It's January and that means it's time for one of those quaint old English customs, unique to Cambridgeshire. It rained heavily during this years festival so I've put up a photo taken on a better day from a few years ago. Whats it all in aid of? In Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire, UK, from when no one quite knows, it was the custom on the Tuesday following Plough Monday (the 1st Monday after Twelfth Night) to dress one of the plough boys in straw and call him a 'Straw Bear'. A newspaper of 1882 reports that "he was then taken around the town to entertain by his frantic and clumsy gestures the good folk who had on the previous day subscribed to the rustics, a spread of beer, tobacco and beef". The bear was described as having great lengths of tightly twisted straw bands prepared and wound up the arms, legs and body of the man or boy who was unfortunate enough to have been chosen. Two sticks fastened to his shoulders met at a point over his head and the straw was wound around them to form a cone above the "Bear's" head. The ocupants face was quite covered and he could hardly see. A tail was provided and a strong chain fastened around the armpits. He was made to dance in front of houses and gifts of money or of beer and food for later consumption was expected. It seems that he was considered important, as straw was carefully selected each year, from the best available, the harvesters saying, "That'll do for the Bear". The tradition fell into decline at the end of the 19th century, the last sighting being in 1909 as it appears that an over-zealous police inspector had forbidden 'Straw Bears' as a form of cadging. The tradition was revived in 1980 and has taken place every year since. For more info see www.strawbear.org.uk See him processing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEWjn_2AoGQ This is an important event for me as for 16 years I was that bear!