May Hill is an extremely prominent landmark which is easily visible most directions, for many miles. From Ross-on-Wye it is located 6.21 miles to the east, south east. To get there by road however is an 8.5 drive miles followed by a gentle climb of a little over half a mile. From the top of the hill, the views of several counties are spectacular in all directions. Ross, Garway Hill, the Black Mountains, and the north facing butress, Hay Bluff, can be seen to the west, the City of Gloucester and the River Severn to the east, the Malvern Hills to the north and the Forest of Dean to the south.

At sunrise, on May Day, which takes place at around 5.38 am, Morris Troupes from Gloucester and the Forest of Dean, along with other people from Gloucestershire and Herefordshire with an interest in English folk traditions gather at the summit to greet the Mayday sun.

Some of the photographs below were taken just prior to a late November sunset in 2003, hence the pale blue of the sky and the mist. The 'cloud' shot was taken at the end of May 2009, the aerial shots in April 2008 and the sunrise shots, on 1st May 2007.

Continued . . .

This first and second films above show some of the magical / spiritual places in the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean. Beginning with a visit to Arthur's Stone, a Neolithic burial mound in Dorstone, Herefordshire (not far from Hay-on-Wye) it then moves on to Trellech to show Harold's Stones, Tump Turret and the Virtuous Well before moving on again to the Queen Stone, the Staunton Longstone and finally May Hill. (If you just want to see May Hill, watch Part 2 of the film.)

The third and forth films show the traditional English 'sunrise' festivities which take place at the summit of May Hill. This particular event was filmed on on Mayday 2009.

It was foggy on the hill on Mayday 2009 and the sun was not visible, however the fog kind of added to the atmosphere, which is always good. Although the camera lens fogged over and picked up a couple of dew drops towards the end, the ending sequence - everybody dancing round the trees is my favourite part of this film. It is so atmospheric. Thank you to my teenage daughter, Sarah for getting out of bed at an unearthly hour so that she could follow the musicians for me with a radio microphone.

Photos from the event can be seen here, and both photographs and film from other years can be found in the back issues of 'Wyenot News'.

See also Hay Bluff and Garway Hill.