District Website:
District Area:
The Midlands District is comprised of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire/Rutland, Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country.
District Information:
We are a large district, with many rural areas as well as great cities. The majority of our events are open to non-members and the emphasis in this district is upon networking – putting Pagans in touch with one another.
Nottinghamshire:
Oxton Camp – Iron Age hillfort.
There is a standing stone in Bramcote Park.
Cresswell Crags are palaeolithic caves, with cave art in some of them.
Bottesford Church contains the ‘Witchcraft Tomb’.
Wellow has one of the few permanent maypoles in the country and holds a traditional May celebration on Spring Bank Holiday Monday.
Southwell Minster has a chapter house full of Green Men.
Gotham(remember the tale of the Three Wise Men?) is in Notts.
Lincolnshire:
Honington Camp is an Iron Age fort.
The Cathedral has a few Green Men and the famous Lincoln Imp.
Rutland:
There is a turf maze at Wing, on the southern edge of Rutland Water – only 8 remain, in Britain.
Leicestershire:
Borrough Hill is a magnificent Iron Age hillfort.
Breedon Church is Saxon and stands on an Iron Age hillfort – very atmospheric!
The Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking takes place on Easter Monday.
Derbyshire:
A Pagan’s dream! Full of Bronze Age burial grounds, stone circles, cairns and tumuli.
Stanton Moor – around 70 cairns and stone circles. The best known is the Nine Ladies, currently threatened by quarrying proposals – Eco-warriors are at the site.
The Nine Stones, on Harthill Moor. Only four of them – thought to be the remains of a burial chamber.
Arbor Low. A recumbent circle of around 50 stones, with four in the centre. Has a Bronze Age tumulus on one edge and Gib Hill (another Bronze Age tumulus) is yards away.
Wet Withens is a circle on Eyam Moor (Eyam is famous as the ‘Plague Village’ – well worth a visit).
The three Barbrook Circles are on East Moor, near Baslow. The area also has cairns.
Well-dressing goes on in many villages – Tissington is probably the best known. Lovely place, with several wells.
Cromford has a wonderful old bookshop, called Scarthins. Books from floor to ceiling, with veggie cafe upstairs.
Matlock Bath has a Museum of Mining – the area is well known for it’s ores and minerals. There is a petrifying well there, too.
Castleton – caves (notably the Blue John mine) and, of course, the famous Garland Ceremony on May 29th.
Ashbourne has it’s Shrove Tuesday Football.
District & Folk Events:
‘Open’ rituals are held in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, Nottingham has the Empyrean Pagan Group (meets monthly, with guest speakers) and Lincolnshire has a branch of the Gateway Trust (organises local pilgrimages, etc.) We also host occasional picnics and camps.
Under normal circumstances, West of the Midlands is active with an abundance of pub moots, house moots, coffee moots and other gatherings, with something going on every week somewhere in the region. However, during 2020, COVID-19 measures have made it difficult for Moots to meet in person so many Moots are now offering online activities and meetings.
We also produce a quarterly newsletter, called Midlands Musings, for members in the district. If you have articles or news items you would like to submit for our newsletters please send them to midlands.newsletter@paganfederation.co.uk
District Moots:
Come along and meet fellow like-minded people, in an informal atmosphere. Remember – there are no such things as strangers – only friends you haven’t yet met!
See our Facebook group for details of available Moots and events.