Despite the severe weather warnings around the country, the Mercian Gathering went ahead as normal. Nearly everyone braved their way through the floods and around 730 Pagans celebrated the harvest together. It rained... oh boy, did it rain! Even our normally free draining fields started to get water filtering up from the water table as well as down from the skies. If you saw me on Friday before the opening ritual, it was pushing cars, spreading straw and shovelling woodchip in an attempt to keep the roadways flowing. The gateways to the fields and the spot down by the cafe became a quagmire. But we still had fun, and it's been much worse at Glastonbury!

Even if they couldn't give us a dry weekend, the Gods made sure we could celebrate all our rituals in dry weather - it cleared up half an hour before the opening ritual, and started raining again half an hour afterwards. It rained throughout Saturday, but stopped just before the fire labyrinth and wicker man ritual, drizzled a bit after it was finished, then stopped, and we had a fine day on Sunday. All the rituals, entertainment and workshops went on, and only the archery was affected, with one session out of four going ahead. We had a fantastic night with Gary Brienholt and Damh the Bard on Friday (who came despite his injured back). Keith stepped in to fill the vacant spot in the cafe, and did a superb job. Saturday we had two absolutely brilliant bands, Laienda and Endless Knot, who both raised the roof and got everyone dancing. Thanks to all the speakers who made a bigger effort than usual to join us.

We must give a more especial thanks to Sue the farm owner, who had to put up with us making a mess of her fields. She jumped into her tractor on Sunday to drag out people stuck in the mud, smiling broadly all the time. Please write to thank her [if you had a ticket you have the address] and let her know how much we all appreciate her kindness and hospitality.

I want to thank everyone who came in such good spirits and with a sense of adventure - they proved they were real Pagans at one with Nature and the elements, not the armchair variety afraid of getting their feet wet. Thanks also for all your kind comments, cheerful dispositions and praise for our efforts. It is that that makes all the hard work [and it was harder than usual this year] worth while.

Blessings to you all,
Anna Franklin