Two weeks ago, we talked about seaside holidays and wrote poems about our holiday memories. Derbyshire is a long way from the seaside, so a day by the sea is a very special occasion.
This week, we’ve been talking about fun a bit closer to home. Most Derbyshire towns and villages have their own well dressing. This is an ancient local tradition of blessing our wells and village pumps with pictures made from petals, leaves, buds, seeds and anything else natural, pressed into heavy boards filled with clay. Communities come together to design and make the well dressings, and when they’re on show, the community has its carnival. The fair comes to town, the pubs are full, people will have communal barbecues and parades.
A Perfect Holiday
A trip to California
Many a perfect day
Lying on the beach
And having a sway
On a big, long boat
Cruising around Scotland
Around the sea or on a loch
Or pottering along the canal
On a sunny day.
But you have to watch what you’re doing
When you’re steering that boat!
Sea food and ice cream
Crabs and prawns, cockles and mussels
Not whelks – they take too much chewing.
Lobster salad would be nice.
You’ve got to try new things and be adventurous –
But don’t be dangerous and dive too deep.
Golden holiday memories to keep.
Seaside Memories
Going rock pooling, looking for crabs
Fond memories to look back on.
Going on the donkeys on the beach
Paddling on the shoreline
Feeling the water splashing around your feet,
The sand between your toes.
Daytrips to Blackpool –
Only half an hour away.
Sandwiches and a flask to last all day.
Sitting behind a wind-break
Scrambling to get dressed, still sandy and wet
After a dip in the sea.
Candyfloss sticking to my chin,
Melting in my mouth,
Watching it being made, as if by magic.
Penny slot machines, grabbing canes – you never won!
Shivering with fear on the ghost train.
Bits of string dangling down,
Sixpence to ride the Helter Skelter
Mooching up and down the prom when we ran out of money.
It was rubbish in between, but we’d have picnics,
Paddling in the river at Hathersage,
Pretending we’d been to the seaside.
Derbyshire Carnival Time
Making well dressings at school
Everyone involved – the children of Youlgreave.
In Eyam, everyone remembers the plague
And celebrates how the village was saved.
Everyone meets around the sheep roast,
Early in the morning, for a breakfast
Of oatcakes, cooked in sheep fat
To line your stomach for a boozy day.
That doesn’t sound appetising to me!
In Buxton, the well dressings are in the Spring Gardens
But everyone goes to the fair.
You can’t even see one of them,
Because the fair gets built all around it.
Big Saturday in Tideswell too.
Carnival day, the whole village celebrates.
Lots of things happening: a duck race in Buxton
(I reckon someone’s cheating)
A wheelbarrow race in Youlgreave
The week before the carnival, all through the village.
Traditions old and new –
Pillow fights on a pole above the river.
Tugs of war, tombolas.
All week, there’s something –
Anything to raise money for local charities
An excuse to have a few pints.
Live music from a lorry in a pub car park –
Marching bands with bagpipes,
Blessing the wells as they go.
Billerettes in Buxton – male majorettes
Shaking their pompoms.
At last, summer has come to the Peak District
And men have an irresistible urge to dress as women
Bakewell Carnival – the first week in July.
Come and join us – give it a try!