The Pin Well

After lunch, MrM and I decided to go for a short walk to the Pin Well, then over the hill and back down to Wooler. When we left the flat it was mild and dry so, being far too trusting of the weather forecast, neither of us took a waterproof and I didn't bother with the camera case. As we reached the valley where the well is situated it started raining and, by the time we reached the well, we were both drenched rather damp (though the camera was OK, inside my jacket!) and decided to make our way home by the quickest route - the way we'd come. That'll teach us to be prepared! But it was good to get out and we soon dried off!

I've blipped the Pin Well (also known as the Maiden Well and the Fairy Well) before, from a different angle. It is said that there used to be May Day processions when folk from Wooler would march to the well, each dropping a crooked pin in to it and making a wish, in the hope that before the year was over the fairy who presided over the well would make the wish come true. Maybe it's no coincidence that a hawthorn tree stands close to the well. According to Druid tree law, the hawthorn is considered to be sacred to the faeries, and in some Celtic tales it is a gateway tree: one which holds a doorway between our world and the fairy realm. Apparently hawthorns often stand over holy wells, also traditional thresholds of the Otherworlds.