The river behaved itself, despite the posters in the pub giving it plenty of warning
The first order of the day was some dancing.
These pictures are from Hay-on-Wye
That is Helen in the close-up
This looks like Craven Stomp
The swings figure in Much Gridlock, and something I don't recognise!
Brimfield gets under way
It starts with sticks down and as it gets under way the sticks are "rampant"
In the first half of the dance, the men are "in" while the ladies stick, then roles are reversed for the second half.
And this is Sheepskins
Some pictures of the band
Colin, Joe, ChrisD and Richard are playing melodeons, Vera, Ali and Andy are drumming, Jason is Tuba-ing, Mark is playing the bodhran, and Giles is playing the Banjolele.
The other morris sides - Phoenix, Mayflower and Wickham
East Acton
Pam is in the second picture - she baked the Wassail Cake
Then it's time for the Mummers Play, performed by Wickham Morris
The usual suspects - Father Christmas, the Grim Reaper, St George, the Turkish Knight, and the Doctor work their magic
St George slays the villain, the Doctor sorts him out with a giant pill and an enormous injection, and "good" generally triumphs over "evil"
As it's getting a bit cold, it's time to get on with the Wassail ceremony
The Queen of the Wassail (Queen Linda, I think) was selected as she had the bean in her bit of Wassail Cake. She selects her consort - King Darryl, and they preside over the ceremony.
I'm assisted by my Elf (aka Ali) who delivers all the props at all the right times.
The King and Queen are toasted. Songs are sung. The wren is buried in the apple tree roots, and the tree is annointed with toast and ale from our Wassail bowl. We all join in with loud noises, aided by Mike's shotgun (blanks) and the evil spirits are frightened away from the tree.
If you're desperate to know more about what's going on, read the scrapbook pages for the previous 15 years!
We then sing to be let into the pub where we amuse ourselves with food, drink, music, song and dance
The first two pictures are Rob and Andy singing - and the rest of us eating!
The rest include Sue doing the broom dance and others posing!
