The annual Lickey Hills Wassail was held on January 12th
this year. An evening of loud noises (aka kids with actual saucepans and wooden
spoons), guitars, football rattles, bells, kazoos, horns, items from a brass
band (I have no idea what but it looked well good), and all sorts of other
instruments.
A wassail is an orchard blessing event, a traditional
English ceremony / pastime / thing. The loud noises are made when you enter the
orchard and walk around it, visiting each tree, and driving the bad demons out
with the noise. It also serves to awaken the good tree spirits and to begin a
good, healthy growing year.
After the noise, the Lickey Hills Ranger staff and some
volunteers put on a mummers play, another English tradition. I filmed the entirety
of the play this year but despite having microphones and a PA system (!!) the
sound is awful on the vid. The crowd then moved back into the orchard for a
singalong of Gloucester Wassail [audio link], and then we toasted the trees with spiced hot
apple juice (I dislike apple juice but this is SO nice, warmed on an open
fire), and hung apple juice soaked toast in the trees.
I adorned my hat with sugarsnap peas (mainly so I had access
to snacks throughout the evening), and we wore crowns of ivy.
