Towersey Festival founder dies – Including a tribute by Ross Dike
IT is with great sadness that we report the death of Denis Manners MBE, from a heart attack, on January 02, 2009.
As well as being the founder of the now huge, annual Towersey Festival, Dennis was ‘Mr Folk Music’ on Radio Oxford, and a former prisoner of war who helped found the Ex-Servicemen’s CND to campaign for nuclear disarmament.
Tribute
“Denis and Sheila moved to Towersey nearly fifty years ago. Denis was a member of the small committee which started fund-raising for the provision of better facilities in the village hall, particularly the toilets. As part of the fund-raising effort he held the first Village Festival 45 years ago in his own garden (where we live now!). The Oxford City Morris Men, of which he was a member, came to dance at that Festival, which gave rise to much sniggering from the local youths, so Denis challenged them to try a bit of Morris dancing themselves, and thus founded the Towersey Morris Men.
Towersey traditions have gone from strength to strength, and have been continuously supported by Denis and his family ever since.
During the late 1960s Denis, together with Louis Rushby, Frank Honiball and Ernie Warland,
negotiated the purchase of ten acres of land, which they, as Trustees of that property conveyed to the village as the Towersey Playing Fields.
Denis?s service to the community was recognised by the award of an MBE for services to Morris dancing, presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire in 2002, at a very festive occasion in Thame Town Hall (Ed. at the request of Denis himself because he wanted Morris dancers to be present and he didn’t think they would be allowed at Buckingham Palace) followed by a lunch in the Towersey Memorial Hall.
Denis and Sheila moved to Nottingham (from Cedar Crescent, Thame) about three years ago, to be near their daughter. Sheila passed away last year. We can assure their family that they will never be forgotten in Towersey where they made such an enormous contribution to the life of this community.”
Photo: Denis Manners outside one of his favourite ‘watering holes’ The Three Horseshoes, Towersey, with John Wilson (Courtesy of Towersey Morris website)
