After a whirlwind month of overworking and burnout, Team Hwæt! took a little mini escape to the Haworth Moors, Brontë Country.
After a pleasant evening of poetry and live music in Howarth, we headed back to our Applewagon in Oakworth for storytelling by the fire.
After a good night's sleep we headed to Oakworth Station where we took the steam train to Haworth, a swift but exciting journey. There our adventure began as we ambled through the graveyard by the Brontë Parsonage. The moors came into sight very quickly, and we followed the path towards the Brontë Falls, which are said to be where the sisters were inspired to write. After a quick bite to eat by the water, we headed up the steep incline towards Top Withens. To the right of the fern-flanked paths we located the ancient Cuckoo Stones and found one toppled over. Legend has it that this one was an unruly giant turned to stone, beheaded to ensure he stayed at bay.
Soon we arrived at Top Withens, the eerie abandoned farm house proposed to be the setting for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.
Next up was the glacial stone formations of the Alcomden Stones followed by a perilous detour to Ponden Kirk, the Brontë Fairy Cave. In folklore it is said that any woman who can climb through the rocky outcrop's opening is to be wed within the year.
It was then time to descend from the heather-carpeted moors and head down to Walshaw Dean Reservoir where a lost stone circle is said to be hidden under the water, only visible during drier seasons.
Our journey was not quite over, as we wound down into the luscious green valley and through Hardcastle Crags where we were stunned to see an owl swoop close overhead through the trees. We then emerged to visit the wonderfully named Slack Bottom Stone, an ancient menhir which now forms part of a dry stone wall.
Very parched and with aching feet we approached Heptonstall where the pub was beckoning. A thoroughly beautiful but very tiring 26km through some of Yorkshire's fines
🪨WE BUILT STONEHENGE🪨
(...out of Lego )
For Christmas, Team Hwæt! was gifted a little homemade "Build Your Own Stone Heng" kit (misspelling intended) by Bunty's brother.
So, we sat down in our library nook with one of our favourite (and very relevant) TV shows, Mythic Britain, to attempt to recreate this enormous feat of human engineering on a very tiny scale. It was definitely a lot easier for us than it was for the folks that built it around 5,000 years ago though.
We are quite pleased with the results!
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Last night we were honoured to be invited as special guests at @lucy_j_wright 's newest exhibition, Ritual Bitchual.
Lucy's work is an important statement on folk; it's customs, rituals and traditions.
These excerpts from her manifesta sum it up beautifully:
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"Folk is the stuff we make, do and think for ourselves—and the radical potential of these things.
Folk happens when people, alone or together, and regardless of anything engage in culture they create for themselves. It’s the communion we find with others on our own terms; the entertainments, spaces, structures, landmarks and high days that are meaningful to us, whatever the reason, the power to self-determine beyond an institution, corporation or hegemony.
Folk is political. In a world that values only what can be bought and sold, folk is resistance. It means rejecting the old ideas, systems and cultures of power, and our roles as [consumers / subjects]. It means recognising EVERYONE.
Reclaim folk for women
Reclaim folk for the poor / benefit class
Reclaim folk for the queer and Other
Reclaim folk for radical politics, community-making and care
Reclaim folk for the environment
Reclaim folk for art"
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Thank you for having us at your closing party Lucy, and for sharing your incredible work with the world.
N.b
The exhibition is on for one last day, tomorrow (Sun 10th) at Serf, Leeds, if any Yorkshire locals would like to catch it before it's gone.
Team Hwæt! had the pleasure of being invited to the opening night of the British Libraries 'FANTASY: Realms of the Imagination' exhibition at the beautiful Leeds Central Library last week ✨
The exhibition delves into the world of fantasy, folklore, myth and legend and we had a wonderful time exploring the mystical artefacts on display. The evening started with a glass of wine and some live storytelling from writers Elizabeth Dearnley, RJ Barker and Adrian Tchaikovsky. We then picked up some of their books which we had signed while chatting to the authors who were incredibly knowledgeable and friendly.
Leeds has some lovely connections to the literary history of the fantasy genre as Tolkien spent some time here, during which he took inspiration from Yorkshire's landscapes for some of his greatest works.
Within the walls of Leeds Library there were dragons aplenty, one of which we defeated with a bastard sword before taking the throne with pride 🗡️
Thank you to @leedslibraries for hosting such an incredible evening. The exhibition runs until the 17th January and accompanies a larger exhibition at London's British Library where props, sketchbooks and manuscripts are on display. There is wide and varied a program of events coming up, including live streams with such greats as Neil Gaiman, Reece Shearsmith and A K Blakemore.
Go have a peek at their online program and see if there's an event that takes your fancy!
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🌿 THE LONG MAN OF WILMINGTON 🌿
Reclining in a hollow of the Downs, the Long Man of Wilmington is one of the most iconic sites in the UK. Once a vast chalk figure, it was hastily saved using yellow bricks in the 1870s, but is now comprised of 770 breeze blocks. In previous years the custodians, The Sussex Archaeological Society, repainted the figure every four years or so, relying largely on grazing sheep to keep the figure visible. Fast forward to 2023, and the Long Man is in need of more regular care. The increasing severity of the scorching summers is leading to the paint peeling far quicker than before, and to make matters worse, the local farmer no longer uses the land for his sheep. So, after adopting one of the 770 blocks earlier this year, we were recently offered the opportunity to help with the yearly maintenance. Ourselves and a handful of fellow volunteers climbed the steep green hillside with strimmers, rakes, clippers and scrapers, working hard under a blazing sun to clear the way, ready for its repainting in the weeks to come. It was sweaty work, but infinitely rewarding, and it was lovely to chat with fellow folklore and history enthusiasts, including local druids, musicians and more as we worked ("are we on his armpit, or his ass?"). We're honoured to have contributed in our own small way to the preservation of this famous landmark, and we can't wait to see how it looks after a new coat of paint!
🎥 Amazing aerial drone footage by the talented @gregdraven
Following our wonderful folklore walk up on the moors, we cosied up in the 18th century spa cottage of White Wells for tea, biscuits and a folk song sing-a-long with @johnny_campbell_music
He treated us to a few traditional songs as well as some of his own, but we finished up with the only song appropriate after a hike on the moors of Ilkley, 'On Ilkla Moor Baht At'!
Known as Yorkshires unofficial anthem this legendary song harks back to the 18th century and is one of the most well known dialect songs in the world. It tells the morbid story of two lovers who snuck off from their choir group to cannoodle on the moors. When they arrived back rosy cheeked and without their hats, they were chastised by their peers who sung them a cautionary revenge song...
Without your hat, you'll catch your death, and then you must be buried... At which point the worms will eat you up and then the ducks will eat the worms...
When the folk eat the ducks for their supper, they will have in turn, eaten up our foolish protagonist thus completing the circle of life. A rather macabre way of warning you to stay warm upon the moors!
🎩⚰️🪱🦆☠️
We've had to edit down the performance to fit the video, but Johnny regaled us with all eight verses and had us singing along and giggling right the way through.
Thank you Johnny for treating us to this intimate acapella sing-a-long ✨
Team Hwæt! (along with our good friend @churchcrawling) visited the moors above Ilkley yesterday to carry out a very important recce for a future Hwaet! event... For now that's a secret 🤫 but what we can share with you is a wonderful interactive stone monument that we came across on our travels...
The Poetry Seat sits along the Stanza Stones Trail, which was commissioned for the 2010 Ilkley Literature Festival and consists of a 47-mile walking route from Marsden to Ilkley. The six stones that are dotted along the way are carved with poems written by Yorkshire Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, and carved by artist Pip Hall.
The Poetry Seat was constructed from the stone of a ruined shooting lodge and gives weary walkers a place to rest with beautiful views across the moors. Passers-by are encouraged to sit and enjoy the vistas whilst reading (or writing!) poetry that is inspired by the vast landscape.
A postbox built into the wall of the seat allows you to pop a poem of your own inside, whilst a twist handle releases poems written by other walkers, which slide out of the slot at the bottom.
As I was wearing my 'Stars and Stones' Hwæt! t-shirt at the time, I decided to write a (slightly questionable) poem inspired by the Badger stone and its perculiar star-chart-like carvings.
We posted it through the postbox, and were delighted to receive an anonymous poem which summed up the reason for us being on the moors in the first place... ✨🪨✨👀
ROCK ON ROCK
NEVER SORRY
LICHEN FORMING
ON OLD QUARRY
LIFT YOUR HEAD
BRAVE THE SKIES
LAKES ARE FORMING
ON THE CUPS CARVED
ON THE SIDES
- Anon
What beautiful words to sum up a day of hunting for carved rocks amongst the bracken.
Thank you Simon Armitage for bringing this wonderful thing into existence and thanks to the other walkers for respecting the Poetry Seat and using it how it is meant to be used ✨🪨✨
⚔️Today we finished off the Easter weekend by visiting The Royal Armouries in Leeds to witness the International Jousting Tournament! This medieval spactacle saw three nations battling it out on horseback, dressed to the nines in authentic armour as they lanced their way through several rounds in the tiltyard to claim the sword of honour. All the while the fools entertaied the crowd, which added to the pomp and pageantry of the day. There was interactive archery, a live minstrel band and plenty of other activities which seemed to keep folks happy, whatever age! We visited the exhibitions afterwards and saw our fair share of battle attire and swords. All in all a brilliant day! ⚔️
Yesterday we visited Heptonstall for the annual Pace Egg. The Pace Egg is an Easter tradition in rural villages of northern England, where it dates back centuries, though its early origins are unknown. The short plays feature mock combat with local amateur actors, often featuring St George facing off against various challengers. The local Pace Eggers perform multiple times throughout the day, usually visiting the pub between performances, meaning the last show of the day often features a few slip ups and forgotten lines!
The artwork for Hwæt! is a huge part of what we do. Many many hours of drawing goes into each issue, and aside from some amazing contributors, the majority of the doodles are the work of @buntymay of Team Hwæt! Each piece is hand drawn, tidied up, scanned and vectorised to be ready to drop into the pages of the zine. We can't count how many fineliners we've gone through but I assure you it's a lot! Here's our folder of (most of) the original inked drawings from the archives. You may also be able to spot some new work which will be finding its way into issue #3 very soon 👀 ✍️
*WE HAVE A WINNER!*
MANDY SHEPHARD is the lucky winner of our special raffle. Congratulations!
We cannot thank you all enough for your generosity. We have raised an incredible £1632 which will be sent directly to @magpieprojectuk to help many mums and toddlers who are facing homelessness in the heart of London.
Thank you to everyone who entered, please know that even though you may not have won, your money went towards helping those who really need it. You are all amazing.
🖤
P.s. we also sold EXACTLY 666 tickets which is metal AF 🤟
📚 HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!📚
To celebrate our love for all things bookish, we are offering a 15% discount in our shop TODAY ONLY!
Pop to our website to partake. Use code BOOKS at the checkout.
www.hwaetzine.com
Also here's a little peek inside the Hwæt! Library, where we do all our research for upcoming zine issues. We haven't got much room left, so we better start thinking about that before we purchase any more! (Too late, one arrived in the post this morning)
What's your favourite book? Tell us in the comments below!
