I have just returned from a brilliant day out in a small place called Mawdsley, artists and crafters are able to make, display and sell their art. So much variation from glass blowing to silk making, cards, paintings even opportunities for the public to join in perhaps in engraving a piece of chosen pottery to be fired in the kiln and collected in a few days. We ate al fresco, and enjoyed a beautiful meal all cooked on the premises. This little place is tucked away, past fields of sheep and cows in a rural delight. Coming from a  built up area myself it is always a joy to get 'out' into the country, where traditons and customs are still rife and practised in these small close communities. Here I suppose the only tradition we follow are the general ones of Bonfire night, Halloween although I guess somewhat altered from our ancestral roots. In these rural communities they are more likely to continue them closer in origin, as they have been passed down through the centuries. In the same place and oftentimes through the same families down through the generations, just as their grandparents did before. Closely following to the letter,  a certain date, time, method stemming from pagan roots that were closely tied to the country and land. With the development of urban cities they are no longer carried out so it is refreshing and gives a sense of pride in our history, remembering our roots when we step outside of our concrete cosmopolitans and return to the country.   Lib (Copyright)