Front door/ Gate/ Port/ Portal

Hey Sam. I remember chatting to you in lake district about this but the idea of the welcome starting with the person before they even make their journey to site could be cool to explore. Not fully developed but the idea of sharing something round that unites people before they even get there? In terms of the physical gate, I think for me it's about all of the above but the knowledge repository is interesting

Hey, I've also been thinking about the gate and how we can weave celtic tradition in there and I thought I'd through Clooties into the mix. Some info: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/articles/clootie-wells-the-celtic-tradition-of-hanging-rags-on-trees/ Taking the 'Leave No Trace' into consideration, I was thinking more that if we were to create our own gate/structure that the clooties could be hung on there (as its bad luck to remove them) as each person comes to site. Everyone brings a piece of cotton/wool and with it a wish/intention for the weekend. We could then even add these to any effigy burning/bonfire.

Happy Monday fellow burners; I have had an image percolating around the entrance gate for a while and have finally settled on its look so here is my idea;

As per Fran and Niamh's 30th a group of us erected an arch over an alter which looked amazing and had all the right inference of guiding, welcoming along with transitioning, stepping over the void... I feel something in a similar vain could work well here as an entrance gate.

My idea is to build an arch from 38x63 cls framing timber, pre-fabricated before hand to be erected on sight in a modular style. The arch can then be decorated on site with the 1st layer being grape vine wreath then additional foraged goodies of our liking from the surrounding forest. This arch would then support a crown in the shape of a Celtic thistle which, in my mind, is made by a frame of pallet wood then again, decorated on site once the arch is up. I thought the decoration of the thistle could be any greenery found on the forage and the flower could be lavender to give us the natural purple look. If its good for bees it's good for me!

The full structure would be supported by timber behind the arch (imagine a picture frame free standing on a shelf) all screwed together and again decorated in the same fashion to blend in. Once decorated and in place, following on from Victoria's suggestion, we invite the community to finish off the decorations by tying their Clooties to the arch and as an addition we could have a vat of water should anyone wish to dunk their cloth/wool in first to replicate the well. And further more following on from Vic's suggestion we could ask the community to prepare their clootie before for their journey/intention ready to tie on as they enter.

This should be enough material to give us a structure about 3.4m high and the top of the thistle with the arch lower so people can reach the higher spots to place their cooties. I have attached a style of thistle I could make, or something of that ilk, as its substructure out of the pallet wood but open to suggestions.

I am happy to do all the pre-fabrication and bring it to site to then team up to erect and decorate and if there is a budget the cost break down is as follows:

CLS timber - 5 of @ 2.4m = £22.50

Grape vine wreath - 5 of @ 4.2m = £55

Lavender bunches - 8 of = £40 (can be sourced by a local lavender farm near me)

Pallets - several of = free

If you have any questions or want to pick my brains on any of it please feel free to fire them in...

Have a lovely week ✌️

This sounds... AMAZING

I love it. Can you make a dream about it on the platform? here - https://northern-regional.dreams.wtf/celts-dreams

Absolute class

My idea for the port (not sure how it can or if it should be weaved in here) is how it opperates.

The key things I'd want to achieve is to not have someone waiting around for a long time doing nothing but still maintain a sence of warm welcome and greeting.

So, my proposal is that instead of a port sign up sheet (when everyone wants to be arriving and setting up/ building) we have a rolling greeting role where EVERYONE takes a shift. For example - the first three people to arrive can set up the port and write down the guidelines e.g. ask people if they know about the principals etc. Then when the next three people arrive, the first three meet them, greet them then tell them the guidelines. Then the 1st three disapear off to do other fun things and the 2nd three stay to repeat the process. Everyone gets to be a meeter and a greeter

I think that sounds good Sam to avoid people hanging about as you say!

I like the idea, I think we’ll need to make sure everyone is aware that that is the system, otherwise people will arrive after a long drive and just want to go and set up.

Might also be worth having some kind of gazebo for cover in case of rain? That way if people turn up with all their bags etc, there’s somewhere dry to store them.

So I was speaking to Sam in person last week about taking on the human side of the entrance/gate/port and was thinking that having a rolling 3 person system could be a bit too chaotic, and I think concern was already raised about the fairness of it (e.g. situations where there are big gaps between people arriving or folk who've travelled far and then have to sit waiting before setting up). I know someone else who is also keen to join me in being stationed at the gate for welcoming (we're happy to volunteer to be hanging about!). Or is there already momentum behind the rolling meet-and-greet idea?