Clonakilty and why I missed the moon landings …

I suspect I was just plain busy … but that summer (1969) I had been over to Eire to see my childhood friend … we’d been inseparable for the first 9 years of our lives …

Clonakilty pinned in southern Ireland
(Cork further to the east with the large harbour)

 She was very different from me … creative, artistic, horsey … I wasn’t any of those - loved sport, creature comforts … happy to be different – but needed a base to come back to …

Renny was a traveller … and a wanderer … she spent time in Morocco, India, New York, a commune in Wales, and Ireland – married by now possibly twice – I think eventually there were three …

An Sugan pub in Clonakilty

 … she was taking stock at her mother and step-father’s new home in Clonakilty– before deciding on her next ‘escapade’ – however the new siblings weren’t flavour of the month!

I came over for six weeks arriving via the Swansea-Cork ferry – we both needed to think about our futures, but thankfully we still got on really well … one balanced, yet prepared to try things and one happy go lucky …

Gypsy Cob - a mare

… Renny had a ‘huge’ horse – for me: they aren’t amusing … I’d been thrown as a kid when we were neighbours …

… but caution thrown to the wind I decided I’d like to try again – it is not my forte … and this beloved animal walked me up to the top of the hill, then promptly threw me – bang … mind you that could explain a few things?! 

The horse didn’t bolt, once the stars disappeared … he and I walked back down the hill – me feeling pretty dejected that I wasn’t riding, but I had my rather large bump … well that solved the horse dilemma – never again!

Renny's was similar - but
much more rustic and in need
of some attention!

Renny had thought of taking her Romany gypsy caravan with himself (the horse!) around Ireland … that hadn’t and didn’t happen to my knowledge – but she’d always loved her animals …

So we ‘played around’ her parent’s house, yard and outbuildings … it was quite big – there was space for us all … Renny was creative and happily making and designing her own clothes … she failed with me – rather I flunked out – I had the dusty pink, velvety satin pieces for a long long time! …

Clonakilty farmland 

The Romany carriage – looks idyllic … but not for me!   They’re called Vardo carriages … and this one is a Reading or kite wagon … so named as it was made in Reading, Berkshire – west of London …

… it is the  type of wagon that is highly prized by the Romanies for its aesthetic design, beauty and practicality to cross fords, pull off road and over rough ground …

Cobh - the early harbour - where the Titanic
stopped over before her fateful voyage
(near Cork)

Renny was desperate to get her ears pierced … my arrival was the clarion call to achieving that goal … I had a car and we could easily go to Cork …

The English Market in Cork city

… secretly I’d always wanted mine pierced – she was wily though … she knew I was braver and would go first! – then she had no choice but to follow … gosh it hurt – those were the primitive days …

Theatrical poster for the film
'Women in Love'

… we dulled our pain by going off to see a film …  I thought we’d gone to see Women in Love … but as it only came out in September that year … it must have been another similar art house movie – whatever it was the agony was mostly over by the time we came out!

Poster for the film 'The
Pride of Miss Jean Brodie'

Perhaps it was The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which did come out earlier in 1969 … who knows – not me?!

Beara Peninsula, Bantry Bay area

After that we travelled around … firstly to the west … Bantry, Killarney … we went further north for a few days – we’d just drive and map read our way around – at the end of the day find a B+B …

It was a stunning visit ...  and I love the name
Knockmealdown Mountains!

… we also went east … across the Knockmealdown Mountains on our way to Waterford … where the rhododendrons were out … the whole area had a purple hue … gorgeous colours …

1897 - his wife is holding his trouser belt!

… and slightly north of Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone … I think that’s probably one of the more odd things I’ve done in my life … now 50 years later – no doubt it’s worse ‘disgust-wise’ (unhealthy!) …

Blarney Castle - it's a fair drop!

… whether it achieved its objective: said to give those who kiss it a mystical eloquence … I leave for you all to decide – but if so – it took 40 years to get going!

Then home from Cork on the overnight ferry to Swansea … to Market Harborough, Northamptonshire through the Welsh hills in a thunderstorm … I was flagged down by a lorry driver – who said … go another way – it’s flooded and you won’t get through … I had a low slung girth (the car did! – my low slung version developed as the years rolled by) ... 

Brecon Beacons, Wales

These are some of the remembrances of why I missed the moon landing … Ireland is beautiful … I’ve been back, but would love to go again for further explorations …

It’s a good thing the moon doesn’t wander or ramble on … but I’d half-forgotten those days … fun times – interesting ones too …

This prattle, babble, blather endeth here … thanks for the memories and for reading!

My inspiration and memory jog came from Fil and her husband Tom's recent trip to Cork ... they are from Northern Ireland, but had a visit back to Clonakilty ... they are folk singers, musicians and all things associated with a composer and singer's way of life ... including extra snippets about places visited, book stores, nature ...  delightful stories ... I'm late adding this ... 

Fil's Songs and Stories - found here ...  Thanks Fil and Tom for reminding me that it was Clonakilty that Renny's parents had moved to in southern Ireland ...  

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 15: Why is there a ping pong ball in my Guinness?

When my South African friend was over I’d bought what I thought were some tins of Carling beer … as she occasionally enjoys beer – well probably used to enjoy a can … this time it was mostly glasses of rosé Pinot Grigio or some bubbly …

A glass of Pinot Grigio

 Now having cans of beer left in the fridge I thought I should drink them … and not wanting any wine, decided that I’d crack open a tinnie (Australian slang) … this was fine – the Guinness tasted as I thought it should and the evening wandered along …

… a while later as I was trying to empty the can into my glass … it frothily kept blocking up … eventually I thought I should investigate  – perhaps I’d been drinking something mighty odd – my mind had wandered off to poisoning etc …though common sense was in place – so that was a pure waffley thought … perhaps?!

Frothy protrusion
(with some licence!)

Well on tipping up the can there was a white protrusion, covered in froth … the froth was not unexpected in Guinness, the white protrusion was … after a brief thought my deductive powers said ‘a ping pong ball in my Guinness’??

Coloured ping pong balls

So now … the only thing to do – it was night time! … open another tinnie … don’t we rinse and repeat … same result … then my mind turned to toilets – not what you think … but ball cocks … not that either: not what you be thinking … I needed to check this ‘thing’ …

The can, the objet d'art ... and the
spilt Guinness!

Tin opener came next … and what came out - but near enough a ping-pong ball … I was very bemused … it doesn’t take much to amuse me myself!

But could this be some sort of plumbing device put into the Guinness cans … so when the morrow came round … the truth was out via a google or two …

The rocket style widget

They are floating widgets, purposefully added to a tin of beer … and come in two sizes … the 'round ball cock’ type one, and the ‘rocket widget’ found in taller containers …

The Tale of Nitro and the Widget
courtesy of Bespoken Public Relations organisation

 The Guinness drink, to be authentic, has to have a thick, creamy head on the beer, which is less fizzy than regular lager beers.  To ensure this they add a shot of liquid nitrogen to help pressurise the can.

An appropriately named widget!

 Nitrogen gas doesn’t easily dissolve in water, so when I cracked open the beer … I got that frothy head, as most of the gas is released into the air, while the foamy bubbles in the head of beer remain … or remain clothing the ping-pong ball widget in white froth.

A tub of bran

Well that’s it for the story of the widget, the strange froth and the ping-pong ball … all found in the can of Guinness – one is always learning!!

Perhaps this shouldn’t sit in a Bran Tub … but there’s where it has been filed!

A true tale of weirdness.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Bran Tub # 9: Boxty or Drop Scones ... or both ...

We will start with Drop Scones … these would be for tea … replenishing us kids after playing for hours in the garden …  a filler before supper later on …

Drop Scones definitely needing some butter

… small thickish pancakes drizzled with butter … leaving that to  soak through, while keeping warm in the bottom oven of the Aga, as more layers of scones were made …

Aga - our first one was like this ... 

I don’t remember adding extras – such as bacon, or fruits, or syrup … we had that (well the golden syrup) with Cornish Cream on Scones …

Boxty brought drop scones to the front of my memory bank … as I watched a Michael Portillo Great British Journey across Ireland recently.  When he attempted to make one: he made a horrible looking mess of a Boxty … ?!  it is meant to be of a smooth, fine grained consistency … but his was lumpy - an appropriate descriptive name: see below.

Boxty

Boxty is the traditional Irish potato pancake – which came to the fore during the potato blight of the 1800s.

The Irish landscape of Connaght

In the 1840s the poor made up 75% of the Irish population of around nine million … and potatoes were eaten both by the Anglo-Irish gentry and the mass of the people – which was unusual … as the potato was shunned in Europe.

The potato had been introduced in the second half of the 16^th C (1500s), initially as a garden crop, before it came to be the main food crop for the poor. 

Irish potatoes

As a food source, the potato is extremely valuable in terms of the amount of energy produced per unit area of crop and is a good source of many vitamins and minerals, particularly Vitamin C when fresh.

Potatoes were widely cultivated, but especially by those at a subsistence level; the diet of this group in the 1840s depended mainly on potatoes supplemented with buttermilk.

Irish Lumpers for sale in Fortnum and Masons -
not where I thought I'd find Lumpers!

This over reliance on potatoes as a staple crop meant that the people of Ireland were vulnerable to poor potato harvests.  The first Great Famine of 1739 was the result of extreme cold weather …

…  but the famine of 1845 to 1849 was caused by potato blight that spread throughout the Irish crop of a single variety, the Lumper.  It was devastating to the population … many died.

A sort of similar raised bed of potatoes
to be found at North Carolina State Uni

The ‘Irish Lumper’ has been characterized as a “wet, nasty, knobbly old potato” … but has recently been reintroduced to schools in Ireland – as a project of historical education - they are being cultivated in raised garden beds, just as they used to be grown.

Boxty that formed the main meal for so many Irish peasants in the mid 1800s … had various regional names eg ‘poundy’ … but it is essential that it is of a fine consistency so make sure the raw potato is grated finely ... 

Mc Niffee's Bakery ... see link

Boxty, with a name like this has obviously been absorbed into local culture … and inspired folk rhymes, such as:

Boxty on the griddle,

Boxty on the pan,

If you don’t eat boxty,

You’ll never get a man.

Drop scone ready for turning

So much has changed in recent years … old folk rhymes being remembered, early recipes being re-invented, Irish cuisine making its mark …

… the popularity of Boxty has risen and will be seen in various guises at home or on menus … with modern flavourings to ‘tart up’ the “poor-house bread” … raising it from its early roots of necessity.

These would suit me - Smoked Salmon
and sour cream on Boxty

So who will have a drop scone tonight, or a Boxty supper … I have to say I love both … but the Boxty I’d be happy to eat would be more like a potato cake … with some extras of choice ... 

See the link to the folk rhymes here ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Scarves from Stones … ? Rock Chips onto Silk …?

Liberty & Co of Regent Street – the iconic luxury goods Department Store … sets its Christmas style in January … and no doubt much earlier in its planning mode.

Liberty, Regent Street

The store was featured on tv (Channel 4) going through this process which I found it fascinating ... because we saw the store, learnt more about retailing … and how difficult life is working and selling from a listed building … and I would say not just any listed building ...

Potential suppliers plied their wares – presented their business plan and products to the store’s buyers, managing director etc … the one that caught my eye … had based his scarves on nature … I love geology – it covers so much … and here it was combined with creativity.

 

Agate:
Birth stone for June

Richard Weston, an architect by trade, but who loves minerals and the artistic designs nature gives us in rocks, stones, granite cliffs … developed a way of creating these stunning images.

Slab of Munjina mudstone, Western Australia

This is one of those feel good stories … utilising our 21^st century digital technology, taking those images and turning them into scarves … finding himself in the eye of the storm … every which way the company turned, the scarves became best sellers.

Munjina Stone Scarf

Turn your world upside down or inside out … who would think about scanning the inside of Munjina Stone, or Labradorite … then creating images to hang as pictures, or as clothes, or as satin silk scarves … printed in Italy.

The scarves took off at Liberty … they are now stocked by Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Fortnum and Mason, and other leading stores here and in France, Italy, USA, Australia, Japan etc

Stonehenge

The new visitor centre at Stonehenge was being opened … why not stock Stonehenge scarves??  English Heritage, who run the site, weren’t keen on bits being chipped off the old blocks – understandable perhaps …

Scarf from those Stonehenge
chips

… however, where there’s a will there’s a way …. the British Geological Survey does have specimens collected by the great Victorian mineralogist, Matthew Forster Heddle, and with help from the Open University, these chips from Stonehenge were digitally scanned to produce images that could be used for scarves.

As Richard says “Our scarves, for example, come from rock billions of years old, use silk produced as it has been for millennia, yet depends on printing presses only commercially efficient for the last ten years or so.”

 

Labradorite
(a Feldspar mineral)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder … but that creative force has to be found to turn those “black-fire diamonds” into the magnificent spectral colours we see today – we needed the Huguenots in 17^th century Antwerp to realise that a diamond will cut another diamond … painting was no longer needed: see my previous post for the context.

Polished Labradorite, per
UCL Geology Collection

As here we need a Richard Weston – who has the temerity to follow his passion, and turn his vision into a completely new business venture …

Vogue has described him as that middle-aged Professor of Architecture who is the new talent in British fashion …

Daisies in Copper
c/o Weston Graphics

He has a video blog, all the posts are fascinating to watch and listen to … as is viewing his website … with many more wonderful images and educative information …

Liberty & Co from Argyle Street

Creativity is here all the time – but frankly nature has the best of the lot and it is springing now … Spring time, our planets still evolve giving us new earth … I think this post should get our creative juices thinking … and I hope flowing ... there’s hope for us all.

Weston Earth Images – Richard Weston’s site on the process and products

Richard Weston’s Video Blog 

Richard Weston's video on Labradorite ... and his explanation of Labradorescence .... wonderful iridescence colours - full range: turquoise as here, to reds, oranges, golds etc ... 

English Heritage’s site for its Stonehenge shop

Previous post – Cheapside Hoard … with many gems …

Spring vegetables

… and finally happy St Patrick’s Day … have fun ... not too much green, nor Guinness, but...

May the leprechauns be near you,

To spread luck along your way.

And may all the Irish angels,

Smile upon you St Patrick's Day.

sent from Lenny, who is still recovering ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories