Tales from Bibury Shop

The Welsh Way

2011-07-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Having just had the honour of Fairford's Sub-Postmaster bestowed upon me I find myself travelling from Bibury to the beautiful town of Fairford on a daily basis. For part of the journey I go along part of the Welsh Way, which was the route taken by Welsh cattle drovers to London. The demand for beef in the capital was particularly high during the late eighteenth century and Wales was a valuable source of cattle.

The 'Welsh Way' is a lane which leaves the Gloucester-Cirencester road before Duntisbourne and passes through Barnsley and Ready Token to Fairford and Lechlade, eventually joining the Ridgeway near Wantage. It is still suitable for cattle droving [though I'm not sure anyone does], as it has very wide and verdant verges. I often imagine a herd of shiny Welsh Blacks meandering down the lanes with Corgis snapping at their heels and the melodic cursing of the Welsh drovers.

http://www.welshblackcattlesociety.com/index.php/breed/history-of-the-welsh-black.html

Morris Minor

2011-05-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

One morning several months ago I had a very good idea. It doesn't happen often so when it does I know that I really should act quickly before I forget it. As I am due to take over Fairford Post Office soon I thought it would be marvellous to have a 'marketing vehicle'. And what better vehicle to choose than a Morris Minor? People have huge fondness for the old Moggie, as they do for the Post Office. Combine the two and you have the perfect marketing ploy. That's the theory anyway, and I need it to justify my recent acquisition of a 1960 Morris Minor. It has been in a garage in Quenington for the last 20 years and needs complete restoration. I'm not doing it myself due to my stunning ineptitude with such things, but my friend [and builder] Spike has agreed to undertake the project. I can't wait to get the little beauty popping down the country lanes with that distinctive throaty warble. I'm going to keep it black, but have 'Bibury & Fairford Post Offices' [or some such form of words] emblazoned down the side.

The Morris, with Spike in the background, relishing the project already.

Brancher Day

2011-05-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

May 10th is traditionally known as 'Brancher Day'. All the local farm workers would congregate with shot guns at a rookery and blast all the young rooks as they tentatively walked along the tree branches [hence the term 'brancher']. Back then rooks were seen as a pest, but now they don't really make significant inroads into crops. If anything they may even help the arable farmer by keeping slugs and other pests down. Rook pie was also a popular dish, whereas now it is rarely eaten. They appear to be amazing social and gregarious birds who keep an intelligent eye on everything that occurs on their 'patch'.

If you look very carefully you might be able to see two rooks seeing off a very large buzzard in dramatic fashion.

Dawn Chorus

2011-05-15T04:01:00.000-07:00

I was up with the lark this morning to enjoy a 'dawn chorus walk' at Chedworth Roman villa. The walk commenced at 5.30am and was hosted by a National Trust ecologist, who was extremely knowledgeable on all things natural. The villa site is spectacular, especially so at that time of the morning, when everything is so fresh and sparkling.

Around ten of us met and walked around the woods for about an hour with the ecologist highlighting and explaining different bird songs and calls. We heard black birds, song thrushes, mistle thrushes, chiff chaffs, various types of warblers, black caps, and robins to name but a few, and saw a cuckoo travelling across the sky with its slow, deliberate flight. We then had bacon rolls and coffee back at the villa. What a cracking start to the day, and it was completely free of charge as well, so thanks very much to the National Trust.

No birds, but a beautiful tree.

Midsomer Murders

2011-05-11T04:25:00.000-07:00

John Nettles, sometimes described as the best James Bond we never had [by me].

The shop has just been inundated by a coach load of Danish people who are on a week long Midsomer Murders tour of Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds. Lovely people and obviously very much into their Midsomer Murders. I'm more of a Bergerac man myself and several of the Danish visitors agreed that Bergerac may have the edge over MM. I was at pains to explain that Midsomer Murders, although entertaining, is not true to life as we don't have that many murders around here. Famous last words.

Did you know that the hardest phrase to say in Danish is 'strawberry porridge with cream'? Next time you speak to a Dane ask them to say it. Damn near impossible.

Midsomer County aka somewhere around here - would make a good teatowel, mmm...

Cowslips

2011-05-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

The cowslips are just on the way out in early May and it is a shame to see them go. This small and delicate yellow flower is a joy and [for me] has become what spring is all about. You can make wine from them, but I would never have the heart to pick them. The road from Cirencester to Gloucester [A417] was constructed around 15-20 years ago and the verges were built using top soil from a housing development near Stroud. The dormant cowslip seeds sprouted in the first couple of years of the new road's existence and now the large verges are absolutely covered in them. It's a wonderful sight in April, but hard to take a photo of due to the fast moving traffic!

Royal Wedding

2011-05-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed the Royal Wedding. I don't normally enjoy wearing my full dress uniform. The epaulets make me perspire, the medals chafe my left nipple and I tend to trip over the sword. But for this occasion it was worth it; the whole village came together to celebrate and marvelous fun was had by all. The Wedding was also a prime commercial opportunity for the shop with commemorative tea towels and mugs selling very well and many souvenirs of the big day going as far afield as Japan and Thailand. I also noticed an insatiable appetite for Royal Wedding comemorative stamps, with the mini-sheet of four stamps of various values selling out in one day.

The table set for the children's tea party.

The V.I.P

Lyne Down Cider

2011-04-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

As I was in Gloucester I had a wander through the excellent Farmers' Market, that is held every Friday in the city centre. After a good browse I bought some cider from Lyne Down cider, who are based near Ledbury, Herefordshire; two bottles of single variety cider [a dry and a medium sweet] and a bottle of perry. I tried some of the cider last night and it is very good.

One day I am going to apply for a liquor licence so I can sell locally produced cider and beer in the shop. How it will be received I wonder? I'm trying a glass of my own scrumpy at the moment and I don't think it's very commercial!

http://www.lynedowncider.co.uk/

The Judge's House

2011-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a trip to the cash and carry in Gloucester and had a couple of hours to spare so I nipped into the city centre for a mooch. Most of my favourite buildings in Gloucester are pubs [the New Inn, the Fountain, Cafe Rene etc. etc.] but there is one none pub building, known as the Judge's House, which I find enthralling.

It is reputed to be the biggest and most authentic sixteenth century timber framed town house in the country. The catch is that you can't really see it. Another building was subsequently built in front of the facade of the Judge's House, so that there is now a small narrow lane between the two buildings. It is down Westgate Street, just passed McDonald's and next door to the Santander Bank. Until recently the Judge's House was an independent book shop, but is now empty and on the market. I am told that the upper internal floors of the building have not been touched in 400 years.

If you sidle down the alley, known as Maverdine Lane, strain your neck and look upwards then you can see the tremendous façade. It is covered in anti-pigeon spikes and it is rather gloomy, but marvellous none the less. I wonder how the sixteenth century merchant who built it would feel if he knew that his splendid house was now next door to a Spanish bank, and especially one that had consumed several long standing British banks?

Proceed through the alley....it goes no where.

Look up.....difficult to get a good photo....

I hope these photos do it justice. I would have thought that in this digital age the façade could be 'scanned' and then reproduced somehow. I hope a new use is found soon for the building and that it is a sympathetic one. It would make a good pub.........
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-472600-old-judges-house-26-gloucester

Hedgerow Blossom

2011-04-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

The hedgerows appear to be heavily laden with blossom this year which bodes well for a bumper crop of hedgerow fruit this autumn. Hopefully the frost will not be too severe over the next month or so and the blossoms will be allowed to mature.

GWR Manure

2011-04-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

Roy Nash is a gentleman who supplies me with a few greetings cards. Roy is in his mid 80s and is a very talented photographer. He lives in Swindon and has day trips to the Cotswolds when he will take lots of photographs. Roy has accepted the digital age and manufactures all his cards from home; they come with an envelope and are individually wrapped in cellophane. They're great sellers and are especially popular amongst the Japanese visitors.

I very much enjoy chatting with Roy as he spent his entire working life with Great Western Railway [GWR] over in Swindon. Apparently all employees of GWR were provided with subsidised coal which was delivered to their homes by horse and cart. The horses were stabled underneath the railway arches and their manure was collected on a daily basis. The manure was then mixed with sand and used in the casting process of the iron locomotive cylinders.

The massive GWR works at Swindon is now a retail outlet centre and there is an excellent museum there called Steam, which is dedicated to the history of the GWR http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/. For some smashing old photos of the works go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal/3830008987/

A chap came in yesterday whose ambition it was to travel on all the remaining steam and narrow gauge railways in the UK. He said there are approximately 130 in total and so far he had ticked off 58. I'm going to have a crack at it on my retirement.

Nettle Beer

2011-04-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

The hop was introduced to this country in around the 1520s and before then many other things were used to flavour beer. Nettles were one of them. Have a go at making your own nettle beer and you may be surprised at how refreshing its earthy citrus flavour is. I should think it must be good for you too. This recipe is taken from Roger Phillips's 'Wild Foods', which I think is a lovely book. If I were you I would half the quantities as two and a half gallons is a lot to drink if you don't like it. Also, pick your nettles at this time of year when they are young as older nettles are full of an acid that irritates the kidneys.

100 nettle stalks [with leaves]
2 1/2 gallons water
3lb sugar
2oz cream of tartar
1/2 oz yeast

Boil nettles with the water for 15 minutes. Strain, and add the sugar and the cream of tartar. Heat and stir until dissolved. Wait until tepid, then add the yeast and stir well. Cover with muslin and leave for 24 hours. Remove the scum and decant without disturbing the sediment. Bottle, cork and tie down.

I [Richard not Roger] would use champagne yeast, or the very least a good wine yeast, but please don't use bread yeast or the beer will be yuk! I also use old plastic lemonade bottles which are far more convenient than glass, cork and string.

A little nettle - don't use big ones.

Roger Phillips mentions several hedgerow plants that were brought over by the Romans, who grew them as vegetables. Over the years we have forgotten about them and now see them as weeds. Alexanders is the most notable of these plants. It was grown extensively in medieval monastery gardens and was very popular in the vegetable garden up until the 17th-century. It's a Mediterranean plant and is very good to eat and Roger describes it as a 'most exciting vegetable'. Quite peculiar how we have been obsessed with all food and drink from the Med' for the last forty years and have almost forgotten about a delicious Med' veg' that has grown here in abundance for the last 2,000 years.

Last year's cider is a resounding success. It appears to have gained a soft, rounded quality that the previous year's batch certainly did not have. This is apparently due to a second fermentation called the malo-lactic fermentation. The sour lactic acid turns into softer malic acid and makes the drink far more palatable. Thank goodness.

The buds are coming out in the hedgerows and soon we won't be able to see the lichen. It will be great to see the hedgerows in all their splendour again, but the lichen has provided some enthralling bits of colour over the winter months.

Spring Snap

2011-03-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

After a long, bleak winter it is fantastic to see some bright spring colours out and about.

Daffodils on Rack Isle

2011-03-26T05:53:00.000-07:00

Rack Isle is the area of boggy ground which lies in the middle of the village, immediately in front of Arlington Row. In the Middle Ages as part of the fulling process http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling they hung the wool on racks on the isle, hence the name 'Rack Isle'. It is actually an isle too as it is completely surrounded by water.

The racks have long since gone and the isle is now owned and managed by the National Trust, who endeavour to maintain it as a protected wildlife area. Looking at old photos of the isle it appears to have been treated like any other field and stocked quite heavily as the grass is grazed into well trimmed neatness. And I'm told that there used to a fun fair held there as recently as the 1960s.

I had a chat with the NT warden the other day who said that he disapproved of the daffodils that have sprung up on the edge of the isle. They have no doubt been planted over the years by people living in Arlington Row. The warden viewed them as a suburban intrusion into a wild landscape. I thought this a little excessive as we are after all in the middle of a village and not an uninhabited wilderness. Each to his own, but I think the daffs look rather jolly.

Sumer is icumen in

2011-03-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

Life may well have been short, nasty and brutish in the thirteenth century, but they appreciated spring as much as we do. I love this thirteenth century poem and [perhaps rather sadly] can't stop reciting it in my head at this time of year:

Sing! cuccu, nu. Sing! cuccu.
Sing! cuccu. Sing! cuccu, nu.

Sumer is icumen in -
Lhude sing! cuccu.
Groweth sed and bloweth med
And springth the wude nu -
Sing! cuccu.

Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calve cu,
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth,
Murie sing! cuccu.
Cuccu, cuccu,
Well singes thu, cuccu -
Ne swik thu naver nu!

[Sing! now, cuckoo. Spring has come in - sing loud! cuckoo. The seed grows and the meadow flowers, and now the wood is in leaf. Sing! Cuckoo. The ewe bleats for her lamb, the cow lows for her calf, the bullock leaps and the buck farts. Sing, tunefully! Cuckoo, cuckoo, you sing well - now don't ever stop!]

The only problem is I've yet to hear a cuckoo this year, nor for that matter a deer break wind.

More About Voles..........

2011-03-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

A water vole expert came into the shop this week and shared some fascinating facts about them......

1. Males have a territory of around 100m up the river bank, and females of around 60m.
2. They have a gestation period of two weeks and breed up to five times a year.
3. From a litter of eight babies only one is expected to reach maturity.
4. They love apples.

Water vole spotters continue to visit the village in surprisingly large numbers. Thankfully the mink population has now been all but eradicated on the Coln and the water voles are making a comeback. One problem now is that the swans are killing them. Feeding the ducks and swans makes them very aggressive apparently and so they attack the voles as they see them as competition.

I've had an absence of a couple of months from this lark, mainly because I've been distracted by expansionist plans. Hopefully, they will come to fruition next week and I will be able to focus on the blog once more [if anyone is interested that is].

Ravens

2011-01-06T03:18:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas holidays, when the snow was still on the ground, I heard the the deep, resonant call of a raven overhead. Two of these massive birds were flying high over the snow covered valley. I don't know what it is about the raven, but they do send a shiver of excitement down my spine.

They really are a huge bird having a wingspan of around 4 to 5 foot and standing around 2 foot tall. The pair I saw are said to be nesting in woods near Quenington and the Cotswolds must be on the western extremes of the raven's coverage as they are apparently not to be found in the east of England. The call is unmistakable and always reminds me of Lady Macbeth:

The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry "Hold, hold!"

Cripes! She really wasn't WI material, was she?

The Village Hall

2011-01-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

The village hall is one of those vital buildings that make a village a community rather than just a collection of houses. Our village hall is very well run and hosts a wide range of events from rug sales to birthday parties. One week in December it hosted the 100th birthday party of a local gentlemen on the Tuesday and the 5th birthday party of a local boy on the Saturday, so it really is used across the community.

The hall was originally built as a reading room with a cottage either side in 1878 and was funded by Earl Sherborne. Apparently reading rooms were funded by philanthropists at that time to encourage agricultural labourers to stay out of the pub. I suspect the sensible labourer would have gone to both the pub and the reading room, especially as the latter has very big, stone fireplaces and must have been warm and well lit. It was probably a welcome refuge from home which was probably a one up, one down smokey cottage with several noisy children within. Maybe they went to the pub first and then for a good read in the reading room; I could think of worse ways to spend a few hours on a winter's evening even today.

Wear Wool

2010-12-18T04:07:00.000-08:00

How do they do it? It reached minus ten last night and is snowing hard this morning, but still the sheep seem to be serenely unperturbed. I follow suit and wear a great deal of wool in this weather, and it really is the best thing. I can remember the 'polar fleece' revolution of the 1980s, when wool became unfashionable and was generally replaced by fluffy man made fleeces. However, wool has experienced a comeback of late and if you want to wear something warm, durable, attractive and environmentally friendly do what the sheep do!

The Fieldfare

2010-12-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

An apple tree in a very weak winter sun.

I walked into an orchard yesterday and it exploded in a chuckling, chattering grey mass of fieldfares. This highly sociable thrush comes to these shores from Scandinavia during the autumn and feeds on berries. This year they probably feasted on our berries, but I've already bored you with the super abundance of hedgerow fruits this year! If you walk or drive down the lanes the fieldfares burst from the hedgerows in alarm and are a marvelous spectacle which would cheer anyone up.

The local name for them is 'felts' and they seem to come here in great numbers, albeit they are on the RSPB's red list. I expect they were in the orchard feeding on the windfall apples, which must be rather sugary by now have been frozen and thawed so many times over the last few weeks.

Indian Wrestling

2010-12-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

Today an Indian family came into the shop. They were very interesting people and I was amazed by how many languages they spoke, each having six to eight in total. Along with Hindi and English they also spoke two or three local languages and two or three regional languages! I've always wanted to go to India and find the sub-continent's culture and history fascinating.

I asked the family about Indian wrestling and the men were big fans. Indian wrestling appears to be a great sport and training for it is arduous. Over the last couple of years I have employed some of the exercises used in Indian wrestling, namely the dand [aka Hindhu press-up] and the bethak [aka Hindhu squat] . I've also acquired an Indian mace,or Gada, which is good fun to use if a little exhausting. Despite this I've never tried the wrestling itself and would probably last a few seconds against even the most junior of opponents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyUsEb82jZs&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyUsEb82jZs&feature=related

Meeting so many people from all over the world in this one little village gives me a real thrill, so long may it last!

My Gada.

Old Man's Beard

2010-12-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

Old Man's Beard, or clematis vitalba, always looks so contrasting to the sparse brown hedgerows that it trails over, with its silky, round whiteness. I took these snaps in between Bibury and Ready Token on a place called Shagborough Bank, which is covered in an almost impenetrable mass of shrubs and brambles. Shagborough Bank is a great name, don't you think?

Old Man's Beard is a type of clematis, which are surprisingly members of the same family as the buttercup, and can grow up to forty foot in length. It always reminds me of cotton plants that I have seen in photographs and I wonder if it has ever been used for its softness? Next time I go out I will take a cushion cover and stuff it full of Old Man's Beard and see if it is any good for soft furnishings.

Roman Rust

2010-12-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

On yesterday's walk I came across a rather plain rusty iron, six bar gate that reminded me of Roman armour. It is now thought that on a long campaign the legionaries would let their armour rust a little and then rub it with some oil. This would have created a solid rust and iron patina that would protect the iron underneath from further corrosion. The shiny 'lorica segmantata' [the armoured segmented tunic] seen on films, such as Gladiator, would only have been seen where the legionary had the time to clean and polish the armour.

The Village Lock Up

2010-11-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

Prior to the 1839 County Police Act, sometimes known as the Rural Police Act, most villages of any size had a 'lock up', where law breakers could be detained prior to a court appearance. The Act allowed for the appointment of a professional police constable, rather than the part time Parish constable, to be employed 'for the preservation of the peace and protection of the inhabitants'. It also stipulated that a police house had to be constructed, along with appropriate cell accommodation. The Old Police House is up on the Cirencester road in Arlington and looks as if it was built around the time of the Act. However, the photo above is of the lock up. It must have been a grim place to have spent anytime at all, never mind a cold winter's night. The only window is a very small one to the rear which is heavily barred and the door is hugely thick and riveted. It looks a little unloved at the moment, but it would be fascinating to find out who has languished within and why they were there!

The rear, and only, window. Along with modern fag ends.

A great old oak door. Imagine that slamming behind you!

Brown Trout

2010-11-25T03:36:00.000-08:00

The cold clear weather has brought the brown trout out. For a few weeks they have been lying low in the deeper waters, but now with the brighter, drier weather they are basking in the shallows. Life must be good for a brown trout in the Coln as some of them seem to reach excellent sizes. The one in the photograph above must be around the 3lb mark and it was fixed to the spot for ages in the fast flowing water, which must take considerable effort. Perhaps it is waiting for food, in the form of insects, to float down or to settle on the surface, or maybe they find it relaxing just to swim slowly against the current. I'll nip out at lunch time and see if it is still there.

Sloes and Berries

2010-11-24T03:15:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me yesterday that the hedgerows may be at their best at this time of year. In spring they are bursting with life and movement, but at this time of year they have a much calmer beauty. The above is a snap of woodbine berries amongst some sloes, which really caught my eye.

Feeding the Ducks

2010-11-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

Bibury could be called the wedding capital of the Cotswolds. A sort of Las Vegas in limestone. There can be up to ten weddings in a weekend here so we become very used to wedding parties parading through the village. It certainly cheers me up seeing so many well dressed people enjoying themselves. The couple in the photograph above were married this morning and had a photo call on the medieval clapper bridge which leads to Arlington Row. The were asked by their photographer to feed the ducks. He supplied several loaves of bread until he had enough shots and I think even the greediest of ducks was quite full.

I've just sold a bookmark and four Bibury coasters to a couple of Rome. When they said where they were from Rome I thanked them for building some of the roads around here. It just slipped out. They were amused and I think secretly pleased!

A Mysterious Stone...

2010-11-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

This big chunk of limestone is laid into the verge by the road that goes through the hamlet of Ready Token, which is about 2 miles from Bibury. The road is the old Roman road of Akeman Street which linked the Fosse Way with Watling Street. No one knows why the stone is there, but some people say that it was ploughed up and then removed to the verge so it would no longer interfere with cultivation. I think that it looks too 'worked' for this to have been the case. It is not a milestone as the ones on this section of the road are remarkably complete and this is not one of them. Perhaps it was part of the old Roman road's construction? In any case it's a big old thing and I'm sure it will be there fore many years to come.

Game Holes

2010-11-16T03:52:00.000-08:00

I've always been intrigued by the little game holes in Cotswold stone walls. There are many in the stone walls around the village and their primary purpose was to allow grey partridge to travel from field to field. Being a ground bird the partridge tend to walk in flocks, or coveys, as they feed and are well camouflaged in the grass, stubble or crop. If they were forced to jump over the walls they would become easy prey. The hole in the wall therefore allowed them safe passage from field to field.

The grey partridge was once very abundant, but numbers declined to critical levels post WWII due to the use of pesticides, herbicides and the removal of hedgerows. However, they are making a small comeback and some farmers are now encouraging them to thrive once more.

Frost and Fog

2010-11-16T03:19:00.000-08:00

The village is swathed in fog this morning and Jack Frost is also nipping hard. The place is deserted apart from myself and a couple from Melbourne, Australia who are frustrated at the lack of unmurky photo opportunities. Being an early riser I have noticed on frosty mornings that it is relatively warm first thing in the day and that it only becomes really cold when the sun rises. This seems a bit of a paradox, but I'm sure that there is a rational explanation.

A Competition.......

2010-11-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

Below is a fruit which is ready to pick at this time of year. There is a tree near the Square which is full of them. But what is the name of the fruit? The winning answer will be drawn on Saturday 18th December and the prize will be a Bibury worktop protector [the one with the brown trout and the rainbow trout] which will be sent to the winner completely free! Please email any answers to richard@rawilliams.com with the address you would like the prize to be sent to - Good Luck!!

Old Map

2010-11-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

The rain is teeming down outside and the cars are sploshing down the road. The shop is very quiet at this time of year and it has given me time to study an old map of the village which was hand drawn in 1769. The copy I have was kindly given to me by a friend, who procured it from the County Records Office. The one thing that is most striking about the map is how few buildings there were in the village at the time. The Church [of course], the Bibury Court, Arlington Mill and Arlington Manor are the most prominent ones and then there are a few cottages scattered here and there. Arlington Green was then a collection of four or five houses and seems very different from the hotch potch of cottages that it became in later years. It makes me realise how busy the village was during the last part of the eighteenth century, when most of the village seems to have been constructed. It appears that the village boomed during these years of the Agricultural Revolution and it must have been a noisy, bustling place and far from the rural idyll that we often project onto the past.

The rain clears at last.

Cider Making

2010-11-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

My cider making season ends soon and what a productive one it has been! I estimate that I have made nearly twenty gallons which should be ready for drinking around Christmas time. There are four different types of apple; dessert, culinary, cider and general purpose. Gloucestershire has hundreds of different varieties of apples which range over the four different apple types. Many villages have their own specific variety which historically was put to one use or another. Some colourful examples are Arlingham Schoolboys, Bastard Underleaf, Hagloe Crab and Hens Turd. The latter is from the village of Rodley and the origins of its name are a mystery.

Although we have loads of apples here in Bibury there does not appear to be one specific local variety and the closest ones appear to be the Ampney Red [from the village of Ampney Crucis being around 3 miles away] and the Siddington Russett [which is about 6 miles away].   Both of these are dessert apples.  I wish I could report on the 'Bibury Bastard' or even the 'Arlington Crab', but alas no.

This part of the county does not appear to have been historically a cider making area.   Cider making was a very important part of the rural economy, in most areas, up until the First World War. Each farm would have had its own cider mill and press and for much of the 18th and 19th centuries farm workers would have received part of their pay in cider.

Due to the apparent lack of cider making locally, I am unable to find any cider apples and make do with a mixture of Bramley's [culinary], dessert apples and crab apples. The latter are found in hedgerows and are a close relation to the cider apple being high in tannins and acids, both of which are crucial for a good cider. The dessert apples add the all important sugar which is fermented into alcohol during the cider making process.  I have sourced these from two derelict orchards near to the Church which are full of different varieties and must have been glorious in their prime.

If you are interested in Gloucestershire apples then please go to the Gloucestershire Orchard Group website http://www.gloucestershireorchardgroup.org.uk/ which is an excellent organisation. If you are visiting the Cotswolds then an afternoon spent in the Severn Vale part of the county would be time well spent. Only half an hour away from here and a fascinating place. If you would like a glass of my cider then call into the shop around Christmas time and you will be more than welcome to have one. Cheers!

Hawthorn Berries

2010-11-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

This autumn there has been an abundance of hawthorn berries. These little red berries have long been a part of English folk lore and country tradtion. There are several old sayings which relate to the haw: 'when all fruit falls, welcome haws' is one that I especially like as they do make a particularly good wine. Last year's haw wine is now ready to drink and the flavour encapsulates all that is good about the hedgerow.

Another medieval saying regarding the haw which fills me with foreboding is 'many haws, many snaws'. If this one holds true then we are in for a bumper crop of snow this winter. A lovely family from Finland, where they really do have cold weather, came in to the shop last week, and for some reason we chatted about windows. Apparently, in Finland it is illegal to have anything other than quadruple glazed windows. I explained that here in Bibury, where most of the buildings enjoy Listed status, it is illegal to have anything other than single glazed windows. Better get some logs in then!

Thirsty Work for an Old Steam Engine.

2010-10-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

This wonderful old steam engine stopped in front of the shop to take on fresh supplies of water from the river. It took around fifteen minutes to fill the tank and then it very slowly pulled away again. More of a great beast than a machine it was obviously much loved and cared for by its operatives. The Korean ladies in the photo below were quite smitten by it.

Another go at Blogging....

2010-10-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Now it's autumn here I've decided to overcome my blog phobia and have another crack at it. Things have quitened down here somewhat since the summer so I'm going to adopt a policy of 'little and often'. The website has been hacked into and vandalised. The hacker took a particular dislike to the little teddy bears which I rank as heinous cyber crime. So I'm in the process of repairing the site and adding more gifts to it. Wish me luck!

On a different tack I have noticed that the grass around the river banks is often streaked with a silvery deposit. I have worked out that this is heron poo. As they take flight from a morning's fishing they almost always emit a long streak of sparkling deposit. On closer inspection the poo is entirely composed of fish scales which contrasts vividly with the lush green grass.

The herons are numerous on the River Coln and they have been joined recently by their cousins the egrets. They are small, white herons which I think originate in the Med' and the Middle East. Apparently they started colonising these islands in 1986 and have bred successfully since then. Being a non-native {I can't spell indigenous} species I wonder if they have had an adverse affect on any native species?

Anyway, I am trying to sell these toughened glass work top protectors at the moment with little success. They have a coloured drawing of a brown trout, which is indijinous, and one of a rainbow trout, which is non-endegenus, and the word 'Bibury' in the middle. I like them and will soon put them on the website [when I work out how to]. In the meantime if anyone wants one for a fiver then please email me.

Japanese and English

2010-05-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here in Bibury we have Japanese people visiting on most days of the year. The Japanese love the Cotswolds, and in particular Bibury. Some say it is because Emperor Hirohito came here when a Prince during the first half of the last century, and on his return home became a fervent advocate of the area. Other people say that a very famous Japanese artist [no one knows his name] came to Bibury in the 1970s and that the area formed the basis for much of his work from then on.

Accordingly, I have made a little effort to learn a little Japanese. I can do the basic greetings, the numbers and a few other fairly simple things. It has been tough going as English and Japanese do not have any words in common, or so I thought. I have had to learn each word very slowly. Yesterday, a Japanese gentleman bought a little tub of local ice cream. The ice cream is fantastic and produced on a farm near Northleach, around six miles away from Bibury. It comes in small tubs with a small plastic spoon secreted under the lid. When I placed the tub of ice cream on the counter I could tell that the chap was wondering if there was a spoon available so I launched into a ham fisted attempt in Japanese to explain where it was: 'Asoko des spoon'. Or 'there is spoon'. Much to my amazement he understood what I meant and then went on to explain in near perfect English that the Japanese use the same words as we do for a 'spoon' and a 'fork'. I was over joyed by the fact that here were two words that I did not have to learn. I asked him if we share the same words for chop stick. We don't.

Incidentally, I was told this morning that the symbolic bird of Tokyo is a kingfisher, where apparently they are in abundance. We have several of these beautiful birds on the river in front of the shop. Maybe that's another reason why the Japanese like it here so much.

Otter Update

2010-05-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

The otters previously mentioned are apparently owned by a lady who rescues baby otters. The Trout Farm supply them with food in the form of trout that are deemed to be unfit for human consumption. For example, if a fish is found to have died over night then it is only suitable for otter food or the bin. The trout farm also supply fish to the otters at Slimbridge. Incidentally, these local otters are the same ones that were in the Harry Potter film.

Good and bad news

2010-05-06T02:26:00.000-07:00

I hear that the American signal crayfish is a few miles away at Coln St Denis and rapidly traveling towards us. These voracious interlopers eat everything and leave nothing for the indigenous river life. However, they are easy to catch and taste very good. So probably good news for otters and adventurous barbecuers. We shall soon see what effect they have on the river.

Otter day trip

2010-05-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

On the topic of the return of wildlife, whilst walking past the trout farm the other day I noticed a lady with a car full of otters. I wish I'd asked where she was going with them. A few guesses:

1. Is it possible to hunt mink with a pack of otters? That avoids the ban on hunting with dogs.

2. A trip to the trout farm with a family of otters would be a big hit. But how does someone get in a position to treat otters? (And you'd get banned from the farm pretty quickly.)

3. Perhaps then it was a day trip from the otter refuge (but isn't there a risk they'll run away?)

4. Weren't there otter noses for sale in the stadium in Life of Brian? And there's an ice cream van parked up nearby. Leave that one there.

5. Travelling otter circus uses unmarked car.

I really wish I'd asked.

Vole questing

2010-04-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've noticed the village has got a new attraction (most of the attractions round here are very old, so it really is news). Increasingly, people are visiting the village on water vole-spotting tours.

Apparently there are two colonies of voles: one is located directly in front of the shop, nestled beneath the fourteenth-century 'clapper' bridge, and the other is upstream in front of the Swan Hotel.

When people come into the shop and say they've seen a water vole I can't help asking them if they're sure that it wasn't a rat. It appears that people can be divided into two camps: those who see a small rodent in the river and call it a vole and those who see a small rodent in the river and call it a rat. Sort of half-a-glass full versus half-a-glass empty.

Sad to admit, I'm in the latter camp although I am told that these two colonies are in fact voles. They were nearly driven to exctinction by the mink which now itself has been eradicated, partly by another returnee, the otter. Leaving rats, sorry voles, aside, otters back and mink gone: even a half-glass empty sort of person like me is cheered by that.

Water Voles versus Rats: How to Tell the Difference

(or is it all in the eye of the beholder?)

Welcome!

2010-04-29T03:27:00.000-07:00

Hello there and welcome to my blog.

I thought I'd set it up so I can share the various bits and bobs that occur to me whilst I'm working away in my shop, often looking dreamily out onto a stream and some cottages, one of the nicer bits of what is reputedly one of the most beautiful villages in England.

Through my post office counter I interact with most of the people who live around here. Through my shop, which sells gifts and refreshments, I get to meet a lot of the tourists who come to Bibury from all over the world. When I'm not working here I'm at my farm just upstream from the village, where I keep sheep along with a few chickens, a veg garden, a couple of dogs and a cat. And last but most importantly I have a lovely wife and two little girls.

Which is all by way of introducing myself as well as letting you know what sort of topics you can expect to find here. Other than that I've no idea what I'll post and even less idea whether it will interest anyone. But here goes anyway!