Spirits were high as an annual Twelfth Night tradition returned on the weekend to much revelry.

Despite the grey sky, wassailing at the Petersfield Community Garden drew a gathering of people who were ready to help ensure a good harvest.

This year marked the 11th time the event had been running with performances from the Petersfield Community Choir and the Mafficking Border Morris group.

Sue Edberg from the Petersfield Community Garden said: “We started in 2014, so it has been going on for quite a while now. It's nice because the choir started with about two songs and then they developed a few more for the event.

“Mandy Maloney from Artscape had come up here. She started a Morris dance group called the Mafficking Border Morris and they came last year, and it was a lot of fun.”

Wassailing is an ancient tradition which involves the early year blessing of apple trees to promote a good harvest.

To keep warm, hot drinks were on offer and attendees took the opportunity to enjoy the bonfire or wander the orchard and adjoining grounds that make up the community garden.

The choir officially opened the ceremony with a few merry songs to do with wassailing before the Morris group took over with some lively dancing to the sound of their bells and their sticks as they clapped them together.

Among the crowd was town crier Faye Thompson and her husband, deputy town crier Martin Johnson. Both were attending off-duty and Ms Thompson told The Post it was her first time being at a wassail ceremony.

She said: “This is the first time I've actually come to it and I’m absolutely enjoying the event. I think it's just such a beautiful thing to do to embrace the countryside and go back to our roots.”