Soaking the Board

Friday 3rd May 2013 was a milestone for the Ashwell Well Dressing team - it was the day to start soaking the board.

The Bare Board

The frame, or board, has been constructed with raw planks of wood attached to a white painted mount.  Nails have been hammered into the planks.  These are important as the nails will hold the wet clay in place.  The board is large, heavy and dry and will have to be soaked for three days otherwise the wood will draw the moisture from the clay.

Our team pondered over where and how best to soak the board.  Ponds were considered.  Standing the board in a bath.  Drenching with a hose.... but, of course, the answer was on our doorstep:  Ashwell Springs.

Ashwell Springs in winter

This tranquil, freshwater oasis in the heart of the village is a source of the River Cam.  And what better place to soak the first Ashwell Well Dressing board.

The board being lowered into Ashwell Springs

The Design

The Ashwell Well Dressing project is progressing like a storm.

Our design has been finalised and everyone is delighted with the result.  Amanda and Peter worked on the design together and with simplicity and style it encompasses certain aspects of Ashwell that will be familiar to both residents and visitors.

The lifesize paper design.

As 2013 is the 60th anniversary of the Ashwell Music Festival, music features in the design both with a scale of notes and a musical instrument.

Our medieval parish church, St. Mary's, rises majestically to the right of the picture with its clock face and huge spire, topped with its weather vane.  The church is swathed with the meandering waters of Ashwell Springs -  a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the village.  

In the centre of the design is a leafy branch from an Ash tree.  Both the Ash tree and the Springs (or Well) combine to form the name of the village.

Finally, with a vivid splash of colour, are the hollyhocks which every year grace the streets and paths of Ashwell.

It's all about Clay.

Ashwell W.I. has been extremely generous by donating to the Well Dressing project the proceeds of the W.I. raffle from their March meeting. This will pay for the much needed clay that will fill the Well Dressing frame.

Several members of our well dressing team also happen to be members of Ashwell W.I. 

They had enthusiastically told the W.I. chairman and her committee what the Well Dressing project was all about, explaining that this was the first time Well Dressing had been exhibited in Ashwell and how the finished project was set to coincide with not only the 60th anniversary of Ashwell Music Festival, but also the 30th anniversary of Ashwell at Home.  Our Well Dressers also mentioned that money was needed to pay for the clay, frame, flower material that couldn't be home grown, advertising, et al.  It was also explained that, as Well Dressing had never before been attempted in Ashwell, the newly formed Well Dressing team had no money:  we are starting from scratch and are therefore a tad devoid of funds.  Basically....penniless.  Brassic.

Sympathising, and yet, at the same time, totally visualizing the finished project, our resolute W.I. rallied to the cause and offered to hold a raffle to pay for the clay with a proviso that the W.I. held onto the money until the clay was ready to be bought.  
(A failsafe in case the project falls at the first post.)  The raffle went ahead in aid of Well Dressing.
The W.I. raffle raised an amazing £65!!!   Bless the cotton socks of the W.I.!  
Well Dressing in Ashwell is up and running.

Over the last few weeks a trusty calculator, abacus, sliderule, plus fingers and toes have been employed to estimate the quantity of clay required to fill our Well Dressing frame. It is reckoned that 75 kilos of smooth clay will be needed,  which will have to be bought.

In Derbyshire, where Well Dressing has been a long standing tradition, the clay needed for the frame has been dug out of the earth in the locality of the Well Dressing.  All well and good in Derbyshire.  But Ashwell lies on solid chalk.  Which, of course, could be a good reason why Well Dressing has not been a long standing traditon of Ashwell.

The clay that we need must be smooth, free from grit and stone.  Luckily for us, Annie Hull, a ceramic artist from the neighbouring village of Hinxworth, has offered to source the clay.  Annie is currently experimenting with different types of clay to find the type most suitable for our needs.

What is Well Dressing?

The beautiful Well Dressing of Wirksworth 2012

It is an ancient custom of decorating (dressing) wells, springs, or other sources of water with living things.  it is most closely associated with Derbyshire and the first record in this country was in Tissington in 1349.

Wooden frames are constructed and soaked in water before being covered with wet clay mixed with salt.  A full scale design is sketched on paper, often with a religious theme, and this is pricked through the paper onto the clay.  Traditionally the picture is then filled-in with natural materials, predominently flower petals and mosses.  Some seeds can also be used and alder cones are very useful for outlines.
In some places modern materials are now used to simplify production.
Wirksworth and Barlow are two of the very few dressings where the strict use of only natural materials is still observed.

When is it?

Ashwell Museum

The first Well Dressing of Ashwell will be on display outside Ashwell Museum, Swan Street, Ashwell, Hertfordshire, from 12th to 19th May 2013.

Ashwell's first Well Dressing - Beginnings

Hollyhocks in Ashwell
These will be incorporated into our design
(photo by Margaret Budgen)

The newly founded committee met today for the third time since our plan to create a Well Dressing was hatched at the end of January.  Each time we meet the task appears a little more, not less, daunting, but underneath the apprehension is tummy fluttering excitement.

This morning, Amanda and Peter taped to the wall a scale drawing of the design that has been tweaked and fine-tuned to incorporate all of our brainstorming suggestions from the previous meetings.  To present a final composition that embraces the creative ideas of ten women was, as you can imagine, no mean feat!

St. Mary's church tower & steeple
(photo by Christopher Schwick)

The design includes St. Mary's church with its wonderful clock tower and spire; bright, glorious hollyhocks - the cheerful, statuesque blooms that grace the village every summer; a musical instrument to remind us all that this year, 2013, will be the 60th anniversary of the Ashwell Music Festival; and, of course, the Ash and the flowing waters of the Springs (Well) after which our village is named. 

Chairman, Maureen, who also happens to be the only experienced Well Dresser in Ashwell, brought to the meeting bags of alder cones which were distributed to everyone to sort and grade.  Maureen and Kate had gathered windfall cones earlier in the week at Fowlmere. Unfortunately, they were caught red-handed by the nature reserve warden who gave our trusty chairman and her accomplice a stern ticking-off.  Red faced, with heads bowed, our intrepid duo confessed that their expedition was in aid of materials for the first Well Dressing of Ashwell.  Thankfully, the very kindly and sympathetic warden, who most probably just couldn't cope with two weeping women, relented and gave special permission for the gathering to continue.  So, we now have our first stock of flower material.