THE dancers of Crook Morris celebrated the ancient custom of wassailing in the Lyth Valley.
To mark Wassail Day, the colourfully bedecked team enacted age-old rituals around a damson tree in the Walker family's orchard at The Row.
Tradition has it that wassailing encourages fruitfulness in the year to come. The ceremony saw a three-handled wassail cup filled with damson beer passed around, and a cake made from Lyth Valley damsons. Everyone dipped a piece of toast into the cup, and the beer-soaked bread was placed on the tree branches, along with ribbons.
Judy Malkin, of Crook Morris, said the ceremony was "very well attended" and was followed by more dancing, singing and revelling at the Hare and Hounds pub, Bowland Bridge. A collection of £217 was made for the Great North Air Ambulance.
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