CARHAMPTON Community Orchard Wassail went ahead on January 17 to mark traditional Old Twelfth Night – despite threats of wind and rain.

Early arrivals, hooded and booted against the gathering storm, were greeted by animations on the theme of wassail. These were created by Minehead Mind Art group and primary schools, in a community project run by Somerset fIlm.

There followed 45 minutes of song, cider cup and bread rolls, gunfire and pan–bashing, all around the senior Bramley seedling.

Keith Jones welcomed a crowd of 80 or more, saying their presence would help both this year’s fruit crop and also the orchard’s long-term prosperity. The orchard was known, he said, for its unique collection of English apples and its growing impact upon the community.

Martyn Babb, composer and singer of the founding Ballad of Carhampton Orchard, led the famous Wassail Song.

Guns and pans banished evil, and children bedecked the Bramley tree with cider-soaked toast to attract the good. A story often told by the late “village legend” Jack Miles was recounted and orchard friends spontaneously offered more entertaining ballads.

As the weather worsened, West Somerset Morris Men fell in procession behind musician Brian Heaton and led the company to the Butcher’s Arms yard where they danced.

Then their musicians joined others in-house to provide an evening of folk tunes and songs. Jim Parham and a loyal crowd serenaded the old Butcher’s tree as they warmed themselves by the bonfire.