May Day celebrations in the UK

 Traditionally, on May Day, celebrations included dancing around the maypole and crowning a May Queen.

May festivities date back to the Roman period, when they honoured the Goddess of Flowers. May Day was likely an incarnation of the Celtic festival, Beltane, which celebrated Spring and the coming of Summer.

The earliest record of Maypole dancing for May Day was in Wales in the 14th century. This tradition soon spread far and wide.

This photograph was taken in Thaxted, Essex, between 1947 to 1955.

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