Core tradition returns to Herefordshire (From Hereford Times)
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Core tradition returns to Herefordshire
4:36pm Thursday 6th January 2011 in News By Paul Ferguson
ONE of Herefordshire's strangest customs will return to an orchard near Hereford this evening (Thursday).
Families and cider drinkers have been invited to join a wassail in Tillington.
The ceremony dates to Pagan times and involves greeting an apple tree on the twelfth night to promote a good harvest.
Participants often sprinkle cider around a tree, hang toast from its branches and light fires nearby to ward-off evil spirits.
The Tillington ceremony starts with a torchlit procession from the Bell Inn at 7pm and has been organised by the Leominster Morris.
The group holds wassails in a different orchard each year, with hundreds attending previous events in Dilwyn and Weobley.
Wassailers can also have some flaming good fun at orchards near Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye this Saturday (Jan 8).
The Silurian Border Morris will lead a torchlight procession from the Slip Inn, Much Marcle from 7pm, while hundreds are expected at Broome Farm, Peterstow, around the same time.
