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Unusual Customs in English Counties
This article explores some of the more unusual customs and traditions found across different English counties—such as Kent’s Sweeps Festival, Hampshire’s Shick-Shack Day and Tichborne Dole, and Buckinghamshire’s ceremonial mayor-weighing. While these customs may surprise new residents, they add colour to the local culture and heritage.
The article, written by Hamiltons Removals, a national removal company, also includes links to their UK-wide removals services for homes and businesses.
This article is a three-minute read.
There are plenty of customs and traditions you may be expected to follow – or at least be aware of – should you ever decide to move overseas. However, there are plenty of unusual events across the UK too. Here, Hamiltons Removals, a national removal company based on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, share a few of them.
UK Removals with Hamiltons Removals
Hamiltons Removals can help with moves to all parts of the UK, including Scotland, Wales, and our home counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. For more information about our domestic removals service for homes and businesses, follow this link.
Kent
While many villages celebrate May Day with dancing around the maypole, in Kent, and particularly Rochester and Whitstable, it is young chimney sweeps who take centre stage. This is because, historically, they only got one day off a year – May 1 – and used to parade through the town to celebrate it. The practice of such youthful employment has long gone, but the parade (known as the Sweeps Festival, pictured) continues along with plenty of other musical events, particularly folk music.
And if you are considering removals to Kent, you should also be aware of the Biddenden Maids. This pair of conjoined twins (from the 12th century) bequeathed five plots of land to the Kent village, known as the Bread and Cheese Lands. The income from these lands was used to pay for an annual gift of food and drink to the poor every Easter, a tradition which continues to this day on Easter Monday, when tea, cheese, and bread are given to local widows and pensioners (non-locals have to pay for them).
Hampshire
Shick-shack day is marked throughout Hampshire on May 29, the birthdate of King Charles II. People used to wear oak leaves and leave them on door knockers to commemorate the time the monarch hid in an oak tree to escape detection by Oliver Cromwell’s forces in 1651 (although the tree itself was actually located in Shropshire).
In Hampshire day it’s known as shick-shack day to reflect the religious theme to the occasion; shick shack was a derogatory term form non-Conformists who weren’t members of the Church of England. In other parts of the UK the custom is known as Oak Apple Day. As well as wearing oak leaves, there are parades, fetes and visits to local pubs.
And for those thinking of removals to the Hampshire village of Tichborne, there is a gift-giving ceremony there too. The Tichborne Dole involves handing out donations of flour, which have been blessed by the local parish priest, from the front of Tichborne House. The tradition dates back to the 12th century (c. 1150) when it was started by Lady Mabella Tichborne who, on her death bed, instructed that a donation of farm produce be made to the poor each year.
The Dole stipulates that adults from the parishes of Tichborne and Cheriton are entitled to claim one gallon of flour, and children half a gallon each.
Buckinghamshire
Most places in the UK mark the election of a new mayor, but probably none in the same way as the people of High Wycombe. Here, the people of this Buckinghamshire town watch as the mayor and other councillors, and sometimes the MP and other civic representatives – are ceremonially weighed at the start and finish of their term in office (usually in May).
If they are heavier at the end, it’s the cue for jeering and booing on the basis that they have been enjoying themselves too much at the taxpayers’ expense. If they have lost weight, they are applauded. It is believed to date back to a mayor in the 17th century who had a reputation for drunken misbehaviour.
And Palm Sunday is known as Fig Sunday in Buckinghamshire and some other counties. In the past willow catkins adorned houses and were worn as buttonholes for churchgoing. In addition, figs (and sometimes a local recipe for fig pudding) were eaten on the day. Some of these traditions still persist.
All this information should come in useful if you are interested in removals to Buckinghamshire.
Hamiltons Removals – a National Removal Company
Whether you are interested in removals to Kent, Hampshire or Buckinghamshire, Hamiltons Removals can help (and we help people move to international destinations too). You can call us on 01379 855203 if you have any questions or start the moving process by opting for one of our video surveys.
Image: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/OATHON
FAQs
What is the general process for a Hamiltons Removals move within the UK?
After the initial survey (which can be done online), our sales office will arrange a surveyor’s site visit for a more comprehensive quotation based upon your individual requirements.
If you opt to use our packing service, our packing team will arrive the day before the removal team and will prepare and pack all your possessions to ensure trouble-free transport to your destination.
Which UK destinations can Hamiltons Removals help you move to?
Hamiltons offer domestic and commercial removals packages to all villages, towns and cities in the UK – whether that’s the major metropolises of Birmingham, London or Manchester, or the towns of High Wycombe or Rochester, or the villages of Biddenden or Tichborne.
What other services do Hamiltons Removals offer apart from the basic moving package?
We can help with specialist moves which may involve vehicles (including classic cars) and machinery, animals, or valuable antiques. If you need any items put into storage then we have two Safe’n’Stored sites at Harleston and Aldeby. We also offer insurance packages and packing and unpacking services.
And if your move is likely to be complex, or involves a lot of valuable items, then we have high-end removals specialists as well.
Key Features of High-End Removals
Article Synopsis
This article looks at the term high-end removals – what they involve, and how they differ from standard removals packages. This includes the type and volume of items being moved, and the special challenges this type of move can create for the removals company.
There’s also some links to the services that Hamiltons Removals can offer – all of which can form part of a comprehensive high-end removals package.
This article is a three-minute read.
High End Removals in Suffolk from Hamiltons Removals
Hamiltons Removals offer high end removals in Suffolk, across the UK and overseas. For more information, you can call us on 01379 855203.
The Items Moved
High-end removals often deal with more valuable items, either individually or in total. These can be art and antiques, jewellery or other artefacts. Equally, they can be specialist items such as vehicles (including classic cars) and machinery (if it’s a business move).
The term can also be used for a larger home (such as a stately home) or business, where the volume of items which need to be relocated is greater than a standard move. This occasionally extends to animals (particularly horses) and pets, although if this is an overseas move quarantining may come into play. High-end removals companies should also be able to help with any paperwork needed to complete a move.
The Specialist Services and Solutions
This particularly applies to antiques where custom-built packaging solutions (such as wooden crates specially designed for individual artefacts) are needed to protect items which might be damaged otherwise. For classic and vintage cars, this might mean special transporters.
It’s not just large items; high-end moves can include bespoke containers for bottles, golf clubs, clothes, TV sets, etc., if they are worth a lot of money. The same applies to bespoke wrapping materials (for example. for mattresses, sofas and chairs).
The All-in Comprehensive Service
High-end removals generally make use of the full range of a removal company’s services.
This can mean packing and unpacking the items for you (it’s important to have the items handled by professionals when they are valuable), a cleaning service so your old home or premises look clean and tidy for its new occupants, and an insurance package to guard against anything going wrong.
When it comes to unpacking, this can include reassembling the furniture or (in the case of businesses) setting up the IT systems for you. It might also mean having access to storage sites if you don’t want to move everything in one go.
The Single Point of Contact
For high-end removals in Suffolk, across the UK and further afield, a single point of contact is essential as they will co-ordinate all of the various aspects of the move from the company’s end. This is because the whole process is effectively a project which requires careful planning and having a dedicated and experienced person devoted to your move should help ease any minor ‘bumps’ and give you peace of mind.
High-End Removals in Suffolk from Hamiltons Removals
At Hamiltons Removals, we have been providing high-end removals across the UK for many years, offering specialist services for art and antiques, as well as classic and vintage vehicles.
We can build our own bespoke crates and packing cases if there are any items which require it, and we have plenty of our own-brand, high-quality packing materials which we also sell in our online shop. In addition, we have our own Safe n Stored storage sites in Harleston and Aldeby.
All our high-end moves also enjoy a dedicated move co-ordinator who provides a single point of contact. However, all our customers can benefit from the services listed above, as well as from our commitment to high standards of service. Along with calling us, you can also email us at info@hamiltonsremovals.co.uk.
FAQS:
Are high-end removals more expensive than standard moves?
Yes, high-end removals can be more expensive, but this is reflected in the specialised equipment (and labour) which is involved, and the degree of planning required. A high-end package should give you more peace of mind throughout the whole process.
How do I know if I need a high-end removals package?
If you own high-value items (such as antiques), have a complex or large-scale move, or if you want a ‘hands-off’ moving experience, where as much of the work as possible is left to the removals company, then you should be considering asking for a high-end package.