MORE than 50 people joined a new community pageant in Ashburton entitled ‘Gudula’s Gathering’ over the weekend, to perform a well dressing and celebrate May Day, the start of summer.

The pageant was the closing event of the Dartmoor Tors Festival, attended by 1,500 people, who came to watch or participate in a series of walks, talks, performances and workshops.

Musicians played and children danced as people followed St Gudula, played by Helen Bruce from the Dartmoor Preservation Association, and the three river spirits of Dart, Avon and Teign, played by Sophie Pierce, Kirsteen McNish and Rachel Dawson respectively, from Ashburton Arts Centre to St Gudula’s Well in Old Totnes Road.

St Gudula carried a large wreath made by members of Growing Space, a community project in Ashburton which grows flowers to share as ‘floral hugs’.

Others carried foliage and flowers to lay at the well.

A group of local folk musicians, led by Mike McInerney and Carolyn Adcock, played music specially composed for the occasion by Mike.

The group processed through the back alleyways of Ashburton including the Recreation Ground, where many children and their parents and grandparents joined in.

Once the procession reached the well, there was a handfasting ceremony, and St Gudula and the three River Spirits invited everyone to reflect on and give thanks for Dartmoor’s land and rivers.

Then people took it in turns to go up to the well and lay flowers and posies there.

The idea for the pageant came about because festival organisers Alex Murdin and Sophie Pierce wanted to create a new community event which drew on local places and customs.

Alex explained: ‘Gudula’s Well, an ancient holy place, is traditionally associated with healing the eyes.

‘There is also a granite cross standing by it.

‘That was our starting point, and then we thought about well dressing, which is a traditional May custom in England, and the idea of ‘bringing in the May’ – celebrating the start of summer.’

Kirsteen McNish, co-curator of the event, with Helen Bruce from the Dartmoor Preservation Association, said the idea was to bring people together to share their connection with the land and the water it supplies.

She said: ‘The well is a quiet place of care, reflection and pilgrimage.

‘We thought by invoking the spirits of St Gudula, and the three rivers, we could create an experience both beautiful and reflective.’

One participant, writing about the event afterwards said: ‘It’s hard to put into words how incredibly moving it was to be a part of.Receiving and giving blessings, we walked with full hearts feeling connected and grateful.

‘It will stay with me a long time and I hope we get to celebrate again next year.’

In all about 1500 people attended the festival, attending talks, walks, performances and workshops both in Ashburton and at numerous locations around Dartmoor including Princetown, Hound Tor, Two Bridges and Merrivale.

The headline act, Celtic songstress Gwenno, was sold out, and among the most popular speakers were rewilder Derek Gow and Dartmoor National Park archaeologist Lee Bray.