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Venom

Tissington Well Dressing

Quote from www.welldressing.com

"This beautiful custom is all but unique to Derbyshire. Once known as 'well flowering', it's thought to have originated in pagan times. Did the remote hills of Derbyshire escape the waves of invasion by Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans that swept other parts of Britain into new cultures and new customs?

However well dressing began, it was banned by the early Christians along with all other forms of water worship - but the tradition refused to die.

So what is it? At its simplest, it's the art of decorating springs and wells with pictures made from local plant life. The dressings are set in clay-filled wooden trays, mounted on a wooden frame. They take hours to complete, and villagers often work through the night to finish in the early hours of the first festival morning. Some villagers dress their wells in secret. Others invite you to come along and watch - the best way to find out how it's done.

The well dressing season spans from May through to late September each year. There are several well dressings which occur over the same dates, so during your visit to Derbyshire you should be able to visit at least one!

To this, I would add that although the tradition of decorating wells on special occasions or as an offering for good water is common to many parts of the world, it is in Derbyshire where it first took the distinctive form of boards which are decorated with elaborate pictures and designs formed of flower petals and other natural materials.

The custom is now common in Derbyshire villages and has spread to neighbouring counties, where this remarkable tradition remains an active part of village life today. A few other places in England have taken up the tradition, for example Bisley in Gloucestershire.

Very occasionally, the art is duplicated is places further afield: often in a twin of a Derbyshire village, for example Die in France, the twin of Wirksworth in Derbyshire. The most distant well dressing of which we have a record is at Perth, in Western Australia, in the 1980s."







And in the middle of it all, in the village pond sat this Moorhen and her young. Oh for that 100 - 400 lens

hil26

nice tradition, and great historical story - came across this for the first time a few years back, and loved the occasion, nice set of images as well.

Scarecrows are making a comeback in lancashire villages as well - looking to finding some soon - my sister said they had a line of them at the bus stop!!!
Venom

Thanks Dave I've been meaning to go for years but never got round to it then last weekend the wife said lets go. Didn't realise just how busy and what a tourist attraction it is took loads of shots but the ones above are the only ones without people in the way. Sad

Quote:
Scarecrows are making a comeback in Lancashire villages as well - looking to finding some soon - my sister said they had a line of them at the bus stop!!!


Didn't realise the bus system had a bird problem Laughing
Simonzphotoz

lol, you obviously haven't been on the buses recently.!!!

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