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The Times & The Sunday Times
The Times & The Sunday Times
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PHOTOGRAPHY

Festivals, flowers and football — how Britain went nuts for May

From May Day celebrations to spring days out at the seaside, we take a nostalgic journey through the Times archive

Children running past a one-man band at Epsom Downs on Derby Sunday.
Derby Day in May 1948
LAWRIE FOR THE TIMES
Michael-John Jennings
The Times

Spring is in full bloom as we approach the end of the month. The changing seasons are heralded with a variety of enduring customs and activities across the UK.

From May Day and maypole dancing to birdsong and blossoming gardens, it is a season of change and renewal. Unnamed children run hand in hand past a one-man band on the Epsom Downs during Derby Day in May 1948 in the joyous image above.

This collection of photographs from the Times archive reflects on springtime in the month of May, from the horticultural delights of the Chelsea Flower Show to celebrations of the FA Cup Final.

A letter to the editor of The Times in 1931 from a Herbert HB Walton recalled a May Day song reflecting on the season of faith and renewal: “A bunch of May I bring to you./ And at your door I stand:/ It is but a little, but is serves to show/ The work of God’s own hand.”

Black and white photo of a May Day celebration, featuring a May Queen and a man holding a pint.
Greeting the May Queen — a girl who rides or walks at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations — at Ickwell, Bedfordshire in 1936
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Children dancing around a maypole at a May Day celebration.
Pony rides and dancing around the maypole during celebrations at the village of Gaddesden in 1946
BILL WARHURST FOR THE TIMES
Black and white photo of villagers folk dancing outside a pub.
Whitsun folk mark the seventh Sunday after Easter by Morris dancing in the village of Leverstock Green in Hertfordshire in May 1950
MICHAEL GOUGH FOR THE TIMES
Crowds at a funfair with a roller coaster and other rides.
Thousands visit the Festival of Britain funfair at Battersea Park in London in 1951
BILL WARHURST FOR THE TIMES
People relaxing by a pond in Regent's Park.
A sunny spell in 1944 has Londoners flocking to relax in the shade of Regents Park
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Black and white photo of Eastbourne beach with people relaxing on deck chairs and swimming in the sea.
Eastbourne beach in May 1945, packed with sunseekers relaxing in deckchairs and braving the water
ERIC GREENWOOD FOR THE TIMES
Two women on a rocky beach in Torquay, Devon.
Holidaymakers in Torquay hit the beach in style in 1956
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE TIMES
Man reading newspaper in Trafalgar Square fountain.
Trafalgar Square in London provides a place to cool off and catch up on the headlines during a hot day in 1976
BILL WARHURST FOR THE TIMES
Eton College students relaxing on the grass with their hats beside them.
Pupils at Eton College rest on the grass in front of Windsor Castle in 1948
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Football fans walk past women promoting a new shop in Carnaby Street.
Football fans walk past two women promoting a shop in Carnaby Street, on their way to the 1966 FA Cup Final between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
Black and white photo of people carrying plants and flowers at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1960.
Finely dressed attendees of the 1960 Chelsea Flower Show make their way to the gardens
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE TIMES
Black and white photo of a large crowd at a stadium.
The 1953 FA Cup final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War
HORACE TONGE FOR THE TIMES
Black and white photo of women at the Chelsea Flower Show in 1960, looking at flowers.
Food for thought as a group of women take in a display at the 1960 Chelsea Flower Show
STANLEY DEVON FOR THE TIMES
Black and white photo of Alan Titchmarsh with his family and dog in their garden.
Alan Titchmarsh with his wife, Alison, and their children Polly, nine, and Camilla, six, in 1989
DENZIL MCNEELANCE FOR THE TIMES
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