How are you sending this relaxing May Day bank holiday?

The chances are you are not dancing around a maypole, choosing a queen, dressing up in green or even out in a picket line somewhere.

That is because the old traditions of May Day seem to be getting lostin the midst of modern life.

May Day - the day to celebrate workers and the coming of summer

A quick computer search tells us that May 1 is World Laughter Day, highlighting the benefits of a good belly laugh.

Along the same lines, it is also Therapeutic Massage Day and, don't forget, Breed Dogs day

I have a feeling some of these might be American, but there is nothing wrong with any of them.

May Day is a public holiday in some regions, usually celebrated on May1 or the first Monday of May. It is an ancient festival marking the first day of summer or, nowadays, a celebration of spring.

Other explanations are that the festival was started around 2,000 years go when Roman soldiers danced around decorated trees in honour of their goddess Flora.

The Maypole is believed to have been used about 600 years ago by Britons.

In 1889, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the socialists and Communists.

The reason this was chosen to be commemorated on May 1 was to remember the "Haymarket affair" in Chicago who, during a workers' protest, an unidentified person threw the bomb at a police. who returned fire, killing four people and injured many more.

International Workers' Day is also called "May Day", but it is a different celebration from the traditional May Day. It is especially a celebration of the right to a 40 hour week.

Looking through our more recent archives there is not a maypole dancer in sight, although Nether Wasdale does seem to have kept up tradition - and it is lovely that they do. These traditions are fun and, in these days, a bit of fun is something we all need.