WASSAIL - A procession of more than 100 people walked with lighted torches to an orchard in Dorstone for the first wassail to be held in the village for at least a century.

Bonfires were lit, wassail songs were sung, cider was poured on the roots of a Nehou cider apple tree and a great noise was made to scare away the bad spirits and wake up the trees in a Herefordshire tradition that goes back for centuries. Foxwhelp Morris led this ancient ceremony in the orchard where the Phillips family harvests the apples which make their traditional Pips Cider, which everyone tasted. After that, the procession made its way back to the Pandy Inn for an evening of food, singing and dancing. The event was organised by the Friends of St Faith’s, who are raising money to develop the facilities in the parish church.