Friday Ditty pt 28

Harry Cox - The bonny labouring boy, songs from a Norfolk farm worker.

I like shells

Shell Museum - Alice Pattullo

Sussex, Dorset, Scilly Isles, Hampshire, Norfolk 

So vane!

We like a nice weather vane or weathercock here at Straker Towers - this is a corker. Somewhere along the North Norfolk coast. Any ideas? No prizes I am afraid, you can just bask in the glory that you are a clever clogs and noticer of such treasures!

From this...........to this

After basking in temperatures late last week of nearly 22C on the North Norfolk coast it was a shock to the system this week to be hovering around the 7C mark in the day back home in West Dorset. Lighting fires and hunkering down with a glass of something pleasant are now the order of the day. We are now entering the season of slow cooked stews, pot roasts and pike and perch on the river. Pass the port Gramps!

From this....

To this

What rot!

What a disaster. We returned from our jolly east to find everything in the garden going full pelt. Cucumbers the size of a mans arm, pumpkins just below footy size 5, tommies everywhere and tasting amazing, spuds still doing well .............but the fruit, what has happened? It's the dreaded brown rot in the plums that's what. 

I was so looking forward to eating these as I remember seeing the tree overladen last year just before we moved in. The plan was for jam, chutney, crumble and the most heavenly dish of all - plum bread and butter pudding (give it a go - I love it cold too). They will all have to be picked and disposed of. Luckily the apples are not showing much in the way of rot, so we may just about get away with it.  


























We did some splendid plum picking up near Burnham Market - Opal, Violetta, Sanctus Hubertus and one I have never heard of before, Blue Tit ( bottom right - this was not quite ready, but looked an incredible colour). 

As if by magic a spot of rude fruit cropped up too - what a mighty fine rear!





















All is not lost as we will raid the family orchard up in Gloucestershire for our plum fix and we did bring back a big bag of Norfolk plums which are now sitting in the freezer.

Market Finds No 12

I have been a tad slack on the market finds front. I did manage to sneak in a little foraging whilst up in North Norfolk and here is what I came across - all for the cost of a few pints of ale.

I didn't expect to find such a good copy of the Shell Guide to Dorset - some lovely Edwin Smith photography and a little bit of Nash. Shame it wasn't the super 1935 edition that Paul Nash put together, but I am sure that copy is lurking on a market stall somewhere! 

Fish, Fishing and Fishermen by William Caine (Philip Allan 1927) has to be one of the loveliest angling books written. It is such a good read. I already have a well read copy, so this will go in the pile for presents or swapsies. 

A slice of nice

I had my first date slice from the rather good deli in Cley next the Sea about fifteen years ago. The Captain and I had a winter trip to search out, what was then, a rather unknown corner of the country for us and to also find the spot where BB painted a winter view of the famous Cley Towermill, marshes and River Glaven for me. It was one of the last paintings he ever did, but unbeknown to me at the time it was one of his "regular" pieces which he produced a few times a year for the market. I treasure it and we have been back every year since that first trip. Each year is like an adventure and we cannot imagine a time when we don't do it.

So, this humble date slice is riddled with memories for me - they all come flooding back when I bite into it (usually with a cup of tea). The good thing is The Captain and the nippers don't like them, so I don't end up losing half of it! Disappointingly there was a period when they stopped doing them, but they are well and truly back now. A friend brought me back a little box of them one year, just to keep me going you understand. How lovely is that!

Coot Club Forever!

You won't be hearing from me for a few weeks - it's that time of year when we head east for happy holidays, ginger beer and ice cream. Same old, same old and we absolutely love it. This will give you a bit of a flavour of what floats our boat - I remember watching this after school and I am chuffed to bits you can buy it on DVD. Check out Sam Kelly as the kindly pike fisherman - how I would love to be in the gang with those Death & Glory boys!

Hatful of hollow pt 3

The recent warm showery weather has made everything shoot up and turn a deeper shade of green overnight. Some of my favourite dark lanes in West Dorset are so infrequently trodden they are now virtually overgrown and unless you go prepared with a big stick the going is hard to tough.

No such problem here though. A perfect example of where man has "interfered" with the natural environment. A lovely old dark lane on the edge of town which has now been formalised. Tarmac has replaced this foot and cart worn route once walked by those from the village to town.

This one below was an unexpected treat last year on our annual jolly to North Norfolk. I didn't expect to find such a lovely dark path in the flat lands of the east, but here it was. I loved the way the canopy enveloped the path like a tunnel. The distant sound of the sea and the call of Curlew and Oystercatcher added to its mystery. You always find such a diverse mix of flora and fauna down these little routes - trees are particularly gnarly, deformed and inviting. The deep paths always lead somewhere - this one to the lovely church at Salthouse. Perfect wildlife corridors and I have made it a must do on my Summer list to spend a night in one locally. 

In the nearby village this little route twisted and turned screened by high flint walls - I should imagine this is a much loved path by all who live here. Not so dark and deep, but enchanting all the same. 

No digging here!

With the weather being so grim of late I have needed a fix of something slightly in keeping with these dark days. I remember as a child being especially fond at Christmas of such things as The Signal Man (1976) a BBC adaptation of the Dickens short story, The Stalls of Barchester (MR James) and also A Warning to the Curious (MR James) starring Peter Vaughan which had me cowering under the cushions.   

Friend Ferneyhough reminded me of an absolute gem (he watches it every Christmas) that petrified me and I watched it for the first time in years the other night. Really good for a winters night beside the fire. Another gem from good old Monty James - Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968). Michael Hordern is wonderful in the 1968 Jonathan Miller adaptation.

For the time being I hope you will enjoy this.......I won't be able to walk through the woods at Holkham Beach without looking over my shoulder......no digging here!

Friend or foe?

There are few in the world of angling who understandably see the otter as foe, but many a day riverside has been enhanced by the sighting of this creature. A true barometer of how well our rivers our doing now by comparison to the dark days of constant pollution seen in my childhood. I absolutely love them.

I have a slight obsession with cotton tea towels, so was overjoyed to find this lovely Richard Bawden example on our recent summer excursion to the North of Norfolk. Almost too nice to use!

Richard Bawden

Shell For Quick Starting - Kennedy 1931

 

The ploughman homeward plods

Holkham, Norfolk 1970 - Edwin Smith

Signs I like

I don't know about you, but going for a drive these days seems to be like driving into a Christmas tree - multi coloured signs telling you to do this, do that, look at this, look at that and you should be thinking this! 

These on the other hand are just the ticket - oh for the days when all signage was like this. The boys in Norfolk had style. My own Dorset directional signs are a thing of beauty and I was heartened to see recently that you could actually adopt one of your favourites to help keep them preserved and maintained. 

The mermaid's kiss

I always thought glasswort sounded like a good name for a bad gnome in BB's The Little Grey Men. It is of course another name for marsh samphire (Salicornia europaea) - like a breath of summer its season is short which also adds to the mystery. A delicious salty vegetable delicacy that I take great delight in harvesting on the annual family holiday to the North Norfolk coast. Harvesting bare footed through the crust of mud on the marshes it's not only the samphire that is the draw, but the call of curlew and oystercatcher. If you are lucky, as I was, you may spy a peregrine causing havoc among the bluebirds. This will divert your attention, but keep an eye on the flooding tide. 

Picked by hand in the low water gap between the tides it needs a bit of preparation before eating or preserving. Trim to remove any woody stalks and give an almighty wash to remove any flotsam and jetsam.

I like mine pickled - blanch and then fill sterilised jars with the samphire and vinegar. Leave for as long as you can. I like mine as side snack with a pork pie.  

The traditional Norfolk way is as follows: Wash the samphire well in fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. It is cooked when the fleshy bits slip easily from the stalk. Serve with melted butter or sprinkle with black pepper and vinegar. You eat it by sucking the leaves off the stalks.         

One of the nicest variations I have had is a new one on me - samphire, black pudding and a duck egg on toast. Cook the samphire in the pan after the black pudding, adding more oil - the salty samphire makes a nice alternative to bacon.

Like asparagus, this sea veg season is short. We are at the tail end now, but I have a feeling it may run a bit later this year.

I am going to leave you now in the most capable and lovely hands of Mr Screw Palmer. Picking Samphire at Blakeney in 1961 (Outlook - BBC East, courtesy of the East Anglian Film Archive) a short hop from where mine came from. 

Happy Holidays!

Wells, Norfolk - See Britain by Train, British Rail Eastern Region, Lance Cattermole

Norfolk For Happy Holidays - John Bee, British Rail Eastern Region

Norfolk - See Britain by Train, Talbot Kelly