Straw Craft Workshop
Delivered by Lucy Hook-Child (@corndollyfolklore)
Saturday 14th February
11am-1pm, Free.

Join us as we learn how to make a classic Countryman's Favour to give to our sweethearts, or keep close to our own hearts! We will provide an opportunity to have a go at a classic working-class heritage craft and reflect on the folklore behind these customs and the state of our seasonal relationships with the land, past and present. 

"In days gone by it was the custom for a country lad to take an evening walk with his lass in the fields at harvest time. He would weave for her a buttonhole of plaited straw, and if they were courting, she would wear it over her heart as a token of her love. At the annual hiring fairs at Martinmas, men and women might have worn a simple plait decorated with a wisp of sheep's wool or horse hair, as a badge of their trade, ie shepherd, waggoner, etc."  - www.strawcraftsmen.co.uk

12 Spaces available - Free. (All Welcome. Working Class and Pavee/Irish traveller/Romani participants especially encouraged)

This workshop is supported by the Essex Cultural Diversity Project.