Bordon: Blessing of the Midsummer Bower

Where:	Bordon, Hampshire at Walldown Ancient Monument (up steps from Woodlea School) in Woolmer Forest
When:	A schoolday in early to mid June
Time:	Blessing 1.30 pm

The Deadwater Valley Trust is a conservation charity which looks after a nature reserve full of important habitats in Hampshire, and every June they host a special event in Woolmer Forest in which the Rangers and local schoolchildren construct a bower in the woods, which is then blessed by local clergy and opened for all to visit. The event takes place on a schoolday so that the pupils of Woodlea School next door can take part, and the team construct and decorate a shelter from the boughs and other natural materials to hand. The event is inspired by reports of a similar construction on the site on the occasion of St Barnabas’ Day, by renowned Hampshire naturalist Gilbert White, who wrote the famous and pioneering “Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne” in 1789, just a few miles away. St Barnabas’ Feast Day is 11th June and the Blessing is held near this date. Following the Blessing and the reading of an extract from Gilbert White’s journal, there is a parade around the Monument, and oak sprigs are added to the Bower followed by refreshments for all to include tea and cake.