MORRIS Dancers gathered at the setting of the sun to say farewell to the summer.

Horwich Prize Medal Morris Men, resplendent in their traditional red and white outfits, met at the viewpoint overlooking Anglezarke reservoir in Belmont at 6.50pm last night.

Eight dancers and five musicians ranging from nine years-old to 70 took part in the ceremony.

Bob Bradley, group secretary, said: "Unfortunately we had low cloud with just an orange glow from the clouds and it was cold. But we are glad we did it. It was worth it and it was the first farewell dance to summer. We now hope to make it a tradition."

Three dances were performed and lasted around twenty minutes.

"There was no special dance invented for the occasion and we had a few intrigued onlookers watching what we were doing," said Mr Bradley.

Traditionally Morris dancers in the south of England, near the Cotswolds, dance at sunrise on May 1.

But Mr Bradley, who has been a member of the group for the past 29 years, explained: "We have done that and it means getting up incredibly early. So we thought that this year we would dance at the other end of the summer as the solstice fell on our normal practice meeting night.

"Next year we are hoping to go to the south of England and perform with other troupes on May 1, which we have done before"

Afterwards team members headed to the nearby Black Horse Pub for refreshments to toast the end of the summer season and the start of what could become an annual event in the borough.