May Day

When we arrived in our village we were fascinated to discover we had a maypole. In fact we discovered that almost every village had one. It was while travelling to work on the train that I noticed a huge length of wood being worked on by the side of the station. After a week or two I noticed that it had been painted white and partly blue. So I asked at work what was going on. They told me that every 5 years or so a village has a new maypole and that they guard them the night before mayday in case a neighbouring village decides to steal it! The only way to get them back is by supplying several crates of beer!

So I watched with interest as they gradually finished making the may pole and decorated it. There is naturally a traditional method of raising the may pole which involves 10-20 strong men in leder hosen and a large amount of beer not to mention some long wooden supports. But the other method more often employed involves a lorry with a crane and large amounts of beer.

So on My Day they tend to have a traditional dance involving a group of willing single young people and lots of beer. Although you might be mistaken for thinking its some bizarre Milk Maid fetish society…