Working with members of the Faraday Road, Stafford, 'Stroke Club' to introduce them to the art of well dressing on 8th July.At the SBC Community Awards presentation evening at the end of April, Carol Benbow, Ros Langford and Judy Thompstone were approached by members of the Stafford Stroke Club to see if we would visit their club and introduce members to the art of well dressing. So on 8th of July when the Croxton Well Dressing Festival was over, and armed with clay in tinfoil boxes, seeds etc. Carol and Ros were welcomed to their morning meeting. The members set about creating mini well dressings on the theme of a canal, house, flower and face, and what a good job they made of the designs on their first attempt, ( see photos below). It was a pleasure to help them with the designs and they really enjoyed the morning. They have been invited to create a well dressing for our 2017 event, and the designs they created today have been placed at the cattery well ( no. 5) in Croxton for all to see.
The 2015 CroxtonWell Dressing will be held on Saturday 4th July
This year's well dressing festival will have some very important guests. Stafford Borough Mayor ( Cllr Peter Jones) will be in attendance and the Bishop Of Stafford, the Rt Revd. Geoff Annas will conduct the blessing of the well alongside Rev John Day and Rev. Jonathan Eades. The 2015 well dressing festival will be officially opened this year by David Jacques (local historian and Parish Councillor).
The five well dressings will be erected between 10 and 11am. The official opening ceremony will take place at 11.45pm and the traditional blessing of the well at 12 noon. Visitors will then be able to walk the Croxton well dressing trail to view the 5 well dressings of various sizes / themes made by members of the local community. This year Mucklestone Primary School pupils will be creating a triptych design which will be displayed at the cattery well. There are already lots of events lined up for the day which aims to celebrate local talent and business. There will be folk music played alongside the main well by the wonderful Tern Valley Tinkers and BBC Radio Stoke will be covering the event live. We look forward to welcoming the following on Saturday 4th July. From 11.30am the following will be available to see in the Millennium Wood opposite the main well dressing at Boughey's well: Eccleshall Scouts BBQ Walk Mill Botanics 'A Farmer's Daughter' ( Helen Thompstone) Ed Glew from Blithfield Willowcraft Langot Valley Vineyard Serendipity Vintage Bouquets Broughton WI Centenary display Croxton & Broughton Garden Guild Croxton Wool Spinning Group Tern Valley Tinkers Folk Group. Stafford Knot Spinners Battle of Blore Heath Display. Eccleshall First Responders - Heart Start / Defibrillators. Severn Trent Water - water-saving devices. ....... and then from 2pm - 4pm there will be refreshments and a music and poetry concert in St Paul's Church, Croxton with the following already signed up to take part: Broughton Community Choir Eccleshall Singers John Myatt Ken Langford Mucklestone Primary School The Eccoustics Broughton Windband The Tern Valley Tinkers Folk Group Jean Beasley, Sheila Moulton, Barbara Bradley and Ros Langford - poetry Croxton Well Dressing project wins 'Pride in Your Patch' Award 16.4.15.
Judy Thompstone, Carol Benbow and Ros and Ken Langford attended the Stafford Borough Council's 'Pride in Your Patch' Awards evening at Stafford Rangers' Football Club on 16th April, and were delighted to receive the Highly Commended award and a £25 prize for their entry in the ' Action in the Community' group category. Some of the photographs taken on the evening are shown below.
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4th July 2015: Croxton Well Dressing FestivalBy all accounts the 2015 Croxton Well Dressing was a success. The weather was kind again and the sun shone all day despite the weather forecasters predicting rain. The 5 well dressings were transported from the pole barn at Blorepipe on a flatbed trailer pulled by Rob Unsworth's shiny red tractor. All arrived safely, and then were unloaded and a team of strong men manhandled them into position, - where for the first time we could really see the beautiful pictures created during the previous 6 days. The theme for the well dressings in 2015 was 'Legends of the Langot'.
Stalls were set-up in the Millennium Wood; Eccleshall Scouts served up their legendary BBQ fare, and the Tern Valley Tinkers serenaded us with folk music at the well. People started gathering and photographed the well dressings, and the Bishop of Stafford and the Mayor of Stafford were welcomed to the event. At 11.45pm, Cllr. David Jacques officially opened the 2015 Croxton Well Dressing Festival and told us some of the ancient history of the local area. Rev. Jonathan Eades then introduced the Bishop of Stafford who conducted the traditional blessing of the well, and the Church choir, accompanied by Ellen Butter on her guitar, led everyone in singing two hymns. Ros Langford thanked everyone for coming and hoped they would walk the Croxton wells trail to see all 5 of the well dressings, visit the stalls and displays in the Millennium Wood and then go down to St Paul's Church for the afternoon music and poetry concert. The slideshow above is a snapshot of the day's events. Everyone had a wonderful time and the concert was the best yet. Thanks to all those people who have helped in anyway - it has involved many people over many months, but the end result was worth it. The well dressings remained on display for a week, and were added to mid week with some smaller well dressings created by the Faraday Road Stafford Stroke Club with the help of Carol Benbow and Ros. A lovely community event.... and the next will be on 1st July 2017. If you would like to be involved with the next Croxton Well Dressing, - please use the Contact page on this web-site or call Ros on 01630 620545. The well dressings are erected at 9am on 4th JulyCompleted!All five well dressings are now completed and ready to be erected around the Croxton Wells trail early on Saturday 4th July. Fingers crossed for some sunshine!
DAY 6: 2nd July
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- 2023 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2019 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2017 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2015 Well Dressing
- 2013 Croxton Well Dressing.
- The inaugural 2012 Croxton Well Dressing
- 2012 Well Dressing in the Making
- 2013 Planning and Design
- 2012 well dressing planning
- Restoration of the historic wells 2012
- Heritage Cycling / Walking Trail
- A Community Project
- Well Dressing Frame
- Local History & the 'Woodland Quarter'
- Materials
- Design 2012
- The Well Dressing Process
- 1901 Map of wells in Croxton and surrounding villages
- Contact