Croxton Community Well Dressing Festival 1st July 2023.The well dressings were erected by our team of strong men and looked very beautiful and vibrant. There were lots of complimentary comments which made the well dressing-in-the-making process very worthwhile.
After a bit of a damp and chilly start it warmed up and crowds gathered for the opening ceremony by our lovely Beryl Roe followed by a traditional blessing of the well. Jayne Frawley and the BBQ team did a cracking job providing bacon butties for brunch, and the Community group stalls, displays and refreshments teams were superb. In the afternoon we had a great concert show-casing the superb talent we have in our community. A really wonderful event. Thank you to everyone who contributed to its success. Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 6We did it!
6 beautiful well dressings completed! It’s been a mammoth team effort, but the end results are very rewarding. Thank you to everyone who has been involved. The well dressings will be erected around a half- mile trail tomorrow morning at 8.30am by a team of strong men. The finished well dressings will be transported on a trailer pulled by Rob’s beautiful red tractor from Blore Pipe to Croxton. There will be lots of interesting stalls and displays and bacon butties for sale in the Millennium Wood in Croxton (opposite the main well) and the Opening Ceremony and traditional blessing of the well will take place at 11.30am. Delicious cakes and hot drinks will be served in St Paul’s Church from 10.30am and to conclude the festival, there will be a music and poetry concert in the Church from 2 - 3.15pm. Please come and support this lovely rural event. * The Well Dressings will remain on display for 7 days. Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 4Altogether 35 people worked on the creation of the designs during the 2023 Well Dressing-in-the-Making
The settlement of Podmore was built on a marshy land infested with toads and frogs.
We had so many people working on the designs today that we are well ahead of schedule and still two days left to complete. Lots of ‘first-timers’ enjoyed learning a new craft alongside others who were able to share their experience gained from the previous 5 well dressings.
Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 226th June 2023
Another very productive day with our ‘team’ completing most of the inputting of dried materials and some of the parsley and moss being added. Who would guess that dried banana skin would be used to craft a mail coach or dried orange peel used for a cockchafer beetle! Great progress and a work of art in the making. One more day to complete the addition of dried natural materials and then we start the process of ‘petalling’ of the leaves and flower petals to complete the designs. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to the rota at the Pole Barn, and to Pam & Rob for their hospitality. Clay added to the wooden frames 23rd June 2023The frames were removed from the river and hosed-down. The trestles had been arranged at different heights and then the heavy boards arranged on them so that they could be easily accessed from all sides. Eileen, Stan, Stuart and Ken then began the tough job of filling the boards with clay which had to be pressed down securely and levelled-off. Altogether 400kg of clay were used to fill the boards of all six well dressings. The clay was bought from Pot Clays in S-o-T and brought back in Ken's trailer to the pole barn ready for use.
When the clay had all been added, Ros and Eileen spent the next day pricking out the designs on all of the clay surfaces so that the Well Dressing in the making could begin on 24th June. Pat does a 'Spring Clean' of the railings and banner at Boughey's well.Many hands make light work!Broughton WI and Croxton Garden Guild members made an excellent job of clearing-out and tidying up 5 wells in readiness for the Croxton Community Well Dressing in 5 weeks time.
Thank you to Linda Mifflin (and Stuart and Frank Clewley), Patricia Kennedy, Pat Wright (and David) & Rosie Hammond, as well as Ken Langford and Marianne Grime. Great job done! Concert - St Paul's Church 2pm - 3.15pm.The line-up for the music and poetry concert takes shape
Stalls and displays in the Millennium Wood
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The six well dressings along the Croxton Wells trail…..Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 529th June 2023
Excellent progress .. lots of enthusiastic petallers! Just a few more bits to complete tomorrow and then hoping to pop some bubbles to celebrate completion of the designs. Preparation for the Festival continues .. Marquees to be put up tomorrow, cakes to bake, signs to put out etc. Such a huge community effort. Hoping for sunshine on Saturday and lots of visitors coming to see the designs, visit the stalls & displays and enjoy the refreshments and concert. Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 327th June 2023
Last day of inputting dry materials. Tomorrow we start adding the flowers. The designs are really starting to take shape. Well done to everyone who helped today, - several of whom were ‘first-timers’! Well Dressing-in-the-Making Day 1....Design marked out with coffee beans, wool and peppercorns and dried materials starting to be added.
22nd June: ....Pole Barn set-up with dried materials ready for the Well Dressing-in-the-MakingThrowing-away of the well dressing frames in the River Sow 9th June 2023And so it begins….. today Eileen Heal helped hubby Stan and Ken Langford ‘throw-away’the well dressing frames into the River Sow where they will soak for 2 weeks. Yesterday Patricia Kennedy scrubbed up the fence around Boughey’s Well and cleaned the banner so they all look sparkling! Only 3 weeks away now, .. Yikes!
Thank you to everyone who has been involved so far and to all those who have volunteered for the ‘well dressing-in-the-making’ or on the Croxton Community Well Dressing Festival day itself. So many people - all working together and ‘making a difference’. Well Dressing-in-the-Making - rotaDisplay in Eccleshall Library 3rd JuneGill Allsop, Lesley Danby and Linda Mifflin were very busy this morning constructing the beautiful display in Eccleshall Library to promote the well Dressing. It can be viewed until the beginning of July.
Opening Ceremony and
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- 2023 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2019 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2017 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2015 Well Dressing
- 2013 Croxton Well Dressing.
- The inaugural 2012 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2012 Well Dressing in the Making
- 2013 Planning and Design
- 2012 well dressing planning
- Restoration of the historic wells 2012
- Heritage Cycling / Walking Trail
- A Community Project
- Well Dressing Frame
- Local History & the 'Woodland Quarter'
- Materials
- Design 2012
- The Well Dressing Process
- 1901 Map of wells in Croxton and surrounding villages
- Contact