May Day in South London

Hot off the press, this new pamphlet published by Past Tense covers the history of May Day festivities in South London from ancient times through to the present day. It covers both the traditional seasonal customs and the more recent May Day socialist and anarchist demonstrations, and indeed shows how these 'green' and 'red' elements of May Day have become interwined over the last 100 years.

This pamphlet includes the stories of Walworth and Bromley May Queens, May Games in Greenwich Park and Shooters Hill, the Deptford Jack in the Green, demonstrations in Bermondsey and Woolwich, Horse Parades on the Old Kent Road, Maypoles in Kennington and St Mary Cray, festivals on Clapham Common and at Crystal Palace. The cast includes Henry VIII, Robin Hood, John Ruskin, milkmaids, chimney sweeps, Bermondsey Settlement, Woolwich Children's Co-operative Guild, North Camberwell Radical Club, the New Cross National Union of Railwaymen and the Dulwich College National Union of School Students.

May Day in South London: a History by Neil Transpontine (Past Tense Publications, 2011), 50 pages, A5, £3.00. Available to order online (£3.50 including P&P) - see box in right hand bar.

Also available from:

- Bookseller Crow, 50 Westow Street, Crystal Palace SE19

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- The Review Bookshop, 131 Bellenden Road, Peckham SE15

- Woolfson and Tay Bookshop, Bermondsey Square, SE1.
- 56a Info Shop, 56a Crampton Street, SE17.

You can buy a Kindle digital book version from Amazon for £1.49 plus VAT (£1.72 in total)

The pamphlet will also be available at next Thursday's South East London Folklore Society May Day event, where I will be talking on the subject of the pamphlet.