July is one of the hottest months of the year. It is nearly the end of the school year and summer holidays are near.

July is the seventh month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. It was the fifth month in the early calendar of the ancient Romans. The Romans called the month Quintilius, which means fifth. A Roman Senate renamed the month to Julius (July) in honour of Julius Caesar, who was born on 12 July.

The Anglo-Saxon names for the month included Heymonath or Maed monath, referring respectively to haymaking and the flowering of meadows.

Crop Circles

July is the month when circular flattened patches begin to appear in fields of standing corn.

This phenomenon dates from early 1970s, although there are isolated earlier examples.

Weather-lore, beliefs and sayings

'If the first of July it be rainy weather,
'Twill rain more or less for four weeks together.'

 

Festivals and Traditions

Henley Royal Regatta

Takes place during the first week of July on a stretch of the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The Regatta began in 1839 with a single afternoon of rowing races and now lasts for five days.

Swan Upping

The census of swans takes place annually during July on the River Thames in a ceremony known as Swan Upping. Swans are counted and marked on a 70 mile, five day journey up the River Thames.

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St Swithin's Day

St Swithin's Day is 15 July, a day on which people watch the weather for tradition says that whatever the weather is like on St. Swithin's Day, it will continue so for the next forty days.

St Swithin's Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain.
St Swithin's Day. if thou be fair,
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair'

Honiton Fair in Devon

This three day fair begins on the first Tuesday after 19 July. The town crier officially opens the fair by parading down the High Street with a golden glove at the end of a long pole decorated with garlands of flowers and announcing:

'Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!
The glove is up!
The fair has begun!
No man shall be arrested until the glove is down.
God save the Queen!'

After this ceremony, hot pennies are thrown to the onlookers from the windows of various pubs and scrambles for by local children. The custom dates back many years to the days long gone when the wealthy of the town would 'aid' the poor.

Grotto Day

25 July is St James' Day (Also known as Grotto Day )

Children used to make grottoes and caves and decorate them with sea shells because the scallop shell is supposed to be the emblem of St. James.

The grottoes were placed outside the homes and the children would sit by them and say:

Please remember the Grotto.
It's only once a year.
Father's gone to sea.
Mother's gone to bring him back,
So please remember me.

Whitstable Oyster Festival

The English Oyster season officially begins on St James' Day.

Whitstable Bay, on the north Kent coast, is famous for its oysters. It has been associated with oysters for hundreds of years. An old Kentish tradition says that Julius Caesar was drawn to Britain by the Whitstable oysters. On St. James's Day the locals hold an annual oyster festival, an event dating back to at least the early 19th century when it was the custom for fishers and dredgers to celebrate with an annual ceremony of thanksgiving.

Anniversaries

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