THE crowds who flocked to watch this year’s procession and the performances on The Heath were the biggest May Day committee secretary Eileen Podmore had seen.

Eileen said she hoped everyone had enjoyed the day, while stressing the importance of public support for the Royal May Day, with the street collection looking set to be down again.

The event costs £36,000 to stage, and the collection at last year’s May Day was £1,000 down.

She said: “There are more people here today than I have ever seen. It was like Blackpool – you could not move for people.

“The May Queen was absolutely beautiful – and even if they were absolutely cooked and the crown hurt their head they would be happy and would smile because that’s what Knutsford May Day is about.

“You enjoy the day when you see the children enjoying it, and I would like to thank everyone for supporting us.”

“We really need support – we would not have another May Day without financial support. I cannot imagine Knutsford not having a May Day – we keep it going as long as can afford to.

“We have the feeling that this year’s street collection has not been very good, and is almost certainly going to be down.

“So many people come and watch and don’t put anything in the collection buckets. How can you watch something and not put a few pence in?”

The committee thanked everyone who supported the event, in particular Erica from the Knutsford Directory, Fryer’s Garden Centre, Arthur Lee, Geralds the Jewellers, Wright Marshall, the Brooks family, the Scouts and Stuart Rushton.

Eileen’s dress for the day was based on May Day in 1887, when the Prince and Princess of Wales came to Knutsford and said May Day could have a Royal title attached to it.