Mayday 2001 with West Hill

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Windmill Hill

There's an old wives tale which says that those who wash their faces with the dew of the morning of the First of May, will be beautiful for the whole year ....

It was dark, it was cold, the wind was howling. It was 0455, and there was nobody else on the summit of Windmill Hill, Gravesend. Had I got up at 0350 to be there at this hour on the wrong day? There seemed enough wind power here to supply all of Kent with electricity.... and precious little dew !!

But no, and out of the gloom came a Frog, with an original Morris dance based on traffic cones. Soon others of Frog Island Morris appeared, followed by West Hill, and St Clement’s Cloggs. So it really was the 1^st of May, and thus we were preparing for dancing at Sun Up at 0532.

A car load of greenery was scattered on the ground - seemed that someone had provided a whole garden's worth of hedge trimmings. The dancing area having been thus prepared, St Clement’s Cloggs started the dancing in earnest, followed by Frog Island Morris and West Hill, all assisted by mugs of fortified hot coffee to try to keep warm.

By this time, an audience of three (plus one dog) had gathered to witness the occasion, braving the elements and hugging their coats tightly to themselves. .

Our Audience !

More dancing by the Cloggs, Frogs and West Hill in turn, as daybreak slowly lightened the sky through the clouds..

The dancers were now clearly visible. Two cyclists arrived, swelling our audience rating by 50% - was this an all-time record ??

A few more dances, then Bonny Green Garters to finish. Exchanging Mayday wishes to all, we headed down the hill to the Sunnybank Club for a hearty breakfast.

Many thanks to the Frogs for helping with the Music for West Hill.

Now to the schools.

Arriving at Abbey Road Infant’s School, Dartford, we prepared to dance for the children, who greeted us excitedly. The Music was fortified by Ralph on accordion. Though it was now daylight, the air was chilly, and the children were well wrapped up for the cold morning. No such luck for the Music, who were struggling to fit fingers to keys or frets .. !!

 West Hill Horse

The Horse proved very popular as always, and a bit of larking about with the sticks got some laughs. To help stave of the effects of the cold, we got the children to wave and stamp their feet to the music to help keep themselves warm, as one or two looked somewhat chilled ! Afterwards, a welcome cup of tea, and a surprise donation to our charity from the school. After a brief chat and exchange of thanks, on to the next school.

A short drive down the A2 took us to the Blackwall Tunnel, and through there to the Marion Richardson Primary School in Poplar. There, Dave the Violin joined us, so the music was nearly at full strength - just Bob the Flute missing.

Again the excitement of the children was in the air, and always makes these occasions so pleasing. Many of the children had never seen Morris dancing before.

We processed in with the music, and Les introduced the idea of the Morris dance in a couple of sentences. We showed both Handkerchief and Stick dances, and the Dragon and Horse staging a mock battle in amongst the dancers

Dragon Horse West Hill Morris

For the last dance, Les got the children to stand round in two circles, and showed the basics of Shepherd's Hey. Most of the children joined the dance, and all had lots of fun trying it out. Unfortunately, no film left in the camera!

Greenwich Market

Moving on to Greenwich, the rain began in earnest, spoiling a pleasant, if chilly, day so far. After parking the cars (by special arrangement) we went into the covered Market at Greenwich.

We had just got ourselves ready to dance, when a furious drumming noise was heard, and the side of Deptford Jack (also known as Fowlers Men) appeared in glorious green and assembled in the market. [Photo in camera]. A brief exchange of Mayday greetings, and they were on their way.

A half dozen dances to passing tourists and a freelance photographer raised a few more coins in the Charity Teapot, and we departed back to the Ivy Leaf in Dartford for the sing song with Frogs and Cloggs.

Never did find any dew, but plenty of rain (wonder if that counts?? !!)

Dance On!! - Greg

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