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Andrew Elsden - stories, tales , rural and social and business issues past and present as I see them.


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Spalding - the evolution of Spalding Markets - the opening of the Sheep Market.
That the port of Spalding had an old and active market is undoubted. I have found no reference to an early charter awarding market rights...
Oct 14, 20248 min read


Spalding - Feeding from beyond the Fens
Spalding is where I was born and where I have lived most of my life to date. I state “feeding from beyond the Fens” because this has many...
Oct 11, 20246 min read


Bourne - the Edge of the Fens
By the early 1870’s Bourne was at a peak of activity which was matched by high employment activity nationally at that time.
Oct 7, 202426 min read


Holbeach the Centre of the Universe
When I worked in Holbeach there was an old boy used to come into town most market days from Holbeach St Marks by catching a lift with the...
Oct 4, 202429 min read


Sutton Bridge – a Fenland Port Town, the Product of Wise Investments by Thomas Guy
I worked very little in Sutton Bridge with the office there being dominated by my then colleagues Annie Batuik and Les Hills. When I did...
Sep 30, 20248 min read


Long Sutton – the Village Market Town
“ I am here with my sister visiting this city. We are from Denmark and we think that the English people are very polite. Arriving to this...
Sep 27, 202410 min read


The Towns That Serve The Countryside?
Do the towns of the Fens serve the countryside? Or does the countryside serve the towns? The American economist Jane Jacobs argued that...
Sep 23, 202414 min read


Rural Crimes and Misdemeanours
“All criminal trials are about society, not just a case.” These words were written by the journalist and author Colin MacInnes in 1971....
Sep 20, 202418 min read


Flower Growing
In Spalding Parish Church there are two windows created by the eminent stained glass artist H. W. Harvey in 1966. Both are very bright...
Sep 16, 20246 min read


Mechanization of Agriculture
The previous two pictures are of a pair of steam plough engines that my grandfather Frank Parish worked on. They were bought by the...
Sep 12, 202411 min read


Agricultural Labour - Gang labour accomodation and its modern failings
Improvements in the living conditions of farm labourers were slow and largely depended upon the willingness and abilities of the larger...
Sep 9, 20249 min read


Agricultural Labour - Increased mobility and gangs.
Agricultural Labour - increased mobility and increased concern over child labour and the employment of women. The increased mobility of...
Sep 6, 202413 min read


Agricultural Labour - May Hirings
In May 2019 a meter high statue was unveiled in Hall Place, Spalding commemorating the times when Spalding had a May Hiring Fair where...
Sep 2, 20248 min read


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...
Aug 30, 202415 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - Robin Harmstone
One of the great difficulties that farmers to this day experience is the supply of water. A 21 inch average with many years markedly...
Aug 26, 20244 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - Andrew Sharp
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...
Aug 23, 20244 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - George Wallet
On 25th July 1766 The Derby Mercury carried the following notice: “To all who are Lovers of Nature’s wonderful productions. There is come...
Aug 19, 20246 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - Albert Seaton
In 2007 my late father-in-law John Wright pulled some old farm diaries out of his shed to show me. He allowed me to borrow them and I...
Aug 16, 202423 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - Fred White
In 1991 I gave a talk to Long Sutton Friendship Club about the history of wildfowling in the area. Afterwards I was asked if I could meet...
Aug 12, 20249 min read


From Marsh to Fen and Field - Stuart Hay
“There is no habitat in Lincolnshire which can truly be described as natural unless it be the sandy and muddy foreshores of the coast....
Aug 9, 20247 min read

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