Knutsford "Royal" Mayday under threat? Whatever next?

I see from my local paper, that a Knutsfordian tradition going back to 1864 is in danger of being allowed to die through lack of cash.

Knutsford Royal Mayday (the "Royal" part deriving from the fact that the event was apparently attended, on one occasion, by the actual reigning monarch) is something I and countless other townsfolk grew up with. Rumour has it that one of my great grandparents was once May Queen. Certainly, a cousin of mine (now, sadly, deceased) was Crown-bearer in the 1950s; and three generations of my family - from my late Dad to my sons - religiously took part. In fact, we've all been "Beefeaters" at one time or another.

Mayday is by far the biggest event in Cranford's social calendar, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. Admittedly, many of these come as much for the fact that the largest funfair in the Northwest is in town for the weekend (longer, actually). But the festival itself is very traditional, in the sense that- apart from the occasional horse-drawn brewery dray - it is entirely non-commercial. And it is almost exclusively children who take part in it, these being attired in a diversity of splendid costumes. I recently saw an estimate of as many as 600 children involved.

Having said it is non-commercial, it does act as a significant source of income for local charities, thanks to the army of eager collectors who generously give up their time on the day.
(And, incidentally, it also enables local hostelries to make an ABSOLUTE MINT!).

But the event itself does not raise money for its own survival. On the other hand, it is very expensive to put on. Much of this cost goes into policing, especially owing to the fact that routes through the town have to be temporarily closed.

The thought of Knutsford without its Mayday is a bit like the thought of Cheshire without Jodrell Bank (don't forget to sign the petition, by the way).

I read a good suggestion today that those taking part could be asked to pay a small fee - say £2. This seems to me to be a reasonable and modest amount, yet it could really make a big difference. Actually, I think it should be made optional, and the amount left to people's discretion: if we value the tradition that much then we will be willing to pay for it. Knutsford is famous for being pretty well-heeled, after all. On the other hand (and perhaps not so well-recognised by the outside world) it is also home to many much less well-off families for whom it would be totally wrong to impose any financial hurdle to their participation.

Surely, those of us who can afford it would be prepared to dig into our pockets to save this gem of ours?

See my blog post and the pictures I took of the 2006 festival here

Here's a thought: how about a local "Mayday Tax"?

What do you think?

Mike