St. Mary's Well
You will be pleased to know! It is said that there used to be a well at this Bridge End site even around 1392. Water from the well was used by the White Hart inn before tap water was introduced and was used to make beer. In the old days, water was not always fit to drink and most people, including children, would drink beer or watered down beer.
Penistone and District Society restored the well in 1993. Someone had the idea of importing the old Derbyshire well dressing tradition into our county in 1994 and combined it with a church parade. It has been an annual event in Penistone ever since - and the only well dressing in Yorkshire.
The Displays
Each year, a floral plaque is erected by the well and smaller flowered plaques designed and made by local children and displayed
across the road. A parade
of church people arrives at the site and the vicar employs his spiritual powers
to bless the well. The ceremony has a small but loyal following from church-goers
and the children from local junior schools enjoy being involved. There is usually some kind of entertainment.
The event has often been supported by Thurlstone Brass Band, who in 2005 did a rousing medley of well-known Yorkshire tunes (in the absence of any well-known Derbyshire tunes). Morris dancers added more energy to the occasion, as the tipplers observed from 'the bridge' (the White Hart being closed at the time). In 2007, a troupe of young dancers from St. John's Junior School entertained the crowd in the White Heart car park, with the help of the delightful Rachel Stamper from Thurgoland Musical Dance and Drama.
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Well Dressing has long been a proud tradition of our neighbouring county of Derbyshire and is not native to our county. Many older locals take a fairly sceptical view of this harmless, if misplaced activity. Something like "Let them get on with it, it's nowt to do with us" - or - "T' comers-in don't know what county we're in".
After this odd precedent, we can now borrow other traditions from outside of Yorkshire, such as caber-tossing, haggis hunting and cheese-rolling. I think we should try alpine horn competitions but it might frighten the nearby horses.
