Mobberley Rose Queen Festival Fund

The Mobberley Rose Queen committee have started an appeal in an attempt to raise £15000 towards preserving the tradition of the Rose Queen Festival. We desperately need to raise funds to update and refresh the current seating and staging equipment. The Rose Queen event itself does raise funds however these only cover the cost of running the day. Ancillary costs of running the day have risen in recent years and therefore more funds are needed. Reaching this goal will allow us to introduce immediate improvements to the Rose Queen Festival and help future-proof the event for the next generation.

The first Mobberley May Day took place on Saturday, May 27th 1922. It was started by Lily Green, a 15-year-old telegram girl at the Mobberley Post Office, who met some small girls crying because they could not get to the Knutsford Mayday. She decided then, that Mobberley should have its own festival. The children met each week to learn dances. Mothers promised to provide cakes and jellies for the tea, Mrs Hulme from the post office leant her best rush seated chair for the throne, Mrs Allen of Holt House agreed the loan of the Mission Hall for a fee of 2s and 6d (12.5 pence). The Queen, 9-year-old Mary Richards, was chosen because her mother would allow her to wear her Sunday best dress and hair bows on a Saturday. The procession assembled at the Mission Hall on Hall Bank. It consisted of the Queen and her attendants and dancers with music supplied by Mr Saxon pushing his gramophone in a wheelbarrow. The route was significantly longer than that used today incorporating Smith Lane, Hobcroft Lane and Knowles Green. The Crowning ceremony performed by 9-year-old Arthur Mongham took place before a large crowd of villagers. The crowd were entertained with dances before a wonderful tea prepared by Mrs Saxon and Mrs Eyres was served in the Mission Hall. Nearly £6 had been collected and the money was given to Mrs Carver from the Old Hall who purchased three stone troughs for the War Memorial. As the festival had been such a success, a group of ladies from the village led by Mrs Carver took over the organisation of the event and it grew in size and popularity. The 1939 May Day was the last festival for 20 years. In 1960 a committed group of villagers who had taken part before WW2 decided to revive the festival, to hold it in June and call it a Rose Festival to make it distinct from the Knutsford May Day.

Both the size and route of the procession has varied over the years but the order of the procession has remained constant as has the crowning ceremony. The procession is led by a Marshall on horseback followed by the Mobberley Morris troupes accompanied by a brass band. There then follows a number of decorated floats representing Mobberley organisations, with the traditional Village Wedding tableau, the retiring Queen, a Britannia float and children dressed in character costumes and fancy dress. This is the build-up for the Rose Queen elect who is carried in splendour along with her Ladies in Waiting. At the crowning ceremony, the Retiring Queen opens proceedings with a speech. The Queen elect is then crowned by the Crown bearer and hailed by the Swordbearer. The Queen addresses the audience before they are entertained by the dancers. Dancing has always been an important part of the festival and certain dances are performed every year, such as; the Morris, Hornpipe, Sword Dance and Maypole. The Mobberley festival is unusual in maintaining the tradition of training village children to perform the dances.

It is both interesting and pleasing to see certain family surnames cropping up throughout the festival's 101 years. We are extremely lucky to have had dozens of committed people throughout our history who have contributed to the event and ensured the continuation of a wonderful village event. It is critical that we, as a village community, preserve this important tradition and to do this requires funds. The current staging and seating provision is both old and difficult to build each year. By raising funds as a community it will ensure the committee has the means to carry the tradition on into the next 100 years.