The Poms have always been a strange lot!

The Poms have always been a strange lot (and that’s coming from an Aussie Welshman who should know!) not really celebrating St George’s day in any big way, but it appears that this is about to change with a heap of things happening this year on or around April 23 this year the big St George’s Day.

Across the borders, The Welsh have always made a big thing of St David’s day, coming up very soon on March 1, so get out your leeks and daffs and the same applies to the Scots, although I have always been nervous about a nation where the guys wear skirts – that is until I was told recently that in times gone by, the Welsh also wore kilts – they must have got it wrong!!

The other thing I find incongruous for a nation of such patriots is that none of the patron saints days are public holidays, yet here in Aus we have Australia Day and very strangely the Queen’s birthday, when they do not even have that in the UK…..I digress!

So, the Poms are celebrating England’s patron saint, St. George at a range of events this spring, mainly during the weekend before St. George’s Day itself on April 23, because the actual day is not a holiday!

Just for a quick history lesson, the legend of St George and the Dragon, which probably dates back to the 12th century, represents the triumph of good over evil, with St. George thought to have been a Roman soldier who died a martyr’s death in AD 303 and by the time of the Reformation, celebrations on St. George’s Day were a highlight of the English calendar.

If you have clients going to the UK at this time of the year or even thinking about going, why not pass this helpful information on to them?

This year’s St George celebration highlights include:

Blist’s Hill Victorian Town: a living history museum at Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, Shropshire, The Prince Albert Players will perform the legend of St. George and the Dragon at the open-air museum (April 21-23). The simple 20-minute performance by these travelling actors, using props taken from a barrow, will take place at noon and 2pm and an admission charge applies.
More information: www.ironbridge.org.uk

A St. George’s Day Festival Wrest Park, Bedfordshire: this event from English Heritage from April 21-22, will feature sideshows, music, food stalls, falconry and culminates in a battle between St. George (on horseback) and the dragon.  Visitors may come in costume and there’s a parade at the end of each day, reminiscent of a Victorian extravaganza.  Admission charge is about £10 for adults and £5 for children.
More information: www.english-heritage.org.uk

The St. George’s Day Fayre, Cressing Temple: an Essex farm site linked to the Knights Templar, the Saint is remembered with jousting knights and archery from April 21-22, when knights in shining armour and archers will be in battle along with sideshows, a medieval market and tavern plus hog roast (you have to try this!).  Admission is £10 for adults, £6 for children and a family ticket for £30.  Cressing Temple can trace its origins right back in the 12th century, when it was the first grant land of land given to the Knights Templar in England and it is home to the two finest Templar barns in Europe, with the site made up of a group of remarkable farm buildings, the barns, a Templar well and a Tudor walled garden.
More information: www.cressingtemple.org.uk

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre London: located on the South Bank, the reconstructed Globe Theatre will mark the annual celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday on April 22 with a day of free festivities and while not really a St George’s Day celebration it sounds so good I could not leave it out, with actors training the public to perform lines from Shakespeare in front of a packed auditorium.  A series of silent film adaptations of the Bard’s works dating from 1899 will be shown and on the evening of April 23, a showing of films including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice will light up the white walls of the theatre.
More information: www.shakespeares-globe.org

For travel information on Britain call 1300 858 589 from anywhere in Australia or 0800 700 741 in New Zealand or visit www.visitbritain.com

Report by John Alwyn-Jones