Mayday !
2 May 2008
Yes its 5am on the first day of May, and down on the seafront something is stirring.Whats this I see..yes its a multi-coloured gathering in honour of May 1st. Well I never! and at 5am toooo! truly proving once and for all that we are a nation of lovable crunchie nutters, all eccentrics to a man and boy..all just a teeny bit ever so slightly mad but lovable with it. Further revelations reveal, that there are a gaggle of Mayors in attendance as well. And what's that I see in the picture below, yes indeed its Mayor Bob himself, strutting his stuff in magnificent nimble toed perfection with the ever effervescent energetic Morris Men, as dawn breaks over and around him, his chain of office glistening magnificently in the low light of early morning.
Yes defintely a sight worth seeing and worth getting up at 5am for..of course! Most definitely.
Alas yours truly missed the spectacle, being notoriously enveloped in the comforting balm of a warm duvet at the time, but our man on the spot was our very own TERRY NUNN who braved all the elements to bring us these pictures.
The following is a press release issued with the pictures.....
May Day saw the East Kent Morris Men greeting the dawn on Dover seafront. Watched by the Mayor of Dover Cllr Bob Markham, the Mayor of Ashford Cllr Mrs Rita Hawes, a few hardy Dovorians and several bemused Dutch and German holidaymakers who were woken up in their camper vans, the group performed a selection of Morris dances.
At one stage both Mayors joined in the dancing and seemed to enjoy the fun. The dancers normally celebrate May Day but this is the first time that they have performed this date in Dover.
Details of the group, together with other performance dates can be found at their website www.ekmm.org.uk
Many thanks to Terry Nunn for the lovely pictures. They are great fun and so is the whole idea of it all. I wasnt aware of such an event ever taking place before, but it is now a new addition to the social skyline, so long may it continue.It may even expand into a full scale spectacle one day with hundreds of us out on the beach adoring the sungod of plenty.
Mayor Bob does the soft shoe shuffle. His twinkling toes outshining even the sun itself.Nice one Bob Markham!
Have you ever seen anything as wonderfully daft as this?
Yes its 5am on the first day of May, and down on the seafront something is stirring.Whats this I see..yes its a multi-coloured gathering in honour of May 1st. Well I never! and at 5am toooo! truly proving once and for all that we are a nation of lovable crunchie nutters, all eccentrics to a man and boy..all just a teeny bit ever so slightly mad but lovable with it. Further revelations reveal, that there are a gaggle of Mayors in attendance as well. And what's that I see in the picture below, yes indeed its Mayor Bob himself, strutting his stuff in magnificent nimble toed perfection with the ever effervescent energetic Morris Men, as dawn breaks over and around him, his chain of office glistening magnificently in the low light of early morning.
Yes defintely a sight worth seeing and worth getting up at 5am for..of course! Most definitely.
Alas yours truly missed the spectacle, being notoriously enveloped in the comforting balm of a warm duvet at the time, but our man on the spot was our very own TERRY NUNN who braved all the elements to bring us these pictures.
The following is a press release issued with the pictures.....
May Day saw the East Kent Morris Men greeting the dawn on Dover seafront. Watched by the Mayor of Dover Cllr Bob Markham, the Mayor of Ashford Cllr Mrs Rita Hawes, a few hardy Dovorians and several bemused Dutch and German holidaymakers who were woken up in their camper vans, the group performed a selection of Morris dances.
At one stage both Mayors joined in the dancing and seemed to enjoy the fun. The dancers normally celebrate May Day but this is the first time that they have performed this date in Dover.
Details of the group, together with other performance dates can be found at their website www.ekmm.org.uk
Many thanks to Terry Nunn for the lovely pictures. They are great fun and so is the whole idea of it all. I wasnt aware of such an event ever taking place before, but it is now a new addition to the social skyline, so long may it continue.It may even expand into a full scale spectacle one day with hundreds of us out on the beach adoring the sungod of plenty.- terry
well erm after looking at the pics that you took at the seafront at 5 this morning, all i can erm er say, is erm er thanks!!! - Think nothing of it Howard, it was a sort of pleasure. I always was a masochist!
Terry - terry
i have always hated morris dancers, this year it has got worse
my little friend loves any form of music and dancing
when the morris men were in our town centre last summer she loved it
the problem was when we got back to my house she tore up the bog rolls
and danced aroundwaving bits of tissue - My hat goes off to our Mayor Bob raising himself up in the early hours to bring in the dawn, where does he get his energy from? PaulB what were you doing wrapped up in your warm duvet, it must be too many Magners and pot noodles, you need to have an extra Weetabix in the morning to cover these early events lol!
Well done Terry on your early rising too and sending us those barmy but exciting photos. I remember the May days in the distant past in Ireland dancing the Irish reel around the maypole with flowers in our hair. Ah, sweet memories. - Aah I see - so that's where Im going wrong, not enough Weetybix!!
So ColetteB, I expect to see you down on the seafront next Mayday dancing around yer maypole in yer frillies..and all at 5am!!lol - Who's studied that first top picture?
isn't that our nigel 4th from the front? - lol!!! Keef yes it does indeed look like our Nige. Although on closer inspection one is disappointed to find out its not. Sad to say I dont think Nigel is quite as fleet of foot nowadays as the chap in the shot. Although this wasnt always the case..old rumour has it that Nigel was quite a nimble footed athlete in his heyday on the athletic track...and that he could run faster than the hounds of hell, especially if someone called out "opening time!".
- paulb
That last line of yours, I think thats still the case!! - paub
the 3rd from right could be a peter drew lookalike? - Well I never! ..so it does Keef. I dont know..people will talk, Nitro Nige and Peter D dancing together..where will it all end!!?lol
- Now i'm not one to spread rumour
but if you look closely at the last picture with b markham etc
that bloke with the beard don't half look like david blunkett - Just spotted another
second picture down, first on left(with back to camera)
looks like our very own Mr Hannant? - Just spotted him in time
look at the second picture first on the right(facing camera)
looks like none other than conservative cllr Roger Frayne
- Wow!! Keef ..you are quite right! I am beginning to suspect there may have been considerable amounts of in-breathing going on in Dover before I got here. So many wayward genes are beginning to regurgitate themselves in all sorts of unlikely places !! lol
- ...ermmm I can confirm however that that indeed is the real Bob Markham doing the soft shoe shuffle!
St George's Day was/is another day for dancing also.
Well done, the East Kent Morris Men, for doing this. Here's hoping they will continue to dance in the May in future years as well. Oh, how I would have loved to have been there (and not only to have seen our Bob and Lady Rita too, stepping and sticking!)