Halloween

I noticed lots of my facebook friends from other areas have been bemoaning the lack of trick or treaters, but the Willow Park Way estate in Aston has had loads.  It was absolutely manic from the moment it got dark.  Sometimes householders barely had time to shut the front door after one lot had gone before the next lot came.  There are a lot of children living on the estate but also I did hear rumours that people were coming in from other places, which is fair enough if they're coming to go trick or treating with friends from Aston but if not, maybe they should try their local area.  There's probably lots of people who've got sweets in especially and they're probably disappointed that not many people came.  This was the first year we put pumpkins out and them still be intact at the end of the evening.  In previous years they've disappeared and later we've found smashed up pumpkins half way down the street looking like someone's used them to play football with.

Update on a previous post.  Some people did step forward to take over as Guide leaders, so 1st Weston Guides is able to continue, which is really good news.

Well dressing

The well dressing is probably the biggest event on the Aston-on-Trent calendar.  I'm often surprised by how far people come to go to the well dressing.  People from as far away as Nottingham have heard of it and are willing to travel the distance to come.  I've also seen it advertised in a what's on in Derbyshire guide.  In case anyone was wondering what a well dressing is, it's one of these:-

It's made with all natural materials such as petals, seeds etc stuck into clay.  People from village come in and stick a few bits in each.  That one was made by the well dressing commitee.  Other groups make them such as brownies, and the local schools.

There were also stalls and people performing music and drama.  There was a puppet show and a teacup ride.  The church had several displays in it.  There were the old stocks and historical records of the market.  Also a display of what school was like in the Victorian times.  They had some finger stocks to put the fingers in of children who fidget too much in school.

The Malt shovel got the barbecue on.  They did some very good chips.  My only complaint was that there wasn't enough of them.  It wouldn't have hurt to fill the box to the top instead of half full.  My son had a burger and that disappeared very quickly, so I guess that means he enjoyed it. The church people made some really nice cakes to sell and  they'd put out chairs and tables in the church yard.  It was very pleasant sitting out in the warm sun eating cake and chatting.  The weather was perfect the whole weekend.  Sunshine all the way.  Well some people might have complained that it was too hot, but that's very British.  We like to complain about the weather whatever it's doing.

In the evening the pubs put on live bands so the well dressing festivities continued in the evening too.

Girl Guides

There is a notice up in Weston village hall about the Guides.Weston Guides is in a bad position at the moment.  One of the leaders is stepping down and if no-one else comes forward to do the job then it will shut down.  This would be a shame as Aston Guides has already shut down, so Weston Guides takes in the girls from Aston as well.  The girls only option if this happens is to go to Scouts, which is already full to the seams and has a massive waiting list.  (These days, under equal opportunities laws girls can't be turned away from Beavers, Cubs or Scouts, and although these groups are still mainly boys, they do have girls in them). However I've never known any boys try to get into Rainbows, Brownies or Guides).

Girl Guiding is a great organization.  It teaches girls life skills, explores faith, encourages them to be kind and helpful to others and be community spirited.  They have great adventures and fun too.  They have experiences they may not normally have had otherwise.  It also helps to keep them out of trouble.  If anyone can step forward and become a Guide leader it would be much appreciated by Weston Guides, even if it's once a month on a rota basis.  It's on a Thursday evening.  While we're at it, Brownies and Rainbows need more leaders too.

Aston woods continued...

Not so long ago I noticed this sign had appeared in the woods.

Apparently the reason for this is that someone has been coming into the woods with a chainsaw and cutting down trees.  I hope the sign puts whoever is doing this off.

Aston woods are beautiful and I could probably write a whole blog about how they change over the year.  I saw one of these nostalgia posts on facebook about how, in the past, kids used to play in the woods instead of on computer games all the time.  Well in our village kids do have video games but they also do play in the woods.   I've seen dens built in the woods and there's also a bmx track. That gets a lot of use.

Red campion in Aston woods

The bluebells are gone now but they've been replaced by foxgloves and  red campions.  The picture doesn't do the colours justice.  They are much more pink in real life.

Weston school fair

This Saturday we had the Weston school fair.  The Aston school fair was on the same day at roughly the same time.  I went to the Weston one. They both had a fancy dress competition too.  This was the first time Weston had done that at their school fair and quite a few people took part.  They had all the usual stalls, the refreshments, pick a bag, book stall, bric-a-brac, barbecue, hook a duck, panning for gems and splat the rat to name a few.  The turnout wasn't as good as on previous years, although still quite a lot of people came.  This could have been due to the weather, as it was overcast and there was a sudden downpour part way through and several people who were doing the penalty shoot out came in looking rather drenched.  Maybe the lower turnout was due to the Aston school fair being on the same day, but I don't think the Aston and Weston people go to each others school fairs, not many of them do anyway.

Scarecrow trail 2013

This weekend was the 12th annual scarecrow trail in Weston-on-Trent and it was sunshine all the way.  Which was a good thing as scarecrows don't look so good after being rained on and the sunshine brings out the crowds to look around.  Various people make scarecrows to put around the village.

Sometimes they are made by local groups

Sometimes they are made by individuals or families

Sometimes people put them in weird and wonderful places

Everyone who goes around the trail gets to do a quiz and to vote for their favourite scarecrow.  Judging from my conversations with other people who went around the trail this is my prediction for the winner.

If walking around the trail got to be hungry or thirsty work there were drinks and cakes for sale in the village hall.

Aston woods

 I thoroughly recommend a walk in Aston woods at this time of year.  They are absolutely beautiful with the bluebells and rhodadendrons.

Photos don't do it justice really.