Ripon City Morris Dancers were formed in 1982 when Hornblower Morris became short of members. The style of dancing changed from Cotswold to dances from the North West of England. This style is traditionally from Lancashire and the adjoining areas of Cheshire, Yorkshire and the Lake District. North-West Morris is essentially an urban, processional dance and aspects of its origins are still visible in the clogs and cotton slings. The kit is more flamboyant with much brighter colours and more adornments such as flowers, beads and sashes. We chose a kit based on the patriotic colours of red white and blue with added gold braid to match Ripon City civic colours. We also chose to use fresh flowers in our hats, one of only a handful of teams to do so. The hats therefore have to be made up each time we perform and reflect the seasons of the year.  
  The first practice took place in the middle of February, we have practiced at Quarry Moor, Spring Hill School, the Studley Hotel (sadly no longer there but one of our dances was written to commemorate the pub), the Golden Lion and now at the Village Hall in Bishop Monkton. Our first performance was on the 19th July in the car park of the Magdallens.
Dances are usually performed in sets of eight with the Captain often dancing at the head of the set while calling out the figures.
Music, provided by a variety of instruments such as melodeons, concertinas, clarinets, fiddles and drums, is vibrant, robust and rhythmic, accentuated by the sound of the clogs worn by the dancers.