The Burning of the Bartle is an annual ceremony held in the village of West Witton near Leyburn in Wensleydale which usually takes place after sunset in the evening on a Saturday close to St. Bartholomew's Day in August.
The tradition sees locals carrying an effigy of "Old Bartle" through the village while pausing for doorstep drinks at selected houses along the way. A verse about the pursuit and fate of Old Bartle is chanted:


On Penhill Crags he tore his rags
Hunters Thorn he blew his horn
Cappelbank Stee happened a misfortune and brak’ his knee
Grassgill Beck he brak’ his neck
Wadhams End he couldn’t fend
Grassgill End we’ll mak’ his end
Shout, lads, shout!


Once outside the village at Grassgill Lane, after one last chant of the rhyme, the effigy is burned, everyone cheers and those with the sense to bring them, drink their beer in the light of Bartle’s fiery demise.


Nobody seems to know the origins of the tradition, or who Old Bartle actually was. The connection with St Bartholomew's Day has led some to suggest that "Old Bartle" is actually "St. Bart" (i.e. St. Bartholomew) himself, though quite why his pursuit, capture and ritual murder by immolation should be celebrated in a pagan style ceremony with overtones of the classic British horror drama film "The Wicker Man" one can only surmise..
Another theory holds that Old Bartle was a sheep rustling ne'er do well (or perhaps simply just an innocent victim?) who fell out of favour with his peers and came to a grisly end. The doggerel chanted tells of some kind of chase taking in Penhill and other local landmarks, with Bartle succombing to various terrible injuries before being finished off just outside the village. But there may also be a connection with the story of the Penhill Giant who supposedly broke his neck tumbling from the heights of the hill.

Midsummer’s Day brings with it a host of traditions. A lot of stone circles (famously Stonehenge) are aligned on the sunrise of the summer or winter solstice, probably so that the sun’s return to the north can be marked and celebrated.

As Christianity developed inevitably this affected the traditions and dancing and the devil are often involved. In West Sussex skeletons are reputed to appear and dance around an oak tree and many places have the legend that dancing round standing stones will raise the devil.

Bonfires are still lit for summer celebrations and in some parts, not long ago, wheels would be set on fire on hill tops to roll down to a lake or stream as a charm against summer drought.

One story survives of a tradition of fasting at Midsummer to find who would die in the next 12 months. The spirits of the doomed villagers would raise the knocker on the church door (apparently).

John Clare, the poet, mentions Midsummer Cushions in his writing. Now every year children of his home village make the cushions - usually an ice cream tub packed with moss into which flowers are pressed.

There is something special and poignant about the longest day. Although the turning of the wheel of year barely touches some of us the Midsummer Solstice retains its importance.

Some of the oldest art we have survives as part of the landscape. I always have a sense of shock and pleasure to see the Uffington White Horse carved into its hillside. The horse is made from the landscape itself, and it feels like it’s telling us something I’m sure - but what is it?

Beside the A1 as it approaches Gateshead, Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North is a much-loved modern equivalent. Under its feet are the crushed remains of the buildings of a coal mine. It is literally rooted in the past while the rebirth of the industrial North evolves in the shadow of its wings.  Centuries apart there’s a sense of place in both of them. And what will the Angel say to people in 500 years?

There is a place near Wakefield which is home to hundreds of pieces of art in the landscape: The Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Sheep graze around enormous bronzes by Henry Moore. An old deer shelter, half sunk in the ground, has become a place to watch the clouds go by. By the espaliered apple trees in the walled garden contemporary artists pose questions in their work.

Walking through the park is a constant series of surprises. Artists choose where the pieces are set, often making them for their settings. They merge into the landscape or shine out in deliberate contrast. They make me think about the place, about the artist’s thoughts, about the nourishment art brings.

You can find details of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park HERE

If you’d like to create some art in the landscape Ian Scott Massie leads experiences from the Happy House in Masham. Details HERE

I fell in love with this book seeing it in a fantastic bookshop - Astors in Devon earlier this year. Apart from the beautifully sized hardback grey linen cover, the black soft end papers, and then the font (sigh) and the short chapter spacious layout…oh I could go on! But of course it is actually the content that I’ve found incredibly (and it almost seems trite to use this word) inspiring. It’s Rick’s authentic thoughts on what it means to be creative in everyday life. He calls each of the 78 chapters ‘areas of thought’ 
And here are a few of the titles…the source of creativity, self doubt, distraction, seeds, momentum, the ecstatic, a whisper out of time, harmony. 
Although Rick Rubin’s career has been as a musician this is not the focus of the book -more that if you make the creative act part of your everyday life you’ll find yourself enriched in so many ways. A lot of the content I agreed with - and perhaps already knew somehow but it made me think still and is written in such a beautifully succinct way  - it is a song to the act of creating and I know you would love it. 
P.S. oh and did I mention there’s a section at the back for writing your own notes? Fabulous.

Loving Kindness Meditation (LKM) is one of the most commonly used types of meditation today. It often crops up in mindfulness and it originates from the Buddhist tradition. It is a type of meditation where you wish yourself and others happiness, ease and contentment.
All that sounds very nice and fluffy doesn’t it? And maybe even a bit hippy dippy woo woo if you’re not feeling quite as generous. However even the sceptics might be interested to know there’s a great deal of contemporary and ongoing scientific research into LKM’s benefits. The benefits of a regular practise (several times a week) stretch further than we may realise, and can actually alter the structure of our brain. It is perhaps not surprising that if you practise LKM everyday then the stress responses in your body can be markedly reduced. It can also have an impact on the inflammation response in the body  - a major factor for many diseases. After 9 weeks or so of regular practice researchers saw a difference in people’s reporting of positive emotions, they were generally more satisfied with their experience of life and suffered less depression. LKM has been shown to increase feelings of social connection and improve our vagal tone. *
And for me the best bit is that you can reap all these benefits whilst having a lovely relaxing time for just a few minutes a day. And you can learn for free. There are lots of resources on line and slightly different versions but here is mine available for free on Insight Timer. If you’d like to learn more I can teach you one to one and we can explore some of the many different types of meditation to find what suits you.

​*Vagal Tone

If it's the 25th of March it must be New Year! The 25th of March is Lady Day, the festival of Floralia and, until 1752, New Year’s Day in Britain. It was also calculated by the monk Dionysius Exiguus as the day Christ was crucified. A lot to happen on a single date.

If you’re a gardener you might want to focus on Floralia. She was associated with vegetation and flowering plants. The Romans honoured her in order to ensure her continued blessing on their lands. Her day falls shortly after the pagan festival of Ostara - the spring equinox where light and dark are balanced before the sunlight tips towards summer. Named from the German goddess Eostre, it is one of a host of names around the world for this heavenly event and is the basis of the Christian festival of Easter. The photo is of the Austerfield dragon - a Viking-age carving set above the door of a Norman church.

There was a council at Austerfield in 702 and on the agenda was how to calculate the date of Easter. Was the council held here because the place derives its name from Eostre, the goddess of spring, or was Austerfield named since here the date Easter was discussed? We’ll never know the answer but my feeling is that this was a place sacred to Eostre, goddess of spring, renewal and rebirth, and, by holding the council here, the church capitalised on its symbolic power.

And Austerfield feels like a place of power, a feeling reinforced by two pieces of sculpture which pre-date the church: the dragon - a beast sometimes associated with Eostre and inside the church, hidden for a long time, a Sheela Na Gig - a carving of a woman holding open her vulva: an early symbol of feminine power.

Solstice this year is on Friday 22nd December.
​At this time of the year the sun stands still. It can seem like an age before summer but the light begins to return from this point in and our days get longer. Here are a few ways to align yourself with this season.

1. Gather greenery - a reminder that the earth is still alive - Ivy is an ancient token of love peace and protection. If you can find time maybe add it to a wreath with holly, pinecones and other evergreens. Alternatives could be to wind yourself an ivy crown, to adorn a shelf or picture - a little reminder to embrace hopefulness.
2. Create your own festival of light - spend a little time gathering candles of all sorts. You can bring ritual in to it by using the candles as markers of intentions, wishes or resolutions. Candles and fire can be a great way to reflect on the season. You can write on scraps of paper what you wish to leave behind in your life and cast them into the flames, lighting a candle for a new intention or wish for the season to come. Alternatively you can gather some of your favourite people and dine by candlelight.
3. Make an orange pomander - representing the sun start by using a zester to carve patterns into the peel and then poke whole cloves into the orange to add to the decoration, you can hang them with ribbons or leave them in a bowl - they make beautiful gifts too. 

A soule cake, a soule cake,
Have mercy on all Christian soules
For a soule cake.
                                Traditional rhyme

These cakes(biscuits really) sometimes called Soulmass Cakes were traditionally made for All Soul’s day - 2nd November. Souling is a tradition which is traceable back to the year 1000, but may be older, which involved saying mass to aid souls on their way through purgatory.


There are lots of recipes, some involving nutmeg, some oats, some ginger, so I’ve put together this recipe which works - I’ve eaten the evidence! - and keep things fairly simple. Feel free to add any bells and whistles - whatever you feel is good for the soul.


Soul Cake Recipe


Makes about 18


Ingredients


100g butter
100g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
250g plain flour
1 pinch turmeric
½ tsp mixed spice
1 tsp allspice
2-3 tbsps milk
50g currants


Cut the butter into cubes and leave in a warm place to soften
Turn on the oven to 180c/165c fan
Melt a little butter and brush 2 baking trays


Sift the flour into a bowl and add the spices


In a large bowl mix the butter and flour with an electric mixer till pale and fluffy
Add the egg yolks and mix
Add the flour and spices a little at a time and mix
Add the currants and stir in


Add the milk one tbsp at a time until you have a dough that comes together with your fingertips


Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thickness and stamp out the cakes with a 6-7 cm round cutter. Transfer to the baking trays


With the back of a knife blade lightly score a cross on each one


Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm.




The cakes will keep for a few days in an airtight tin.
The dough can be frozen for later use - just make sure it’s completely defrosted.

The Comfort Of Things is a beautiful book by Daniel Miller, and alongside Significant Objects and Taking Things Seriously it forms a brilliant trilogy of why and how we treasure some of the objects we do.

Balanced on top of the pile is an opulent pocket sized book from artist, designer and yogi Hannah Nunn. She is expert at the art of giving her attention to the world and discovering natural treasures. She writes about and illustrates them in this gentle and moving book -  Tiny Treasures. 

We all have some objects that mean more to us than their material worth, it may be because they evoke memories, remind us of our ancestors or culture, perhaps to us they are uniquely beautiful or are talismans of the people we want to be. 


“What five objects, things, or memories would you like to own again and why?” Edith Marks  - a question from the Jewish Druts’yla tradition carried by story teller and tradition bearer Shonaleigh.