May Fairs past and present!

May Fair at the Community Orchard

  Having scoured the local facebook pages for any sight or sound of a May Pole (what is wrong with everyone?! And Why is everyone having May Day at the END of May?!) I stumbled on a lovely little May Day celebration in our local community run orchard. It’s such a lovely spot, and right in the middle of the town, with bees hives buzzing, apple blossom drifting and the community doing its thing. Plant swaps, local Ciders, May Crown making.

A proper treat for the girls to frolic in the long grass, have sword fights with the May boughs and sit on hay bales drinking apple juice from the trees with their May crowns slipping over their eyes- watching the Maypole dancers weave their magic. (And their ribbons, of course!)  What a perfect way to wrap up (ha!) their Lottie May project. 

 

Parnham House May Fairs

   I think one of the reasons that May Day is so emblazoned on my mind is that my hippy parents spent the few years that they could bear each other running an amazing May Fair at the absolutely stunning Parnham House- now Parnham Park. (Long before the straight-from-TV scandal that brought about its demise) 

   One of my earliest memories is standing next to the little river-runs between the bizarrely conical trees in a little victorian dress and bonnet; watching my sister playing the flute and the Maypole dancers weaving around the HUGE Maypole, and the hobby horses that hung in our conservatory – jousting, full of raucous bearded men. 

     I also remember the giant puppets leading the parade on stilts made by the amazing Tess Brown, followed by a huge array of people. 

Doing things

    There is not enough, in my opinion, done by PEOPLE any more. There’s always a template provided, a box to tick, something else to spend money on. World book day- always so much fun to scavenge around and see if you can invent a costume out of random things to embody your favourite story, Christmas Nativity tea-towels and tin-foil halos…..Now you just see a ream of kids marched in in sweaty Polyester PowerRangers costumes stitched by some poor bugger in a cellar somewhere for 20p. 

   Who do you think these two are? A free colouring pack for whoever gets both right!

But then, there’s also no denying that we just don’t have TIME any more. School, Homework (at 6?!?!) dinner, wash, bed. Work, shopping, bills, more letters from school than you can shake a stick at, deadlines, more bills, insurance, lunchboxes, PE kits, Swimming kits, Forest school kits, cars, cleaning, extra shifts, finding childcare, alarm clocks, parking fines, more work, getting to bed on time, having to worry constantly about every single tiny word you say incase you get it wrong, wearing the wrong thing……. 

  Where’s the “run around and make mud pies in the garden” time? Where’s the “folding a toga out of a sheet” time? The “I can help you build a den” time? It’s gone. It’s been eaten by the modern world. 

    So I love it. This “Sitting in the grass weaving May Crowns” time. No deadline. No drama. No money. Just TIME.