May Morning!

I had no idea what a big deal this is in Oxford.

On 1st May people get up stupidly early - we're talking 5am, way before I'm alive to the world - or they just stay up all night revelling. This uneasy mix of groggy all-nighters and grousy early-risers crowd Magdalen bridge and listen to singing from the tower of Magdalen College, as they have done for hundreds of years.

We then headed down the High Street - for once blissfully free of traffic (why can't it be like that all the time?), and did the traditional thing - egg roll and beer in the White Horse. After all, it was gone 6.30am by then!

Outside was a beautiful, sunny May morning - and the Morris Men and green-clad pipers were out in force.

What a wonderful way to welcome the spring!