Hurray Hurray it's the First of May

Ah yes, the traditional English seasonal rhyme:



Hurray Hurray it's the First of May
Outdoor Fucking Starts Today

Though these days such activities would probably lead to arrest for indecent exposure, breach of the peace blah blah. Whereas in mediaeval times it probably just led to the birth of more mediaeval people.

Anyway, here are some Mayflowers to celebrate:


These particular mayflowers were growing on the delightful Piel Island off the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria.

I had a vague memory of visiting the island once: of being very small, and sitting on Mum's cousin Frank's shoulders and looking at the mediaeval castle there. I asked my mother whether this was a real memory and she said that indeed it was.

To reach Piel Island you cross the causeway to Roa Island, just off Barrow-in-Furness, and then wait for the ferryman to come and fetch you. On Sunday he turned up at about half-past eleven in a little motor boat and took us the short distance across.

On the island there's the mediaeval castle, built of a mixture of the local sandstone and round stones from the beach. There is a row of cottages, built in 1875: a boarded-up pub and a newish toilet block. There are several boats in varying states of repair. And that's it for the man-made stuff. The island is twenty acres and there's a pond in the middle - other than that it consists entirely of meadow and beaches.

On Sunday the weather was beautiful and the island was paradise. We were the first visitors and had it all to ourselves for a while until the next boatload (a boatload being twelve people at the most) arrived.

The island was given to the people of Barrow in the 1920s and my Barrow relatives love it. One of them spent several summers camping and fishing there. Although it's not far from the shore, it has the feeling of somewhere much more remote - partly because the Furness Peninsula is in itself remote, not only geographically but in a miles-from-anywhere feel.

It's beautiful and largely unspoilt, with Barrow the only place of any size. Slightly to the south of the Lake District, and largely untouched by tourism. I hope it stays that way. But if you happen to visit, take the ferry to Piel Island and watch the seals.