Yesterday R and I went to the Rumburgh May Day Fete.  This has been held in the village since time immemorial and takes place on the recreation ground (which is what the villagers call the village green).  The church run the cake stall and I had been asked to contribute something for it.  I duly spent some time on Sunday afternoon baking some cherry shortbread and some orange tea bread.  Both recipes are easy to follow and neither takes too long to cook – ideal for a reluctant cook like me.

The fete began at 11.00am so R and I arrived just before then, so that we could hand over our contributions in good time (R had pulled some rhubarb yesterday morning and brought that along too) and then have a tour of the stalls before the crowds arrived.  The weather was perfect – lots of sunshine, a fairly gentle breeze and also nicely warm.

The fete appeals to all ages and is a really sociable event.  All sorts of people turn up – the very elderly, tiny babies with their parents, people wanting to sell and those wanting to buy, supporters of those people taking part in the entertainment, bikers in their leathers, old hippies – we all mingled together and enjoyed the day.  Lots of food and drink is on sale but a number of groups bring picnics with them.

This stall sold plants and accessories dyed with natural dyes.

This is the bag and jewellery stall.

The plant stall.

The tombola stall and a part of the cake stall on the left.  The white construction is the goal post without its net.

The cake stall

The Human Fruit Machine!  This was great fun and was run by the W.I. (Women’s Institute).  They also ran a bric-a-brac stall.

The Candy Box Sweet Van with someone selling honey and jam next to them.

Hot dogs and burgers.

Girls eating burgers next to the toy stall.

Different types of transport used to get to the fete.

A game of petanque.

Teenagers in the children’s play area.

The ice-cream van.

The May Pole in front of the tea tents.

The entertainment was varied.

Dancing round the May Pole.  May Pole dancing isn’t taught any more so these young people hadn’t much idea what to do, but they all enjoyed themselves nevertheless.  R tells me he was taught how to dance round the May Pole at school.  When done properly it is really lovely.  The children weave in and out of each other, some going clockwise and some anti-clockwise.  The ribbons are all plaited together and then everything is reversed until all the ribbons are undone again.

This was a bit of a shambles at times but such good fun!

This is the music group that played for the children to dance to.

Lovely belly dancers!

The Children’s Folk Group.  These young people were very good indeed.  They played without fault for three-quarters of an hour non-stop!

I like this rear view of the older ones!

This is Rumburgh Morris – our very own morris dancers.  They are dancing with handkerchiefs.

The Master of Ceremonies

One of the morris musicians

The bells they wear strapped to their shins.

The antlers they always bring with them.  The local pub is called the Rumburgh Buck and that is where they meet.  The last time I saw these antlers was in the church a couple of weeks before Christmas.  We have a Carols and Capers service with folk carols and morris dancing (a caper is a morris dance move – a leap).

Dancing with sticks this time!

Just across the road from the recreation ground is the Rumburgh Buck pub where a refreshing pint of beer or ale or cider can be drunk.