His first stop is to witness the ancient practice of tar-barrelling in Ottery St Mary, Devon, where on 5 November every year the townsfolk run through the streets with flaming barrels of tar hoisted on their shoulders. It is a tradition centuries old, its origins lost in the mists of time; it could be something to do with Guy Fawkes, with purging the streets of evil, or with fumigating the thatch of the village cottages. Or it could have arisen from a warning given at the approach of the Spanish Armada. As with all the best folkloric traditions, there is room for all these possibilities and more.

Cooper stays to the very end (“I saw the midnight barrel!”) and is enchanted. “There was a look in their eyes by the end like they’d been somewhere ordinary people have never gone.” Later, when he is investigating morris dancing, he sidesteps all the usual mockery of what is, let’s face it, one of our more easily derided traditions, and says simply and without guile, “Looks like a pure t

Winter solstice is celebrated by cultures across the globe. In the UK, Stonehenge is a site of celebration for the winter and solstice.

People visit the Stonehenge to get a glimpse of the sun as it gleams through the stones, including neo-Druids and neo-Pagans.

...

The ancient structure was built to frame the sun during the midwinter sunrise and the summer solstice, indicating when the days will start getting longer or shorter.

In the winter the sun sets to the south-west of the stone circle.

The solstices are the only occasions when visitors can go right up to the stones at Stonehenge, and thousands are willing to rise before dawn to soak up the atmosphere.

Archive (as it is the Daily Fail)

Not really a folk tradition but enshrined in law. There's not a weird laws/bylaws community so this seemed like the most appropriate place.

In 1964, two young academics clambered into a red Mini and, armed with a mountain of printed slips, set out to conduct what would become the definitive survey of English folklore and traditions for the next 60 years.

John Widdowson and Paul Smith went to town centres, ­community halls, Women’s Institute meetings. They handed the simple forms out to anyone who visited Sheffield University, where they were based. And they wanted to know the answer to one simple question: what do you know to be true?

Now held in the university’s archives, the thousands of replies make for illuminating reading, creating a patchwork of observances, superstitions and local legends, passed down through families and communities.

“Don’t bring hawthorn blossom into the house. It’s bad luck,” wrote David Smith of London, who had learned this from his mother, Molly, then living in Scarborough.

The story related by Florence Swaby of Hertfordshire was perhaps a little more dramatic: “Just outside the

Via the Book of Face

Footage from last year

Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing sees a troupe of people in straw hats pulling a cart piled high with rushes around some of Calderdale’s most beautiful villages.

The popular festival takes place this year on Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8, and usually attracts huge crowds.

The rush cart – with the “rush maiden” perched on top – is hauled down country lanes and up some steep hills by a team of strong volunteers who make stops at churches and pubs in Sowerby Bridge and its surrounding villages.

They are accompanied along the way by groups of musicians and morris dancers, providing entertainment for those who come to watch the spectacle.

The festival was originally revived for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and this year it will mark the coronation of King Charles.

Organisers have raised over £20,000 for good causes, and the weekend contributes significantly to the local economy.

The custom dates back many centuries to when church floors consisted of li

The clock is ticking down to one of the biggest events of the Saddleworth calendar – Rushcart.

But what is it? The sight of men dancing in the street while wearing flowery hats and bells on their feet has always been treated as the norm being part of area’s tradition.

In fact, the origins of morris dancing are bit more complicated, but it is morris men we have to thank – not only for the ancient way of giving thanks but also its revival in Saddleworth in the 1970s.

Back in the day, many churches had only rudimentary floors made of earth. So, to make them more comfortable and inviting for special occasions, it was common to cover them with hay, straw or rushes.

As towns and villages expanded, the rushes had to be carried from further afield, so they were often piled on sledges and dragged to the church.

Then at some point, someone obviously remembered the wheel had been invented and had the bright idea of stacking the rushes on a cart – the rushcart was born.

In ar

A man who became the shin-kicking world champion on his first try has successfully defended his title, having trained by hitting a hammer on his shins nearly every day for a year. The world champion set his sights on becoming the five-time champion of the bizarre 17th century English sport.

Mike Newby, 34, an account director who lives in Cheltenham with his girlfriend, Geo Legate, 27, competed in the Cotswold Olimpick Games – which celebrates English folk sports and games, such as tug of war, hammer throwing and the main event, shin kicking – on May 31, 2024.

The winner of the competition is crowned the world champion and has their name added to a trophy which is displayed in Chipping Campden, home of the Olimpicks, all year round.

Just a few weeks after winning the 2023 edition of the competition, Mike hit the gym, did cardio, struck his shins with a hammer, and practiced martial arts almost every day for a year. It paid off, he won all three of his rounds this year and

Dairy-loving daredevils from around the world have descended on Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire for the annual cheese-rolling race.

Competitors ran, slid and tumbled down the near-vertical incline in an effort to catch up with a 7lb wheel of Double Gloucester - a semi-hard cheese renowned for its strong and savoury flavour.

The rough-and-ready race is notoriously dangerous with bumps and bruises almost guaranteed for the many reckless cheese-chasers who tend to fall down the hill rather than run.

...

The race begins when the so-called "Master of Cheese" rolls a Double Gloucester down the hill.

The competitors then follow, with the first one to make it to the bottom getting to keep the cheese.

This year's hill was especially slippery and muddy after recent rain. Members of a local rugby club lined up at the bottom to catch the tumbling competitors.

Three men's downhill races and one women's downhill race took place between midday and 1:30pm.

Winners of

Crowds gathered to mark the coming of summer with a traditional Celtic fire festival held at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.

The experimental archaeology site in Waterlooville hosted the burning of a 40ft wicker man at dusk to mark the pagan quarter-day farming celebration of Beltane or Beltain, which has connections to later May Day celebrations.

The May Queen and Green Man were in attendance, as were members of the Pentacle Drummers who performed in front of the burning wicker man.

One of the UK's oldest surviving festivals has taken place in Cornwall.

May Day in Padstow is a celebration of the Celtic feast of Beltane, which pays tribute to the fast approach of summer.

Padstow's narrow streets were at the heart of the party.

There was a procession with dancers, drums, and music makers and the celebrations went on until midnight.

Padstow's two 'Obby 'Oss - wooden hobby horse costumes - are paraded through the town for the celebrations every year.

The ancient tradition has brought thousands of people to the streets of the town, cheering for either the blue or red ribbon hobby horses.

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The exact origin of the centuries-old 'Obby 'Oss celebration is unknown, however it is thought it could be linked to the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane.

It sees the 'Obby 'Oss dance through the streets of Padstow to welcome the coming of summer.

...

In 2019, a woman died after being struck by one of the wooden costumes.

Laura Smallw

Bonfires, blazing torches, body-painted dancers, drummers, jugglers, musicians, fire-eaters, ancient Celtic rituals and a spectacular backdrop.

No, it’s not a scene from cult film The Wicker Man.

It’s what you can expect at the annual Beltane Fire Festival taking place in Edinburgh capital this week.

Beltane is held each year on the last day of April, continuing overnight into May Day, to mark the arrival of summer and celebrate new life and fertility.

The event, which first began in 1988 as a protest against rave laws and a way to reclaim green spaces, includes modern interpretations of rituals and customs with roots dating back to the Iron Age. And fire. Lots of fire.

The May Queen, as her name implies, presides over the show, guiding a procession of drummers and performers around the city’s landmark Calton Hill and acting out healing rites.

During her journey she interacts with the Green Man in ceremonies symbolising the birth of summer.

Knutsford May Day festivities usually take place on the first Saturday of May each year and are the highlight of the town’s annual events.

...

Funding for May Day is largely by donation, and each year, it is a struggle to ensure 'the show goes ahead' with much effort and dedication from the organisers.

It first took place in 1864 when the May Queen was Annie Sarah Pollitt, aged 14, the daughter of the licensee at the Lord Eldon pub.

Interestingly, Annie married Edwin Jackson in 1870. Although she started married life running a pub called the Crown Inn in Dukinfield, she later moved to the Feathers in Knutsford, located just next door to the Lord Eldon.

There are many rumours that Annie haunts the Lord Eldon, with reports of flickering lights, moving objects, a white apparition, and unidentified cold draughts.

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A fair and Morris dancing takes place on the Heath, and many attendees wear fancy dress with historical and elaborate outfits.

...

Anothe

A village has been taken over by popular sci-fi figures replicated in scarecrow form, including E.T. and the Daleks from Doctor Who.

More than 50 installations are on display for the annual Wray Scarecrow Festival in Lancashire.

One of the organisers, John Gordon, said: "There are quite a few E.T.s around - on the bike, of course.

"We've got a number of Daleks, characters from Star Wars, and there's an amazing one from Planet Of The Apes."

...

Mr Gordon added: "There was one person who had his family eating yoghurts for two weeks so they could get the all pots to stick on a Dalek."

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The festival - which began in the early 1990s - has an origin story as quirky as the scarecrows on offer.

"It started off by accident," Mr Gordon said.

"One of our people who lives here had gone to France on holiday and they saw what they thought was a man hanging off a tree and they were a bit worried about that, so they went into the local village to see what was h

The church has what is believed to be the oldest written reference to morris dancing in Sussex.

Martin Frost, spokesperson for SVM, said: "The 1561 records of St Andrew's Church, West Tarring, mention the oldest written reference to morris dancing in Sussex with a five shilling payment for their bells.

"To mark this 500-year link, a very timely and much-appreciated donation to Sompting Village Morris was presented at the Sunday service to help fund our 2024 apprentice bells."

The dancers were delighted to receive the donation on April 14 and Martin took to the microphone to explain the link between the Tarring Parish accounting and a local morris dancing side.

He said: "We have been dancing for at least 40 years, which is nothing compared to the connection that we have with this church, which we discovered a few years ago.

"According to the parish records, there was a donation made by the churchwarden. It seems very appropriate to re-enliven this tradition and we

I thought I'd posted about this before but it's now come up a couple of times on here:

Formed in the hinterland between the bucolic and the eerie, Weird Walk began as three friends walking an ancient trackway across southern England wearing incorrect footwear. Being out in the countryside for extended periods, away from screens and distractions, not only refreshed our brains but sparked a creative enthusiasm for the countless stories in the landscape that we yomped across. We spent three transformative days and nights on the Wessex Ridgeway, stopping off at Neolithic burial chambers, sacred hills, Iron Age earthworks, misreading maps, and sleeping in haunted pubs, all the while slowly becoming aware that the further from the towns and cities we walked, the wider the temporal boundaries grew.

Here was the land of Silbury Hill and Avebury stone circle, of Wayland the Smith and the great Uffington White Horse, who

A Leicestershire man who has been running an ancient bottle kicking event for 50 years said it "never ceases to amaze" him.

Phil Allan, chairman of the organising committee, believes the Hallaton Bottle Kicking game is the "oldest continuing sporting event in Britain".

Two teams from the villages of Hallaton and Medbourne compete to move two of three barrels to the opposition's stream.

The event takes place on Easter Monday.

Mr Allan told the BBC: "Legend has it, it's probably been going on for 2,000 years.

"People who come for the first time and see the event just cannot believe how unusual it is.

"The whole area is charged with an electric atmosphere."

The event is preceded by a parade of a hare pie, which is handed out to spectators by the village rector.

...

"People can't believe how rough it is," Mr Allan said.

"Of course, there are injuries. Quite often there's some broken legs, collarbones. I guess that's part of the taking part."

They include:

Good Friday

Bun Ceremony

• The Widow’s Son Tavern, Bromley-by-Bow, London
• For over two hundred years a bun has been added every Good Friday to a collection preserved at the Tavern. The name and the custom derive from an 18th century widow who hoped that her missing sailor son would eventually come home safely if she continued to save a bun every Easter.

Pace-Egg Play

• Upper Calder Valley, Yorkshire
• A traditional masked mime or mumming play, based upon the legend of St George and featuring such colourful characters as Toss Pot. The pace-egg being the Pasch or Easter Egg.

Easter Saturday

The Nutters’ Dance

• Bacup, Lancashire
• Not a traditional Morris Dance as such, this most unusual dance is performed by an eight-man team with blackened faces and wearing black and white costumes with wooden cups attached.

Easter Monday

Biddenden Dole

• Biddenden, Kent
• Biddenden cakes are distributed as part of an ancient charity known as the Biddenden Dole. Each

From The Derbyshire Telegraph:

Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football is said to be the last surviving example of mass football and is one of only a handful of games of its kind to be played annually in the streets of the UK. There are records of mass football being played as early as 1667, but Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide's origins are unknown due to a fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the 1890s, which destroyed the earliest records.

But we know the modern game follows a very similar format to how it would have looked centuries ago, with tradition at its core, and sportsmanship and rivalry at its beating heart. Every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday the town is divided by the Henmore Brook. Traditionally, those born north of the river are Up'ards, and those born south of it are Down'ards.

These two sides lock horns on both days, with the game starting at 2pm when an invi