The Rutland Challenge 2000

The Rutland Morris Men were, and are, concerned at the disappearance of many pubs around the country.  In order to raise the profile of these vital centres of community life, the side decided to dance at every public house in Rutland during the year 2000.  We did this in order to raise the profile of these vital centres of community life, having seen the sad demise of some of these hostelries in recent years.

We also hoped to contribute to the local economy by developing a web site describing the year's events which we believed would be accessed by potential visitors from all over the world.  The Challenge's website was first hosted by Rutnet, and we are grateful to them for keeping the archive of material for us.

There was some controversy during the Challenge too.  Was Caldecott in Rutland or Leicestershire?  Detailed research had revealed that the whole car park and a corner of the public bar at the Castle Inn in Caldicott was in fact in Rutland, and we felt obliged to add this to our existing list of 68 pubs in Rutland.

See pictures from the Challenge here.  The itinerary was: