Wassail at the Orchard - This Saturday

Saturday 29th January 2022 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Donkey Lane Community Orchard, off Keens Lane, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, OX39 4PF

Wassail at the Orchard!

Greening Chinnor and the Mid Shires Orchard Group invite you and your family to a Winter Wassail for the Donkey Lane Community Orchard! The Anglo-Saxon ‘wes haile!’ or ‘wase hail!’ was a hearty wish for good health and fortune. We shout ‘Wassail!’ to toast our apple trees, that they may be healthy and fruitful for the coming year and bring us good harvest and bounty. We also make lots of noise to ward off bad luck and mischievous spirits, so they stay away and don’t steal the fruit!

Cross the railway crossing and enter the Donkey Lane Community Orchard via the ancient trackway… Appreciate the lovely vista of the historic 19th century apple trees in this rural Chilterns landscape. Enjoy the warm scent of apples as the hodgepodge of windfalls are crushed underfoot. Admire the decorated trees that are the King and Queen of the Orchard, hung with all their finery.

The event is lots of fun and we welcome audience participation. Make a din to scare off mischievous spirits, by banging drums, blowing horns, beating pots and pans and joining in the Wassail song accompanied by the Towersey Village Voices choir. Assembled children (of all ages!) will scatter a festive seed mix, for the wildlife to enjoy

After the main event: Congregate around the Refreshments Stall to enjoy more cider, mulled cider, mulled apple juice, apple juice and cake. Small donations are welcomed in return for refreshments, for the Donkey Lane Community Orchard.

Take a tour of the Donkey Lane Community Orchard

• Take a walk around the Donkey Lane Community Orchard with your hosts
• Visit the historic apple and plum trees and learn more about them
• Discover the site of the old well and the cottages
• Learn how you can help keep this orchard flourishing, join in working parties and enjoy orchard events

You’ve read about Wassails in the Parish Pump; this is your chance to come along and enjoy one for yourself. Bring along some musical instruments, pots, pans and wooden spoons… anything that will make a noise!

Weather and clothing

Check the weather forecast and dress up appropriately. Bring a brolly if needed! Wear wellington boots or stout, waterproof footwear that is suitable for walking around in an orchard environment, in winter weather.