All’s well ... why water is truly the lifeblood of all we cherish
Retired farmer John Hall’s reflections after visiting the famous Well Dressings at Tissington
LIKE a lot of people, I like Well Dressings and to my mind Tissington leads the way, but I was taken a little bit aback at the use of whole flower heads in the Queen’s profile.
Also, I can remember a time when I think all the wells depicted scenes from the scriptures. Was there only one biblical quote this year?
And the only anniversary that would be celebrated was that of the Ascension.
Does it work? Well, the profile of the Queen stood out and it is her life and reign that we are celebrating, and village life now is part of a larger world and is affected by distant events.
Would we have YNOT without Woodstock, and how many Ukrainians are being hosted in the locality?
Where would we be without the NHS, warts and all, and without its own environment, where would Tissington be, which brings me to the one thing that has stayed constant in the celebration. Water.
Centuries ago, Tissington said thank you for that lifeblood and it is vital that today we recognise the importance of water and its conservation.
Strangely the wells did just that; the ones that were shaded by trees or contained a lot of greenery looked fighting fit.
The one without greenery showed what desertification can lead to. The same well and the inquiring mind of a 10-year-old corrected my judgment on biblical quotes and led me to Matthew 2:15 and the illustration that a desert can protect people some of the time.
Be it water, the NHS, tradition, liberty or the monarchy; if it is important to us, then we must not only protect it, but question the necessity and our methods for that protection.