Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Kronika Cawsand project


Kronika Cawsand project

Úvod

Projekt se zaměřuje na výměnu kulturních, uměleckých a tradičních aktivit mezi dobrovolníky ČR a Anglie. Po květnové návštěvě Anglických přátel v České republice jsme měli naplánovánu cestu do malého městečka Cowsand na jižním pobřeží Anglie. Je to spíše malá historická vesnice, která sousedí s velkým královským městem Plymouth.

Projekt je zajišťován partnerskými organizacemi Educator a Point Europa Office. Naše aktivity jsou plánovány od 6. do 26.7.2015 a účastní se jich těchto šest seniorů:
Alena Floríková, Radek Maca, Dagmar Nogová, Karel a Marie Schmidovi, Miluše Vidnerová.



6.7.2015 – 1. den: cesta

Sešli jsme se v 20:00 h u Starbucks coffee s drobnými obavami, jak to všechno zvládneme. Pro rozehnání stínů pochybností jsme si dodávali odvahu alespoň první společnou fotkou
Když už jsme se s letenkami dostali k odbavování zavazadel, sdělili nám, že naše letadlo bude mít kvůli bouřce v cílovém Bristolu zpoždění zhruba 2 h. A tak jsme se odebrali do „čekárny“ k gateům. Společnost EasyJet ocenila naše čekání stravovacím voucherem, který jsme využili každý po svém – od svíčkové přes bagety až po točené pivo.
Po 23. hodině jsme se konečně protáhli přes rentgenové detektory do našeho letadla a ve 23:45 h jsme se konečně vznesli do vzduchu. Po dvou hodinách poklidného letu jsme přistáli v Bristolu. Zde na nás čekal skvělý řidič osmimístného Peugeotu Gary Mitchell. Skoro celou tříhodinovou noční cestu od letiště v Bristolu do Cawsandu jsme prodřímali. V 5 hodin ráno jsme se propletli úzkými uličkami malého historického městečka až k našemu novému domovu The Manse na Garrettt street.  
Venku sice začínalo svítat, ale my jsme zvolili aspoň krátký spánek konečně taky ve vodorovné poloze.





Saturday, 28 February 2015

Calendar of unusual Customs and Traditions in England, Scotland and Wales MARCH





March
A long time ago the year was marked out with special days which marked the passing year. These were days of celebrations where people would do things, eat things or make things which they would not normally do.
Tichborne Dole, Tichborne, Hampshire
The Tichborne Dole is one of the eccentric British traditions and dates back to the thirteenth century. It takes place every year on March 25th the Feast of the Annunciation (Lady’s Day).
The dole was flour and it was given to the poor until 1796. From 1796 Tichborne family have given money to the church instead.
You can read the story behind the tradition on our Folk, Fact and Sayings about March webpage
Oranges and Lemon's Children's Service

In the days when the River Thames at London was wider than it is now, barges carrying oranges and lemons landed just below the churchyard of St. Clements Dane.
On the last day of March, local primary school children gather at the church to attend a service. They recite the famous nursery ' rhyme and, on occasions, play the tune on hand bells. At the end of the service the children are presented with an orange and a lemon from a table outside the church .
The nursery rhyme
Oranges and lemons
Say the bells of St Clement’s
You owe me five farthings
Say the bells of St Martin’s
When will you pay me?
Say the bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich
Say the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be?
Say the bells of Stepney
I’m sure I don’t know
Says the great bell at Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head
Chop chop chop chop the last man’s head!
Many adults remember this rhyme from playing a playground games:
Two children would form an arch and become the choppers. They secretly decide who would be orange and who would be lemon. A line of other children singing the song would pass under the arch and the child passing when the song goes chop, chop, chop would be caught between the falling arch (arms). The caught child then chooses either orange or lemon and lines behind the child he/she chose. When all children lined behind the choppers they have a tug war.

Saturday, 31 January 2015

Calendar of unusual Customs and Traditions in England, Scotland and Wales FEBRUARY





February
A long time ago the year was marked out with special days which marked the passing year. These were days of celebrations where people would do things, eat things or make things which they would not normally do.
Imbolc Fire Festival Huddersfield.
Imbolc is based on a 2000 year old Celtic festival, marking the first signs of spring. It features a procession, fire 'circus' drama and music.
Fire
Starts at Marsden Station. Lantern & torch parade with fire-jugglers, antler-wearing drummers, Celtic characters, fire druids, a 12ft Jack Frost and spring's Green Man.
Blessing the Throats, St Ethelreda, London
Two candles are tied together, lit, and touched on to the necks of people suffering from sore throats.
Hurling the Silver Ball, St Ives Cornwall
(First Monday after Candlemas (2nd) )
The game starts at 10.30am. The silver ball is thrown from the wall of the parish church by the mayor into the waiting crowd, then passed from one to another on the beaches and through the streets of the town. The person holding the silver ball at 12.00pm takes it to the mayor at the Guildhall and receives the traditional reward of five shillings.
Slaithwaite Moonraking Festival - Biennial Event ( next one 2011)
Street procession and theatre, starting at 18:00.
Based on a village tale about two 19th century smugglers who were collecting barrels of the illegal ‘moonshine’ drink from the canal. The smugglers hid the barrels and told the police they were trying to rake the moon’s reflection out of the canal. Thinking they were fools, the police let the smugglers go.
Shrove Tuesday
Pancake Races
Pancake races are held all over England on or near Shrove Tuesday. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first whilst flipping a pancake in a frying pan a pre-decided number of times.
The most famous pancake race takes place at Olney. The Olney pancake race is world famous. Competitors have to be local housewives and they must wear an apron and a hat or scarf.
Annual Pancake Grease
At the famous Westminster School in London, the annual Pancake Grease is held. A verger from Westminster Abbey leads a procession of eager boys into the playground where the school cook tosses a huge pancake over a five-metre high bar. The boys then race to grab a portion of the pancake and the one who ends up with the largest piece receives a cash bonus from the Dean.
The Ringing of the Pancake Bell
More than a hundred years ago, Shrove Tuesday used to be a half-day holiday. A church bell, called the ‘Shriving Bell’, would have been rung signalling the start of the holiday and to call people to church to confess their sins. The church bell was rung at eleven or twelve o’clock in the morning, as a signal to housewives to start frying the traditional pancakes.
The Pancake bell is still rung in some towns including Scarborough.
Skipping
In Scarborough, on Shrove Tuesday, everyone assembles on the promenade to skip. Long ropes are stretched across the road and there maybe be ten or more people skipping on one rope.
The origins of this customs are not known but skipping was once a magical games, associated with the sowing and spouting of seeds, which may have been played on barrows (burial mounds) during the Middle Ages.
Shrovetide Football, Ashbourne, Derbyshire 16 February 2010
Shrove Tuesday sees the start in Ashbourne, Derbyshire of the world’s oldest, largest, longest and maddest football game. The game is played over two days and involves thousands of players. The goals are three miles apart and there are only a few rules. The ball is a hand-painted, cork-filled ball.
www.ashbourne-town.com/events/football.html
Pancake Race - London
.
Ash Wednesday 2010 (the day after Shrove Tuesday)
A playground tradition was to carry a piece of twig from an ash tree in your pocket or down your sock. Anyone who didn't have an ash twig had his or her feet trodden on.
Find out more about Ash Wednesday
Kissing Friday (the Friday after Ash Wednesday)
Friday of Shrove Week, English schoolboys were once entitled to kiss girls without fear of punishment or rejection, a custom that lasted until at least the 1940s.
In Sileby, Leicestershire, this day was also known as Nippy Hug Day. There men could demand a kiss from the woman of their choice, but if their petition was denied, they had the right to louse, or pinch, the woman's posterior-- perhaps mimicking the pinching of lice.

Wednesday, 31 December 2014

Calendar of unusual Customs and Traditions in England, Scotland and Wales JANUARY




January
A long time ago the year was marked out with special days which marked the passing year. These were days of celebrations where people would do things, eat things or make things which they would not normally do.
applesFirst Saturday in January
Wassailing, Old Mill Farm Bolney, Sussex
18:00 Apple Howling or Wassailing is an ancient custom in which the evil spirits are driven out and the good spirits are encouraged to produce a good apple crop for the following year's cider.
Second Saturday in January
Firle Wassail, East Sussex
18:00-23:00 Middle Farm BN8 6LJ. Hunters Moon Morris Men. Torch procession, bonfire, food, haystack stage, dance floor.
Click here to read more about Wassailing the apple tree

Twelfth Night (information about Twelfth Night)
There many customs and traditions which ake place on or around Twelfth Night.
Twelfth Night Celebrations - London
Twelfth Night is an annual seasonal celebration held on the Bankside by Shakespeare's Globe, in London. It is a celebration of the New Year, mixing ancient Midwinter seasonal customs with contemporary festivity. It is free, accessible to all and happens whatever the weather.
Mummers Plays
Baddeley Cake, Drury Lane Theatre, London
On Twelfth Night the cast of the current play eat cake and drink wine in memory of an actor from the 18th Century who bequeathed money to the theatre's hardship fund.
Fireball-Whirling Ceremony, Stonehaven, Scotland
On the night of the Old New Year's Eve, young men whirl balls of burning rope around their heads.
Haxey Hood Game, Haxey, Lincolnshire -
In the 13th century a gust of wind whipped off the hood of the Lady de Mowbray.Farm workers chased and retrieved the hood, so delighting her that she ordered the pursuit be repeated.
Blessing the Plough
This church tradition can be found across the country, notably at Chichester and Exeter on the first Sunday after 6th January.
Plough Monday
The first Monday after Twelfth Night is Plough Monday, a day when ploughmen traditionally blackened their faces and marked the end of the Christmas period for the agricultural communities.
ploughmen

Straw Bear Festival Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire
Weekend near Plough Monday
The Whittlesea Straw Bear is maintaining the folklore tradition of parading a man dressed in straw around the streets near to Plough Monday. Molly Dancers and Morris Dancers dance in the streets
Wassailing the Apple Tree, Carhampton, Somerset - Mid January
Wassailing the apple tree is one of the oldest traditions at Christmas time. Cider and cake is offered to tree feted as guardian of the orchard.
Up Helly Aa, Lerwick, Shetland
Largest fire festival in Europe, celebrated on the last Tuesday of January every year. Torch-light procession through the streets of Lerwick, followed by the burning of a full-size replica Viking longship.

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Calendar of unusual Customs and Traditions in England, Scotland and Wales DECE;BER





December
A long time ago the year was marked out with special days which marked the passing year. These were days of celebrations where people would do things, eat things or make things which they would not normally do.
Mummers Plays
Mummers' Plays are one of the oldest surviving features of the traditional English Christmas. Mumming in England goes back for over a thousand years.
Mumming is best described as early pantomime. The plays are based loosely on the legend of St. George and the dragon. The plays are intended to show the struggle between good and evil.
Winter Solstice
Burning the Clocks, Brighton
Annual lantern parade held on 21 December, the shortest day.
www.visitbrighton.com
25 December Christmas Day
Christmas Day Morning
Hundreds of British swimmers get into the festive spirit and dress up in fancy dress for a bracing Christmas swims.
Peter Pan Swim Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park - 9am
This event dates back to 1864, when the author of the children’s classic, J M Barrie presented the Peter Pan Cup. Dozens of men and women swim the 100 yards in temperatures just above freezing and spectators are welcome on the banks. Only members of the Serpentine Swimming Club may take part in the race.
Brighton beach swim - 11 am
More than 700 spectators gather on Christmas morning to watch 100 brave souls plunge into the icy surf for up to 15 minutes off the South Coast. Fancy Dress is optional.
The Christmas morning swim has been an annual event for the Brighton Swimming club since 1895.
Sandy Bay in Porthcawl, South Wales
christmasswim.org
Around 1,000 people brave the icy cold waters of Sandy Bay in Porthcawl
for the annual Christmas Morning Swim. The Sandy Bay Swim tradition started in 1964.
26 December Boxing Day
Tenby Boxing Day Swim, Dyfed, Wales
www.tenbyboxingdayswim.co.uk
Tenby Boxing Day Swim started in 1970 and has snowballed into Tenby's main Christmas attraction. With around 600 swimmers with most in fancy dress and thousands of onlookers each year, this fantastic spectacle is not to be missed.
The charity event takes place on the North Beach, and the swim itself is at 11.30am.
Nippy Dipper Boxing Day Dip, Aberdeen
More than 100 swimmers – usually in fancy dress, from Santa suits to mermaid costumes – take to the sea for a Boxing Day dip.
It starts at Beach Esplanade, opposite Beach Leisure Centre, at 10am.
Grantchester barrel rolling, Cambridgeshire
The tradition of Boxing Day barrel rolls dates back to the 60s, but was revived in 2003. Four teams compete from Grantchester, just outside Cambridge
The races start at midday and last around 40 minutes, with prize-giving taking place at the Rupert Brooke pub.
 
The Keynsham Mummers, Somerset
Every Boxing Day the streets of Keynsham, between Bristol and Bath, you can watch the Keynsham Mummers Play, which has been performed in the town since the beginning of the 19th century.
It's performed at 11.30am at the Keynsham Centre and at noon at the New Inn.
Haslemere run, Surrey
www.boxingdayrun.org
A three-and-a-half-mile fun run with a pint of winter ale for each runner two miles into the race.
The race begins at 11am at the Crown & Cushion pub on Wey Hill.
Beach football, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
The traditional Comedy Football Match on Scarborough Beach dates back to the late 19th century, when the game was first played as a charity fundraiser for the wives and children of fishermen who went down in a serious storm. Today players are in fancy dress and forced dunkings in the sea afterwards. After the final whistle, there's a raft race in the harbour
27 December
Maldon mud race, Essex
www.maldonmudrace.com
Hundreds of people wading through muddy lagoons and marshes around Maldon. The event takes place at Promenade Park, at 1pm, with all money raised going to local charities.
31 December New Year's Eve
Swinging the Fireballs, Stonehaven, Grampian.
"The Fireballs" is a colorful annual festival, unique to Stonehaven. The ceremony isStonehaven's way of welcoming the New Year in.
www.stonehavenfireballs.co.uk
Tar Barrels, Allendale, Northumberland
At 11.30pm on New Years Eve, 30 or so men in costume carry burning tar barrels on their heads to the bonfire in the market square where they are thrown at midnight.
image: tar barrels