TRIBUTES have been paid to a ‘May Day legend’ who passed away earlier this month.

May Day organisers, participants and onlookers alike have been celebrating the achievements of Beryl Buckley, a committee member for 47 years who died on March 14 aged 80.

After first getting involved in the May Day as a teenager, building lorries, Beryl went on to work in the village wedding section and then the court.

Beryl, wife of the late Jim and mum to Steve, Craig and Jamie, retired from the committee in 2015 and became a life member, remaining a popular figure around town.

Eileen Podmore, May Day secretary, said: “being on the May Day committee, from early in the year until May Day your house doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to the May Day.

“Beryl always had the Queen’s train hanging over the banister upstairs and a couple of birds sitting around the lounge which belonged to the falcon bearer.

“I used to call and say to her ‘where are the budgies Beryl’, and there they were perched spruced up and ready to go on top of the dresser.

After her work in the village wedding, Beryl’s involvement in the court meant she spent time with the crown bearers and May Queens as they progressed from five-year-olds to teenagers.

Eileen said: “All the May Queens and their families knew Beryl and looked out for her at May Day.

“In fact half of Knutsford knew her as you found out if you went shopping with her. They worked with her, were in the May Day or went on holiday with her.

“I used to drop in on Beryl over the past few years every Friday morning for a cup of tea and at some point the May Day would come up.

“Just before she resigned from the committee in 2015 she was the longest serving member, and it was always a joke between us that on her resignation I became the longest service member.”

Eileen also recalled a time in 1987, with the May Day drenched with rain and even snow, when Beryl invited her round on the Sunday evening. The night snowballed into a full-scale impromptu party and, Eileen says, ‘one of the best I have ever been to’.

At Beryl’s funeral last week, Eileen said: “Well, Beryl, the May Day is full of characters and you were certainly one of them. You will be remembered and talked about for years to come.”