Burford Dragon

The ancient region of Merca lives on in a collection of old clothes horses, curtains and papier mache. Plus twenty-four willing young volunteers.

The dragon is said to have been the symbol of the ancient Mercian King Uther Pendragon. In AD 752, when the forces of Mercia were slaughtered by the Saxons at the battle of Burford, the dragon lay dying. That legend has been celebrated in the Oxfordshire town on mid summer eve for hundreds of years. Here we see the 1980 version: local children inside a homemade dragon. A long way from King Arthur perhaps but it's good to see something so old survives into the modern era.