The events season is nearly upon us so we've spending the last 4 weeks, carrying out a little experiment and trying to live on 1940s rations for a month....
I've started up a seperate blog for these posts, feel free to pop over and see how we're getting on! Of course if you've any advice or tips please feel free to pop them in the comments box!
1940s Family on Rations: The beginning.....: We have decided to see if it is possible for us, as a modern day family, to live on rations of WW2 for a month... This blog will docu...
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Sunday 29 January 2012
A Wassailing We Did Go...
Hailing from somerset the 1940s family could hardly miss an opportunity to take part in this ancient local tradition.
Wassailing In the cider-producing counties in the South West of England (primarily Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) or South East England (Kent, Sussex and Essex, Suffolk) wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.
The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song and/or a processional tune to be played/sung from one orchard to the next, the wassail Queen will then be lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year).In some counties the youngest boy or "Tom Tit" would step in for the Queen and hang the cider soaked toast in the tree.
The day began with a ploughmans lunch in the village hall, a queen was chosen and crowned. Morris men danced and a village bnd played. A procession then took place from hall to orchard! We even made it into the paper!
The wassail began by the group forming a circle around the tree. The queen places a cided soaked piece of toast in the branches. She pours cider - from last years harvest - around the base of the tree whilst an incantation is read and shotguns are fired to rid the orchard of evil spirits. A wassail cup is passed around the circle and everyone sips the warm wassail cider. Finally a wasail is sung. The kilmerston wassail has its own special song....
Kilmersdon wassail
Song To thee to the old apple tree
Be growth so strong and true
So fair of blossom and sweet of fruit
Be yours the season through
Chorus.......
We'll wassail thee, old apple tree
And bless thee through the year
And raise a glass of the goodly brew
"Good luck" to all of us here
O apple tree, o apple tree
Now spread your branches wider
To bear more fruit for we to crop
And turn them into cider
Chorus
We'll wassail thee old apple tree
With cider round thy feet
And a round of toast in your branches high
For little robin to eat
Chorus x 2
We took part in the kilmerston wassail, and wassailed the community orchard - a dozen young apple trees, before returning to the old school house to repeat the wassail there - to a proper apple tree!!
All followed by tea and apple cake - yum!
Wassailing In the cider-producing counties in the South West of England (primarily Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) or South East England (Kent, Sussex and Essex, Suffolk) wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.
The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song and/or a processional tune to be played/sung from one orchard to the next, the wassail Queen will then be lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year).In some counties the youngest boy or "Tom Tit" would step in for the Queen and hang the cider soaked toast in the tree.
The day began with a ploughmans lunch in the village hall, a queen was chosen and crowned. Morris men danced and a village bnd played. A procession then took place from hall to orchard! We even made it into the paper!
| Oh look behind the band....its the 1940s family!!! |
The wassail began by the group forming a circle around the tree. The queen places a cided soaked piece of toast in the branches. She pours cider - from last years harvest - around the base of the tree whilst an incantation is read and shotguns are fired to rid the orchard of evil spirits. A wassail cup is passed around the circle and everyone sips the warm wassail cider. Finally a wasail is sung. The kilmerston wassail has its own special song....
Kilmersdon wassail
Song To thee to the old apple tree
Be growth so strong and true
So fair of blossom and sweet of fruit
Be yours the season through
Chorus.......
We'll wassail thee, old apple tree
And bless thee through the year
And raise a glass of the goodly brew
"Good luck" to all of us here
O apple tree, o apple tree
Now spread your branches wider
To bear more fruit for we to crop
And turn them into cider
Chorus
We'll wassail thee old apple tree
With cider round thy feet
And a round of toast in your branches high
For little robin to eat
Chorus x 2
We took part in the kilmerston wassail, and wassailed the community orchard - a dozen young apple trees, before returning to the old school house to repeat the wassail there - to a proper apple tree!!
All followed by tea and apple cake - yum!
Sunday 15 January 2012
{Future Event} Vintage Transport Day
Sunday 12th March 2012
Organised by a fellow 1940s Re-enactor that
decided there are not enough shows in the South West so he started his own!
This will be the 4th Annual show always having a good strong 1940s
section with WWII vehicles and re-enactors.
We'll be heading along to this great sounding event to help with the Homefront re-eneactments.
Iif you fancy getting involved too, Steve is still looking for
Saturday 31 December 2011
Happy New Year and Thanks for 2011
We have had a fantastic year here at The 1940s Family which we are truly grateful for!
2011 was a great year for us, even though we didn't form the 1940s family until late in the season, it has changed our lives already! We have met and made so many friends through our 'new' vintage life (many more online) and have discovered a new way of living....
With regular days out to Tea Partys, Vintage Fairs, Steam Train rides and WW2 events our lives have never been so full!!
Thank you for joining us on our journey, I wish I could do one of those month by month highlights, stick around till next December and I'll have a great one!
Happy New Year to you all, may all your hopes come true for 2012.... and see you next year!
Friday 30 December 2011
Christmas Fun - War On the Line Christmas Leave
Merry Christmas! I do hope you al had a good time and didn't eat too much! Luckily this year instead of overdoing the mince pies on Boxing Day, we headed off to the Watercress Line, in Hampshire to their Christmas Leave event!A WWII leave event held on a heritage steam train line, what more could we ask for!
We'd applied to go asreenactors a while ago so I've been busy over the past months, sourcing warm period clothes for a christmas event. I needn't had worried though, we were treated to unseasonably warm weather and I didn't even need a coat on the second day!
A good mix between reenactors and the general public, there was a great turn out! Everyone got into the mood, with 40s hits being played into the carriages and quite a few of us singing along. Arthur has already decided he'll be bringing his uke to the next one!
I am always impressed by others dressed up and had some serious clothes envy this time...I'm now trying to source a WWII nurses uniform!
The War on the Line is held twice a year and they have all ready started promoting the war on the line summer event, which we would really love to go back for.
I'll leave you with some photos from the day....
As usual we had plenty of games to keep us busy this one was the Coronation Scot game, our ticket collector had fond memories of playing this game when he was a small boy!
Dominoes is always a favourite too, and luckily noone was tempted to cheat....
Uh-oh freddie, you havent go a spare one in your pocket have you?
Luckily the copper had moved on when we met the lovely smart alec! The children both got a wartime kitkat (half their weekly ration allowance) and all it cost me was a kiss!!
I love all the railway posters and signs you find at these stations.... I think some will have to make their way onto our walls at home eventually!
Alresford Station had a good display of vehicles and troops on parade as our great Prime Minister arrived
My only disappointment was I wasn't able to take many photos of the train.
I'll leave you with this one...
Monday 12 December 2011
Christmas at Limpley Stoke
Yesterday we were lucky enough to be invited to the Limpley Stoke Hotel for a lovely Christmas meal....
The hotel was trimmed gorgeously for christmas, so we couldn't resist a few photos....
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| Martha was rather taken with the baubles!!! |
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| Whereas I had my eye on the grand piano!!! |
Of course we couldn't be serious all afternoon!!!
Tuesday 29 November 2011
{Visits} Radstock Museum
During last month we took a little visit to Radstock Museum. Predominany a museum about Radstock's coal mining and local history, they had a current exhibition of 'Women at Work' including a large display of wartime jobs etc. It really was most interesting!!
Beautiful satin corsets and Stockings alongside knitting needles and pattern books. The Land Girl Army Displays were particularily poiniant, photos and recounts from local ladies who joined up
Following on the theme, here's a lovely group of flicker photos The Women of WW2
Enjoy!!!!
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