Friday, 16 March 2012

Moretonhamstead Festival of Food, Drink and Arts 2012

 

Last weekend The Curate and I  visited the Spring fair in the moorland town of Moretonhamstead. After the winter,  the fair heralded Spring with a celebration of food, drink and the arts. The town was buzzing with visitors, live music and market stalls which were selling a wide variety of Devon food and drink. The art trail around the town gave us the opportunity to see the work of local artists. We were fascinated by this ancient forge behind one of the cottages - I wonder how many years this workshop has been in use.
 We passed these ornate railings on the way into the village - the mouse was at one end and the bird at the other. I loved these unexpected details.
 













The Bookshop
This is the first time I have seen decorative flags used to decorate the streets. Each flag represented a different aspect of the community life of Moretonhamstead and they had been made by the residents, as part of a community project. These type of projects and fairs are so important for bringing rural communities together. 

It was interesting to see the church being used as a central venue for an art display and musical events. It caused me to do some serious thinking.......but more of that on another blog!

6 comments:

  1. ALways enjoyed visiting Mortonhampstead when we lived in Devon, but never managed to get to the Fair.

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  2. Some very old tools in the Smiddy! I expected to see an ancient man at the anvil, but instead this blacksmith wore jeans!

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  3. What a wonderful way to celebrate Spring! I would love to see that blacksmith's forge, and all of the decorations and ironwork looked fascinating and beautiful. Good post, Harriet, thank you.

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  4. Lovely photo's! Just to let you know that I have moved blogs to Tootallburd at The Manse, due to some glitches. Jenni

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  5. It looks like tons of fun! Using the church for activities sounds like a blast the past. Weren't churches the center of cultural activity in the middle ages?

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