Well, Well, Well...Oh Well
As I finished eating my breakfast my eyelids got heavier and heavier and I was overcome by fatigue. I knew it was bad to take a nap right after eating but I was thoroughly exhausted. I hadn't slept well last night, got up at the crack of dawn and had had a vigorous 2-hour hike. So I did take a nap with Ginger cuddled up under the covers with me. I had to drag myself out of bed for the second time this morning. This time it was because I wanted to attend a celebration on the Stray. Today there was a Well-to-Well walk along the Stray to celebrate Harrogate's spa heritage and various other aspects of the town's history. This is the first year the town has had such a celebration and it showed in the lack of preparation and publicity for the event.
The celebration was to begin at Tewit Well, Harrogate's and England's first spa. When I arrived at Tewit Well there was a band playing under the well canopy (designed by Chippendale, btw). The music was quite good...performed by the Tewit Youth Band. There were folks ambling about in period costumes. I wasn't quite sure what that was all about but eventually figured out that they represented famous visitors to Harrogate. For example, there was a man, woman and young girl dressed as Nicholas, Alexandra and Anastasia, who had come to Harrogate from treatment of sciatica. At 2 p.m. the Mayor of Harrogate officially opened the ceremony, a priest (or vicar?) read out a blessing at the well, the band played Onward Christian Soldiers and everyone was encouraged to sing along. I personally felt a bit strange singing the lyrics to that hymn considering the political climate of the day.
I had read that there would be a well dressing of Tewit Well that would consist of all natural materials. Well...Tewit Well was bare -- no decoration that I could see! Then I ran into some friends and commented on the well dressing. My friend Nancy pointed out a small framed picture of the well propped up near where the band was playing. She said that was the well dressing. I was astounded. That little thing! I got closer to the picture and sure enough it was made of natural materials -- leaves and sticks and flower petals and sprigs of evergreen. But it was just so...underwhelming! Nancy said that in Derbyshire, where well dressing is very popular and a deep rooted tradition, the designs are much larger, up to eight feet tall. Harrogate has a long way to go in their well dressing attempts.
From Tewit Well a procession of selected groups (there was never any explanation why only certain groups were in the procession) walked over to West Park where Samson Fox's Ox Roast of 1887 would be re-enacted. The re-enactment consisted of a marquee set up on the Stray opposite Weeton's gourmet grocery. Weeton's were selling roast beef sandwiches at £2 a pop (proceeds going to charity). The sandwich consisted of one slice of thickly cut roast beef on your choice of a white or brown roll. The only condiment available was horseradish sauce. I don't care for horseradish and the beef was tough in parts. (yuck, in other words!) The advance publicity for this event had said there would be sheep grazing on the Stray again. Well, there were sheep alright. Four of them huddled into a tiny pen with barely enough room to turn around in. The sheep looked miserable and the whole thing was a bit pathetic.
Next stop was a cabmen's shelter on the Stray that had just been restored. It had been painted a bright lime green and we wondered if that was what the original color would have been. It was festooned with a couple of limp balloons and there was a sheet posted there stating the shelter was used by tradesmen plying their wares on the Stray.
From West Park the celebration moved on to the Royal Pump Room which was also to be "dressed." I never did see the Pump Room well dressing as I stopped to watch some performers in front of the entrance to Valley Gardens. It was a troupe of sword dancers. From their outfits and the music they looked to be Bavarian or Austrian but turned out to be Yorkshire Sword Dancers. Each member held a sword and while dancing a kind of square dance they clanged each other's swords and danced over and under them. At the end of each number they arranged their swords by interlocking them into various shapes.
The celebration culminated at the Sun Pavilion in Valley Gardens where the band was now playing some nice 30s jazz music. Inside there was a water tasting competition. Don't ask, I really don't know what that was all about but there was some sort of tie-in to when people used to "take the waters" at the spas of Harrogate.
It was after 3 p.m. by the time we got to the Sun Pavilion. My fatigue was returning and I needed to stop by the Waitrose supermarket before they closed at 4 p.m. so I left the festivities which were winding down anyway.
I picked up a Sunday paper and a ready meal (Chicken Saag Masala) for dinner tonight. I've just finished chatting with Brad and will relax for now...
The celebration was to begin at Tewit Well, Harrogate's and England's first spa. When I arrived at Tewit Well there was a band playing under the well canopy (designed by Chippendale, btw). The music was quite good...performed by the Tewit Youth Band. There were folks ambling about in period costumes. I wasn't quite sure what that was all about but eventually figured out that they represented famous visitors to Harrogate. For example, there was a man, woman and young girl dressed as Nicholas, Alexandra and Anastasia, who had come to Harrogate from treatment of sciatica. At 2 p.m. the Mayor of Harrogate officially opened the ceremony, a priest (or vicar?) read out a blessing at the well, the band played Onward Christian Soldiers and everyone was encouraged to sing along. I personally felt a bit strange singing the lyrics to that hymn considering the political climate of the day.
I had read that there would be a well dressing of Tewit Well that would consist of all natural materials. Well...Tewit Well was bare -- no decoration that I could see! Then I ran into some friends and commented on the well dressing. My friend Nancy pointed out a small framed picture of the well propped up near where the band was playing. She said that was the well dressing. I was astounded. That little thing! I got closer to the picture and sure enough it was made of natural materials -- leaves and sticks and flower petals and sprigs of evergreen. But it was just so...underwhelming! Nancy said that in Derbyshire, where well dressing is very popular and a deep rooted tradition, the designs are much larger, up to eight feet tall. Harrogate has a long way to go in their well dressing attempts.
From Tewit Well a procession of selected groups (there was never any explanation why only certain groups were in the procession) walked over to West Park where Samson Fox's Ox Roast of 1887 would be re-enacted. The re-enactment consisted of a marquee set up on the Stray opposite Weeton's gourmet grocery. Weeton's were selling roast beef sandwiches at £2 a pop (proceeds going to charity). The sandwich consisted of one slice of thickly cut roast beef on your choice of a white or brown roll. The only condiment available was horseradish sauce. I don't care for horseradish and the beef was tough in parts. (yuck, in other words!) The advance publicity for this event had said there would be sheep grazing on the Stray again. Well, there were sheep alright. Four of them huddled into a tiny pen with barely enough room to turn around in. The sheep looked miserable and the whole thing was a bit pathetic.
Next stop was a cabmen's shelter on the Stray that had just been restored. It had been painted a bright lime green and we wondered if that was what the original color would have been. It was festooned with a couple of limp balloons and there was a sheet posted there stating the shelter was used by tradesmen plying their wares on the Stray.
From West Park the celebration moved on to the Royal Pump Room which was also to be "dressed." I never did see the Pump Room well dressing as I stopped to watch some performers in front of the entrance to Valley Gardens. It was a troupe of sword dancers. From their outfits and the music they looked to be Bavarian or Austrian but turned out to be Yorkshire Sword Dancers. Each member held a sword and while dancing a kind of square dance they clanged each other's swords and danced over and under them. At the end of each number they arranged their swords by interlocking them into various shapes.
The celebration culminated at the Sun Pavilion in Valley Gardens where the band was now playing some nice 30s jazz music. Inside there was a water tasting competition. Don't ask, I really don't know what that was all about but there was some sort of tie-in to when people used to "take the waters" at the spas of Harrogate.
It was after 3 p.m. by the time we got to the Sun Pavilion. My fatigue was returning and I needed to stop by the Waitrose supermarket before they closed at 4 p.m. so I left the festivities which were winding down anyway.
I picked up a Sunday paper and a ready meal (Chicken Saag Masala) for dinner tonight. I've just finished chatting with Brad and will relax for now...
posted by lenora at 11:57 AM
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