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WELL DRESSING WEEKEND IN THE MALVERN HILLS
Once again plans are being set for the Well Dressing weekend. More than 50 teams will be planning beautiful decorations. Participants will include members of local clubs and organisations such as the Girl Guides and Scouts. The theme in 2024 is "Trees" and when decorated, the springs and wells provide an entertaining excuse to tour the hills seeing the results of peoples efforts. The weekend starts on Friday 3 May when the dressings are carried out, the following day judging takes place. The results of the judging will be celebrated in Priory Park Great Malvern on Monday 6th when certificates will be presented to the winners at 2pm as part of a family fun day. This will include live music as well as other entertaining activities.
An early example of 20th century Well Decorating.
Modern day well decorating in the Malvern Hills was initiated in 1993 by local historian and author Cora Weaver, who wanted to draw attention to Malvern's rich water heritage. 'Well decorating' described what she wanted to promote, and was not to be confused with Derbyshire's more traditional well-dressing.
The earliest written evidence of well decorating dates from 1870, when Ryland's Fountain at West Malvern was decorated to celebrate 'the presentation of the Royal Malvern Well for the use of the public forever'. This annual event became bigger and better over the next few years, but eventually died out in the 19th century.
For more details of the history click right: Malvern Waters, Malvern Springs and Wells
GREAT MALVERN'S MULBERRY TREE SURVIVES THE WINTER STORMS OF 2023/4
Richard Jefferies (1848 - 1887), a famous Victorian naturalist and writer, became noted for Mulberry Trees and as a result the trees were named "The Tree of Life".
Following in Jefferies footsteps, during the Malvern Festival of 1936, George Bernard Shaw planted a Mulberry Tree in Priory Park Great Malvern to commemorate his 80th birthday. At the planting ceremony he said that he hoped the tree would outlive him. Shaw died in 1950 aged 94 years and the tree was blown over in a storm during the winter of the year 2000. It was discovered that a cutting however had been sent to Malvern, Victoria, Australia and so Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne set off to rediscover this tree of life. Cuttings were taken from the Australian tree which subsequently survived. In 2009 six healthy cutting were distributed from Malvern, Australia and were sent to Malvern Worldwide as symbolic links with the home town of Great Malvern. One was planted in Priory Park Great Malvern and has survived to date.
For further information on this fascinating story go to:
Richard Jefferies wrote "The Tree of Life" about 1871, but it did not appear in print until three years after his death. It was published in the Scots' Observer on 8 November 1890 under the title of The Mulberry Tree. He also left a Mulberry Tree at his house and museum at Coate in England. Unfortunately the tree was damaged by high winds. The old tree, thought to be about 170 years old at the time, was snapped in two and lost its main branch.
Being blown down is a common problem for mulberry trees. The good news is that Great Malvern's Mulberry Tree has survived the severe storms in England of the winter of 2023/4. See picture left. In the foreground is the plaque laid by the Friends of Malvern Springs and Wells when the tree was first planted.
Malvern Water Source Rediscovered: North Hill Spring.
Having been lost for many decades, recent incidents and investigation have resulted in the rediscovery of a lost water source in the Malvern Hills UK.
Background: In the Autumn of 2023 a sinkhole appeared on Link Top Common near the end of Moorlands Road. This is on land belonging to the Malvern Hills Trust (Conservators) and lies at the foot of the northern end of the line of hills that form The Malverns. The sink hole comprised a hole about 4 feet deep at the bottom of which was running water. As time progressed it enlarged and it became apparent that the water had previously been contained in a stone pipe of about a foot diameter which had collapsed into pieces. During the wet winter of 2023/4 the flow was substantial.
There is dispute about ownership and maintenance responsibility for the pipeline. What do we know about the location and origin of the water? It is not recorded in Celebrated Springs of the Malvern Hills (2012) Osborne B and Weaver C., the definitive work on the springs and wells.
There was once a large pond in Moorlands Road. The pipeline runs from the Malvern Hills and perhaps was linked with the pond.
Worcestershire County Council have claimed that it is a culverted water course in a 450mm vitrified clay pipe. The pipe is marked "Doulton" suggesting a date between 1853 when Doulton was founded and 1901 when it gained Royalty status with a charter.
In 1877 the North Malvern Tank was inaugurated behind the Clock Tower. This would have been fed by a substantial spring. The spring once flowed down the hillside circa 1870 adjacent to the Charles Morris spout.
The Highways Authority have apparently dyed water going into road drains and it did appear at the sink hole. They have suggested however that their road drainage, albeit appearing at the sink hole, first connects to a water course prior to running to the sink hole.
Severn Trent Water have indicated that it is not theirs.
Field Visit - In March 2024 Bruce Osborne and Cora Weaver took a look at the sink hole and the angle of the pipe and followed it uphill. It led to the North Hill Quarry, approximately 100m south-east of the Clock Tower. This suggests that the pipe does not emanate from Tank Quarry or thereabouts.
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The conclusion as to what happened: when quarrying began at the North Hill Quarry, is that the north-east face of the hill was blasted away. This continued until the mid-20th century. If you look at the terrain today, you can see that quarrying also occurred below ground level - it's very boggy there underfoot. The result being that one or more springs were disturbed and possibly the blasting disturbed an aquifer. The outcome was that the bottom of the quarry filled with water. It had to be drained, so the 450mm pipe was installed to allow quarrying to continue. The pipeline was installed S E across MHT land. Cora and Bruce concluded that the pipe descended from North Hill Quarry, via sink hole and N E across Link Common to the pool at the bottom (now gone).
This raises a number of questions:
1.Is the water a substantial source of unpolluted Malvern water?
2.If so, could it be utilized as a reliable source for bottling?
3.Could it be utilized for a decorative feature or for other commercial purposes?
Malvern water bottled - a past era perhaps to be resurrected.
Dr Bruce E Osborne
DRAFTED 19 March 2024 Tower House, Tadworth, Surrey. KT20 5QY.
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Malvern Spring Waters flow out from the Malvern Hills in England and trigger abundant life in the surrounding lands, a metaphor for the friendship percolating throughout Malverns worldwide. To discover more about the founding of Great Malvern and the establishment of Malverns across the globe click the banner below.
