This talk will look at some of the weird and wonderful events and traditions that take place across the country to mark the passing of the year, from dressing head-to-toe in chaff as a ‘Straw Bear’ in the cold Cambridgeshire Fens in January, chasing cheeses down a precipitous Gloucestershire hillside at Whitsun, to carrying flaming tar barrels on one’s shoulders in a sleepy Devon market town on Guy Fawkes Night.  As well as describing what happens now, we will attempt to trace the history of such traditions, sometimes with surprising results: some are genuinely old, some more recent, whilst some are modern revivals of older events.  Perhaps your own ancestors even took part!

Refreshments are available.  We have a branch library covering a wide range of family history topics from which members may borrow books.  There is also a car park outside the hall.

The meeting is FREE to members of Berkshire Family History Society but we request a donation of £5 from non-members. 

Photograph:  Jack in the Green