Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Disorganised Religion (III) - Orange Rolling

Orange rolling on Dunstable Downs* was, according to some, a commemoration of the stone that was rolled across Jesus's tomb.  According to others, because they're orange, it's all about  the sun plunging to its death as the oranges roll down Pascomb Pit followed by... well, followed by nothing in the case of the oranges, as you don't want to eat them once they've smashed  a couple of hundred feet down chalky downland.
In any case, it happens - or happened -  on Good Friday.  But Keith, as part of his campaign of Disorganised religion, decided that was too predictable.  So he lined thirty of our best Beaker People up with a couple of cases oranges, and totally failed to organise a coach for today.
When they realised the coach wasn't going to appear by pure coincidence, the Folk fought back the urge to tie a millstone round Keith's neck and throw him in the Hus Bourne, and instead sorted themselves out with lifts in various 4x4s and all headed for Dunstable.
Of course, by the time they got there it was dark.  And it's quite dangerous wandering around the top of chalkland scarps in these conditions.  I've counted them all back, but quite a few of them have some nasty bruises.  And in the most impressive bit of spontaneous religion I've seen so far in this whole sorry episode, Keith appears to have been pelted with oranges.

* I believe I was very likely present at the orange rolling in this photo.  Although am too young to remember it.

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