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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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Japanese Chicken Sexers and their experience in World War 2 Britain
Many are aware of the World War 2 internment of Japanese in the USA due to the experience of George Takei and the play Allegiance. Few...
Nov 10, 20245 min read


Sidebar - A Trip to Remember
May 28th 1914 saw the Welland Trustees take its annual trip "down below" into the waters of The Wash
Oct 2, 20244 min read


Sidebar - The Rearing of Geese in all its Cruelty
Every so often I will publish material that did not make the script of “Marsh Fen and Town”. The following published in 1801 [i] is an...
Sep 1, 20246 min read


Sidebar - How can you tell when a man is drunk?
Spalding policemen assumed a man was drunk after he loaded his pipe with pieces of pork pie and started to smoke it!
Aug 28, 20242 min read


Sidebar - Fenland Proverbs and Sayings
Every so often I will post material that did not make the script of Marsh Fen and Town. The following are sayings from 17th to the 20th...
Aug 14, 20241 min read


Sidebar - the failed escapologist of Moulton
Every so often I publish material that did not make the script of "Marsh Fen and Town" This account of a failed escapologist in Moulton,...
Aug 7, 20241 min read


Sidebar - The Suicidal Fishmonger and an Accusation of Media Contagion
The suicide of a fishmonger in Spalding sees allegations of contagion. The latest sidebar of items not to make the text of Marsh Fen & Town
Aug 6, 20244 min read


Butterflies
If you wish a child to get interested in nature one of the most accessible areas for a child are insects. They are everywhere and with...
Jul 30, 20244 min read


Sidebar - Marsh Fen and Town - "A True Story told in 1964"
Every so often I will post bits that did not make it into my book "Marsh Fen and Town, South Lincolnshire and Beyond" This is a tale...
Jul 24, 20242 min read


Sidebar - The Loss of the Cranberry in the Fens of Lincolshire
In this piece I look how drainage of the Fens for agriculture saw the loss of the cranberry in the Lincolnshire Fens.
Jul 20, 202412 min read


An Ely M.P.
Every so often I will share tales, stories and anecdotes that have not made it into my script of Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire...
Jul 6, 20242 min read


Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - Otters.
It is possibly one of the indicators of a river's health is the thriving of an apex predator like the otter. In the 2020's the otter is...
Jul 3, 20242 min read


Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - "Life of a Fenman"
Every so often I will share bits from my notes and research that did not make it into my book "Marsh Fen and Town South Lincolnshire and...
Jun 30, 20241 min read


Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - An early guide to wildfowling techniques.
Every so often I will post bits from my research and notes that I referred to but did not make it into my book Marsh Fen and Town, South...
Jun 26, 20242 min read


Silver Wedding Anniversary
Your Royal Highnesses, Congratulations on your Silver Wedding Anniversary. My wife, Jo and I got married on the same day as yourselves in...
Jun 19, 20243 min read


Marsh Fen & Town Sidebar - Wildfowlers and Wildfowl in Verse
Every so often I will post bits from my research anf notes that did not make it into my book Marsh Fen and Town, South Lincolnshire and...
Jun 18, 20242 min read


Kenzie Thorpe - Boxer
Kenzie Thorpe is best known for his wildfowling, poaching, conservation and paintings. Much of his surviving notoriety is possibly the...
May 28, 20243 min read
Professor Benjamin Zephaniah - Come Back
On Saturday 26th September 2015 I wrote a letter to Benjamin Zephaniah. The previous evening he had delivered a lecture to Spalding...
Dec 8, 20232 min read


The Ghost of Burnopfield
The area around Burnopfield and the site of the old railway track is said to be haunted by a fearsome apparition with an "Eerie face with...
Oct 30, 20232 min read
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...
Sep 16, 20237 min read

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