Preparing the famous Thorn tree at Appleton Thorn village, South Warrington, England for the annual June "Bawming the Thorn"

Preparing the famous Thorn tree at Appleton Thorn village, South Warrington, England  for the annual June  "Bawming the Thorn" Stock Photo
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Image details

Contributor:

Tony Smith / Alamy Stock Photo

Image ID:

D96N1A

File size:

34.3 MB (1.8 MB Compressed download)

Releases:

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Dimensions:

3000 x 4000 px | 25.4 x 33.9 cm | 10 x 13.3 inches | 300dpi

Date taken:

10 June 2013

Location:

Green Lane, Appleton Thorn, South Warrington, England, UK WA4 5NS

More information:

Preparing the famous Thorn tree at Appleton Thorn village, South Warrington, England for the annual June "Bawming the Thorn" Appleton Thorn is a village in the borough of Warrington in Cheshire, England. Each June, the village hosts the ceremony of "Bawming the Thorn". The current form of the ceremony dates from the Nineteenth century, when it was part of the village’s "walking day". It involved children from Appleton Thorn Primary School walking through the village and holding sports and games at the school. This now takes place at the Village Hall. The ceremony stopped in the 1930s, but was later revived by the then headmaster, Mr. Bob Jones in the early 1970s. "Bawming the Thorn" occurs on the Saturday nearest to Midsummer’s Day. Local schoolchildren dance around the tree. "Bawming" means "decorating" - during the ceremony the thorn tree is decorated with ribbons and garlands. According to legend, the hawthorn at Appleton Thorn grew from a cutting of the Holy Thorn at Glastonbury, which was itself said to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the man who arranged for Jesus's burial after the Crucifixion.