Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and Beyond

I sat down and started writing a book in March 2022. The idea of a book was spawned just over thirty years ago when I was a young bank clerk working for Barclays Bank in Holbeach and Long Sutton. My brother in law, Steve Prior, had introduced me to the sport of shooting, originally wildfowling, and this, combined with my job, brought me into contact with men of the marsh, farmers of the fen and businessmen of the town. Sadly, in my life time, the connections between these three habitats and the people that live and work in them have been eroded. Just look at my home town of Spalding and nothing illustrates this better than the fact that the former site of the livestock market is now occupied by a supermarket. This book explores these people, their environments, their stories and tales.  However, in doing so this has evolved into also examining how the relationship between town and country has changed especially in my life time.

I have given myself licence to stray with my geography and follow stories, wildlife and people of interest whilst keeping the heart of the book within Lincolnshire and with a bias to South Lincolnshire. I  thank my father, Michael James Elsden for some of the research especially relating to the section on Frieston which I have added to, but warn the reader this is different to the books he authored and co-authored on local history.

I ask the reader to retain a prudent scepticism and to remain protective of their own individual judgements and experiences, a caution that applies to alert reading of any body of writing to avoid being misled by authorial enthusiasm. I acknowledge my bias, but regardless of this the concern for a society that divorces the needs of the environment, the economy and people should be of concern to all and the need to recognise and try and balance these sometimes competing needs is the challenge of our time.

I will blog this as a serialisation commencing May 24th. If there is sufficient interest generated for viability I will then publish a fully illustrated and unredacted version.

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