I have just joined an Abundance UK group and have been notified of this event and thought it sounded really interesting! Please find details below:
Wassailing is a pagan tradition to celebrate apple trees and hope for a good harvest, and the Willesden Winter Wassail will be a mixture of new and old traditions, with all sorts of entertainment on offer.
Help us to bless the local trees, and then join us walking, singing and listening to extraordinary entertainment as we stop every so often along our route, to hear our neighbours and friends read poetry, tell stories and sing songs on the subject of trees and of the hope of a good harvest in 2010 from the depths of January! It will be followed by food, drink and conversation.
Turn up on the day, or contact Rachel Rose Reid rachelrosereid@… before if you want to take part (read a poem, sing a song, or anything else you don’t mind doing in public!) or be more involved in some way.
“Here’s to thee, old apple tree, Whence thou may’st bud And whence thou may’st blow! And whence thou may’st bear apples enow! Hats full! Caps Full! Bushel, bushel, sacks full! And my pockets full too! Hooray!”
To see more details and RSVP, follow the Facebook link below: http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=236057362094&mid=1916464G208e11b7G384e3\ 23G7
West Ealing Abundance 
I enjoyed the Willesden Wassail – some pics and reports at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturewise/sets/72157623109939287/show/with/4284945568/
http://ttkensaltokilburn.ning.com/profiles/blogs/willesden-wassailing-report
http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-videos-pics/
(the first Willesden Green wassail)
At one of the stops the instigator of the Transition Town Kensal to Kilburn fruit picking scheme gave a brief chat on the success they have had with volunteers picking fruit and delivering it to local schools.
What chance of a similar event in Ealing/Brentford next year ?!!
Blondin Park Community Orchard ?
LikeLike
Hi Tim yes it sounded excellent, shame I couldn’t make it.
We are currently looking at who to distribute fruit to this year on the basis we will have more volunteers and more fruit and we have certainly discussed who it should go to. We have given to St John’s soup kitchen and residential care homes as well as leaving boxes outside our houses but certainly primary schools are a good option. Myself and David Highton from WEN met with someone from Ealing Transition Town who is a ‘friend’ of Blondin Park and she supplied us with a very detailed map of the park (mainly apple trees). We will plot the park on our google map we are currently working on along with other fruit locations in the public realm.
In terms of the Wassailing lets see how this year goes, we need to get a larger group of volunteers and recruit someone who knows more about it than I do – maybe you?!
LikeLike