June in Particular

Early June

A Maypole of 87 feet is traditionally raised anew every three years (2002, 5, 8 &c) on the Tuesday after the Spring Bank Holiday at Barwick in Elmet, W.Yorks. The maypole was raised by ladder parties but now is raised by machine as a result of health and safety restrictions. Someone then climbs the pole to untie the ropes. The pole is featured on the Barwick Historical Society web-site.

Pinner Fair, Middlesex (Greater London). Originally granted to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 14th century to be held on the Wednesday after Whit Sunday. Nowadays held on the Wednesday following the Spring Bank Holiday, which means it can fall at the end of May or beginning of June. The funfair stands in the main streets of the town. Reputed to be the best - busiest! - one-day fair in England. Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

Duck Feast, Charlton Cat Inn, Pewsey Vale, Wiltshire. The 18th century 'thresher poet' Stephen Duck is commemorated each year by 'thirteen 'Duck' men, who drink from the Duck Goblet. The chairman, known as the Chief Duck, wears a tall hat trimmed with duck feathers' (Whitlock, 1976)

Blessing of the Fleet, North Shields on the first day of the free music festival, Orange Wow (Window on the World), once the Fish Quay Festival and now one of the biggest music festivals in Europe. Contact +44 (0) 191 2008909.

Appleby Horse Fair, Cumbria - harness races and celebrations leading up to sale day on the second Wednesday in June, a mile out of town on Fair Hill. The main days are 8-11 June, with a harness race on the 11th in the town centre. Horses are lead trotting up and down lanes to show them off before the sales, which are in the form of one-to-one bartering rather than a traditional type of auction. Contact Appleby-in-Westmorland TIC, +44 (0) 17683 51177 and look at the Appleby web-site for details nearer the time.

Scuttlebrook Wake, Chipping Campden, Gloucs - The main street of this Cotswold market town is closed off for a day of festivities including a funfair, carnival procession and morris dancing. On the evening before, the Dover's Hill Games take place on the hill above the town. This mixture of rustic sports is a continuation of the "Olympick Games" inaugurated by Sir Robert Dover in the 17th century. Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

Trinity Week

Rothwell Charter Fair, Rothwell, Northants. Known locally as 'Rowell Fair' this 6-day fair, which celebrates its 800th anniversary in 2004, begins at 6pm on Trinity Monday (7th June in 2004) with the Bailiff of the fair reading the charter outside the parish church. Riding on horseback, he then proceeds around the town, reading the charter outside every public house. At each stop he is presented with a glass of rum and milk! The hour-long ride, which is usually accompanied by a crowd several thousand strong, culminates outside the Charter Inn, where the last reading takes place. A free-for-all then takes place as the crowd (well, the younger elements, at least) attempt to wrest the halberds from the Bailiff's retinue of supporters. The public houses open at 7am to serve breakfast to the onlookers. As part of the customs surrounding this ceremony, small tarts, baked specially to an old recipe, are sold at the parish church. Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

Also taking place during the week of Trinity are the Southwold Trinity Fair in Suffolk and Penzance Corpus Christi Fair in Cornwall. Also in Penzance during June is Golowan.

Mid-June

Blessing the Sea, Hastings, Sussex. On or around the 12th June. Contact All Saints Parish Office +44 (0) 1424 422242

Mersey River Festival has been held in mid-June since 1980. The festival includes tall ships, narrow boats, sea shanties, ships' craftsmen and much more. See their web-site or contact judith. feather [at] liverpool. gov. uk

Bawming the Thorn, Appleton Thorn, Cheshire (Third Saturday of June) - An offspring of this legendary Christmas flowering hawthorn tree from Glastonbury, Somerset, (which grew from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea) was planted in Appleton Thorn in 1966 to replace an older tree and to re-introduce the ancient custom of 'bawming' (adorning) the thorn. The tree is decorated with flowers and ribbons; children of the village wear garlands and dance to the bawming song around the tree.This tradition is said to come from the time of the Crusades, when a returning Norman Knight brought a cutting from Glastonbury.

Newcastle Town Moor Fair, Newcastle upon Tyne. A relative newcomer to the fairground calendar, this began in 1882 as the Newcastle upon Tyne Temperance Association Festival (still its official title) and, despite a faltering start, grew to become what is now the largest funfair in Britain (if not Europe), occupying 40 acres of the Town Moor - a one-thousand-acre area of common land that has been there since Norman times. It is known locally as 'the Hoppings', a generic term that predates the Town Moor Fair, and which was commonly applied to other, mainly rural events on Tyneside, where dancing - or 'hopping' - formed part of the day's entertainments. Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

Midsummer Bonfires, Cornwall - Friday 23rd June (the Eve of St John's Day or Midsummer's Day) A chain of bonfires to celebrate Summer are lit one after another on hilltops from Carn Brea south of Redruth in the West to Kithill on the border with Devon in the East, with St Agnes, Castle an Dinas at St Columb Major, and St Breock between. The ceremonies are spoken in Cornish and herbs are thrown into the fire. The fires have also acted as warnings in times of trouble such as the coming of the Spanish Armada. The Old Cornwall Societies and local people uphold this tradition. Visit the St Columb Major Old Cornwall Society web-site.

The Longest Day, 21st June

At Greenwich (longtitude 0.0) the sun rises at 04.43 and sets at 21.22 (BST). At Cambridge (longtitude E0.43, latitude N52.213) sun-rise is 04.37 and sunset at 21.27. What are the times where you are? (HM Nautical Almanac Office).

Summer Solstice, Stonehenge, Wilts. Crowds including musicians, revellers, druids, witches and knights of King Arthur's Round Table gather at Stonehenge over the shortest night to celebrate the dawn of the longest day. After a number of years of unwelcome conflict, the event is now permitted by the authorities, with a 7am deadline to leave the area.

Dragon Procession, Burford, Oxon - a procession starts at 6.30pm from Burford School down the main street to the county primary school to join the fete. It commemorates the success of the King of Wessex in battle at Burford. Contact Charles Williams, +44(0)1993 823142.

Filly Loo, Ashmore, Dorset. A celebration of the longest day, held on a Friday near to June 21st, when villagers dance beside this singular village pond (it is high on the chalk). The Hambledon Hopstep Band play and call from a cart decorated in greenery to the crowd, dancing in the street. A Green Man arrives in a procession and takes part in the first dance to start the evening. There are display dances followed by public dancing, then at dusk, the celebrations reach their climax with the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. This is a torchlit procession with six antlered deer-men and four other costumed characters: a Maid Marion, a bowman, a hobby horse and a fool. The procession and dance is accompanied by a haunting solo melody in a minor key which is very atmospheric. The celebration finishes with the torches in the ground around the pond and everyone holding hands around the pond for the last dance. Contact +44(0)1747 811413, or visit the Hambledon Hopstep Band web-site.

Midsummer Ramble, Hayle, Cornwall. Shirley Oliver, Trenoweth, Viaduct Hill, Hayle, Cornwall TR27 5HT

Midsummer's Day 24th June

St John's Day - The traditional festival to celebrate the sun. Midsummer bonfires are lit on hilltops to strengthen the sun's light as it begins to wane, the fires being kindled just as the sun touches the horizon. The medieval church successfully translated the (original Norse) festival into a festival of St John the Baptist, through many ancient customs survived. Houses were decorated with garlands, tables set outside with cakes and ale for all and great torchlight parades - the Marching Watch - progress with companies and guilds carrying blazing cressets and rolling tar barrels. Civic election of the sheriffs of London. A Midsummer Night's Dream shows how these were regarded as uncanny times when evil spirits walked - the most powerful safeguard being the yellow flower of St John's Wort (Devil's Bane) 

Jenneting is the name for an apple ripe by St John's Day, or the name given to an early ripening variety of apple. Synonyms are Joaneting, White Joaneting and Geneting. "known before 1600, mentioned by Francis Bacon in essay On Gardens. Small, crisp, brisk, eaten straight from tree, but season over a few days. Grown gardens and for market for centuries, and up to 1920s marked opening of apple season" from The Book of Apples by Joan Morgan & Alsion Richards, Ebury Press, 1993.

Golowan, Penzance, Cornwall - (starts Friday nearest St John's Day, 24th June) Now a ten day festival culminating in Mazey Eve, Mazey Day & Quay Day (or Sea and Sail). This is a revival of the Feast of St John (Gol-Jowan) with fireworks and bonfires on the hills on St John's Eve. Mazey Eve, also St John's Eve, sees the Golowan Band leading hundreds of people through the streets in the ancient Serpent Dance and there are torchlit processions throughout the town. Penglaz, Penzance's 'Obby 'Oss, parades the streets and each village displays its distinctive banners. The Quay Fair is on St John's Day and, the day after, Mazey Day sees the town decorated with laurel leaves and banners remembering when girls in dresses decorated with laurel leaves and decked with garlands danced through the streets. Laurel leaves have signified divination and recognition of the gods authority since Roman Briton, and many May Queens wear wreaths of laurel on their heads. The last day of the festival is Sea and Sail which maintains the harbour's place at the centre of the celebration. All kinds of working and classic craft make their way to the harbour from Cornish Luggers to square riggers called Kruzenshtern. Contact +44(0)1736 334675, Golowan Festival, 5 The Penwith Centre, The Parade, Penzance, TR18 4BU or look at the Golowan web-site

Late June

Architecture Week for all kinds of private new and old houses and buildings open for visits. See this web-site for details.

Seer Green Cherry Pie Fair & Village Day - on the third Saturday in June - cherries were once the mainstay of Seer Green, Bucks, with men being given special dispensations to return home during World War II to help with the harvest. There are fewer cherry trees now but the parish Council is funding new trees so far planted in the grounds of schools and nurseries. Locally made cherry pies are for sale at the fair and there are other stall, displays, and activities from village groups and societies. Contact Mrs Helen Lindsey-Clark +44(0)1494 680736

Midsummer Fair, Cambridge. Granted by charter of King John in 1211 to the manor of Barnwell, this fair still takes place on its original site, Midsummer Common, a tree-lined open space just a few minutes' walk from the city centre. With the River Cam forming one of the boundaries of the common, this is one of the most beautiful fairgrounds in England. It is the largest fair in East Anglia. Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

World Worm Charming Championships, Willaston School, nr Nantwich, Cheshire. Contact Mike Forster +44(0)1270 663957

Shifnal Old Club and Carnival, Shifnal, Shropshire. Graham Downie, secretary of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain, writes: "A survivor from the days when the local friendly societies, or 'clubs', provided a form of self-help insurance against hard times well before the welfare state was even thought of. The annual meeting of the club was usually accompanied by some form of communal celebration, which naturally attracted the travelling showmen. At Shifnel, the funfair stands along the main street, which is also the route of the carnival procession on the Saturday. This tradition is currently under threat because of the regional police force's insistence that the organisers pay for policing at the event - a new phenomenon, resulting from the 1996 Police Act, which has already placed crippling financial burdens on other similar events in England. The action of the police is being challenged, here and elsewhere, because it would appear to conflict with both the terms of the Act and the advice of the Home Office." Find out more about English fairs at the Showmen's Guild web-site.

Glastonbury Festival - Pilton, Somerset. Usually the last weekend in June. Michael Eavis' Pilton Pop Festival has been running intermittently since 1971. Now an internationally renowned event, and a rite of passage for many, it has risen above problems with safety, security and complaints from local residents which, sadly, lead to several cancellations. Contact +44(0)1159 129129, or see the web-site. There was an earlier festival in the town, organised by composer Rutland Boughton between 1914 and 1927. He wanted Glastonbury to become the English equivalent of Wagner's Beyreuth in Germany. His uncompromisingly socialist principles starved him of local support and the enterprise withered. See more events in Glastonbury in January and December.

Hat Fair, Winchester, Hants, over a Friday, Saturday & Sunday in late June / early July, is Britain's longest running festival of street theatre gets its name from the traditional voluntary contribution of money in the hat to street performers. Over 40 companies from across the world take part with circus, stunts, clowns, new world music, and a market with food stalls, clothes, jewellery, arts and crafts. The fair traditionally opens with Schools Day on the Friday when local children take part in the carnival procession through the city to the Cathedral Green for a day of entertainment. There is extraordinary street theatre in the High Street and large theatre performances and cabaret in the evenings all through the weekend. Call Cat on +44(0)1962 849841 or look at the web-site. See more events in Winchester during May and August.

St Peter's Day 29th June

A time for rushbearing processions and hay strewing in churches. This may come from a time when churches had mud floors - rushes and hay were scattered to keep the floor warm and dry for celebrations such as harvest thanksgiving. Another theory suggests the aim was to muffle the sound of the farm labourers boots and Morris dancers processions at Petertide services. The hay was often collected from special meadows donated to the parish for this purpose.

Rushbearing, St Columba's Church, Warcop, Cumbria (St Peter's Day, 29th June unless a Sunday then 28th June) Known as Peter's Day. A procession headed by a band and banners and with girls wearing crowns of flowers and boys carrying crosses of rushes. The crosses are laid around the altar where they remain over the following Sunday. They are then hung at the back of the church until a few days before the next Peter's Day. Read more on the Visit Cumbria web-site.

Blessing the sea and fisheries, Folkestone, Kent - At high tide on the Sunday nearest St Peter's Day. A procession at 3pm with Sea Cadets' band, bagpipers, Salvation Army and local school children, to the old fishing harbour where there is a service and the sea is blessed with holy water and incense. There was once a large fishing industry here and the service was attended by local fisherman.  Contact St Peter's Church +44(0)1303 254472.

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