Tuesday 3 July 2012

Swanning around!




We soon discovered, as we drove into Wells on Saturday evening,

that something was going on!

It was the sight of a rather large Swan, which greeted us as we entered the city,

that caught our interest.

Swans everywhere!!

What's going on?


On 2nd June, 60 Swans landed on the streets of Wells, to take part in a public

art sculpture trail around the city and surrounding area.

Why 60? 

Well, that's easy...one for each year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.





If you're lucky enough to visit Wells between now and September, 

you will not miss these things of beauty.

Sponsored by businesses, individuals and organisations

and decorated by teams of artists and craftspeople, the Swans are dotted

 all over the place. After gracing the streets of this lovely city for the summer,

they will then be rounded up and displayed at The Bishop's Palace

for a  'Swansong Auction Preview Weekend' on 15th and 16th September.

On 29th September, the 'Swansong Charity Auction' will take place.

All net profits will go to local charities.





So, you know where to go if you want something a little different for your garden! ;-)




Swans have been synonymous with Wells, for centuries.

They are a permanent feature of 13th Century The Bishop's Palace, 

which has been the home to the many Bishops of Bath and Wells, for over 800 years.





And the Swans of Wells, apparently, have a unique habit! 

They ring the bell by the palace drawbridge, to ask for food.

This all started 200 years ago, when the daughter of a Victorian bishop taught her

favourite swan to ring the gatehouse bell for scraps of food.





We managed to spot a few of the colourful variety

as we took our usual walk around the city.










I loved this one...'Up Before the Beak'

However, they were all lovely!










Wells is certainly well worth a visit.

It's an interesting city which we love to frequent 






We'll be back soon!

We still had more to fit into our Sunday.

We had a Dairy House to visit... and I don't mean cows and milking!

More next time!

;-)




9 comments:

  1. Beautiful...need to go to Wells!
    Love Amanda (Shabby Chick) xxx

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  2. Thank you for clearing that up ;-) My friend and i stopped off in Wells quickly after Frome rag and rummage fair on Saturday and we saw a few and wondered what they were for. Your photo's show them up beautifully. dee x

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  3. Beautiful swans. The shell mosaic one is lovely but then I do love Candace Bahouth's mosaic artwork. I also love the delicately painted blue and white one and the black mosaic one. I'm sure I have been to Wells but it would have been many years ago - my memory is awful. Thanks for sharing your lovely photos.

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  4. Thanks for reminding me about the swans. We hope to visit in the next couple of weeks. Lovely photos. M x

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  5. Lovely post Sal. The dotty swan was done by Becky of dotsandspots fame. I'm meeting her for coffee tomorrow. She's on FB.

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  6. They are fabulous Sal - thanks for the great photos.
    Bristol had gorillas!

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  7. How lovely, my favourite is the shell swan :) x

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  8. I was going to say the same as 'Vintage to Victorian' - the spotty/dotty swan is by Becky who has a blog in which she described making it - http://dotsandspotsdesign.blogspot.co.uk/

    I really must visit Wells soon; last time I was there was when I was in my late teens, and that's raher longer ago than I care to think about!

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Thank you for taking the time to comment! ;-)