The Wakes [Lymm Rushbearing]
Altrincham Division Chronicle, 16th August, 1889, p5

Extracts from the Press Report

The rush-bearing, so far as the village was concerned, was ushered in very quietly last week.

At an early hour, two sets of morris dancers, one hailing from Sandy Lan and the other from Newfield made their appearance enrobed in the gayest of bright ribbons with hats representing a bouquet of roses and "flirts" of some white material to crack to the strains of a concertina.
There is always a man to look after the pennies with a ladle or frying pan, often a bell attached behind which heightens the ridiculous. He is dressed more like a woman than a man.

As there was no rush cart, the proceedings of the day were all very tame...

...The old people who took a lively interest in keeping up the customs of their fathers are rapidly disappearing, and the young people do not enter into the traditions which formed a large part of the lives and pastimes of their ancestors.

The Press Report

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Last updated 10 April 2020