We used to have May Day celebrations at my boarding school and my abiding memories are of being forced to wear a summer dress and dance around a pole in drizzle and near freezing temperatures 🥶 Afterwards we were allowed to have eggs for breakfast by way of compensation. In a good year only a couple of girls would end up.in san with hypothermia.

Last week May morning was near perfect weather. I drove to the coast with my adopted daughter (who is of a different "ethnicity" to me) and we swam in the sea with some other ladies as the sun rose.

Sadly, another reason: so many villages now, especially in attractive parts of the country, have been hollowed out by the second-homes and holiday-lets (including Air B-and-B, and similar) trades.

Few local people can afford to live there, there are few if any local services and the metropolitan weekenders' contributions to village life is mainly frequenting the local pub... if that still exists.