Hastings Old Town Carnival Week - Part Three!

I love the Old Town Street Party, There are some stalls and live music, performances and fun for the whole family! This year saw in some rather grim weather throughout the day so the evening event wasn't quite as busy as previous years, but it was still good fun.

There were fresh locally grown vegetables for sale...

delicious fudge and sweets...

Tush and Pat were cooking their famous "fishermans rolls"

and entertainers juggling fire...

Aaaargh! What a motley crew! My family get quite enthusiastic each year about the Hastings Pirate Day... and this year was no different! Last year Hastings held (if a little briefly, damn you Penzance... I'm not bitter!) the world record for the most pirates in one place. We didn't go for another record breaking attempt this year however, we did a worlds first instead! We were part of the worlds first human skull and crossbones!

We pirates all mustered on the beach where the shape had been mapped out for us to fill... then the helicopter flew over and took aerial photographs...

My cousin's husband was the official photographer for the events and was at the top of the cherry-picker to capture the moment! Unfortunately I couldnt track down a copy of the aerial photograph, but it looked brilliant!

The rest of the day was filled with piratey fun - here's Will Turner sword fighting as Captain Jack Sparrow looks on...

There was a brilliant band playing the stage in the afternoon, called the Sex Pirates... They were great fun, and you couldn't help but dance along to their shanty-based tunes with a twist!

May Day Mayhem! Jack in the Green and Motorbikes Galore!

May Day in my home town of Hastings is a big event. Not only is there the fantastic Jack in the Green procession and events but over 30,000 bikers descend on the town. Both of these traditions have been around for over 25 years now and it always amazes me how much everyone in the town gets into it and how many people visit the town to join in with the festivities!

The "Jack" led the procession along with The Bogies and Black Sal. There were chimney sweeps, Morris dancing troupes, the May Queen, the Giants, Sambalanco and rumpledrumskin drummers as well as some green and fabulously dressed participants! If, as watchers of the procession, you aren't wearing green then the Bogies "green" you - basically you get a splodge of green facepaint on your nose! It's all very random, but perfectly normal in the madness of Hastings Old Town of course!

All Saints Street was totally filled with people as the procession came through to the rythm of drums.

Every May Day, houses, pubs and shops in the Old Town adorn their houses with ribbons and leaves and most people wore leaves and flower garlands in their hair (including me!). Everything was so pretty! I think it should be a rule that the ribbons, leaves and flowers should stay all year round!

Some of the costumes were amazing!

The giants in All Saints Street

There is practically no event in Hastings that doesn't involve drumming and I love it!

After the procession had weaved its way through the narrow Old Town streets it wound up in Hastings Castle grounds where there was dancing, beer tents, sea shanties, and celebrations ending in the "slaying of the Jack" to see in Summer.

Every street was absolutely FILLED with people!

Oh... and bikes too! Every year more and more of the carparks, pavements, even the middle of the road, is filled with motorbikes. Bikers travel from around the county, and from afar to spend a (usually) sunny May Day in Hastings. This year the weather was amazing and there seemed to be even more bikers than ever!

The main carpark

... and here is a random guy dressed as a knight posing on the cliffs near the Castle - only in Hastings! :D

Just to finish off this post here's my outfit for the day... with my new Cath Kidston polka dot bag - courtesy of my generous mum and dad as a "well done" for a successful teaching pool interview.

How did you spend May Day? Does your town have any traditions?

ATL Conference - Liverpool 2011

As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to be invited along to the ATL conference this week in Liverpool. It was such an incredible experience. I met some absolutely wonderful people, listened to some inspiring speeches, voted on motions and generally got well and truly into the spirit of conference!

As a trainee teacher I was invited along as an ATL Future delegate and I got to know some lovely fellow trainees and NQ's over the course of the 4 days in Liverpool. I surprised myself a bit too, I found myself incredibly passionate about a particular motion on "risk-averse mentality" in schools. So much so that I decided to take myself up to the podium and speak as part of the debate on the subject. It was ever so slightly nerve-wracking speaking up on stage in front of several hundred, experienced and inspiring, teachers. But the feedback I recieved from everyone was lovely afterwards. Despite my heart pounding in my chest and feeling decidedly shaky about the whole thing, apparently I spoke concisely and confidently! (BBC news reported on the motion here)

We were based in the BT Conference centre down by the docks and the big wheel

I love the juxtapositon of new and old buildings

Some of the wonderful people I met, enjoying Conference meal!

More lovely people!

Even more lovely people!

It was so nice to meet so many like-minded people, we had a real laugh and it was great to met someone else who loves a good sea shanty! :D

The starter of watermelon, feta, pancetta, rocket and sweet chilli was lovely!

The chicken, carrots, potatoes and sugar snap peas were gorgeous too!

Beatlez provided entertainment for the evening

Our final night in the hotel... hopefully I will be able to attend the informal ATL Future Steering Group meetings so I can stay involved and see everyone again! So I'd like to say a big thank you to ATL, and the ATL Future bunch who made the four days so comepletely brilliant!

Imelda May at Leeds Academy - Imeldamazing!

I've been waiting for this gig since September as it was rescheduled.... and it was well worth the wait! I donned a floral dress and headed to Leeds Academy with Danny and it was a thoroughly brilliant night. If you ever get the chance to see Imelda and her band, then you simply must go! I love the fusion of rockabilly with a dash of jazz and blues and every song they played was fantastic.

Imelda's band is full of some seriously talented people - Darrel on lead guitar played some amazing solos. Then there was Al Gare on the double bass (visit his blog for back stage info from the road Here, Gare and Everywhere), Steve Rushton on the drums and Dave Priseman on the trumpet, percussion, horn and guitar. Of course there is Imelda herself too!

Imelda's voice was amazing. It can be disappointing to see a band play live where the vocals are a bit flat and don't sound like recorded material.... this was in no way the case for Imelda! Her voice, if anything, sounded better than the recorded songs.

They played all of my favourite songs from Mayhem and Love Tattoo - but I think the highlights, for me, were Big Bad Handsome Man (my ultimate fave!), Johnny Got a Boom Boom, Inside Out (both versions), Tainted Love, Psycho, Let Me Out, and Kentish Town Waltz.

Imelda looked amazing with her trademark two-tone quiff, red lipstick, curve-hugging gingham dress and some serious heels! The whole band just oozed cool.