Spalding's Butter Market
Down the side of Spalding's Civic Centre is a passageway called The Butter Market. Here is some of the history and the context in a...
top of page
Andrew Elsden - exploring stories, tales , rural and social issues past and present as I see them and sharing useful information.
Search
Sep 3, 202334 min read
Freiston Shore – The Forgotten Resort of The Wash.
It is perhaps hard to imagine as you wind down the narrow roads approaching Freiston village and then a little further, two miles, to...
Jul 30, 20233 min read
HEATWAVE 1911
Heatwave, drought and wildfires ravage much of Europe and North America. There is talk of war with Russia. Concerns are voiced over UK...
Jul 21, 20233 min read
Wooden Dollars and Trade Tokens
You may have heard the phrase “wooden dollars” when referring to spurious values of such items as natural capital values. The term refers...
Jun 12, 20232 min read
Eider Ducks
The first time I saw eider ducks in the wild was in Amble Harbour, Northumberland about 15 years ago. December 2022 saw me move to Ambl...
Jun 11, 20233 min read
Alnmouth to Spalding
This is my third post about train rides and is about a journey om 19th December 2022. Christmas is approaching and I have just taken...
Jun 10, 20231 min read
"The Quiet Coach"
This is my second post about train journeys and is from my notes of 2018. Do you remember when train passengers spoke to each other?...
Jun 9, 20232 min read
"Leeds - Final Destination"
TRAIN RIDES – A DIARY ENTRY FROM 7TH DECEMBER 2017 Here I am on the 6.42 to Leeds on a windy December day. The train is quiet with low...
Jun 2, 20233 min read
Life Lessons Amelia
In the May 2019 Bank Holiday with my son Zak at Easton and Otley College in Norwich we decided to stay for a week in Stratford just south...
Jun 1, 20232 min read
The Things Children Say!
Talking to your children as they grow up, especially listening to them can be fascinating and amusing. It can also be scary. Luckily, so...
May 13, 20236 min read
Memories of Spalding Tulip Parade
Today the 13th of May 2023 heralds the return of the Spalding Tulip Parade. I now live in Northumberland, where my tulips flower much...
Apr 28, 20232 min read
Spalding and the Missing Stone of Scone
As the Stone of Destiny, otherwise known as the Stone of Scone, winds its way from Scotland to nestle below the King's posterior on the...
Mar 11, 20233 min read
The Trading of Ruffs from Spalding
The Ruff is a wader that has suffered exploitation over the years by man, perhaps the worst example being horrendous taxidermy that...
Jan 11, 20233 min read
Sat Nav Woes on Icy Roads
3rd January saw me drive to the local Vauxhall dealership in Morpeth from Amble. It was a beautiful morning but icy. Driving to Morpeth,...
Dec 7, 20222 min read
Christmas Roses and Christmas Past at Cowbit
It is December and my garden still has roses in flower. Although with last night's minus 5 frost possibly not for much longer. Nowadays...
Dec 2, 20222 min read
A postcard from Sunny Chang
Many years ago I had a client take over some greenhouses in the fens to import and grow orchids for sale in the UK. Previously these...
Dec 1, 202214 min read
Fenland Geese and Gosherds.
“A Fenman’s dowry, threescore geese and a pelt.” This saying is an indication of the economic importance to many fenmen of geese and...
Oct 30, 20223 min read
The Three Revellers ; or Impiety Punished.
In the bleak, noxious fens which to Lincoln pertain, Where agues exert their fell sway, Where the bittern hoarse moans, and the sea- mew...
Oct 22, 20225 min read
Fen Eels
Perhaps one fish that is synonymous with the Fens is the eel. Indeed Ely is thought by some to have derived its name from the fish. This...
Oct 16, 20223 min read
The Grave of Andrew Sharp and the Curse of Cattle Plague
In the graveyard at Gedney Hill churchyard is a modest gravestone that due to the ravages of time and growth of moss cannot quite be...
bottom of page