THE annual Carhampton Wassail is taking on a new lease of life in collaboration with the four generations of the Moores family now running the village’s Butcher’s Arms public house.

Carhampton Community Orchard and the Butchers Arms will be creating a wassail double-act from 6.30 pm on Saturday (January 17), which is the old Twelfth Night.

People are invited to meet in the orchard from 6.15 pm for the traditional wassail ceremony, led again this year by MC Joe Mallinson.

The ancient tradition is said to help with securing a good crop of apples this year with the time-honoured ceremony of cider-soaked toast and libation, for the good spirits, shotguns fired and pots and pans banged to scare away the evil spirits, and singing of the ‘Wassail Song’ and others.

Free draughts will be available for all from Roland’s hot cider cup, or a non-alcohol alternative, and home-grown apple juice will be supplied by Phil and Sue Taphouse.

The wassailers will then move on to the reopened Butchers Arms to view a new exhibition of historic photographs and artefacts from both the wassail and the pub.

They can also taste a slice of something home-made and apple-related and hear cheerful barn dance tunes, and join in with a few seasonal songs with Brian Heaton, Ruth Gasperini, and Keith Jones.

Carhampton’s wassail ceremony is a rare survivor of the ancient tradition and is often used as a model for more modern events as wassailing sees something of a revival in communities across the county.