I grew up in Derbyshire, our nearest town was Chesterfield (made famous last year for it’s pretty wonky Diana well-dressing.) I should say that until last year – the year I turned 30 – I thought that every town did well dressings, I didn’t know that it was a Derbyshire tradition. Well dressings are pictures made from petals and other naturally sourced items (like pebbles, sticks and egg shells) which are placed near wells and other water sources. Apparently well dressings originate from a pagan custom of offering thanks to gods for a reliable water supply. (Thanks Wiki.)
No-one thinks that the town they grew up in is weird, until they leave it and realise that what you considered to be normal will raise eyebrows elsewhere. On Sunday, we went for a walk with friends to a National Trust ‘site’ near Hathersage called Wooden Pole. Google it, nothing comes up, it’s just a wooden pole.
Baffling.
It is very beautiful round there, I took my camera and got a few snaps of the icy ground. I particularly like the last picture, because it could be summer, it could be winter, it could be a different planet, a whole new world.
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