Crafty in the Med

I am here to enjoy meeting other bloggers and to share my love of craft ,mostly crochet, my thoughts and my daily happenings here in Alicante,Spain, my adopted country. I belong to a local choir because singing and music makes me happy. Flea markets and book shops are two of my favourite places to be. I read lots......sci´fi/fantasy,buried treasure, and off world adventures. I have a passion for history! I walk and walk and walk for about 10 months per year during the hot months I swim.

Tuesday 5 April 2016

Traditions...old...old traditions!

Putting my hometown on the map!
I've heard people say Minehead in West Somerset is in the back of beyond,nothing there,rural,small and it's behind the times ect...ect...    Which I certainly disagree with but ... THEY can say what they like!!!
However there is no getting away from the fact that Minehead is beautiful!




The Gateway to Exmoor park!!




 






 




 

 I'd jump at the chance to buy a little cottage there!


Right so what has bought about these poignant thoughts of home ...there is a reason!




 I shall be giving another Public talk at the Business College at the end of this month and this time I have chosen to  focus on   "Familiarity with English Culture and Traditions is imperative in English Language Learning" as the topic of the talk and being a Somerset gal from Minehead I am going to talk about a very old May tradition which takes place in my hometown.
The Hobby Horse... or as we say in the West Country dialect "obby oss" .


"HAIL TO THE ANCIENT KING OF MAY"



I believe there are just two places left in the British Isles where this tradition still continues, Minehead and Padstow in Cornwall. I have been doing my homework these last few months and the deeper I delved into this tradition the more interesting I found it. 

Do you know Minehead has been welcoming the King of May (The Hobby Horse) since the 9th century! The origin of the Hobby Horse is somewhat blurry but it seems it goes back to some jolly celebrations after a victory,that of scaring away some rather nasty Vikings who had their eyes on plunder! 

There is more of course but I'll leave you this link so you can read all about it


The Hobby Horse



Amanda :-)