Maypole - In July!

Barwick-in-Elmet (the 'w' is silent and is pronounced with a short 'a' - as in Barry) is a village to the east of Leeds.

It has a triennial Maypole Festival - the latest was in 2014 - which takes place on Whit Monday (now the late spring bank holiday at the end of May). There is a procession, maypole raising ceremony, maypole dancing and a craft market.

The maypole is the tallest in England - it tops out at 26 metres (86 feet) and is actually in two pieces so that it can be carried through the narrow streets.It weighs approx 1.2 tonnes. There is a fox shaped weather vane at the top (honest!)

It was traditionally hoisted by just ropes and pulleys - but nowadays a crane is used as well.

The photo is in two parts - the left shows the whole pole and the right hand side shows the detail from half way up the pole.