Mayday at Chesterton Windmill

At the unfeasibly, hitherto unknown hour of 4am (yes, that’s AM!) on Saturday 1st May, I and 5 other intrepid fools adventurers set out to Chesterton Windmill to join members of the Hereburgh Morris to greet the dawn in a tradition as old as the windmill itself.

Although during the night before we had witnessed more rain than Noah, when the appointed hour arrived to actually haul one’s ass out of bed (as it were) the rain clouds had scattered and the first vestiges of light were appearing. Cursing this rapid meteorological transformation, I gathered the camera gear and headed off to join the others with the promise of sausage batches later keeping me going.

Once up at t’ mill we joined a crowd of nearly four (not including the actual Morris Dancers) who were already in full swing with sticks and hankies flying in unison. In no time at all the sun crept up from behind a clump of trees and the event was over almost as quickly as it had begun. With photos in the bag ready to be processed and sent to my friend Matthew (who had organised the jaunt) for inclusion in the local newspaper we were back off down the hill and heading back for breakfast.

Although it’s an extreme rarity that I am ever anywhere near conscious at that time in the morning, I was really glad that I’d made the effort as dawn truly is the best time of the day – particularly in terms of the light.

Below are a few of the photos from the morning.