The Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech was erected in 1880 to celebrate Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) who campaigned against the slave trade. However, it should be considered that the area was suffering something of a recession/depression especially in agriculture at the time it was erected and prompted this comment from Spalding press

The cottager was a key part of the rural economy in the Fens is here described in Wrangle in 1848. One of the many pieces not to make my book Marsh Fen and Town South LIncolnshire and Beyond.

Nowadays otters make frequent appearances on the River Welland in Spalding. In November 1964, otters were a much rarer sight as seen in the following extract from a Spalding Wildfowler's newsletter in November 1964:

In the 60's the Spalding Wildfowler was somewhat bemused by the latest accessory for women available in South Africa.

These two stories are about Gun Safety including the tale of a person shot twice by the same man.

This is a true story originally told in the 1960's of the sad fate of a pet cat.

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.