AN EYE TO BUSINESS

Marks & Spencer

 

In 1884 a young Lithuanian Jew called Michael Marks went to Leeds, an inarticulate immigrant who could not speak English, he managed to obtain £5 credit from a local wholesaler and he set up a ‘Penny Bazaar’ in Leeds Market. ‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’ was his slogan. Business prospered and Marks went into partnership with his friend Tom Spencer. The rest is indeed a legend.

A  feature in Leeds Market Hall is an elegant clock mounted on an antique cast-iron pillar  presented by Marks & Spencer, 100 years later in 1984.

 

 

 

The  Co-op

 

The former Lancashire weaving town of Rochdale, now in Greater Manchester, was the birthplace of the legendary Gracie Fields.  

On 21^st December 1844, following a bitter strike,  local weaver’s each subscribed a sovereign and the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society commenced trading in Toad Lane.  This was indeed the very first shop in the worldwide Co-operative Movement and the same shop is still there in Toad Lane (a corruption of T’owd lane – the old lane) which has been a conservation area since 1978.

 

 

 

The  oldest  shop’s

 

A chemist’s shop in the Market Place in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, has been in continuous use since 1720.  It claims to be the oldest chemist’s shop in England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shop in the High Street, Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire, claims to be the  oldest sweet shop in England.

 

and the oldest post office is at Sanquhar in Scotland.

 

 

 

 

Michelin?

Congratulations to this Sea Food Restaurant in Cromerty in north eastern Scotland, who have awarded themselves two Michelin Tyres.

 

 

 

The Scottish Ell

 

The Scottish ‘ell’ was a measurement equivelent to 37 inches.   It was very important in the Scottish market place that this measurement was strictly adhered to and officials made every endeavour to ensure that it was.   

 

The Cathedral graveyard at Dornoch, once part of the market place, preserves a flat stone just 37” long which was formerly used for measuring cloth on sale in the market.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the wall of the Ell House in Dunkeld is a metal ell measure which was used to check that any measure used in their market place was accurate.

FOOD AND DRINK CURIOSITIES

 

 

 

Bakewell  Pudding

 

Talk of Bakewell in Derbyshire and one immediately thinks of  Bakewell Pudding or Tart.   The recipe for this desert was discovered by accident as the result of a misunderstanding between the cook and the mistress at the Rutland Arms Hotel in Bakewell.   Instead of stirring the egg mixture into the pastry and then filling the tart she was making with jam, the cook put the jam into the tart and then poured the egg mixture over it.   The resulting desert was so successful that it became renowned as Bakewell Pudding and is sold today in the Bakewell Pudding shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally Lunn

 

In 1680 a Hugeunot girl refugee called Soli Luyan, later Sally Lunn, arrived in  Bath and found employment with a baker in Lilliput Alley. She told the baker about the French brioche type of bread or buns which were to become famous and forever associated with her name. This light and delicious bun soon became popular at afternoon tea’s which were part of Bath’s tradition.

The baker’s premises are still there and said to be the oldest building in the city, probably dating back as far as AD200.

Sally’s kitchen and contents, in use up to the late 19^th century. is still preserved in the cellar  where it can be visited.  Present day Sally Lunn’s can also be enjoyed in the refreshment rooms above, indeed the rich round buns are still made in a modern bakery on the second floor.

Sally’s original recipe was found in a secret cupboard in the 1930’s and is passed with the deeds to the building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starry  Gazy  Pie

  

A culinary delight in Cornwall is  Starry Gazy  Pie  -  a fish pie.   Legend has it that Mousehole fisherman, Tom Bawcock, saved the population from starvation when he sailed in a huge storm to return with seven different types of fish.  They were all baked together in a huge pie to feed the starving locals.

They still celebrate ‘Tom Bawcock’s Eve’ every year on 23^rd December at the Ship Inn in Mousehole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denby  Dale  Pie

 

 

The small village of Denby Dale near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire is known as the ‘Pie Village’ as a result of its long tradition of baking huge celebratory pies.   The very first pie was made in 1788 to celebrate George 111’s recovery from mental illness.   No.2 was to celebrate Victory at Waterloo.  No3. celebrated the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.   No.4 was baked to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887, but sadly this time the pie went bad and had to be buried in a nearby wood.   However, within one week a ‘resurrection pie’ was produced as No.5.    No.6 celebrated the Corn Law Jubilee in 1896.   In 1928 it was resolved to bake a pie to raise money for the endowment of a bed at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and so ‘The Infirmary Pie’ became No.7.   The next pie, No.8 was to raise money for the pensioner’s Community Centre.  This ‘Darby and Joan Pie’ was baked in 1964 and the pie dish, 18 feet long, can be seen in front of the Pie Hall in the village main street, where it has been planted with flowers.   3,000 kilo’s of beef, 3,000 kilo’s of potatoes and 700 kilo’s of onions, were the ingredients for Pie No.9 in 1988 and pie No.10  ‘The Millennium Pie was baked in the year 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stilton Cheese

Wikipedia tells us :

 

Stilton is an English cheese, produced in two varieties: Blue known for its characteristic strong smell and taste, and the lesser-known White. Both Blue Stilton and White Stilton have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission, two of only ten British cheeses currently produced to have such protection.^[1] The PDO status requires that only cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire and made according to a strict code may be called "Stilton".

According to the Stilton Cheesemaker's Association, the first Englishman to market Blue Stilton cheese was Cooper Thornhill, owner of the Bell Inn on the Great North Road, in the village of Stilton, Huntingdonshire.^[2] Traditional legend has it that in 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm near Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire – possibly in Wymondham.^[3] He fell in love with the cheese and made a business arrangement that granted the Bell Inn exclusive marketing rights to Blue Stilton. Soon thereafter, wagon loads of cheese were being delivered to the inn. Since the main stagecoach routes from London to Northern England passed through the village of Stilton he was able to promote the sale of this cheese and the fame of Stilton rapidly spread.

However, the first known written reference to Stilton cheese actually predates this and was in William Stukeley's Itinerarium Curiosum, Letter V, dated October 1722. Daniel Defoe in his 1724 work A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain notes, "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the mites, or maggots round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you do the cheese."^[4]

Frances Pawlett (or Paulet), a "skilled cheese maker" of Wymondham, has traditionally been credited as the person who set modern Stilton cheese's shape and style characteristics in the 1720s,^[5][6] but others have also been named.^[7] The recipe for a Stilton cheese was published by Richard Bradley, first Professor of Botany at Cambridge University in his 1726 book A General Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening. Bradley records a letter from a correspondent, John Warner, which states the cheese is made in Stilton and that the Bell Inn produced "the best cheese in town".^[8]

Harry Ramsden's

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s largest fish and chip shop is Harry Ramsden’s at Guiseley in West Yorkshire, with more than 1,000,000 customers per annum.  

 

Actually the Harry Ramsden name was taken over by a large consortium a few years ago. The actual premises have recently been refurbished as The Wetherby Whaler whilst retaining the former opulance and facilities.

 

Harry Ramsden, a man of great vision, opened his fish and chip shop in a small wooden hut at Guiseley Cross in 1928 at a time when fish and chips were the staple diet of most of the working class population and there was a fish and chip shop at the corner of most streets.   The business prospered and Ramsden was able to build a much larger shop nearby to include a luxurious 200 seater fish restaurant. Despite the success of the restaurant, Harry did not loose sight of the importance of the take-away side of the business where the food was cooked to perfection due to Harry’s meticulous planning and cleanliness. Everything had to be, and was, spot on. Starting with just an outside bench for take away customers to sit on, Harry soon provided a few tables and chairs and eventually had the area roofed over to further ensure the comfort of those customers, finally providing cups of tea to complement the meal.  Ramsden also provided a delivery service by motor bike and sidecar to provide bulk orders to the nearby factories.    Some 10,000 people turned out when Harry Ramsden had his last big fry, at original prices, before he retired and the business was sold.    The business, now a national concern, still prospers and has extended to many parts of the globe.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry Ramsden’s original hut can still be seen behind the  Guiseley emporium.

 

 

 

 

The Price of Bread

 

Tablets set into the wall of the churchyard at Great Wishford in Wiltshire record the price of bread since 1800.

In 1800 it was 3s/4d  per gallon.    In 1801 it was 3s/10d per gallon.

In 1904 it was 10d per gallon.   In 1920 it was 2s/8d per gallon – after the Great War.

In 1946 – 48 bread was rationed. Subsidised price was 2s/1d per gallon.

In 1965 it was 5s/4d per gallon.

In 1971 it was 8/- per gallon – 40p decimal.

In 1984 it was £1.80 per gallon.

In 2000 it was £372 per gallon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hovis

 

  

Hovis  is synonymous with brown bread.    Golden Hill in the ancient Dorset town of Shaftesbury, will long be associated with the T.V commercial for Hovis ("He were a great baker were our dad") and a huge plastic Hovis loaf charity box can be seen at the top of the hill.  
The town was founded by King Alfred and King Canute died there in 1035.

 

 

 

 

Shrovetide

Shrovetide is carnival time derived from the Latin for carne levare, and literally means 'put away flesh.' It is a public festival particularly in Catholic countries just before Lent, usually known as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). We know it as Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day to us, the day when everybody eats pancakes.

Shrive means to confess for absolution from sin and in pre-Reformation times everyone was expected to be 'shriven ' on the Tuesday before Ash Wenesday, in preparation for the Lenten fast. The rest of the day would be spent in festivity and feasting and the feast for poorer people was pancakes when foods such as eggs and fats, forbidden during Lent, would be used up and nothing was wasted.

The tradition is still maintained and many communities have a 'pancake race' as spart of their festivities.

In Scarborough in North Yorkshire the townspeople were called to confession when a bell was rung early on Shrove Tuesday to remind then of their duty, a tradition which is still maintained when the bell is rung at 12noon to remind housewives that it is time to cook their pancakes and to announce the start of a pancake race.

It seems that the original Scarborough pancake bell was that of St Thomas' Church and when the church was demolished during the Civil War the bell was hung above the entrace to St Thomas' Hospital in North Street. The hospital was in turn demolished and the Pancake Bell ended up at the Rotunda Museum where it continued to be rung by the Mayor at 12 noon on Shrove Tuesday. Sadly, in 1976, the old bell cracked and was preserved for posterity. A ship's bell was used until 1996. The final bell saga was enacted in that year when the Mayor rang a new Pancake Bell, a replica of the original bell, bought by public subscription and erected on a new site in North Street not far from the site of  St Thomaas' Hospital.

Whilst the Pancake Race is a relatively new event in Scarborough, the main event of the day is another unique festivity that the town has enjoyed for as long as anybody can remember. that of skipping. Once the pancakes have been devoured, young and old alike gather on the foreshore to spend the afternoon skipping, as their forefather's have done for hundreds of years.

It is said that the tradition may have been started by fishermen using the readily available long ropes.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The largest bottle of whisky

 

 

According to the Guinness Book of records, the largest bottle of whisky is to be found at

the Glenturret Distillery near Crieff in Scotland.

The bottle  is 5'5" tall and contains 228 litres (50.15gals) of Famous Grouse whisky.

some 8000 drams.

The bottle was made by Czech manufacturer's Bomma at Svetla near Prague.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blanc

HORTICULTURAL CURIOSITIES - fruit trees and hedges

 

 

 

 

The Bramley Apple Tree

 

 

 

An apple tree which was grown from a pip in about 1805, became famous as the Bramley apple tree.  Fifty years later Mr Bramley, of Easthorpe, Southwell in Nottinghamshire,  allowed grafts to be taken on the condition that they carried his name and so perpetuated the name Bramley.   The original tree still grows in the garden behind Bramley Tree House at Easthorpe and gives its name to the local pub.

Apricot Trees

Apricot trees are an unusual feature in the pretty village of Ayno in Northamptonshire, and, although relatively rare in this country they apparently thrive in this limestone village.  Fan trained apricot trees adorn the walls of most of the ancient cottages in this village where they flourish in the southerly aspect and the limestone soil.   The trees are harvested in September and in former times, the lords of

The manor once claimed the fruits as part of the cottage rents.

 

 

 

Fig Trees

A fig tree grows out of the wall at the old church at Manaccan in Cornwall. The wall has a two outer facings of stone with a space between filled with rubble, which has a enabled the tree to grow.  The origin of this 200 year old tree is not known.

Another fig tree in the cemetery  in the centre of Watford in Hertfordshire, has  split a gravestone in all directions.   The story goes that the incumbent, an atheist, asked for the fig tree to be placed in his coffin when he was buried there, saying that if there was a God, the fig tree would grow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A yew hedge tunnel

 

 

A National Trust property is renowned for its unusual yew hedges.  These hedges, at each side of the front entrance to Blickling Hall near Aylsham in Norfolk, have been grown in such a way as to leave a tunnel inside.

 

 

 

The tallest yew hedge

The tallest yew hedge can be seen at Cirencester Park in Gloucestershire. It stretches for 150 yards around the town side of the park, being 40 feet high. It is believed to have been built planted in 1710.

 

 

 

 

 

Record beech hedge

 

The largest beech hedge in the World (since 1966) stands proudly at the roadside near Meikleour in Tayside.  It was planted in 1745 by Robert Murray Nairne to denote a boundary.  Nairne was soon killed at Colloden.  The hedge now stands 100 feet high (120ft – 80ft) and is some 580 yards in length.

 

 

HORTICULTURAL CURIOSITIES - Trees

 

 

 

 

About  trees

 

 

 

The Major Oak

 

Our ancient trees are also fascinating and one of the most famous is the 1000 years old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, made famous through the Robin Hood Legend.

Major Oak, Sherwood Forest

Perhaps England's most famous tree, the Major Oak is believed to be about 1,000 years old, and lives in Sherwood Forest. In popular mythology, the tree has many associations with Robin Hood and his outlaw band. Its species is Quercus robur or English Oak. Its ancient arms have been supported by cables, chains or posts, and protected by sheets of lead, since about 1900. Old photos Link show it was once surrounded by open space and the earth trodden down by many visitors, leading to rain run-off and starvation of the tree. Recently it has been fenced off and mulch laid down to prevent this runoff, and the canopy is now much larger and healthier. Its girth was accurately measured in 1790 and comparison with today's girth indicates a growth rate of 1cm/year. Extrapolating back shows a planting date of about 1000 AD, in Saxon times. Many oak trees adopt this 'short and wide shape' when allowed to grow in the open.

  © Copyright John Palmer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

I am grateful to John Palmer for the use of his Geograph photograph and text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Capon Tree

 

 

 

 

 

The Capon Tree alongside the A68 road just 1 mile south of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders is the last surviving tree of the former extensive Jed Forest which once clothed the Teviot Valley. This huge oak tree, 10 metres in circumference and 17 metres high, is said to be at least 500 years old. The trunk has split in two and the branches are supported but the tree remains alive. Local tradition says that it was once used as the local gallows. Another tradition which is still maintained is that involving the annual Callant’s Festival when a sprig from the tree is pinned to the Callant’s lapel as part of the ceremony. As part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the Tree Council designated this tree as one of fifty great British trees

 

 

 

This oak tree by the A68, called the Capon Tree, is one of the last survivors of the ancient Forest of Jed and is estimated to be in excess of 500 years old. The tree is propped up with sections of timber telegraph poles and members of the public are advised to approach at their own risk.

  © Copyright Walter Baxter and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

I am grateful to Walter Baxter for the use of his Geograph photograph and text.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Knightswood Oak

 

 

In the New Forest we can see The Knightswood Oak which has a girth of 21ft and is said to be 600 years old, and also an old oak and beech tree which are fused together – known as inosculation, unusual in different tree species. 

 

The Knightswood Oak

 

 

 

 

The Lillington Oak

 

The Lillington Oak on the B4453 on the outskirts of Leamington Spa in Warwickshire is claimed to stand at the exact centre of England.

 

 

 

 

Churchyard Yews

Yew trees are a common sight in our churchyards.  The one in the churchyard of St Andrew’s church at Cornton Dundon in Somerset is said to be 1,700 years old,

 whilst the one in the churchyard at Fortingal in Tayside is reputed to be some 2,000 years old – One of the oldest living things in Europe. In 1769 it had a girth of 0ver 56ft but is now divided.

In the churchyard at Painswick in Gloucestershire there are at least 99 yew trees.  It is said that attempts to grow the one hundredth tree have always failed.

 

 

 

An avenue of 700 years old yew trees lead to the church at Nevern in Pembrokeshire, Wales. One of them is the famous ‘bleeding’ yew tree’ about which various legends exist. A blood red sap leaks from the trunk of the tree. One story has it that it bleeds for the wrongful hanging of a young man many years ago. Another says that it will bleed until the world is at peace.

 

 

 

The Tulip Tree

 

 

A very unusual tree – Liriodendron Tulipfera or Tulip Tree – stands proudly at the bottom of Tanhouse Road in Lostwithiel in Cornwall.   Orininating from the eastern U.S, it was planted there early in the 19^th century and now stands 88 feet high.   It flowers in June.

 

 

Beech Tree Avenue

Some two miles of the B3082, on the approach to Wimborne Minster in Dorset, is lined by 365 beech trees, forming a spectacular avenue.  These trees were planted in 1835 by the nearby Kingston Lacy Hall Estate (N.T) – one for each day of the year!