September Calendar: Thames Valley

August

September

1	St. Giles' Day	"Fair on September the first, fair for the month."
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3	Nutting Day	Tribute to Oliver Cromwell: Houses of Parliament.
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6	.	The Mayflower sails from Plymouth 1620
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7	.	Elizabeth I born 1533
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SEP First Week Sun Rises 0613 Sets 1947 BST

1: Colchester Oyster Ceremony: Essex.
3: Charles II hides in the Boscabel Oak 1651
Mon & Tue after the Sun following 1: St. Giles' Fair: St Giles' Street, Oxford.
1st Fri: Crying the Neck: Madron, Cornwall.
& other places in Cornwall during the month.
1st Sat: Hop Hoodening: Canterbury Cathedral, Kent.
1st Weekend: English Hop Festival: Faversham, Kent. Rushbearing: Around Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire. Barnet Fair: Hertfordshire.

8	Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin	.
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14	Holy Cross Day.	.
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SEP Second Week Sun Rises 0624 Sets 1931 BST

8: "As on the eighth of September, so for the next four weeks"
Sat nearest 8: The Sheriff's Ride: Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Sun after 8: Church Clipping: Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
2nd Tue: Widecombe Fair: Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon
1st Mon after 1st Sun after 4: Abbots Bromley Horn Dance: Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire
2nd Weekend: Merrils Championship: Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, Yorkshire.
Sat: Last Night of the Proms: Albert Hall, London.

In 1752 the 2nd was followed immediately by the 14th in the change to the Gregorian Calendar

15	.	Battle of Britain Day
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16	St. Edith's Day	.
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19	Nativity of the Virgin (Old Style)	Decorating the Rood Screen: Charlton-on-Otmoor
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21	Autumn Equinox. St. Matthew's Day	.
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SEP Third Week Sun Rises 0635 Sets 1915 BST

15: "Fine six years out of seven!"
16: Procession to St. Edith's Well: Kemsing, Kent.
19: Worcester Great Fair.
3rd Sat: Egremont Crab Fair & World Gurning Championships: Egremont, Cumbria. Carnival: Sunningdale, Berkshire.
3rd Sun: Horseman's Sunday: St. Johns, Hyde Park Crescent, London.
1st Sun after 19: Clipping the Church: St. Mary's, Painswick, Gloucestershire.
Harvest Feast Sunday: Charlton-in-Otmoor, Oxfordshire.
Wed, Thu, Fri after 20: St. Giles' Glove Fair: Barnstaple, Devon.
Sat nearest 20: Statute Fair: Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire.
21: "St. Matthew, Get candlesticks new"

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23	St. Tegla's Day	.
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24	Harvest Home	Sturbridge Fair: Sturbridge Common, Cambridge.
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25	Old Holy Rood Day.	.
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27	St. Barry's Day	.
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.	Michaelmas Eve.	.
29	Michaelmas Day.	St. Michael and All Angels
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SEP Last Week Sun Rises 0646 Sets 1859 BST

28: Blowing the Curfew Horn: Bainbridge, Yorkshire.
29: Election of the Lord Mayor of London and procession: Mansion House, London.
30: Tolzey Court: Bristol - only surviving fairground court
Last Sun: Penny Loaf Sunday: Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Last Mon: Statute Fair: Dunstable, Bedforshire.
Last Wed: Bridgewater Fair: Somerset.
Late Sep: Eton College Field Game.
After the Harvest: Hanging the Corn Dolly: St. Faith's Church Overbury, Worcestershire. Festival of First Fruits: Richmond, Yorkshire.
Harvest Sun: Hanging the Corn Dolly: Whalton, Northumberland.

29: "If Michaelmas brings acorns,
Christmas will cover the fields with snow."
"A dark Michaelmas, and a light Christmas."
"So many days old the moon is on Michaelmas, so many floods after."

Horse Chestnuts (Conkers): Despite being an introduced tree the Horse Chestnut has gone to the English heart. The ripe conkers and yellowing leaves signal the arrival of Autumn around the Equinox. The Conker World Championships are held later in October when the nuts are plentiful.