What an amazing turnout there was for this year’s Wassail in Littlehempston! It’s five years since we started holding this quaint and precious old tradition in our village and every year it seems to get better and better.
There must have been easily 100 people there and we enjoyed cider and mulled apple juice from our own orchard together with delicious home made cakes to start the proceedings in the church car park. Jim Price, trustee of the Community Orchard and Meadow, gave everyone a warm welcome, then our very own Littlehempston Folk Choir and the Stoke Gabriel choir sang us Wassail songs. The Dartington Morris entertained us with their dancing and our two Kings, Oscar and Hugo, and our Queen, Mimi, were crowned. Then at last the mystery Green Man made his entrance and was revealed as Martin Stallard, who with great effect roused the crowd to do everything to ensure a bountiful harvest.
By then it was getting dark and it was time to light our lanterns and set off for our Orchard. What a hullabaloo we made as we processed through the village banging our saucepan lids with our wooden spoons and blowing our whistles and shouting to ward off any Evil Spirits that might have been lurking! (Thanks to Roger Goldby who captured the procession going over the Silverhead Bridge. And Chris Hansen made a lovely video of the whole celebration. Thanks, Chris!)
Our orchard now has a path cut all the way around it, so everyone could follow the Green Man as he made his merry way to the first apple tree. Once we had all gathered with our lanterns in the dark around the tree, he led us in the ceremony to sing loudly to bless its harvest for next year with a sprinkling of cider and a gift of toast drenched in cider. Now all we had to do was follow him all around the orchard and bless two more apple trees with more singing and cheering!
Blessings completed, Kings and the Queen chuffed with their importance, and Green Man thoroughly admired, we wended our way happily back through the village to our friendly pub – The Tally Ho – where a warm welcome awaited us with excellent ales and a good plate of sausages and mash to fill our hungry bellies. The merriment continued aided by singing and music from the Dartington Morris.
With grateful thanks to everyone who made our Wassail such a successful occasion. May the apple harvest at the end of the season be a bountiful one and do come to help us pick and press the apples in October!
Many thank to Anna Ash for this account. Anna, a trustee since the time that the orchard was purchased, recently announced that she was stepping down from her role. In the words of Jim Price: “Anna has played a leading role in establishing the Littlehempston wassail, and has also put a large amount of energy and love into looking after the orchard. A big thank you to Anna and we are glad that she will be at the wassail and also wishes to continue to be involved in our work.”