The Reel Archives
“The Reel” was founded in September 1951, the brain-child of Hugh Foss, chairman of the RSCDS London Branch. He was assisted by Tony Lindsell-Stewart and the first editor Irene Stewart. Originally published 6 times per year with up to 4 pages per issue, more recently a quarterly publication of up to 20 pages. As well as notices of London Branch and other club events, “The Reel” includes articles about Scottish Country Dancing and a correspondence column. Many topics of interest today such as interpretation of dances, ballroom etiquette, promoting Scottish Country Dance and RSCDS branch membership are covered by erudite and witty articles and letters.
The Reel is published quarterly at the beginning of March, June, September and December. Deadlines for each Issue are approximately 6 weeks before each Issue, although to facilitate planning it is helpful to receive any submissions earlier.
All previous issues of “The Reel” are available to view in PDF format. Issues 1-234 are scans of printed copies. There is an index page for each batch of 25 issues which includes a note of the highlights of each issue.
| Reels | Years | Editors |
| 1 – 25 | 1951 – 1955 | Irene Stewart, Hugh Foss, William Dunn, Bill Nicoll, Jimmy Anderson |
| 26 – 50 | 1955 – 1959 | Jimmy Anderson |
| 51 – 75 | 1959 – 1963 | Jimmy Anderson, Elma Taylor, William Southon |
| 76 – 100 | 1963 – 1968 | William Southon |
| 101 – 125 | 1968 – 1973 | William Southon, Sandy Morrison, Rita Marlow |
| 126 – 150 | 1973 – 1980 | Rita Marlow, John Laurie |
| 151 – 175 | 1980 – 1986 | John Laurie, Andrew Brown (Issue 165 only) |
| 176 – 200 | 1986 – 1992 | John Laurie, Jeremy Hill, Andrew Kellett |
| 201 – 225 | 1992 – 1998 | Andrew Kellett |
| 226 – 250 | 1998 – 2005 | Andrew Kellett, Jim Cook, Daniel Capron |
| 251 – 275 | 2005 – 2011 | Daniel Capron, Wilson Nicol |
| 276 – 300 | 2011 – 2017 | Wilson Nicol, Jeremy Hill |
| 301 – | 2017 – | Editorial team |