The 2011 Maypole Festival is nearly upon us! Preparations are well underway and we look forward to bringing you a highly enjoyable and memorable day. As you might expect, putting on a festival that caters for several thousand people involves a great deal of time and effort, and also the assistance of local volunteers.

At the time of writing, we could still use a little help, and would ask you to consider giving us an hour or so of your time on the day. As well as giving you a chance to meet your fellow villagers, you can go home feeling all ‘warm and fuzzy’… knowing you have played your part in the day’s events!

Pole carriers

The maypole is due to be raised at 11AM, however we need your assistance in carrying it from its current resting place to its home in The Cross. If you would like to participate,  simply assemble at the entrance to Hall Tower at 10AM. Willing volunteers will be given exact instructions on what to do by a representative of the Maypole Trust (probably something along the lines of “up, “forward”, “stop” and “down”!).

Parking attendants

The Parish Council have (very kindly) given us permission to use Jack Heap’s Field as a temporary car park between 9.30AM and 5PM.

This needs to be properly managed, and a minimum of 2 attendants should be in situ at any time (one to direct cars to spaces, and one to collect donations). Volunteers from ‘Barwick in Bloom’ will be staffing the car park between 9.30AM and 12.30, but we need some helpers to cover between 12.30 & 4.30 (we would suggest 2 x 2 hourly shifts).

As an incentive (if you are a local charity or not for profit organisation)… any donations you collect you can keep! The car park will be signposted, but attendants should bring their own collection buckets and high visibility vests (these are available for sale on-line for less than £2 each). If you are able to help, please drop us a quick line via the contact form and we will get right back to you.

Take down team

The climax of the Maypole Festival is the climbing of the pole. After this, the village tends to empty quite quickly (except for those staying in the pub!). There is still a lot of work to be done at this stage however. Staging, gates, barriers, market stalls and posters all need to be taken down and transported away, and Hall Tower needs to be scoured for litter.

If you would like to help, simply make yourself known to a member of the Maypole Trust Committee (who will be wearing a red, white and blue rosette) at the end of the festival (around 5PM). ‘Many hands make light work’ and your help will be very much appreciated at the end of a day that began at 5AM for some of the team!

Other ways you can help

If you can’t help in any of the above ways, you can still assist us by sending us your photos (and movies) or becoming a Friend of the pole. Please support the Maypole Trust in anyway you can… remember it is your village, your festival and your maypole!

We’re delighted to announce our brave young Maypole climber for 2011… local lad, Chris Brown! Chris will have the unenviable task of climbing the 86 foot pole around 5PM (in front of the whole village) to mark the climax of the Maypole Festival on Monday 30th May.

Most locals will know all too well why we have a maypole climber, but some visitors may (understandably) be wondering exactly how this role came about.

The traditional maypole raising technique made it necessary for a climber (usually a local farm lad) to ascend the pole to in order to detach the hoisting ropes. After this, he would attempt to continue to the very top of the pole to give the fox weather vane a customary spin (a superstition thought to bring good luck to the village). This was a feat of extreme bravery, and a local spectacle which has been enjoyed (and remembered) by many people for decades.

Whilst the current method for raising the pole has changed, the Maypole Trust wishes to maintain as much of the old tradition as possible, and the customary maypole climber and ‘fox spin’ attempt is part of this.

This will be Chris’s second attempt at climbing the pole (having previously attempted it in 2005). Chris is currently in training, and is in excellent hands. His mentor is (four times) former pole climber and local hero David Crabtree. “I’m taking this really seriously” says Chris… “I’m training five or six days a week, and have lost a stone in weight since I started. I have put my all into this training and getting as fit as I can (I have even given up the drink now) so we will see on the day, and with a bit of luck that fox will spin!”.

At the end of the climb, it is tradition for the Maypole Trust Committee to circulate the crowd to make a collection for the climber. All proceeds from this collection traditionally go to the climber for his help and support (and display of courage of course!). Given the amount of effort Chris is putting into his training, we ask all visitors on the day to give generously, so please don’t forget to bring your loose change (and spare notes for that matter!).

We recently caught up with Chris at a recent training session (in a top secret location) to ask the questions we thought you would like to have answered…
 
Q. How old are you?
A. 30.
 
Q. Where were you born?
A. Leeds
 
Q. Where do you live now?
A. Micklefield.
 
Q. Where did you go to school?
A. Barwick Church of England Primary School.
 
Q. What hobbies do you have?
A. Keeping fit, rugby, and shooting.
 
Q. What do you do for a living?
A. I am self employed. I do landscape gardening, property maintenance and farming… all in the local area.
 
Q. What’s your first memory of the Barwick Maypole Festival?
A. Maypole dancing as a child at school, and Dave Crabtree climbing the maypole.
 
Q. What made you decide to climb the pole?
A. It’s always been a local farm lad that’s climbed it so growing up on a local farm it has always been seen as a bit of a challenge.
 
Q. What is the most difficult part of the climb?
A. Probably the last 5-10 feet when the body is beginning to get tired.
 
Q. Do you have a special technique?
A. Yes, but that would be telling!
 
Q. Do you need to wear special clothing?
A. Just straps round the bottom of my trousers to stop them riding up.
 
Q. How long do you expect to be ‘up’ the pole?
A. How long is a piece of string? Not a clue really, but quick as I can… as the longer I am up there the more tired I’ll get!
 
Q. Do you get scared?
A. No. That never came into it last time (there was too much adrenalin flowing!).
 
Q. How do you practise?
A. That would also be telling! But there is a rope, a ladder and something else involved!
 
Q. What do you remember the most from your last climb?
A. The rope getting tangled round my legs… it meant I was working against the rope, which made the climb really difficult.
 
Q. How confident are you this year?
A. It’s not good to be over confident… but I’ll give it everything I have.
 
Q. What do your family and friends think about you climbing?
A. Everyone is behind me, they may think I am a little nuts but they are behind me and that’s all that matters.
 
Q. Do you have any concerns or worries.
A. The only real concern I have is the weather… if it rains, the pole will be very slippy, and it is less likely I will make it. I may also end up with paint on my T-shirt, if the gloss hasn’t quite cured properly, but that’s not exactly a big deal!”.
 
Q. Have you any tips or requests for the assembled crowd?
A. When I get to the splice bracket I am going to need a minute or two to catch get my breath. After that I will go for it. All support is welcome, and the crowd can shout as much support encouragement as they want!
 

The 2011 Maypole Queen candidates pose for the Wetherby News photographer

The pupils, staff and parents of Barwick-in-Elmet C of E Primary gathered at the school yesterday evening for the much anticipated election of the 2011 Maypole Queen. The atmosphere was tense as each candidate stood up to give their proposed speech for the Maypole Festival (which will be made in front of the Mayor of Leeds and will be heard by several thousand visitors).

The election was overseen by Head Teacher Peter Doherty, and the winning candidate announced by Maypole Trust Chairman, Nigel Trotter. Several members of the Maypole Trust Commiitte and a photographer from the Wetherby News were were also present.

The Trust would like to offer congratulations to the newly elected Maypole Queen, Lucia Harker, and Azure Ford, who will be Maid-of-Honour. We would also like to thank the staff and pupils at the school for helping us to maintain this long-standing tradition.

Congratulations go to Lucia Harker – our newly elected Maypole Queen!

We’re delighted to announce that the Maypole has once again been successfully lowered! A good crowd of villagers gathered around on an unusually warm Easter Monday Bank Holiday to witness the 86 foot pole being taken down.

A platform lift was used to attach crane lifting gear to the Maypole, whilst a team of locals (brightly clad in high visibility vests and hard hats) worked hard to manually remove the tarmac and soil from around the base using pick axes and shovels.

Once safely lowered, the garlands and fox weather vane were removed and put on display. The Maypole was then split into its two sections and then carried by a willing team of volunteers to Hall Tower Field (where it will rest in place until the Maypole Festival on the 30th May).

The Maypole was inspected by the Trust committee, and was considered to be in very good condition (and suitable for re-erection). The only minor problem identified was that the fox weather vane appeared to be stuck in one position… indicating that the wind in Barwick never changes, something all villagers know not to be true!

The Maypole is once again to be re-painted by Carl and Kath Whitfield… a job which takes 80-90 hours. With Easter falling so late this year, there are only 5 weeks to get the job done.. this also leaves very little time to parade the garlands around the village!

The Maypole committee would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone that turned up on the day to help to carry the pole. If you couldn’t make it to the event, you can view some photos of the day in our photo gallery.

We’re delighted to announce that the Harrogate Band will be heading up this year’s Maypole Queen Procession, and will also be playing in Hall Tower Field. Established in 1970, the the Band has established itself as the “premier brass band in the local area” playing a wide range of brass, swing, and jazz music.

The band will be performing the full 10 minute version of ‘Barwick Green‘ which most people will recognise as the theme tune from Radio 4′s long running drama ‘The Archers‘.

Nick Garrett, Events & Concerts Manager had the following to say: “We really look forward to playing ‘Barwick Green’ at the Barwick-in-Elmet Maypole Festival… it is highly appropriate given that the music was written about Barwick, and its composer (Arthur Wood) lived in Harrogate. By coincidence, we even mentioned Barwick-in-Elmet at a recent concert”.

You can learn more about the Harrogate Band at their website www.harrogateband.org. Below is a clip of the band in action, at the Durham Miners Gala in 2010.
 
 

 
And if you can’t wait until the festival to hear the ‘Barwick Green’ theme, you can listen to it by clicking on the clip below!