Click to enlarge pictures
Pictures of the Southport Swords dancing yesterday at dawn to welcome the 1st of May in the Town Gardens, which is a yearly custom of our local longsword side. Across the road is the Scarisbrick Hotel, home of the Baron's Bar, where the beer festival opened at 6.00 a.m., immediately after the dancing you see here. The Baron's is calling this festival "the English Counties Festival," which will run until Monday 11th May, so there's plenty of time for adventurous real ale drinkers to have something different from the normal fare. The Baron's Bar is Southport CAMRA's pub of the year for 2009.
Sadly, I was up until after 3.30 a.m. the night before & didn't make it, despite best intentions!
Your absence was noted. You missed a lovely morning, weather wise, and dance wise. Why didn't you just stay up!
ReplyDeleteI considered doing that, but decided against, and when the alarm went off, I thought, "I'll just have another 5 minutes."
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm sorry I missed it too. That heady feeling when at 8AM, you realise that without trying, you've had 3 pints and that the rest of the workaday world is still struggling with the duvet exit routine. Then later at 11AM, and 6 pints have gone down, to emerge blinking into the sunlight with a rather guilty feeling is something to be cherished.
ReplyDeleteFunny how all English Calendar Customs involve drink and or asking bystanders for money!!!!
Yes, funny that, especially as asking bystanders for money would normally get you charged with vagrancy. What a difference carrying a musical instrument or dressing up in morris gear makes.
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