woodside morris men were formed in finchley, north london. the name comes from the school at which the phoenix folk club met, which happened to be situated in a part of finchley known as woodside park. the decision to form a men's morris side to perform the cotswold dance traditions, along with a little rapper sword dancing, was taken following the phoenix club's 1956 whit monday tour. previously the club had flirted with morris as one of their many folk activities, but it was felt that the time had come for a permanent, dedicated morris section.