As every Roald Dahl fan knows, real witches are all around us. They don’t wear a black pointy hat and fly around on broomsticks – they are much more difficult to spot…..unless you know the telltale signs. In celebration of its new How to Spot a Witch Manual installation – part of Roald Dahl’s Tremendous Adventures at Tatton Park – here’s the ultimate ‘Witch Spotting Checklist’ for all boys and girls.
Witch Spotting Checklist
They always wear gloves
Witches don’t have normal fingernails, they have thin claws, like cats – which is why they wear long gloves ALL THE TIME, even indoors.
They are bald as a boiled egg
They had bald heads. Many choose to wear very realistic wigs – don’t be fooled!
They have large nose holes
Real witches have an amazing sense of smell due to their very large nose holes – they can smell a child from across the street. And the cleaner the child, the easier they are to smell.
Their eyes change colour
If you look carefully at a real witch’s eye, you will notice the pupil changes colour – it will send shivers down your spine.
They have no toes
Real witches have feet with square ends – but they try to hide this by squeezing their feet into pretty shoes. Watch out for them limping!
They have blue spit
Real witches have spit so blue they can even use it to write with it.
The Witches at Tatton Park
Created by props company Flyby Workshop, the installation is part of a number of activities situated around Tatton Park to celebrate 100 years since the beloved author’s birth. Visitors can step inside the interactive ‘book’ and explore various objects and artworks based on the witch-spotting theme. Perfect for witches fans of all ages.
Sarah Mills, Art Director of Altrincham-based Flyby Workshop, said: “We were over the moon when asked to create a prop for the gardens at Tatton. The Witches is one of my favourite Roald Dahl books and one of the things I remember is the thrilling sense of danger and dark humour. I remember the scene in which Grandma explains how you spot a witch – and this became the concept of the piece. We developed the idea of a giant book to enclose the idea of a walk-in art gallery, so we could transport and immerse children and adults in this very important lesson!”
In addition to How to Spot a Witch, a number of other activities are taking place at Tatton throughout the year – including trails around the gardens and mansion, based on Roald Dahl’s most beloved books such as Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox, Danny The Champion of the World and more. For the Roald Dahl year Flyby have also created a giant Willy Wonka inspired chocolate bar, a huge chair inspired by The BFG and a chokey from Roald Dahl’s Matilda amongst other creations.
For more information about Roald Dahl’s Tremendous Adventures see www.tattonpark.org.uk/roalddahl
For more information about Roald Dahl 100 see http://www.roalddahl.com/roalddahl100
Read about our day exploring the Tatton Park gardens and mansion too!