Old Photos of Bream and district

Old Photos of The Forest of Dean

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Old Photos of Bream & District

Bream, the Maypole

Courtesy of :

Geoff Davis

This postcard was dated 9th October 1917 and shows the Maypole with a small boy standing next to it. The Maypole was subsequently removed being judged a traffic hazard. It was about 40 ft high and had a weather vane at the top. W. A. Camm reports that his grandfather bought an old pole prior to 1900. The Maypole was pulled down by the county council on 7th November 1925, being judged a source of danger to motor traffic.
A Maypole was once a common sight in English villages. It was the centre of the May Day festivities on the first day of May each year and was often only set up for the day. The May Day dancing and celebrations were remnants of pagan festivals.
Among a sample of advertisements placed by Bream businesses from 1902 is one for Richard Heighway's Maypole Stores which is the first building on the right. This was later to become an early Bream police station.