After a weekend of training, Saturday and Sunday, I find that today is a Bank Holiday in the UK, May Day.
Unlike some countries around the world that have May 1st as the official May Day holiday, the UK stays with allocating the holiday on a Monday.
Having nothing to do except my washing and ironing, and no-one to talk to, I decided to have a walk down into Kingston upon Thames, and I was soon amongst the celebrations and crowds, families, friends, enjoying the shopping and festivities.
One group caught my eye, some dancers.
These dancers are traditional to the UK, and are called Morris Dancers. It is an English Folk dance, usually accompanied by accordion music, with the dancers, again usually dressed in white, wearing bells around their legs, and flowers in their hats.
The dancing itself is very rythmic, and the dancers usually have some implement, sticks, swords etc, that they use in the dance, and is thought to date back to the 15th century.
In this short clip, you can see the OFF-SPRING MORRIS from Kingston upon Thames.
Yes we have some strange customs in the UK.