Wassail was a cracker!

Everyone looked so happy!

Nothing like a Wassail to blow away the cobwebs in the New Year. A Wassail is an old English custom giving fruit growers and pickers the opportunity to drink to the good health of their fruit trees. It is also an opportunity to scare away any evil spirits in the trees by driving them away with noise, shouting and beating of sticks. We have an orchard in the field and part of the ceremony involves dressing an apple tree. Of course mulled cider is an absolute necessity.

The weather was dry a few days before the Wassail for the first time in weeks! It was sunny and windy in the morning but clouded over a bit later but at least the wind dropped Everyone had a great deal of fun. The UKewLele band led by Terry Smith kept everyone’s spirits up and got everyone dancing. James Lloyd Pegg was the Wassail master - Mary Smith also led the dancing and between them they got the whole field moving. But no Wassail is complete without a Wassail Queen and a local girl, Leonie, accepted the crown from Kaia, the Queen of the last Wassail in 2023.

We only have fires in the field by exception but the children really enjoyed toasting marshmallows whilst Bob Gingell stoked the fire and made sure no one got too close.

There were about a 100 people there and we made around £600 from donations and mulled cider sales.

Fabulous photos mostly from Brian Secrett.