DON’T bother checking the TV news or downloading another weather app to your phone. This summer will be magnificent, filled with glorious blue skies and the sight of bumper crops soaking up the sunshine.
And it’s all thanks to the brave and hardy souls of the Traditional Ilmington Morris Men who set their alarms early on May Day morning to welcome in the summer.
Starting in the relative gloom of a Sunday morning, the morris side performed on the Ilmington Downs until the sun appeared over Sunrising Hill, unhindered by clouds, over the horizon.
They continued their May Day tour through the village to the Red Lion Inn for a well earned breakfast.
And if the ancient beliefs that sun on the first day of summer serves as a forecast of more to come then the dancers will need their hankies not just for waving but for mopping their brows.
