Tissington Welldressings 2018

Tissington is a quaint, sleepy village, nestling in the Derbyshire countryside, hidden from the passing A-road.












There's a Hall, a church, stone cottages, a village green, and a duck pond. Everything you'd expect.

At this time of year, though, you'll find lots of visitors, all there to see the well-dressings.

It's a Derbyshire tradition, with its origins lost in time - some say it's a celebration of surviving the Plague of 1665, or a particularly bad drought during which the wells didn't run dry - but throughout the summer months villages across the county decorate their wells with mosaics made of flower petals, seeds and pebbles.















Tissington welldressing week begins on Ascension Day, and the wells here generally draw on bible stories or hymns for inspiration.

stones and petals mark out the wording

Moses in the bullrushes is a bit
hidden by the bright sunlight

This was my favourite - the words of the hymn are normally thought of in reference to sailors, but here 'those in peril' include a turtle caught in a fishing boat's nets, and the 'peril' includes a seabed littered with plastic.

I also loved these poppies at the 'Coffin Well'.

After walking round the village, we headed out across the fields, watched by some curious sheep, to reach the Tissington Trail, a foot and cycle path following an old railway line.

I'm not sure what Dylan thought of the welldressings but he certainly enjoyed the walk, and a stop to admire the view out towards Parwich.

Further well-dressings in 2018 - Ashford in the Water,