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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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Freiston Shore – The Forgotten Resort of The Wash.
It is perhaps hard to imagine as you wind down the narrow roads approaching Freiston village and then a little further, two miles, to...
Sep 3, 202334 min read
HEATWAVE 1911
Heatwave, drought and wildfires ravage much of Europe and North America. There is talk of war with Russia. Concerns are voiced over UK...
Jul 30, 20233 min read
Wooden Dollars and Trade Tokens
You may have heard the phrase “wooden dollars” when referring to spurious values of such items as natural capital values. The term refers...
Jul 21, 20233 min read
Eider Ducks
The first time I saw eider ducks in the wild was in Amble Harbour, Northumberland about 15 years ago. December 2022 saw me move to Ambl...
Jun 12, 20232 min read
Alnmouth to Spalding
This is my third post about train rides and is about a journey om 19th December 2022. Christmas is approaching and I have just taken...
Jun 11, 20233 min read
"The Quiet Coach"
This is my second post about train journeys and is from my notes of 2018. Do you remember when train passengers spoke to each other?...
Jun 10, 20231 min read
"Leeds - Final Destination"
TRAIN RIDES – A DIARY ENTRY FROM 7TH DECEMBER 2017 Here I am on the 6.42 to Leeds on a windy December day. The train is quiet with low...
Jun 9, 20232 min read
Life Lessons Amelia
In the May 2019 Bank Holiday with my son Zak at Easton and Otley College in Norwich we decided to stay for a week in Stratford just south...
Jun 2, 20233 min read
The Things Children Say!
Here I illustrate some potentially disturbing things my children said when they were little!
Jun 1, 20232 min read
Memories of Spalding Tulip Parade
Today the 13th of May 2023 heralds the return of the Spalding Tulip Parade. I now live in Northumberland, where my tulips flower much...
May 13, 20236 min read
Spalding and the Missing Stone of Scone
As the Stone of Destiny, otherwise known as the Stone of Scone, winds its way from Scotland to nestle below the King's posterior on the...
Apr 28, 20232 min read
The Trading of Ruffs from Spalding
The Ruff is a wader that has suffered exploitation over the years by man, perhaps the worst example being horrendous taxidermy that...
Mar 11, 20233 min read
Sat Nav Woes on Icy Roads
3rd January saw me drive to the local Vauxhall dealership in Morpeth from Amble. It was a beautiful morning but icy. Driving to Morpeth,...
Jan 11, 20233 min read
Christmas Roses and Christmas Past at Cowbit
It is December and my garden still has roses in flower. Although with last night's minus 5 frost possibly not for much longer. Nowadays...
Dec 7, 20222 min read
A postcard from Sunny Chang
Many years ago I had a client take over some greenhouses in the fens to import and grow orchids for sale in the UK. Previously these...
Dec 2, 20222 min read
Fenland 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...
Dec 1, 202214 min read
The Three Revellers ; or Impiety Punished.
In the bleak, noxious fens which to Lincoln pertain, Where agues exert their fell sway, Where the bittern hoarse moans, and the sea- mew...
Oct 30, 20223 min read
The Grave of Andrew Sharp and the Curse of Cattle Plague
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...
Oct 16, 20223 min read
Fenland Pike
I remember the first time I saw a pike I would be about 5 years old and asked my parents what the fish was mounted in a glass case in the...
Oct 8, 20224 min read
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