition.

"Since then Sheffield City Morris have devoted their lives to reviving these dances, and new ones from the book are added to our repertoire each year,” says Dominic.

“Scurrilous rumours that the tradition is actually called ‘Medup’ because the dances were “medupbeeuzzsenz” (made up by ourselves, in Sheffield dialect) are just that, scurrilous rumours (allegedly)."