"Farmers can farm jam"
Recent events have reminded me of the words of Prime Minister Gladstone to struggling farmers in the 1880's. I will explain this further
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Andrew Elsden - exploring stories, tales , rural and social issues past and present as I see them and sharing useful information.
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Nov 105 min read
Japanese Chicken Sexers and their experience in World War 2 Britain
Many are aware of the World War 2 internment of Japanese in the USA due to the experience of George Takei and the play Allegiance. Few...
Oct 24 min read
Sidebar - A Trip to Remember
May 28th 1914 saw the Welland Trustees take its annual trip "down below" into the waters of The Wash
Sep 16 min read
Sidebar - The Rearing of Geese in all its Cruelty
Every so often I will publish material that did not make the script of “Marsh Fen and Town”. The following published in 1801 [i] is an...
Aug 282 min read
Sidebar - How can you tell when a man is drunk?
Spalding policemen assumed a man was drunk after he loaded his pipe with pieces of pork pie and started to smoke it!
Aug 141 min read
Sidebar - Fenland Proverbs and Sayings
Every so often I will post material that did not make the script of Marsh Fen and Town. The following are sayings from 17th to the 20th...
Aug 71 min read
Sidebar - the failed escapologist of Moulton
Every so often I publish material that did not make the script of "Marsh Fen and Town" This account of a failed escapologist in Moulton,...
Aug 64 min read
Sidebar - The Suicidal Fishmonger and an Accusation of Media Contagion
The suicide of a fishmonger in Spalding sees allegations of contagion. The latest sidebar of items not to make the text of Marsh Fen & Town
Jul 304 min read
Butterflies
If you wish a child to get interested in nature one of the most accessible areas for a child are insects. They are everywhere and with...
Jul 242 min read
Sidebar - Marsh Fen and Town - "A True Story told in 1964"
Every so often I will post bits that did not make it into my book "Marsh Fen and Town, South Lincolnshire and Beyond" This is a tale...
Jul 2012 min read
Sidebar - The Loss of the Cranberry in the Fens of Lincolshire
In this piece I look how drainage of the Fens for agriculture saw the loss of the cranberry in the Lincolnshire Fens.
Jul 62 min read
An Ely M.P.
Every so often I will share tales, stories and anecdotes that have not made it into my script of Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire...
Jul 32 min read
Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - Otters.
It is possibly one of the indicators of a river's health is the thriving of an apex predator like the otter. In the 2020's the otter is...
Jun 301 min read
Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - "Life of a Fenman"
Every so often I will share bits from my notes and research that did not make it into my book "Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and...
Jun 262 min read
Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - An early guide to wildfowling techniques.
Every so often I will post bits from my research and notes that I referred to but did not make it into my book Marsh Fen and Town, South...
Jun 193 min read
Silver Wedding Anniversary
Your Royal Highnesses, Congratulations on your Silver Wedding Anniversary. My wife, Jo and I got married on the same day as yourselves in...
Jun 182 min read
Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - Wildfowlers and Wildfowl in Verse
Every so often I will post bits from my research anf notes that did not make it into my book Marsh Fen and Town, South Lincolnshire and...
May 283 min read
Kenzie Thorpe - Boxer
Kenzie Thorpe is best known for his wildfowling, poaching, conservation and paintings. Much of his surviving notoriety is possibly the...
Dec 8, 20232 min read
Professor Benjamin Zephaniah - Come Back
On Saturday 26th September 2015 I wrote a letter to Benjamin Zephaniah. The previous evening he had delivered a lecture to Spalding...
Oct 30, 20232 min read
The Ghost of Burnopfield
The area around Burnopfield and the site of the old railway track is said to be haunted by a fearsome apparition with an "Eerie face with...
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