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School May Day

May Day pageantry at Hobbayne School

Amateur film 1969 13 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

Pagan pageantry as boys and girls of a school in Hanwell crown the Queen of May and dance around the maypole.

The 16mm stock provides lushness to this celebration of spring at Hobbayne School, which was named after William Hobbayne, a prominent philanthropist in the 15th century. Students can be seen caught up in the gaiety of the day, performing traditional maypole and Morris dancing, while on the less conventional side there's scenes from a production of Robin Hood.