WHEN you think of hobbies, one that might not come to mind is dancing around a 20ft pole in a dress.

But for the St Giles Maypole dancers, the ancient tradition offers them a chance to have a lot of fun as well as raise money for charity.

Ray Penrose, Joe and Melanie Riches and nine others dress up in their smocks - which are old-fashioned dresses to be one of only three maypole dancing groups in the country.

Maypole dancing is the ancient tradition of dancing and wrapping ribbons around a pole.

The dance is normally just performed during May, but the troupe continues through the summer.

The group was started when Mr Penrose's wife Diana taught schoolchildren the dance. A local historian told her there was a pre-war tradition of dancing on the village green in Chalfont St Giles on May Day. To carry on with tradition the pair got together to form the group, which has now been going for 14 years.

52-year old Mr Penrose, a police communications officer who lives in Stylecroft Road, Chalfont St Giles, said they were in the pub one day when they discussed the idea of starting a group.

He said: "It started off as a bit of a laugh and we would sometimes dance in the garden after parties. We said 'how about starting it?'."

Friends of the couple joined in, and they became the St Giles Maypole Dancers.

The group raises money for charities by charging people for performances and often take a collecting tin with them at the events such as an English Night which involved the dancers and some cockney singers.

They have even performed for companies.

Mr Penrose said they have made up their own traditional dance called the St Giles Tower, but they have used books to learn some of the routines.

He said: "We researched it and got some books but they are quite hard to understand and it is difficult.

"They actually just used to just dance in circles (around the pole) without the ribbons."

Mr Penrose said the maypole dance was started to make sure crops grew properly. He said: "We went to see a slide show of what went on in the village and it went on about them making cakes with the first bag of flour from the crops. The cake was put on a sword and was given to children in that village.

"So we started doing it about five or six years ago. But we have two cakes because so many children want a piece."

Retired Mr Riches, 59, who lives in Kings Road in Chalfont St Giles with his wife said: "It is something different and daft to do rather than being boring all the time. We are short of blokes but we have quite a few ladies.

"They don't want to wear a smock but that's an excuse. If we told everyone to wear a suit they still wouldn't do it."

The group practise for one hour each week during the summer and say there are many benefits to dancing.

Mrs Riches, a 55-year-old dental hygienist, said: "It is a great way to get fit, some of the dances are absolute killers. But it is good fun and there is a good social side."

She added: "We took it to France to a campsite and we got everyone doing it, including the campsite owners, and they loved it. It takes you back to country dancing at school and you recognise the songs."

But do they ever have a negative response from their audience?

Mrs Riches said: "Little kids are happy and want to join in, teenagers are horrified, but afterwards they accept that is what we do. They laugh at us if we get it wrong.

"All it takes is a short lapse of concentration and we can bump into each other. But it can be quite spectacular when it goes right, and there is a lovely pattern."

If you would like to join the St Giles Maypole Dancers every Wednesday from mid-April to September from 7pm until 8pm, call Diana Penrose on 01494 872683