Withywindle Arena

''The Peninsula' is an area of land near to Sarehole Mill.  For those that have been to the weekend celebrating Tolkien and his works,  it is the area used by the Archers. It is an enclosed, flat area of grassland flanked on one side by a willow-lined stream and on the other side by a high grassy bank.  Now landscaped to form a tiered seating performance arena, it will consist of horizontal grass seating with chamomile plants being grown up the vertical 'backs' of the seating.  Members of Shire Productions, Rangers,  NVQ students and a local school have contributed towards the work and Viv Wilkes, Chairman of Shire Productions and keen gardner, has several hundred  chamomile plants for transplating into the space.  It is hoped the Arena will  be ready next year for outdoor performances, concerts, lectures, picnics or whatever catches the imagination. 

Withy is an Old English word for willow and windle is a word that comes from winding about.  Hence the name which seems to work on several levels.The name Withywindle is used by Tolkien in his poem about Tom Bombadil that states:

'He lived up under the hill, where the Withywindle

ran from a grassy well down into the dingle.'

Those who know Sarehole will also know of the nearby Dingles through which the willow-lined River Cole runs.    Our Dingle is upriver though but that is a minor detail!  For those who might want to know, the word dingle means a wooded valley.  It is interesting to think of Tolkien and his brother Hilary exploring this area along the River Cole as children, perhaps after being chased away from the Mill by 'The White Ogre'. 

Before

Starting out                                                                                               Work Day                          

Potting on  plants      Ready for planting         

 As at 5th August       Grass seed through

Starting the planting out of chamomile as at 30th September