Alex Darke, never knowingly understated, is well-known as a man of many talents; arguably one of the region’s most fertile men (ladies beware!). On our nights out without question ‘He’s The Greatest Dancer’ we’ve ever seen but last night, at the MIN Awards, he showed us something we never expected… this Cuckoo proper took flight.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending my Sunday afternoon watching some quintessential English culture in Saddleworth. The annual Rushcart Festival sees various pageants of Morris Men from all over the UK congregate upon this small area of Lancashire (or Yorkshire if you’re still debating the boundaries!).

I must admit I spent the first half an hour watching these grown men dance with flowery hats and bells on their clogs thinking, “How do they get into this?”. You see to someone who’s not from the countryside I think they look a bit daft. It’s not something I’d dream of doing myself but I suppose each to their own.

I think after all the dancing, bells and whistles the Morris Men need to let off some steam. To my surprise they do this by getting half naked and wrestling with each other on the hillside! Looked a bit dangerous to me at times. They didn’t half have a go at each other. Even the referee got booted in the face during one bout! After seeing this hill grappling I had a new found respect for the Morris Man. Be warned, under all that flowery attire lurks a beast of a man!