A local working class pragmatism in dealing with authority in Grantham County Court.

From flax for cloth to linseed the Fens have a long varied history of growing flax

Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and Beyond is now also available in paperback from Amazon.

What is often unknown is that in the same way that trees are used by man to produce, furniture, paper or even charcoal sea grass has also been used by man.

A look at cabbage growing in the Fens

In this article I look at the rise and fall of woad production in the Fens.

This article looks at the past development of chicory to adulterate coffee and how this intertwined with coffee making it affordable to the working class before becoming a victim of energy costs in the 1970's only for a new industry forcing chicory to be developed in the 1980's.

In 1829 a tax was imposed upon beer which was seen as a particularly hurtful tax  on rural labourers

Would you drink milk containing boric acid? Food  adulteration has been a hazard throughout time with the risk of poisoning it can...

Many a time I have enjoyed consuming warm bread, preferably with butter, bought from Marshals at Gedney Hill in Lincolnshire. Sadly no more the bakery in that shop has gone the way of many family businesses and is replaced by a Morrisons Local shop. I never realized that it was once an offence to sell warm bread until I spotted this headline from August 24th 1917:

Its hard to imagine that the development of the steam pump made the drainage of the massive inland lake that was Whittlesea Mere possible within two years.

The Fens abound with churches and the Wolds have their minster.

Here I look at the disappearance of sea grass in the inter-war period of the twentieth century and its association with the decline of brent geese.

uesday 27th April 1876 saw the Spring Fair in Spalding. The area was recovering from several years of rinderpest that devastated local livestock followed by drought.

Throughout the Middle Ages fishing rights were an important economic asset throughout the Fens and were d by a complex structure of...

After much work I have now published the full version of my book "Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and Beyond". It is a hard back book just under A4 size consisting of 450 pages, over 250,000 words and over 200 pictures and illustrations.

In 1835 South Durham MP Joseph Pease succeeded in getting a Bill passed in Parliament ending bull baiting, dog fighting and cock fighting. But the annual Bull run in Stamford was to continue.  Here I consider this, how this was resisted and then consider the consequences of a recent occurrence of a young bull running through the middle of Birmingham.

Arthur Young described Long Sutton in 1771 as follows: “Long Sutton common is one of the most famous tracts of land in this country; it...

An insight into the working life and accomodation in the 19th Century Lincolnshire Fens

Growing crops in a rotation is an old method of managing soil fertility that can be seen in Roman times.  However, the development of...