After months of planning, North Rode’s first Well dressing took place on 30th August.
Work had started many weeks earlier with the design and construction of the well dressing boards, designed to hold sufficient depth of clay to retain moisture and ensure the clay and flowers did not fall out.
The boards were fitted with chicken wire and clout nails to help retain the clay – visits were made to a number of well dressings in Derbyshire for ideas and to find out how to do it.
Bradwell Well Dressing teams were particularly helpful on materials, plants and petals to use, the type of clay and how to carry out the delicate work of petalling.
The next step was to create a design and transfer it to full-size paper cutouts for each board. Organisers chose the North Rode village sign for inspiration and simplified it to make it practical.
As the Church Lane well is on the road verge, the parish council decided early on to obtain a road closure, so villagers and the public could visit the well dressing safely, and to make it possible to hold a village picnic in the road and be entertained by Morris Dancers.
Parish council chair Coun Huw Williams said was “a lengthy process”, and only made possible with assistance from highways officer Andy Hall of local traffic management company Traffix.
The process of making up the well dressing boards can only start a few days before display, to ensure that the clay does not dry out and petals and plants retain their lustre and colour on the dressing day and for a few days afterwards.
Puddling
Before putting the clay into the boards, it has to be made the “right” consistency.
Coun Williams explained: “The problem was that no one could really describe that to us. Too dry and it is not sticky enough and is too hard, too wet and it does not hold its shape.”
On the Saturday before the well dressing, Mark Bullock brought round a large concrete cattle trough, which was lined and filled with large chunks of special pottery clay. The day was spent adjusting the amount of added water and trampling in wellies to obtain the correct texture.
“It is a very messy process but great fun!” said Coun Williams. He thanked Puddlers David and Jackie Shaw, Joan-Marie Williams, Janet James and Roger Earle, who helped him out. The clay was then forced into the boards and trowelled flat ready for the petalling.
The petalling process begins a few days beforehand with collecting suitable materials. Traditionally, well dressing materials should be all natural and preferably sourced locally. Dried materials such as nuts, cones, dried grasses and straw can be collected in advance, but living materials such as leaves and petals can only be collected a few days before placing – especially the delicate petals, which should only be picked and placed in the last few days. Daintry Hall Day Nursery was provided with a board filled with clay so it could take part.
Petalling took place at the workshop on Church Lane. The paper design was placed on top of the clay and, as each area was worked on, its outline was pricked with an awl through into the clay and then cut out with craft knives.
Outlines were defined using sweet cicely pods, alder cones and leaves, and dried materials applied.
Petals were only applied during the last two days, when the design came to life.
Explained Coun Williams: “A particular issue we faced was the hot weather causing a lack of colourful hydrangeas – a staple of all well dressers.
“We foraged around the village for surviving plants and ended up making a blue/pink sky and a rather nice sunset.”
Petalling took place from Monday 24th to Friday 28th August, during which time more than 20 villagers and their friends took part and made the design a reality – a community activity that many remarked was therapeutic and mindful.
Well dressing day finally arrived on 30th August and it only remained to install the boards. The completed main board, filled with moist clay, weighed approximately 100kg, and it, along with the 40kg head board, was transported to the well on a flat-bed trailer.
The boards then needed lifting into place and securing with back struts by the installation team – David Shaw, Coun Williams, Mr Bullock, Mr Earle and Mr Williams. Electric fencing was also installed by Malcolm Kidd on the field behind the well to keep curious Highland cattle from disturbing the installation.
Blessing
Despite foreboding weather forecasts, other than a brief shower the day was blessed with dry and sunny spells most of the afternoon.
Leek Morris entertained the village and the Rev Colin Wilson provided a very apt blessing of the well, followed by a village rendition of “All Things Bright and Beautiful”. Villagers, family and friends picnicked in the road to enjoy a rare moment with no traffic along Church Lane. Villagers were then invited by Leek Morris to participate in a stick dance, and luckily no injuries were sustained.
To round the day off, a ceilidh was organised for the village at Daintry Hall in the evening. The band, Maggoty, provided the music and a caller to dance the night away.
Jonathan Heywood of local events company Lightech lit up St Michael’s Church and the hall to provide a mood.
“It was certainly a day to be remembered in North Rode village,” said Coun Williams.
