please empty your brain below
Well I never. All I was brought up to do on May Day was say the word "rabbits" before anything else when I got up in the morning.

Ruby in Bury St Edmunds | Homepage | 01.05.06 - 4:07 a.m. | #

Excellent. When people moan about anti-social behaviour and how the world is going to the dogs and it never used to be like that in the old days etc. etc. I try to explain to them how things really were and really its much better now but they are never convinced.

By the way it was just the same in the North East although they probably did not have the same gentility as would be found at a London fair. If I recall correctly the Blaydon Races were abandoned in 1909 due to the number of thefts, fights, murders etc (no exaggeration) being considered excessive by the authorities. The people still still lovingly sing about their romatic view of the event though.

Pendatic of Purley | 01.05.06 - 8:16 a.m. | #

We're (200 of us) doing office work and have had no option of to take today off because of operational conveniance. Apparently it's going on our annual leave but we'll see...

Another Andrew | 01.05.06 - 8:38 a.m. | #

'Shepherd Market has never quite shaken off its reputation as a haunt for shady backhand deals and prostitutes.'

Quite.

It's where the purgeror Jeffrey Archer picked up Monica

onionbagblogger | Homepage | 01.05.06 - 9:44 a.m. | #

Grinning for a hat

There's a phrase that cannot simply be left hanging. What's that all about, then?

Scaryduck | Homepage | 01.05.06 - 10:13 a.m. | #

DG

Not quite a fair but similar I guess will be the Royal de Luxe street theatre in central London next weekend. It invoves a 40ft high elephant weighing 42 tons and worked by over 100 "mechanics". Horse Guards Parade seems to be the location from Thurs to Sun incl. The elephant is currently at Battersea Power Station I believe. Might be the sort of thing you would be interested in? See http://www.thesultanselephant.com for more details.

Barry

barry.arnold | 01.05.06 - 12:09 p.m. | #

You know, there's a theory that Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was first performed on Mayday 1599, because of the opening scene with the rude mechanicals (can't remember whose theory off the top of my head, but it might be in the new James Shapiro book about Shakespeare in 1599). It's a whole postmodern 'same things happening inside the theatre as outside' thing, 400 years before postmodernism. It also reflects the authorities' annual fear that they might not be able to rescind the licence granted to the people once the May revels were over. But it seems they never abolished the revels completely because they thought a bit of plebeian steam-letting could only be a good thing in the long term.

chloe | Homepage | 03.05.06 - 9:14 a.m. | #

Wickhams on Mile End Road is worth a look at. When they built it in 1927 (looks like Selfridges) there was a jeweler in the middle who would not sell out. They built around him, hoping to complete when he went under. Wickhams went down first,, nice story.
Google ,, Wickhams London

Stan Shaw | 15.10.06 - 5:21 p.m. | #











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