HACKNEY WASSAIL
SUNDAY 14th JANUARY 2024 – NOTE NEW START TIME
12.30 until 15.30 or thereabouts
All times are approximate, as we may adjust our pace to suit participants.
COME FOR THE WHOLE WASSAIL, OR JOIN US AT ONE OF THE ORCHARDS.
Join us at the start on Hackney Downs, the halfway point at Millfields Park, or our final stop at Springfield Park. It’s roughly a 30-minute stroll between locations. The whole route is about two and half miles. Children and dogs welcome.
There are maps here of each of the orchards that use What3Words addresses to help you find them easily.
12.30 We start at Hackney Downs community orchard. All the trees are teenagers, so quite small. The orchard is in the north west corner of the Downs, just off Downs Road. Then we walk to Millfields Park.
13:30 Meet at community orchard at Millfields Park. The orchard is in the east of the Park, near the River Lea bridge for the filter beds. We do it all again!
14.30 Meet at Springfield Park’s community orchard for the final repeat – we’re getting good by this pont, especially if you have tot of cider at each stop. The orchard is pretty much in the middle of the Park. If you come in the main entrance on Springfield, pass the White House building on your left and walk straight down on the path just above the tennis courts, about 5 minutes.
Springfield Park Cafe (and toilets) is open on Sunday from 10am to 4pm.
15:30 Share food, drink and chat at the Springfield Park bandstand.
What’s a Wassail?
Our urban wassail draws on the old tradition of waking the apple trees from their winter sleep, to ensure a good harvest for the year ahead. It’s just a fun way to spend some time, all faiths and none are welcome.
Expect to be invited to join in with some singing, hearty and loud and no skills required! Or just join us for the craic. We provide some song sheets, and some warm cider, apple juice and apple themed nibbles may appear. Please bring some little thing to share too if you can, bringing your own cup would be great, too. We’d also like it if people bought whistles and rattles and other things for making some noise.
It’s FREE to come along, but at each location we’ll be taking a collection to cover costs, and any extra will be donated to NLAH – North London Action for the Homeless.
We have an electronic version of the songsheet available here to download for folk who would be happier reading and singing from their smartphone or tablet screen or to print at home in a format they prefer.
Any queries please text Annie on 07970 573870 or Jane on 07813 643968
SAVE THE DATE: Next year’s Hackney Wassail is planned for Sunday 19th January 2025