Wassup? No, Wassail to the apples

"Wassail!" yelled the crowd. "Cider for everyone!" In an orchard by a Welsh castle, hundreds of people gathered to wish good health to the apple trees in a centuries-old tradition enjoying a revival.

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Chepstow - "Wassail!" yelled the crowd. "Cider for everyone!" In an orchard by a Welsh castle, hundreds of people gathered to wish good health to the apple trees in a centuries-old tradition enjoying a revival.

As mulled cider - a warm alcoholic drink made from fermented apple juice - was handed around, a dozen hobby horses swayed eerily to folk music.

Made from real horses' skulls mounted on poles and carried by someone cloaked in a bed sheet, they are bedecked in ribbons with shiny baubles glinting in the eye sockets.