Derbyshire Well Dressing and Wakes Weeks

We returned to Hope this morning to see the flower pictures that had been completed and erected around the village near to old pumps and wells for the annual ceremony of well dressing. It's also the beginning of Wakes Week for the village so there was a festival atmosphere and a good time for us to visit as the road was to be closed in the afternoon for a carnival procession. The rain and wind that has returned didn't seem to be bothering the villagers I spoke to as I stopped to take photos.  Wakes Week was originally the week long holiday that was given to workers in mills, factories and collieries at this time of the year, but now it's more like a Summer Festival with events that are intended to bring the whole community together.

                                                   Hope Valley - the edge of the village

Since we passed through the village on Wednesday and stopped to see the beginning of the picture making process I will start with the work in the Village Hall.

The moulds are filled with clay and sheets of paper with the designs that have been decided as the theme for that year are placed on the top. Using a craft knife the lines that make up the pattern or picture are cut through so that an imprint is left on the soft clay underneath the paper.

As the flowers and leaves hadn't been placed on the design at this point it was good to see the finished pictures.

The children from the village primary school and Hope Valley College also made pictures.

As there was a competition to make the best dressed models based on the 'scarecrow trail' idea, - the theme was 'Musicals' - many of the gardens and businesses were looking festive.  

On Wednesday we visited another area in the Peak District and came across some more pictures made from flowers and other materials. Cressbrook is a small hamlet with narrow, leafy lanes that meandering down into the other dales of Water-Cum-Jolly, Monsal Dale and Miller's Dale.

A good day out

Thank you for your best wishes for our wedding anniversary. We had a good day out driving to an area that we haven't been to for a while.  In fact, we sometimes used to come up to Derbyshire for a weekend's break to celebrate our anniversary and then went on to south Yorkshire to see our daughter and family.  Now we are living here in retirement and the beauty of the countryside of these two counties is on our doorstep. We were blessed with good weather and we were able to spend time in the Hope and Wye valleys enjoying the scenery, history and traditions of the area.  We headed for Ashford-in-the-Water where we had planned to have lunch and take a walk. Along the way we stopped to see some of the preparations for the well dressing and summer festival events that will take place in this area at the weekend.

Today I will show you the countryside we passed though - the top photo is a view of Hope Valley and Win Hill taken in a leafy country lane on the way to Ashford-in-the-Water.

This is the area around a place called Litton.  We were diverted onto a one-car lane because the main route was closed. However, we were able to view the contour of the land and the geology from above. As always, walking in this area must be a pleasure.  We went on through Cressbrook and Monsal Dale.

Monsal Viaduct over the River Wye now part of the Monsal Trail following the C19th disused railway tracks and tunnels

I'm sure you know that we love walking beside a flowing stream or river.  This is the River Wye and the packhorse bridge at nearby Ashford-in-the Water.

Driving through the more familiar landscape on our way back home we saw fields of white flowers growing amongst the tufts of green and dry grasses and it looked like a sprinkling of snow.  I could only stop briefly to take a photo because at this point the road was quite straight and busy with fast traffic so I don't know what the flowers were - not cow parsley as in the foreground, but probably some sort of daisy or bog cotton plant.  I like the wildness of this landscape.

The well dressing at the original village pump in Ashford-in-the-Water took place at the beginning of June. However, our walk around the village and visit to the church was very enjoyable and I will post more about the trip and the well dressing preparations in Hope and Cressbrook that we did see very soon.

Meanwhile, here's a detail of one of the pictures set up in the village of Cressbrook. Petals, seeds, sheep's wool etc. have been used to create the picture.

                                                              

May Celebrations

This week I've celebrated being another year older!

Although I'm interested in genealogy and have done research
 on my own family history, I'm not the sort of person
 who looks back continuously at my own life except when thinking about
 how life has changed for me and for society in general.

However, I decided to link my birthday with reflections
 on a May custom which was part of my childhood primary school tradition

and is not so common these days except to recreate
 the nostalgia of times past at ye Olde English May Fayres. 

My school in a village near Sonning-on-Thames celebrated
its centenary in 1998
and, of course, still plays an important role in the community.
 It's a church school with the church in the grounds
 and what was once the manor house opposite.
Years later I taught there for a while.

Between 1910 and 1958 the May Day celebration was the highlight
of the year.  Preparations for the Day appeared well in advance
- the May Pole was decorated, country dances were practised
and flowers were gathered to make posies and garlands.
The May Queen and her attendants were elected - maids of honour,
a train bearer, a crown bearer, a herald and a guard of honour.

 When I was 7 years old I was chosen to carry a bouquet of flowers
to be presented to the vicar's wife.  Perhaps I was included because
it was also my birthday month?  I was told to hold the bunch of flowers up high
 and so the photograph shows me peeping from behind them!

However, the second photo at the bottom was taken after
 the crowning of the May Queen so there I am,
 my shy, rather solemn expression captured forever, as I glance for a moment
 at the photographer.
However, this photo is special because behind me, looking on,
 stands by smiling and proud maternal grandmother.

The top photo was taken the following year, 1953,
which was just as memorable because of the
Coronation of Elizabeth II celebration theme
and that year I took part in the country dancing.

What else do I remember about those May Day
events?  The preparations at the Manor House
and the Tudor-style interior and gallery, the head dresses of fresh flowers
and the procession in the gardens through pergola tunnels of fragrant
May blossom, especially wistaria.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about times gone by
and an occasion that has a special place in my memory.