Maypole dancing, Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Maypole dancing, Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire by nick macneill as part of the Geograph project.
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Maypole dancing, Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire
Image: © nick macneill Taken: 1 May 2002
Ickwell May Day Villagers & Morris-men dancing beside the Maypole on Ickwell Green, soon after dawn on 1 May 2005. The Ickwell May Day festival, first documented in the Churchwardens' accounts of c. 1565 but perhaps originating in the pre-Christian Beltane, takes place on Ickwell Green and celebrates the arrival of spring on May Morning, or 1 May. In the time of the Puritans, the festival ceased. A permanent Maypole was first erected in 1872 by the local squire, John Harvey, to celebrate the birth of his son. There is Morris dancing by the Ickwell Mayers, the Old Scholars dance around the Maypole with their children and grandchildren, and with other games, contests, country dances, and music a May Queen is crowned.(Wikipedia)
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Image Location
Latitude
52.09627
Longitude
-0.323381