Lynn Moore, the publisher of my latest book, The Children's Book of Richard III, is not only a friend, she also happens to be my local city councillor. So when she rang to ask if I would like to be her guest at this year's Lord Mayor Making Ceremony I jumped at the chance. It was a fascinating occasion full of splendour and ceremony. We emerged from the Town Hall to a barrage of drum music and an opportunity to take photos.
This is Lord Mayor Joshi with his wife, the Lady Mayoress:
And the entire ceremony was overviewed by the Mace Bearer:
Don't they look amazing in their outfits? But two days later I was back in town for the Annual Joint Morris Men Day of Dance which this year was held in Leicester. If you think the Lord Mayor was fancily dressed, take a look at this lot. Wherever there was a space, they were dancing in it.
This dance was taking place in Leicester Market:
Some players from Bury St. Edmonds were waiting to go on next:
Over in the Cathedral Gardens there was a lively group from Solihull, banging sticks, shouting 'Hoy!' and thrusting their sticks skyward:
Like I said, you can't beat a bit of pomp and pegeantry.
One of my very old friends had a partner who was a morris dancer - and it's much more energetic than it looks. As she said, 'It's all very virile, but they're good for nothing afterwards!'
ReplyDeleteHi Ros - we do certainly do it well - what a great treat being able to be at the Lord Mayor's ceremony ... and then all the Morris Dancing pageantry ... thanks for putting them up for us ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteLove.
ReplyDeleteso impressive. Wow. Indeed tough to beat that pageantry
ReplyDeleteThey all look fabulous, Ros! I really enjoy Morris dancing! Lovely to see it is still being done around the country.
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
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