Wells or bells?

Last year I was most disappointed to not be able to attend the very first Bell Festival that was held across town. It was September 2023, and I always seem to have a lot on in September, but luckily, I had someone who attended on my behalf, and took some wonderful photographs which I shared on a blog post.   

This year, the event was held in the latter half of October, and I was able to turn up at the events taking place, mostly in the older part of Loughborough, near the parish church and the Old Rectory. True, the Bellfoundry was open, but I was unable to make it to the factory.

The whole event opened in the early evening. You may be familiar with well-dressing – an occasion in many Derbyshire and Peak District villages when the wells that supplied water are adorned with handcrafted artworks, often created from natural materials like petals and seeds, or possibly with clay decorations. The events seem to run between May and September, but there seem to be several different theories as to the origin of well-dressing. Perhaps it started as a pagan celebration to thank the gods for the supply of water; or perhaps it originated around the time of the Black Death (c.1348), when people were very thankful for a clean water supply; or perhaps people were celebrating their constant water supply following a long period of drought (c.1615). Whatever the reason, well-dressing is now well-established, and draws many visitors to the area. 

So, imagine my surprise when I turned up at the opening of our second Bell Festival to be greeted by a “bell-dressing” event! I'm supposing that this originated as a way of celebrating Loughborough's industrial heritage of bellfounding (and, of course, our current bellfounders) and our cultural, artistic and crafting heritage. 

For the bell-dressing, lengths of cloth had been prepared and cut into long strips, and people were invited to ‘dress’ the willow bell that currently sits in the grounds of the Old Rectory. The bell was created for last year’s festival by local artist Nita Rao, and some of her other work can be seen permanently (in as much as untreated willow sculptures can be permanent!) in the Rectory Wildlife Garden, and during the summer period at various local woodlands, like The Outwoods, or Beacon Hill Park. The ‘dressing’ of the bell entailed weaving the strips of cloth through the stems of the willow, which, by the time it had been completed, looked rather effective!

The dressed bell in the grounds of the Old Rectory

The following morning I popped along to the Old Rectory, where they were giving a tour of the building and grounds to visitors, before moving over to the parish church where Taylors Bellfounders had set up a mobile ringing tower outside the church. This was really popular, and lots of people were keen to have a go at bellringing!! Meanwhile, inside the church a group of bellringers performed some music on handbells – quite fascinating to watch, and a lovely sound to hear!

There were a few other things going on in the Charnwood Arts building, but unfortunately I was rather limited for time, so only managed to get in and briefly see the bell-related exhibitions. I couldn’t miss the decorated railings along Rectory Place though!

Here’s hoping I can make it to next year’s Bell Festival!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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