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I have been very late in doing this post - as the event was back in June!
The hamlet of Le Bruel is very small - with a communal green that has a cross standing on it, and then there are three farms/ex-farms immediately surrounding the green, of which 'Nichoir' is one. Then along the various lanes there are other houses and farms, around half a dozen or so. In early June we had a visit from one of the neighbour's sons, Remy (that's him in the picture above, on the far right with the ponytail), who said he was trying to arrange a Le Bruel Fete, on the evening of the midsummer solstice (June 21st this year) to bring the people of the hamlet together and carry on an old tradition when Le Bruel hosted for the neighbouring communes the beacon that was lit on the night of the midsummer solstice. We thought it a great idea and later talked to other neighbours about providing some food and wine etc.
We thought there might be perhaps 20 or so people who would come - but, as it turned out, there were well over 50 people, of all ages, babies to 90 year olds. It was a really good evening, with music from master player (and maker) of the 'veille' ('hurdy-gurdy' is close to it) and plenty of dancing. We took some photos and videos and have set up a little website that you can find HERE.
We plan to have another 'BruelFest' next year - and as part of that we are going to try to renovate the ancient bread-oven that is part of 'Nichoir's barns - so we can make pizzas for the evening. There was a lot of interest from people at the BruelFest in the bread-oven and also the forge - which used to serve the hamlet. We had a couple of dozen people come in to take a look around - one of whom told us that he used to make the bread there in the early 1950's ... when the oven was used for roasting meat, making bread and then, when the heat cooled a bit, cakes. Encouraged by all this we are going to do some work to make all the old equipment and tools that are still here more accessible to visitors - and we will post a few updates on this as we (hopefully!) progress - so, watch this space ......
The hamlet of Le Bruel is very small - with a communal green that has a cross standing on it, and then there are three farms/ex-farms immediately surrounding the green, of which 'Nichoir' is one. Then along the various lanes there are other houses and farms, around half a dozen or so. In early June we had a visit from one of the neighbour's sons, Remy (that's him in the picture above, on the far right with the ponytail), who said he was trying to arrange a Le Bruel Fete, on the evening of the midsummer solstice (June 21st this year) to bring the people of the hamlet together and carry on an old tradition when Le Bruel hosted for the neighbouring communes the beacon that was lit on the night of the midsummer solstice. We thought it a great idea and later talked to other neighbours about providing some food and wine etc.
We thought there might be perhaps 20 or so people who would come - but, as it turned out, there were well over 50 people, of all ages, babies to 90 year olds. It was a really good evening, with music from master player (and maker) of the 'veille' ('hurdy-gurdy' is close to it) and plenty of dancing. We took some photos and videos and have set up a little website that you can find HERE.
We plan to have another 'BruelFest' next year - and as part of that we are going to try to renovate the ancient bread-oven that is part of 'Nichoir's barns - so we can make pizzas for the evening. There was a lot of interest from people at the BruelFest in the bread-oven and also the forge - which used to serve the hamlet. We had a couple of dozen people come in to take a look around - one of whom told us that he used to make the bread there in the early 1950's ... when the oven was used for roasting meat, making bread and then, when the heat cooled a bit, cakes. Encouraged by all this we are going to do some work to make all the old equipment and tools that are still here more accessible to visitors - and we will post a few updates on this as we (hopefully!) progress - so, watch this space ......
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