So many of you have sent messages to us wishing us good luck for the 'Crying of the Neck and Harvest Home'in our hamlet last night we thought we'd let you know how it went. The farmer at the lower farm picked us all up and took us up to the field on his tractor and trailer, which had been decorated with wild flowers and greenery in the late afternoon by Annie Ingham and Sarah Davies. We all sat on hay bales and sang on the way up. The field we used was on the top of the hill overlooking the moors and the valley and the views were breathtaking, especially as it was early evening and the sun just starting to drop. The oldest farmer in the hamlet was duly crowned as the Harvest King and wore a woven crown which Hawker had made. We poured good ale into the ground and passed the jug around for all to take a drink from. As the scythe was sharpened we sang Brian Ingham's 'The Mowing'. The Neck was cut, bound and held aloft and duly 'cried'. We sang John Bartlett's Harvest Neck while the ale continued around and as we walked back to the trailer we joined Hawker in 'Master fill the Cider Cup'. As we crossed the field, the moon rose and just hung over where the neck had been cut, dipped down almost as if it was touching the ground, then rose again. By the time we got back it was dark so we came back to the cottage for food, drink, singing and playing until the early hours of the morning. The local farmers are all very pleased and are now talking about 'when we wassail in January' and 'when we do this next year...' I know I'm biased but it was magic! I know this might sound odd to some of you out there but alot of people last night commented on how 'fresh and proud' the 16th century carving of the Neck decorated for harvest which is carved into our lounge ceiling looked.