Friendly Societies were widespread throughout the U.K. in the late 18th and 19th century. They developed during the second half of the 18th Century and were to be found throughout the U.K. at village, town and county level. They were made up of a group of people contributing regular sums of money for distribution to members in times of sickness, old age and for funeral expenses.

The decline of the small village Friendly Societies, throughout the second half of the 19th Century, was paralleled by the growth in the national Orders, such as the Foresters, Odd Fellows and Shepherds. The attraction of these Orders was that they were financially sound. They had tens of thousands of members and were unlikely to fail, unlike many of the small, local clubs.

The title 'Friendly Society' was applied to various organisations including Trade Unions, which were banned at the time and hid their activities under the guise of the Friendly Society movement.

Without question, one of the highlights of the village year, and certainly the club year, was the annual Feast, or Walking Day. This was usually held in May or June. Many Clubs held their Feast Day on the 29 May, Oak Apple Day. This day was also the birthday of Charles II, and the date of his restoration to the throne. It was on this day that the brass emblems came to the fore. See the emblem of the Combe Friendly Society.

The day usually began with a meeting of all members in the club room. This was often a room in a local public house. Every member would be dressed in their Sunday best and would carry the Club brass on a pole for the Walk around the village. The members would wear rosettes (knots), on their hats or on their jackets A parade was formed, under the direction of the club stewards, and proceeded by a brass band and the club's banner or flag, the poles of which were topped by larger versions of the brass. The Walk would be followed by a church service and then the Feast. A small fair would often be part of the festivities.

The custom, on the Feast Day, of members carrying poles topped with metal emblems, was a mainly West Country one. Early emblems were mostly some sort of turned wood and painted. Very few of these have survived. Poles varied from club to club. They could be just 4 feet long or over 6 feet. They could be painted in one solid colour, often dark blue, or be a variety of colours. Usually a ribbon was attached to the pole just below the brass.

The emblems were often designed to include various symbols. Hearts were a sign of friendship or love. Clasped hands signified brotherhood. Acorns and oak leaves not only symbolised the hope of great things to come from small beginnings, but also the royalist leanings of the West Country. The design of the brasses varied from club to club. How, or why, some clubs chose the brass they did, will never be known. Some were copies of the sign of the public house where the meeting room was situated. It is assumed that the brasses were manufactured in the brass manufacturing areas such as Bristol, Keynsham and Bridgwater.

The carrying of these emblems was not confined solely to Somerset and the surrounding counties, but it was not so prevalent anywhere else in Britain.

The importance of the Club Feast Day is summed up brilliantly in the poem “Tommy Nutty’s Feast Day” by W. Cook, written in Somerset dialect:

Ov all the year round, dye know,
the girtest, grandest day,
Amongst us simple conntry voak,
is twenty ninth of May.
Ther's harvest whoam an Christmas time,
but taint no good to talk,
The grandest day as we do know,
is when our Club do walk.

William Barnes the Dorsetshire poet, also captured the atmosphere very well when he wrote:

Vor up at public-house at ten
O'clock, the place was full o' men
A' dressd to go to Church an' dine
An' walk about the place in line.
Zoo off they started two an' two
Wi' painted poles and knots o' blue
A' girt silk flags.
An' then at Church there were sich lots
Wi' hats a hangin' up wi' knots,
An' poles a' stood so thick as iver
The rushes stood beside the river.
An' after Church they went to dine
I thin the long walld room behine
The public-house.....