Petalling for Well Dressing in Stoney Middleton

3.30.00pm GMT Tue 8th Jul 2008

We are hoping to see more people from the village trying their hand at petalling this year. Even if you have never had a go before you are most welcome to come to the Moon Inn car park during the week beginning Monday 21st July, where the work will be getting under way. Someone will be there to help you get started, especially from Wednesday onwards, and you will soon find that you pick up the basics of getting the small leaves and petals securely into place in the design on the clay.

The first stage is for the designers to "prick out" their pictures from the paper on which it has been drawn, on to the bed of clay, which is already smoothed out in each frame. Then comes the "wooling", when the outlines of the pictures are made easier to see by working strands of black wool into the lines marked on the clay. If you have a steady hand this is quite a straightforward task. Now a start can be made to building up the picture, first adding the dried natural materials.

These include seeds of various kinds, aniseed, alder cones, peppercorns and rhubarb seed, and also grey moss. The "dry" materials help to give body to the picture and will keep their texture for longer than the petals of flowers which follow, and which provide the bright colours. Flower petals are more delicate and need more patience and care to ensure that they stay in place and are not damaged as they go in; a little more skill is needed for this, but with the right aptitude it can quickly be developed.

Above all there is a great feeling of achievement and excitement on the Friday evening, when the well dressings are finished and put up in their usual places in The Nook. All is then ready for the photographs to be taken and our Well Dressing to open the following day, which this year will be on Saturday 26th July.

Do come and join in and help to maintain this marvellous tradition for the future.

Paul Fox tel. 631942