Good Taste Magazine Edition 9

GOOD TASTE

www.tastesoflincolnshire.com

THE MAGAZINE FROM TASTES OF LINCOLNSHIRE • SPRING/SUMMER 2009 • ISSUE 9 • FREE

Home grown POETICRAMBLINGS

Discover more about Tennyson

ANOTHER SLICEOF CAKE?

Tea with Rachel

PLUS

Beef it upTop of the milk

NEW Gardens andNurseries section

GOOD TASTETHE MAGAZINE FROM TASTES OF LINCOLNSHIRE

Contributors

Lydia Rusling joinedTastes in August2007, but previouslyworked on raisingthe profile ofLincolnshire'sproduce atLincolnshire Tourism.Lydia has a food andfarming backgroundand loves searchingfor great places toeat and buy goodfood with her family.

Chef Rachel Greenis the Tastes ofLincolnshireChampion anddemonstrates atmany of our events.A Lincolnshirefarmer’s daughter,Rachel had 20years as a chefbefore developinga TV career.

Editor Mary Powell

Lincolnshire County Council

News Editor Lydia Rusling


Graphic Design Becky Boulter

Ruddocks Design, Lincoln

Main Photography Andrew Tryner,

© Lincolnshire County Council

Publisher Tastes of Lincolnshire


Beech House, Waterside South, Lincoln, LN5 7JH

T: 01522 550612 F: 01522 516720

www.visitlincolnshire.com

Tastes of Lincolnshire Team

Mary Powell, 01522 550612,

[email protected]

Amanda Allford, 01522 550613,

[email protected]

Lydia Rusling, 01522 550603,

[email protected]

Lincolnshire Tourism Production Team

Fiona Thomas, Dan Pounds

David Chesher T: 01522 561674

Repro and Printing Warners, Bourne

Whilst every care has been taken in compiling this guide,

Lincolnshire Tourism and Tastes of Lincolnshire shall not be

liable for any inaccuracies contained therein.

Hugh Marrows is aretired civil servantand a keen walkerwith an extensiveknowledge ofLincolnshire. Hughwrites forLincolnshire Today,wrote the Viking Way Guide and morerecently a series ofwalks based aroundthe Grantham Canal.

Annabel Skelton is afreelance food writer,living on theNottingham/Lincolnshire border.

Dr Mike Rogersworks for theLincolnshire Archivesand is theirCollections Officer.

Eric and Beth Phippswon Country Life’sBritain’s Best Butcherand were one of RickStein’s Food Heroeswith their familybusiness FC Phipps.Eric & Beth have nowretired but they stilltake a keen interestin all things foodie inLincolnshire.

David Hopkins, the county’spotato aficionadoas each year hegrows 57 varietiesin his garden.Interested in allthings foodie he isan archaeologistand works for theHeritage Trust ofLincolnshire.

Good Taste comes out twice a year,

March and September.

Cover photo of Vegetables

by Andrew Tryner

© Lincolnshire County Council

Vegetables kindly supplied from

Doddington Hall Kitchen Garden

Regulars06 News

23 Farmers' Markets Dates

23 Events

54 Map

55 Tastes of Lincolnshire Members

76 Gardening News

80 Open Gardens Listings

Features04 Don't Trifle with Rachel Rachel Green

10 North and South Rauceby Hugh Marrows

12 Going Fishing Lydia Rusling

16 Food and Flood Mary Powell

18 Fruit Growing David Hopkins

24 COVER STORY Arise Sir Loin! Eric Phipps

26 Crunch Time Mary Powell

28 COVER STORY Tennyson in 2009 Mary Powell

32 Award Winners Lydia Rusling

36 COVER STORY Top of the Milk Mary Powell

38 Masterclass Ivano de Serio

40 Electricity and Nutrition Mike Rogers

44 Somersby and Hagworthingham Hugh Marrows

47 COVER STORY A Slice of the Past Rachel Green

53 Hospital Food from Strength to Strength Annabel Skelton

73 NEW Gardening

74 Footless Fancies Mary Powell

78 Go Wild Mary Powell

82 Recycling with Style Mary Powell

28

Welcome to the

Spring/Summer edition of Good Taste,

the magazine that celebrates

Lincolnshire’s local food and drink.

Regular readers of Good Taste will

note that we have got a bit larger,

incorporating a new Gardens and

Nurseries section. We think this fits well

with our ethos, after all we’re all about

local producers and growing things in

Lincolnshire’s rich fertile soils.

I recently heard an exasperated

fenland flower grower apologise for

being late saying that he was “trapped

between Mother Nature and a

supermarket buyer – and neither was

prepared to negotiate!” Let’s hear it for

producers everywhere.

We’ve also come over all poetic in

order to celebrate Alfred Lord

Tennyson's bi-centennial. Hugh has one

of his walks in Tennyson’s Wolds and I

look at some of the events planned.

We have beef, fish, milk and soft fruit;

a master class to keep you on your toes

and Mike Rogers reaches the end of his

series on food through the centuries.

Our annual awards are here too, our

Mystery Shoppers have a difficult job to

do. They are rightly picky and to have

got into the top three means that you

really are going the extra mile on the

local sourcing front.

If this is all a bit hectic, then we

suggest you take afternoon tea with us

– and we absolutely insist that you have

a slice of cake…

MARY POWELL

47

24

Contents

RACHEL GREEN

Don't trifle with Rachel

GOOD TASTE | 5SPRING/SUMMER 2009

• SERVES 6

100g Sponge cake or 8

trifle sponges

2 tbsp Raspberry jam

100ml Sauternes wine

200g Mixed summer berries

1 tbsp Caster sugar

150g Blackberries

150g Strawberries, hulled

150g Raspberries

500ml Thick vanilla custard

290ml Double cream,

whipped until

just thick

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Icing sugar, to

decorate

Cut the sponge cake or trifle

sponges in half and spread one side

with raspberry jam; put the other

half back on top and cut into small

sandwiches. Arrange them in the

trifle bowl, prick them with a fork

and sprinkle them with the

sauternes wine and leave to soak in.

Meanwhile place the mixed summer

berries into a saucepan with caster

sugar and a little water and cook

slowly until the fruit just gives. Push

the fruit through a sieve to form a

thick puree and allow to cool.

Place the blackberries,

strawberries and raspberries on top

of the trifle sponges, pour over two

thirds of the puree, then top with

the custard. Whip the double

cream with the vanilla extract until

just thick and place on top of the

custard. Decorate with a few

berries and drizzle a little more

of the puree on top, dust with

icing sugar.

NB It is quite acceptable to use a

top quality ready-made vanilla

custard. If preferred sherry or

Madeira wine can be used instead

of Sauternes.

Summer Berry Trifle withSauternes

• SERVES 4

1kg Stewing beef or skirt, cut

into 3cm cubes

20g Butter

2 tbsp Olive oil

16 Whole shallots, peeled

2 Cloves garlic, peeled and

crushed

1 tbsp Brown sugar

2 tsp Ground allspice

8 Juniper berries, crushed

2 tbsp Plain flour

290ml Red wine

1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

290ml Beef stock

8 Small beetroots, peeled

and halved

2 tbsp Crème fraiche

1 tbsp Dry mustard

3 tbsp Creamed horseradish

Spiced Beef with Beetroot

Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas 2. Melt the

butter with the olive oil in a heavy

bottomed casserole. Brown the beef in

batches over a high heat. Remove from

the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat

and add the shallots to the pan. Cook for

5–10 minutes until lightly golden, then

add the garlic and cook for a further

minute. Stir in the brown sugar, allspice

and juniper berries and cook for a few

minutes, until the sugar caramelises the

shallots, then add the flour and cook out

for 1 minute. Add the red wine and

balsamic vinegar, then blend in the stock.

Return the beef to the pan and add the

beetroot. Cover and cook in the

preheated oven for 11/2–2 hours until the

beef is tender.

Remove the casserole from the oven

and skim off the fat if there is any. Mix

together the crème fraiche, mustard and

horseradish and stir into the casserole

before serving.

6 | GOOD TASTE SPRING/SUMMER 2009

News

Walk theWoldsThe annual Lincolnshire

Wolds Walking Festival takes

place from 16th to 31st May

2009. There will be over 80

inspirational fun walks led by

experienced and

knowledgeable guides. For

the fifth Wolds Walking

Festival a special guided tour

will mark the 200th

anniversary of the birth of

Alfred Lord Tennyson.

A special launch event will

take place at the Festival Hall

in Market Rasen on Saturday

16th May, including lots of fun

activities and entertainment

along with a mini Tastes of

Lincolnshire Food Fair.

Joining the festival,

Ramblers Guesthouse at

Mablethorpe will be hosting a

special charity walk in aid of

the RNLI (Royal National

Lifeboats Institution). As well

as featuring Tastes of

Lincolnshire, walkers will get

the chance to taste

Lincolnshire on their return at

a special buffet with Poacher

cheese and plum bread.

Sausages!

Our Tastes of Lincolnshire

champion Rachel Green will

soon be launching her latest

book SAUSAGES – Making

the Most of the Great British

Banger.

The family friendly cookery

book will offer simple and

uncomplicated recipes and

showcase the versatility of

sausages in six chapters –

Breakfast and Brunch, Lunch,

Barbecues and Picnics,

Children, Supper and

Entertaining. Rachel will

demonstrate her passion for

the British Sausage with

some exciting and innovative

new recipes alongside tried

and trusted favourites.

Each chapter has 10 recipes

and dishes range from

Sausage, Bacon and Potato

Frittata to Sausages with

Gnocchi, Pumpkin and Sage

Cream. Venison Sausages

with Sour Cream and

Cranberries to classics such

as Toad in the Hole.

Lincolnshire sausages

featured in Rachel’s most

recent TV appearance on The

Alan Titchmarsh Show, where

she prepared Lincolnshire

Sausage Cassoulet with

Flageolet Beans for a feature

entitled ‘Pimp my Sausage’.

Listen out for Rachel on

BBC Radio Lincolnshire too,

where she features regularly

with her passionate approach

to all things Lincolnshire.

Rachel recently received an

email whilst on air from a

Good Taste reader in New

Zealand. The former

Lincolnshire resident enjoyed

reading Good Taste

magazine, had tried Rachel’s

Roast Pork with Balsamic

glaze and was now listening

to her on BBC Radio

Lincolnshire via the internet!

Back to sausages, our

successful Sausage and

Potato Festival that was held

last year in the grounds of

Lincoln Castle featured a

popular cook-off competition.

Lincolnshire residents had

submitted their favourite

sausage and potato recipes

and two finalists were

selected to cook their

winning recipes at the event.

Teenager Nick Otley was

crowned the winner of the

cookery competition at the

festival. The contest, which

was sponsored by the Old

Bakery and Lincolnshire Co-

operative, saw the 13-year-old

and fellow contestant Joanne

Bentley (37) cook live in

front of a crowd of visitors

and judges.


Ruby Celebrations at The George

The George Hotel at

Leadenham will be holding its

annual carnival in August.

This traditional event that is

now in its 30th year takes

place on Friday 7th August

from 8pm. There will be a

soul band playing and a

popular barbecue featuring

100% Lincoln Red beef.

The George has built up a

fine reputation for always

sourcing Lincoln Red beef for

its restaurant menu and

showcasing a fine selection of

whiskies. Owner Mike

Willgoose said, “We have

been at The George at

Leadenham for 40 years in

November. We transformed

the Hotel adding an annex

and converting the old

stables into a bar and

functions suite, adding a

restaurant and a Scotch Bar,

which now stocks over six

hundred and eighty whiskies!”

“For 30 years we have

hosted an annual carnival and

this year will be a double

celebration with our Ruby

festivities in the same year.

We feel the secret of our

success has been our

attention to detail with quality

service and our commitment

to local sourcing, especially

building a good reputation

with our range of whiskies

and always using Lincoln Red

beef.”

Lincolnshire Produce Goes Far and WideLincolnshire produce is

continuing to be a popular

choice outside the county.

Welbourne’s Bakery is now

supplying John Lewis on

Oxford Street in London with

its popular Lincolnshire Plum

Bread and one of Gordon

Ramsey’s restaurants in

London, Maze, is serving up

Lincolnshire smoked eel as a

starter on their a la carte

menu.

Batemans XXXB has been

selected in the development

of a new range of products

supplied exclusively to Marks

and Spencer. The new Cook!

Chicken product with a

creamy cheddar gratin and

Freshcook’s Beef Pie both use

the ale, which is now available

through Marks and Spencer

stores across the UK and

Ireland.

The Brewery has also

greatly improved its profile

internationally and has

recently entered ten new

markets including Australia,

Canada, Denmark, Finland,

Ireland, North America,

Norway, Russia, Scandinavia

and Spain. Mike Morris who

handles the international

distribution on behalf of

Batemans said, “the importers

we are working with are

Britain’s BestSteak fromGuess Where?Country Life magazinehas just published theresult of their best Britishbeef steak tasting session.We’re delighted to saythat the winning steakwas from a Longhornsupplied by MeridianMeats. Comments fromthe judges were veryflattering “This is theperfect steak” and “Softon the palate, with asweet, tender flavour” Well done Meridian Meats!

STOP PRESS!

delighted with the quality

and tradition offered by

Batemans.”

Tastes of Lincolnshire

members are not just into

their food we’ve discovered.

David Lockyer of our award-

winning Chaplin House at

Martin has published his first

book of poems called

‘Catamorphosis’ with two

follow-ups planned. The

book contains poetry for cat

lovers. David was also a

finalist in last year’s

Lincolnshire Folk competition.


News

Fenella’s Garden has

launched a new online

shopping service. They have

successfully run a box scheme

for the last three years, but

now have increased their

range available to customers

and offer a complete home

delivery service.

“For customers that are

looking for quality local

produce, and that may not

have time to go to farmers’

markets regularly, we offer an

ideal solution,” explained

Fenella Lewin. “We also

provide an outlet for local

growers and producers.”

Products offered include

their own eggs and fresh

produce from their kitchen

garden, along with produce

from Redhill Farm and Abbey

Farm as well as seasonal

Lincolnshire Produce Direct to Your Doorvegetables direct from local

farms.

Fennella continues, “we

have just added Cotehill

cheese to our range, organic

dairy produce and even a

selection of environmentally

friendly cleaners. We are

always looking to expand the

range of products we offer

our customers.”

The delivery service is

currently available in Lincoln

and the surrounding villages,

up to Scunthorpe in the

north of the county, out

towards the Trent in the west,

as well as Market Rasen and

Newark. There is a minimum

order requirement, but no

delivery charge.

Get shopping and go to

www.fenellasgarden.co.uk for

more details.

Award SeasonBusinesses that are part of

Tastes of Lincolnshire have

been setting a high standard

of quality service and local

sourcing, scooping many

different awards recently.

The FARMA (National

Farmers’ Retail and Markets

Association) National Awards

recognise excellence across

the farm direct retail sector.

Doddington Farm Shop &

Café was awarded Best Farm

Retail Newcomer and Brigg

Farmers’ Market in North

Lincolnshire was successful in

attaining the Rural Certified

Farmers’ Market of the Year

award. Many Tastes of

Lincolnshire members attend

the Brigg Farmers’ Market, so

it was encouraging to read

FARMA’s comments, “The

farmers’ market is beautifully

presented, and the

stallholders exemplary in their

friendliness and engagement

with customers.”

The annual East Midlands

Enjoy England Excellence

Awards reward outstanding

tourism businesses that help

make the region so attractive

to visitors. Elms Farm

Cottages were successful in

attaining the Gold award in

the Access for All category

and Chaplin House also

attained a Gold award for

Guest Accommodation.

Doddington Hall & Gardens

collected a total of four

awards, including Gold for

Sustainable tourism and

Bronze awards for Access for

All, Small Visitor Attraction

and Taste of England. The

Olde Barn Hotel was awarded

Silver in the Meet England

category and The Ramblers

Guest House attained Bronze

for Guest Accommodation.

The Lincolnshire Star

Awards are in their third year

and recognise the best the

county has to offer visitors.

The Olde Barn Hotel was

awarded Hotel of the Year

and the judges commended

their proactive use of Tastes

of Lincolnshire to extend their

visitor appeal. The judges

were equally impressed with

the Ramblers Guest House,

winner of Guest

Accommodation of the Year.

Doddington Hall was awarded

Small Visitor Attraction of the

Year and Hall Farm Park was

highly commended. West

View B&B was highly

commended in the Guest

Accommodation category

and Normanby Hall was

highly commended as one of

the county’s large visitor

attractions.

The Pink Pig Farm Shop at

Holme, near Scunthorpe has

been recognised by The

Independent newspaper

coming sixth in the listing of

50 Best Farm Shops to visit

in the UK.

Congratulations to all the

award winners for your hard

work in securing these

awards – well done!

Dominic Littlewood presenting Margaret and David Lockyerof Chaplin House with their award


Flushed with Pride!Good Taste always takes

great interest in Lincoln

Cathedral not least because

their Refectory is a Taste of

Lincolnshire member. Recent

visitors to the Cathedral

cloisters will have noticed

that for some considerable

time building work has been

going on. Completed at last,

the results are now revealed

with a flourish, or at the very

least a flush – new loos!

Anyone who has ever worked

in a Tourist Information

Centre knows that the most

oft asked question is “Where

are the loos?” and that good

visitor experiences are all

about getting the basics

right. However the new

Cathedral loos are anything

but basic. I’ve had a sneak

preview, all designed and built

by the craftspeople of the

Cathedral workshop they’re in

a league of their own,

possibly an attraction in their

own right!

To maximise use of the

space, known as the

Nettleyard, the new building

is two storey and the rather

grand staircase gives the

opportunity for a full length

stained glass window and

stone corbels at each turn.

The window features a

timeline of the Cathedral

build, starting in 1072 when

Bishop Remigius began the

work and finishing in 2005

when the Restoration of the

Dean’s Eye was completed.

The stone corbels are a

mixture of new and old. The

heads are Romanesque,

although one a later period

than the other, but they both

sit on new stone work that is

brightly painted as it would

have been in medieval times.

Their design was put out to

competition, the under 16

winner features two swans,

their necks forming a heart

shape framing the Cathedral

as the heart of the county.

The other represents

Lincolnshire as an agricultural

county with its daffodils, pea

pods and wheat ears. I spoke

to one of the carvers who

said it had been a great job

to work on, “a bit different,

the sort of work we don’t

normally get the chance to

do.”

So no queues for the loos

at the next Halle concert on

25 September and I can

recommend a visit just to

admire the fixtures and

fittings – surely the poshest

about! MP

Poplar Farm has a new

extended range of products

on offer in the farm shop at

Sandilands near Sutton-on-

Sea. The range of jams,

preserves, jellies and chutneys

are all home-made, and

uniquely use their own

coastal honey from hives on

the farm to replace some of

the refined sugar.

The new ‘Wild Coast

Pantry’ range features some

local varieties including

Poacher Piccalilli and

Yellowbelly Chutney. Helen

Matthews of Poplar Farm

comments, “The ‘Wild Coast

Pantry’ branding highlights

the coastal and country

elements as well as the honey

connection in the products by

having shells, butterflies and

bees on the label. We will still

deliver the quality that small

batch made products

guarantee to our wider

customer base, but start to

build up a coastal trademark

of Poplar Farm’s products on

the East Coast.”

Taste theCoast

North and South Rauceby lie just west of

Sleaford and the local council has over

the years commissioned artists to

produce original sculptures for display in

the countryside. Many are located along

specially created Stepping Out country

walks. Our ramble takes advantage of

these initiatives to give a strong cultural

element to this spring outing.

A foretaste of this initiative is seen as

we arrive at the start via either of the

Rauceby’s and pass carved village signs

featuring the Lost Sheep (Nick Jones) by

the roadsides. These emphasise the

importance of agriculture here, and

especially sheep rearing, something that

other sculptures pick up on too!

The first sculpture seen along the walk

itself is In the Field (Richard Farrington)

in Southgate Spinney by South Rauceby’s

old quarry. This depicts local farming and

wildlife subjects that include a bustard

and are superimposed onto a map-like

network of local fields.

Next, beyond Hall Farm, comes the

Boggart Bench (Simon Todd) produced

with the help of local volunteers. The

Boggart himself, an impish folklore figure

lives underground and so hides around

the back whilst the main carving shows a

recumbent shepherd and Rauceby village

on its hilltop. These early sections of the

walk give fine views across the River Slea

valley to Sleaford.

Outside Rauceby Hall entrance is

another bearded Sleeping Shepherd

(again by Simon Todd) and reminiscent

of the legendary Green Man fertility

symbol. He rests after his labours, with his

sheep and lambs close by, but somewhat

mischievously the artist has carved lots of

mint round the back!

Our final sculpture is carved in stone

and is the Fieldstone (Anne Alldread)

placed on the roadside verge close to

North Rauceby church. Again an

agricultural theme depicts ears of wheat

and field birds such as pheasant.

St Peter’s church at North Rauceby has

one of the finest examples of a local

architectural speciality, the broach spire

and is also one of the earliest known

being in the C13th Early English style. Its

notable characteristic is in rising directly

from the edges of the tower walls with no

parapet or pinnacles. Nearby too is the

ancient village cross, restored in 1861, with

a small tabernacle on the top.

Back in South Rauceby there is a close-

up view of the old windmill built in 1841

and working until the 1930’s.

And finally - the Bustard Inn! The

legend goes that this 1860 inn got its

name in commemoration of the shooting

nearby of the last bustard in Lincolnshire.

For this ramble we visit the countryside between North Rauceby and South Rauceby to discover someculture in the form of unusual outdoor sculpture displays

North & South Rauceby


HUGH MARROWS

The Sleeping Shepherd

The WalkSTARTThe Bustard Inn, South Rauceby.

MAPSOS Landranger 130 (Grantham) : Explorer 272.

DISTANCE31/4 or 41/4 miles : 5 or 7 kilometres.

TERRAINCountry lanes, farm tracks andmeadows.

REFRESHMENTSThe Bustard Inn, South Rauceby.

NOTESParking is available for walkers at theBustard Inn. Part of the route usesNorth Kesteven District Council’sStepping Out footpaths; some ofthese are not shown on OS maps. Aguide to all of NKDC’s countryside art(In View) is obtainable from NKDC orlocal Tourist Information Offices.

From the carpark exit turn left and leftagain across the front of the inn. (Fromthe front door just turn left!) Follow theroad downhill and turn left once moreinto Pinfold Lane. When this bends rightkeep ahead along the road leading toHall Farm. (Almost straightaway afootpath goes off right into the trees ofSouthgate Spinney. The first sculpture –In the Field – is 100 yards into thewoods: visit and return!)

Continue towards Hall Farm and followthe track as it bears right just before thefarmyard buildings. Stay on it as itsubsequently bends left and goesthrough woodland before bearing rightagain. At a track junction is the Boggartsculpture. Keep forward however to asecond junction (near electricity wires)and there turn left on a rising grasstrack. Continue until another widegrassy lane is met (Drove Lane) andthere turn left proceeding for about amile to the road near North Rauceby.

There is an unusual stone seat built intothe wall corner here; most welcome forthose needing a ‘breather’! Turn left and

walk the few yards down to the hallentrance to see the third sculpture theSleeping Shepherd. (The short routethen follows the road back to the inn.)

For the longer route return past the endof Drove Lane walking on to the villagecross occupying the small green atNorth Rauceby. Now turn left alongChurch Lane, passing first the churchand then the Fieldstone carving.Continue for a quarter of a mile andthen turn left into the entrance to GlebeFarm. Pass the farmhouse and gothrough a metal gate.

Now turn left along a grass track, soonto reach a second gate and a stile.Climb over and in the large meadowbeyond gradually veer right to pass alarge house. You will see a waymark bythe far corner of the garden wall. Bearright, crossing the house drive, andonce Rauceby mill comes into view bearleft down to a gate just to the left ofsome wooden huts. Join the nearbyroad and turn left back to The Bustard.

1

2

3

4


5


was thrilled to startinvestigating for thisarticle. I love eating alldifferent kinds of fish, andnot just the usual Salmon

and Haddock that adorns so many Britishplates, but anything from Turbot toMackerel, John Dory, Gurnard, Dover Sole,Scallops and Mussels – to name just a fewof my favourites as the list is endless. I’mbowled over by the extensive array ofdifferent types available all with theirunique taste. I’m very thankful to Mark myhusband who is passionate about cookingand has encouraged me to try many newfish dishes. We’ve even ventured toPadstow for a real treat at Rick Stein’sSeafood Restaurant.

For a county that has 50 miles ofcoastline I felt sure I’d find some interestingfishing heritage along with some greatplaces to buy and eat seafood inLincolnshire.

My obvious port of call had to beGrimsby in the north east of the county. Inthe 1950s this Lincolnshire town was theworld’s largest fishing port, being wellsituated for the rich fishing grounds in theNorth Sea.

The Fishing Heritage Centre brings to

life the history of the deep-sea fishingindustry with sights, smells and sounds ofthe times. You can learn how the fishingnets were made by hand with a spool andbraiding needle, experience life on boardby exploring the galley, radio room andbridge, or venture from the ice room downto the boiler room to experience what lifewas like for the fishermen. The Ross TigerTrawler, a former working vessel has been

carefully restored and can also be explored.Unfortunately as a result of the Cod

Wars with Iceland the fishing industry wentin to decline for some years. Many smallbusinesses died and the loss to the townwas significant. Undeterred I was pleasedto locate Tastes of Lincolnshire membersthat are still running family businesses witha long history on Grimsby’s docks.

Mark, who’s always on the look out tofind somewhere new to source good qualityfish had discovered The Fishwife. This

Lydia Rusling travels to Grimsby to cast her eye over the way in whichbusinesses are continuing to thrive within its long established maritime heritage

Going Fishingretail shop is a new feature to the long-standing Atkinson Smoked Fish business.So I met David Atkinson who relayed thestory of the family enterprise whichstarted with his grandfather smoking fishon Grimsby’s docks to today with thefamily’s fourth generation working intheir new retail outlet, The Fishwife.

David’s smoked fish goes all over thecountry to top restaurants, wholesalersand even to Delia Smith! Offering aremarkable service, “with fish you arealways in a hurry – in 36 hours the fishhas been bought, filleted, smoked andonto the plate in a restaurant,” Davidexplained. “Our major selling point is thesmoking chimneys. The process has notchanged in 100 years. We stick to awinning formula, meet customerexpectation and have been successful.”

A natural progression for the thrivingAtkinsons Smoked Fish business was theopening of The Fishwife. Jenny Walgate,the fourth generation of the familybusiness, enthused about the new venture.“We wanted to take advantage of the areabeing associated with something that isdone specifically well. Visitors should beable to take fish home with them and wefelt that Grimsby needed a place like this.

I

With fish you are always ina hurry – in 36 hours thefish has been bought,filleted, smoked and ontothe plate in a restaurant


FURTHERTASTES OFLINCOLNSHIREMEMBERS TOLOOK OUT FORINCLUDE:

• Alfred Enderby, one of

Rick Steins Food Heroes, is

a traditional and family run

fish smoking business. Their

smokehouse with its

distinctive tall chimneys is

about 100 years old and the

traditional fish smoking

process has remained

completely unchanged.

• Another favourite in

Grimsby is Chapman’s

Fishcakes; again the

Chapman family has been

involved in the seafish

industry in Grimsby for over

fifty years. Using their own

family recipe, sourcing the

best fish available and the

pick of Maris Piper potatoes

from local growers, they

produce a delicious range of

traditional fishcakes.

• Smiths Smokery catch

and smoke their own eels.

Stalwarts of Lincolnshire’s

farmers markets and

producers of a range of

smoked foods including

duck, salmon, mackerel,

pates, cheeses and of

course their own fished eels.

Many appreciate the good quality we offer,but we go further offering advice on what’shealthy, what’s in season and try to educateour customers on different varieties andhow to cook them.

I would strongly recommend a visit tothe Fishwife to try something different –even the novice fish buyer can experiment.

Our top tips include taking a look at it –fresh fish should look like it has just beencaught with firm flesh and bright eyes. Itshould smell sweet, any strong fishy smellsmay mean it is past its best. Store in arefrigerator for only a day or two beforeeating. When starting to cook make sureyou leave it alone – let it cook for a fewminutes undisturbed and most importantlydon’t overcook!

As I surveyed the fishy feast spread outon the counter, Jenny convinced me to take away their speciality John Dory, whichin turn Mark cooked beautifully and Iheartily enjoyed. �

In our next issue we’ll be discovering Boston and takinga trip into The Wash

Built in 1852 Grimsby’s Dock Tower is a

true monument to the town’s maritime

heritage.

It remarkably survived World War II as

the German’s used it as a landmark and

refused to bomb it. The British

Government even considered its

demolition to prevent its use as a

navigational aid!

So it endures to this day and now

features in Young’s Seafood ‘Sea to Plate’

television advertising. Images show many

locations across the world where seafood

is sourced. It closes with a shot of the

Dock Tower and the words, ‘all brought to

your plate via Grimsby’, acknowledging

the town as home to Young’s but also the

hub of the UK seafood industry.

SERVES 4

FOR THE SOUFFLÉS:

30g Unsalted butter

30g Plain white flour

290ml Milk

2 Egg yolks

85g Lincolnshire poacher cheese,

grated

4 Egg whites

Sea salt & black pepper

FOR THE LINING OF THE RAMEKINS:

30g Unsalted butter, melted

50g Fine white breadcrumbs

SMOKED HADDOCK AND CREAM:

350g Smoked haddock

1 Bay leaf

150ml Milk

40g Butter

30g Plain flour

3-4 tbsp Double cream

1 pinch Sea salt and fresh ground

black pepper

Twice Baked Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese SoufflésBaked with Smoked Haddock

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Place

the smoked haddock in an ovenproof

dish, season with fresh black pepper and

sea salt, tuck in the bay leaf and add the

milk. Dot with 10g of butter in flecks and

bake uncovered for about 10–15 minutes

in the preheated oven.

When the fish is cooked, remove from

the ovenproof dish; pour the cooking

liquid into a jug. Melt the remaining butter

in a saucepan, when melted whisk the

flour into the butter, add the fish liquid a

little at a time and blend to a smooth

sauce. Cook over a very low heat for

approximately 3 minutes, stirring all the

time then add the cream. Set aside.

Butter the bottom and sides of the four

ramekins and coat with the breadcrumbs.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir

in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring

constantly, and then gradually blend in

the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for

2 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

Remove from the heat and add half the

Lincolnshire Poacher cheese and the egg

yolks. Season well with sea salt and black

pepper.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg

whites with a pinch of salt to medium

peaks. Mix a tablespoonful of egg white

into the base mixture and stir until well

combined, then gently fold through the

remainder. Half fill the ramekins with the

soufflé mixture, sprinkle with the

remaining cheese, then cover with the

rest of the mixture. Smooth the surface

with a spatula, then run your thumb

around the inside edge of the ramekins

so that the soufflés can rise evenly. Place

the ramekins in a roasting tin and pour in

boiling water to come half way up the

ramekins. Bake in the pre-heated oven for

15 minutes until risen and golden.

Leave the soufflés in the ramekins until

cool enough to handle, and then turn out

onto a tray lined with greaseproof paper.

To serve, in 4 small one portion

ovenproof dishes divide the smoked

haddock between them, top with a

soufflé and drizzle the fish sauce over the

top making sure that the fish at the

bottom is well covered. Return the

soufflés to the oven for 8–10 minutes,

until puffed up and golden.

Recipe by Rachel Green


SERVES 2-3

1 Medium chopped onion

1 Red pepper, sliced

1–2 tsp Mr Huda’s Balti Paste

(also works well with

universal but I personally

prefer the balti, try both

and see what you think)

1 tbsp Plain flour

(If you use Doves farm

Gluten & Wheat free plain

flour this recipe is

suitable for coeliacs)

1 Can of coconut milk

(the creamy ones are the

nicest in this recipe)

700g Skinless white fish, cut

into cubes

1 Medium sized banana

20 minutes start to finish.

In a pan large enough to take the

whole curry heat a tablespoon of olive

oil and cook the onion until soft.

Add the sliced pepper and Mr Huda’s

paste, cook for 5 minutes over a

medium heat.

Add the flour, cook for 1 minute, then

pour in a can of coconut milk. Stir until

the sauce thickens and cook gently for

approx 5 minutes to cook the flour.

Add the fish and simmer gently for

about another 5–8 minutes depending

on how large the pieces of fish are.

Slice the banana, add to the curry,

simmer very gently for 3–4 mins to

warm the banana, then turn off the

heat and leave to stand for 3–5 mins to

allow the flavours to develop.

Serve with rice or Indian breads.

Recipe by Maf Huda

Fish & Banana Coconut Curry

SPRING/SUMMER 2009 GOOD TASTE | 15

Please fill in your name and address below orsend your details [email protected]

t: 01522 550622

Name

……………………………………………………………………

Address ………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………

Postcode………………………………………………………

Post to: Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership,FREEPOST NEA8642, Beech House,Waterside South, Lincoln LN5 7BR

Please tick here

Newsletter - 3 times a year

Keep informed about all thework of the LincolnshireWaterways Partnership -cycle paths, anglingimprovements, bridges, anew link through Bostonand more.

Please tick here

Riverside Walks & Rides

Name

Address

Postcode

Post to: Tastes of Lincolnshire, FREEPOST NEA8642, Beech House, Waterside South,Lincoln LN5 7BR or email: [email protected]

Many of you ask us to send our brochures to friends or to former Lincolnshireresidents who like to be kept posted on events ‘back home’. We’re always happy

to do this, so just fill in their name and address and we will do the rest!

Would you like us to sendthis magazine to a friend?

Go on the database to receive future editions?

Read about the exciting plans for the complete redevelopmentof Lincoln Castle, improvements at Lincoln Cathedral andupcoming events in the area.

If you would like to receive a free copy of the newsletter four times a year,please please fill in your name and address below or send your details [email protected], t: 01522 550641

Name

Address

Postcode

Post to: Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership, FREEPOST NEA8642, BeechHouse,Waterside South, Lincoln LN5 7BR

Historic LincolnNewsletter

Send for your free copy

from and I try to encourage others to dothe same. Farmers and growers are soimportant to our every-day lives, but wehear so little about them. I want to change that.”

At the Food & Drink Fair, Rachel talkedabout individual producers, gave snippetsabout their history and how they putpassion into producing something thatreally was worth savouring.

Rachel reminded her audience that thefenland areas of England produce a quarterof the country’s vegetables. Lincolnshire isthe largest UK producer of potatoes, wheat,cereals and poultry. It is the second largestsugar beet producer and the fifth largest pigproducer. These are impressive statistics.The Romans were the first to recognise thepotential of the fens. However, it was the17th Century Dutch Engineer, Vermuyden,

ell, that’s what happenedto Richard Wills while hewas watching one ofRachel’s cookerydemonstrations at our

Christmas Food and Drink Fair back inNovember. Richard is one of LincolnshireCounty Council’s directors. Why was he atthe Fair? He tries to tell me its nothing todo with being responsible for economicregeneration and all to do with liking goodfood. But actually he’s my boss and whenhe can is incredibly supportive at coming toour events – which we like as it’s nice toknow someone ‘up there’ cares! He and hiswife, Jane, had brought a couple of friendsfrom Derbyshire to see what was on offerand they were not disappointed.“Lincolnshire was well represented and itreminded me just how many really goodquality producers we have in the county.”

Richard’s friends had already been toRachel Green’s first demonstration of themorning and were ready for more, so theyall settled down for the second show. Theywere amazed at Rachel’s passion for foodand farming. “While she was making theaudience salivate with her recipes, she wasalso promoting virtually every Lincolnshireexhibitor in the Epic Centre that day,”Richard remarks. “I thought to myself, shehas done more in half an hour to promotefood and farming than I do in a year!”

“When I spoke to her afterwards, Isensed the commitment she had topromoting Lincolnshire and its farming.”

“My creations are only as good as theingredients that go into them,” reflectsRachel. “People need to know that the bestfood producers are passionate about theirwork. I like to know where my food comes

Food & Flood!It takes a certain amount of mental contortion to link one of Rachel Green’srecipes for potatoes and the risk of flooding. What mind could do such a thing?

W


GOOD TASTE | 17

who made the fens into some of the richestagricultural land in the world. Most of thisland is at or below sea level and the landrequires pumping continuously, whichbrings us to that strategy stuff.

Planners in the East Midlands andLincolnshire need to consider which areasof land can be developed. Part of theprocess requires the production of aRegional Spatial Strategy and it was duringconsideration of the Plan that theEnvironment Agency raised the wholequestion of flood risk. Following the floodsof Summer 2007, people might expect thereto be much more thought about where tobuild. Rightly so; but defending thoseplaces that are already developed is alsoimportant. The Environment Agency’sconcern about where to direct its limitedresources began to sound some alarm bells.Cities like London, York and the newThames Gateway will need to be defendedin the event of rising sea levels due toclimate change. However, if money is spentdoing that, will there be sufficient to defendthe coast of Lincolnshire?

Early discussions with governmentofficials worried Director for Development,Richard Wills. “There was a lack ofrecognition of the significance of the landlying behind our sea defences. Mention ofits importance for food security was met

with quizzical looks, which appeared to meto indicate that this was not being treatedseriously. It was as though it would notmatter if great swathes of Lincolnshire weregiven back to the sea!” Richard thinks thatto some extent, successful campaigns by theNational Farmers Union and world foodshortages have begun to change theGovernment’s attitude. Lincolnshire CountyCouncil is not taking any chances, though.It has already committed money to a study

of the risk of coastal flooding and what thatmight mean for the development potentialof the coastal hinterland. This involvesother organisations that are crucial toplanning the future, such as the districtcouncils, the Environment Agency andNatural England. When the study iscompleted in about a year’s time, it willenable all these organisations to discuss thefuture with better information.

Lincolnshire has been at the forefront offood production in England since themiddle ages. The construction andmaintenance of drainage systems over thelast 400 years represents a major

investment of intellect and money. Theresult has been a tremendous success that toa great extent goes unrecognised. In myinterview with Helen Banham (page 37) Iask for her views as their farm is below sealevel and just 10 miles inland. “This is someof the best land in the country” she tellsme, “a lot of the silt land is double croppingfor vegetables and did you know that 80%of the brassicas grown in the UK comefrom between Skegness and Holbeach?Lose it and where are you going to getthose vegetables from?” She also points outthe importance of ‘the knowledge’, not onlyis this some of the best farm land, but wealso have some of the best farmers in theUK. At least there are some people andorganisations around who are willing tomake the case for food producers and theland upon which they depend.

In the end though, as Richard says“politicians listen most to folk like thereaders of Good Taste.” So, don’t be shyabout asking where people of influencestand on protecting Lincolnshire fromcoastal flooding; and telling them yourviews. You may make all the difference toLincolnshire’s future. �

Lincolnshire is the largestUK producer of potatoes,wheat, cereals and poultry

SPRING/SUMMER 2009

Top left: Jane and Richard Wills at our Christmas Food and Drink FairTop right: Coastal marshes

The rise & fall of fruit growing in Lincolnshire

a century.Then in 1533Henry VIII declaredthat fruit growing wasfashionable and importedvast numbers of French and Flemish fruit varieties, first into Kentand then the rest of the kingdom. Ninety years of progressfollowed. Lots of new ideas and new fruits came to fillLincolnshire orchards from America, Africa and the Far East.Civil war sieges destroyed many orchards and fruit gardens butrecovery was quick under Charles II, whose gardener evenmanaged to introduce the pineapple! The 18th century saw steadyprogress in breeding new varieties and fruit growers soon tookadvantage of the blockades against Napoleon. From the 1790s alack of imported fruit meant more needed to be grown in Britain.Trade tariffs continued into the 1840s which encouraged largerareas of Lincolnshire to grow fruits.

From the 1850s railway transport and cheaper sugar meant itwas economical to grow vast acreages of fruit now that it couldeasily be moved to the city markets or jam factories. TommyTickler was one example with his jam factory in Cleethorpeswhich made enormous amounts of jam and marmalade for thearmy in World War I. Henry Spring’s preserve factory in Brigg is another.

Lincolnshire fruit growing reached its zenith around 1906–1910and maintained it at almost that level until shortly after 1945.Since then higher labour costs, cheaper imports and changes indiet have led to fruit acreages falling to only a fraction of whatthey were. Traces remain in the Lincolnshire landscape. Tall rows of poplars still stand long after the orchards they protectedhave gone.

ruit has been cultivated in Lincolnshire for over5,000 years but eaten for about 500,000, give ortake the odd Ice Age. Starting from the growth ofa few gathered berry seeds around the prehistorichut, the story from that to vast fields of poly

tunnels protecting drip-fed hybrid plants is a long one.Fruit growing in Lincolnshire first took off under the Romans.

Their large active economy demanding more fruit and bettertrade links, brought in new types of fruit such as Plums andCherries. Fruit was traded beyond local markets to new cities byriver and canal and farming techniques improved radically. Whenthey left the fragmented economy and warfare led to subsistencefarming. Fruit growing recovered very slowly under the Saxonsbut monasteries set good examples by their import of newvarieties and efficient farming. After the Normans conqueredEngland many French varieties of fruit appeared and a marketeconomy gained strength.

A ‘Thorold the fruiterer’ is mentioned as holding land nearJew’s Court in Lincoln in 1280. The earls of Lincoln importedmany new fruits, such as the Gooseberry, into their Londongardens and then to other estates in Lincolnshire. Fruit farmingreached a peak in the early 14th century.

The Black Death in 1348, Wars of the Roses and a change forthe worse in the climate ended this and the fruit gardens ofLincolnshire would have been severely diminished for nearly

F

DAVID HOPKINS

fig 1. Blackberry


The wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca, is found throughout

Lincolnshire – mainly in shady places in the limestone and

chalk areas. For thousands of years the fruit contributed to

our diet and the seeds have been found on sites here even as

far back as the Bronze Age. The name, according to

Lincolnshire’s Sir Joseph Banks – came from the use of straw

around the plants but its Anglo-Saxon name was Streaberrie

and it is far more likely to refer to the way the plant strays by

means of runners.

Over time runners of the bigger fruited plants were planted

in gardens for easy picking. Around the end of the 16th

century the Hautbois Strawberry arrived in

Lincolnshire from France. The fruit’s musky

perfume was popular but the plant was

difficult to grow well. Soon it was joined by

the American Strawberry Fragaria

virginiana. Though the berries were still

only 1.5 cm long this plant was a

breakthrough as it fruited so much

earlier in the year.

Finally came Fragaria chiloensis from

the Pacific shores of South America. This

was the great grandmother of all our Pick Your

Own Strawberries of today. Its berries were far

larger than any other – the size of a hen’s egg in

the wild! – but it was very tender and had to be

grown near the sea. It was no use in Lincolnshire’s

frosty fens. By accident it was crossed with the

hardy F. virginiana around 1800 and suddenly the

hybrid, Keen’s Imperial could be grown anywhere.

Further cross-breeding continued, including that by

Thomas Laxton in Stamford, who released the variety

Traveller in 1872.

Field grown strawberries were a significant

trade in South Lincolnshire from the 1880s.

There were several large farms such as the

one at Long Sutton that employed up to 400 seasonal workers

to pick strawberries in 1894, much of the fruit being packed off

to Wisbech for making into jam.

Other major varieties included Huxley from 1912 and

Cambridge favourite after 1945. Elsanta, a Dutch variety, now

accounts for about 70% of all strawberries grown for the

supermarket trade in Britain because it travels well. Since the

mid 1990’s polytunnels have been used widely to protect

strawberry crops, boost their yield by up to 40% and extend

their season from May to October. In Lincolnshire there are

many Pick Your Own farms, an idea that took off in the mid

1960s, which grow some of the older, more flavourful, varieties

and breeding work still continues at Long Sutton.

Strawberries

fig 2. Wild Strawberry


Though we think of Blackberries, Rubus fruticosus, as being all

the same, across Lincolnshire there are over 40 subspecies.

Some are very rare, a few, such as Rubus eboracensis, are very

common while others like Rubus rudis grow only in one part of

the county. All these ripen at different times of the Summer

and Autumn. Some taste good and others taste better and, of

course, after Michaelmas, the 29th of September, the Devil is

supposed to spit on them so they all taste like cardboard!

In the past the fruits were used to dye clothes and for

colouring drinks as well as for food. The blackberry plant was

considered so thorny and uncontrollable for the garden that

nobody thought about breeding from it until the 19th century.

In 1835 Lewis Seacor, of New Rochelle, New York, saw some

large fruited wild blackberries by the roadside and decided to

train them up frames in his large garden. The yield was so

good that the variety quickly became popular there. He set

about choosing the best berried (and least unruly!) plants from

seeds of these and began a small industry of blackberry

breeders. This explains why many cultivated Blackberries in

Lincolnshire come from America. In 1890 Luther Burbank

introduced Himalayan Giant claiming it as a new variety

but it was in fact just the big Rubus armeniacus species

found in western Asia while, Laxton’s Bedford Giant was a

Blackberry-Raspberry-Blackberry cross.

The Raspberry, Rubus idaeus, can be found wild in every

part of Lincolnshire spread by seed from bird droppings or

from old allotments. Raspberries have been around

Lincolnshire since the ice age, 12,000 years ago. Their name is

thought to refer to the rasping nature of the spines on the

stems and though they were thought to have come from

Mount Ida in Greece they are native to most of Europe and

North America. The Romans ate the berries and are very likely

to have grown them in the gardens of the villas dotted around

Lincolnshire. However Raspberries reverted to a smaller, wild,

form and only in 1241 does the first mention appear of a

Raspberry flavoured drink.

Raspberries stay at the margins, picked for local markets for

local consumption, until the late 17th century when Large Red

Garden variety appears with bigger berries. The late 18th

century finally sees new varieties arriving in Lincolnshire,

mainly from Hungary, including the yellow berried Lord

Middleton.

A series of new varieties appeared; Fastolff in 1820,

Baumforth Seedling in 1865, Superlative in 1877 and Carter’s

Prolific in 1885, Baumforth and Carter’s forming most of the

commercial acreage in Lincolnshire to 1900.

350 acres of Raspberries were recorded in 1887. In 1888 it

had risen to 750. By 1900 up to 1,700 acres were under

raspberries. Much of this activity was around Spalding and

Swineshead but most parishes would have had an acre or so

of various non orchard fruits.

Problems came when Raspberry plants

grew old and were infected with viruses.

From the 1950s virus free stocks

became available which lengthened the

lives of the plants. Since then the cost

of picking the fruit has risen making

much of the Lincolnshire crop Pick Your

Own. Research on new varieties is

mainly based in Scotland but some still

continues at Long Sutton.

The Logan berry, grown as a Pick Your

Own near Grantham and several other

places – is a cross between the Raspberry

and a Californian Dewberry made by Judge

J.H. Logan at Santa Cruz, California in 1881. It

first reached Lincolnshire in 1897.

The Tayberry – also a Pick Your Own and

garden favourite – is a Raspberry-Blackberry

cross from Scotland in 1977.

Blackberry & Raspberry Clan

fig 3. Loganberry


Lincolnshire with many hundreds of

acres of fruit being grown.

Gooseberries were grown in the

same rows as apple trees, roughly 15 to

20 bushes between one tree and the next

with a wide plat of grass between the rows

for making hay and grazing cattle. They were

picked from early June onwards and packed in

large, two stone weight, oval baskets each with a

layer of leaves on top ready for transport by cart and then

rail to anywhere from London to Leeds.

Though gooseberries are a bit of a forgotten fruit at present,

some enthusiasts still enter their giant fruit in the Egton Bridge

Gooseberry Society near Whitby, a show that has records

going back to 1800.

The Wild Cherry occurs on wasteland and woods across

Lincolnshire. The fruit is tart and berries small but it makes a

good jam or flavouring for cordial. I have found little evidence

of large scale Cherry growing in Lincolnshire but those larger

fruited trees growing in parks and verges have good crops

which sadly all go to the birds. The Cherry in Cherry

Willingham, near Lincoln, is a 14th century addition meaning a

place where cherries grow.

Gooseberries, can occasionally be found in all areas of the

county. They are garden escapees usually found in woods and

waste ground near to villages. As a cultivated crop they first

appeared in England in 1275. Their name comes from their first

use here which was to make a tart sauce to contrast the rich

meat of cooked Goose. They were popular in Tudor times, the

bushes being grown as decorative standards in the gardens of

the rich. The berries were used in pies, eaten raw or squeezed

for their juice to make wine commercially. Gooseberry bushes

could be forced to flower very early in heated greenhouses

from the 1720s so that the fruit was on sale in early April!

From the 1740s Gooseberry Clubs sprang up with one aim of

growing the biggest berries. Hundreds of varieties were made

including Crown Bob in 1826. In the 19th century Gooseberries

could be gathered as late as December by using a straw

overcoat to protect the whole bush from frost.

The abolition of the tax on sugar in 1874 led to a big increase

in demand for gooseberries for jam. Gooseberry production

centred on Wisbech but spread across the border into south

In the next issue of Good Taste we’ll turn our attention toPlums, Peaches, Cranberries, Sea Buckthorn, Hawthorn andLincolnshire Scad.

I would like to thank Norah Leggatt of Brothertoft and GeorgeDanby of Wrangle for their help in writing this article.

GooseberriesCherries

fig 4. Careless Gooseberry



Mini Asian BeefBurgers with SataySauce & PickledCucumber500g Minced beef

3 Shallots peeled and finely

chopped

50ml Coconut cream

1 Stalk lemon grass, peeled and

finely chopped

2 Cloves garlic, peeled and

finely chopped

2 tbsp Peanuts, chopped

1 Dash soy sauce

1 tbsp Fish sauce

2 tbsp Mint, finely chopped

2 tbsp Coriander, finely chopped

1 Red chilli deseeded and

finely chopped

1 Squeeze lime

2 tsp Ground cumin

1 tsp Brown sugar

1 Dash soy sauce

SATAY SAUCE1/2 Jar of crunchy peanut butter

120ml Rapeseed oil

3 tbsp Sweet chilli sauce

PICKLED CUCUMBER

1 Cucumber peeled and cut

into ribbons

2 Shallots, finely sliced

1 Red chilli, finely chopped

2 tbsp White wine mixed with 2 tsp

caster sugar

1 tsp Black mustard seeds

In a bowl add all the burger ingredients

except the meat and mix well, then add

the meat and mix using clean hands

and shape into 24 small burgers. Grill or

pan fry the burgers for 2–3 minutes on

each side.

For the satay sauce place half a jar of

crunchy peanut butter into a bowl with

120ml of rapeseed oil and 3 tbsp of

sweet chilli sauce and warm slightly

over a pan of warm water add a dash of

dark soy. Serve with the burgers and

the pickled cucumber.

For the pickled cucumber mix all the

ingredients together and leave for 10

minutes and serve.

Gooseberry & ElderflowerCheesecake

100g Hobnobs or sweet oat biscuits

150g Gingernut biscuits

50g Unsalted butter, plus extra for

greasing

1 tbsp Golden syrup

500g Mascarpone cheese

100g Cream cheese

100g Caster sugar

290ml Double cream, lightly whipped

2 Egg yolks

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Lemon juice

500g Gooseberries, topped

and tailed

100g Caster sugar

4 tbsp Elderflower cordial

1 tbsp Mint leaves, shredded

Butter the bottom and sides of a

20cm/8inch springform cake tin.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor,

or place in a plastic bag and crush with

a rolling pin. Melt the butter with the

golden syrup, add the biscuit crumbs

and stir until well combined. Press into

the base of the cake tin and refrigerate

for 30 minutes, or until the base is solid.

Place the mascarpone and cream

cheese in a large bowl, add the sugar

and beat until smooth. Fold in the

cream, egg yolks, vanilla and lemon

juice. Spoon this on top of the base,

making sure there are no air pockets.

Place the gooseberries, sugar and

elderflower cordial in a large saucepan

and cook very gently for 10 minutes.

The gooseberries should be tender but

still whole. Leave to cool in the syrup.

Once cool, stir through the mint and

arrange the gooseberries on top of the

cheesecake. Refrigerate for at least 2

hours, or overnight.

Release the springform tin and slide

the cheesecake onto a serving plate.

Dust with icing sugar and serve, cut

into wedges.

Griddled Strawberry& Vanilla Ice Cream500g Fresh English strawberries

2 tbsp Icing sugar

1 tbsp Grand Marnier

150ml Double cream

1 tbsp Belvoir strawberry cordial

1 tsp Chopped toasted hazelnuts

Local ice cream

6 small glasses

Blend half the strawberries, 1 tbsp icing

sugar and the Grand Marnier to a

smooth sauce then chill. Whip the

cream until stiff peaks. Heat up a frying

pan, dust with the remaining icing sugar,

add the other half of the strawberries to

the hot pan and sauté until the sugar

caramelises, take out and cool. Layer up

the pudding by putting a little

strawberry sauce at the bottom of the

glass, top with vanilla ice cream, then

the strawberries, spoon on the whipped

cream more strawberry sauce,

strawberry cordial and chopped nuts.

RACHEL GREEN


APRIL 4/5BURGHLEY FINE FOOD MARKETBurghley House, StamfordFree admission.Join Tastes of Lincolnshire at acelebration of local produce in TheCourtyards of Burghley House.www.burghley.co.uk

MAY 2/3/4SPALDING FLOWER FESTIVALSpalding Town Centre and SpringfieldsAdmission charges.This year’s May Bank Holiday celebrationsinclude the traditional parade along witha new flower festival.

MAY 16WOLDS WALKING FESTIVALLAUNCHFestival Hall, Market RasenFree admission.The launch kicks off the fifth WoldsWalking Festival launch. Join Tastes ofLincolnshire at the launch along with asmall food market and activities for allthe family.www.woldswalkingfestival.co.uk

Events 2009

MAY 31NORMANBY REGIONAL FOODFESTIVALNormanby Hall, Normanby, NearScunthorpeAdmission charges.A host of producers come together tocelebrate the area’s food and drink withinthe beautiful grounds of Normanby Hall.A great day out for the whole family withcookery demonstrations and a variety ofentertainment.www.northlincs.gov.uk/normanby

JUNE 24/25LINCOLNSHIRE SHOWLincolnshire Showground, Grange-de-Lings, LincolnAdmission charges.The 125th Lincolnshire Show is the countyevent of the year and attracts around70,000 visitors over two days. The FoodCourt is one of the most popular areas ofthe Agricultural Show and for the 125thanniversary Tastes of Lincolnshire andSelect Lincolnshire will join together toexhibit in the Food Court to celebrateLincolnshire's tradition of producing greatfood and drink.www.lincolnshireshow.co.uk

JULY 24-26 THE CLA GAME FAIRBelvoir Castle, near GranthamAdmission charges.Experience the biggest country sport andcountryside show. Visit Tastes ofLincolnshire in the Britsish Food Village.www.gamefair.co.uk

AUGUST 30/31BURGHLEY FINE FOOD MARKETBurghley House, StamfordFree admission.Join Tastes of Lincolnshire at acelebration of local produce in TheCourtyards of Burghley House.www.burghley.co.uk

SEPTEMBER 26TASTES OF LINCOLNSHIREFOOD FAIRFestival Hall, Market RasenFree admission.This popular Autumn Food Fair featurescookery demonstrations from RachelGreen, along with a host of local foodproducers. www.tastesoflincolnshire.com

Boston3rd Wednesday

Brigg4th Saturday

Gainsborough2nd Saturday

Marshalls Yard

Grantham2nd Saturday

Grimsby3rd Friday

Horncastle2nd Thursday

Lincoln1st Friday City Square

2nd Wednesday High Street

4th Friday North Hykeham

3rd Saturday Castle Square

Louth4th Wednesday

2nd Friday

Sleaford1st Saturday

Spalding1st Saturday

StamfordEvery other Friday

JUNE 20/21TASTES OF LINCOLNSHIREFOOD MARKET AT THEBOSTON FLOWERFESTIVALSt Botolph's Church, Boston

Boston is celebrating 700 years of

history with a Flower Festival from

17th to 21st June 2009. Tastes of

Lincolnshire will be hosting a Food

Market on Saturday 20th and

Sunday 21st June to coincide with

the Boston Stump Anniversary

and the Flower Festival

celebrations. Lincolnshire

producers will be situated in the

grounds of the church selling a

range of the county's produce, as

well as cookery demonstrations by

Tastes of Lincolnshire champion

Rachel Green.

Farmers’MarketDates

GOOD TASTE | 25

hen Sir Richard Hoghton invited King

James I for lunch at Hoghton Tower near

Preston he did not know that a new word

was about to be added to the culinary

dictionary. A magnificent loin of beef was

brought to the table and the king was so impressed that

he knighted it saying “Arise Sir Loin of Beef”.

The best beef is the product of a chain which runs

from the animal, its feeding, its transport and handling,

slaughter, maturing, butchery and cooking. A reduction

in standards at any point will result in a lowering of the

quality of the final dish.

First the breed and its feeding; my preference is

always for a British native breed – Angus, Hereford,

Devon, Longhorn, the diminutive Dexter, Galloway,

Shorthorn, Redpoll, White Park and of course our own

Lincoln Red. They are all adapted to our climate and

landscape and produce the best beef when they graze

on permanent pastures, these will not have been

ploughed for many years, some clearly show the ridges

of the mediaeval strip system. Over many years they

produce several different types of grasses and plants like

wild chicory, thyme, plantain, yarrow, clovers, trefoils and

sinfoin. The latter being high in protein, is delicious to

cattle and sheep, fixes its own nitrogen, encourages

bees, protects against worms and has pink or white

flowers adding significantly to the beauty of the

landscape. Some ancient pasture at Tetford even has

orchids and Meridian Meats Longhorn and Dexters graze

there under the Bluestone Ridge helping to preserve this

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Country

Landowners Association has recently said “there is a

highly visible link between the quality of care invested in

livestock and landscape and the quality of meat this

produces.” Recent research has shown that this not only

produces beef of superb flavour but also gives a high

content of beneficial fats like omega 3 found in fish oils,

antioxidants like vitamin E and carotenes, which are

precursors of vitamin A.

The next stage of transport and slaughter requires

maximum animal care. The farmer or stockman should

ideally take them to the nearest small abattoir being

careful to minimise stress. A stressed animal produces

‘fight or flight’ chemicals and these give poor quality

meat which shows up as a dark colour and flabby

texture.

The penultimate stage is in the hands of the craft

butcher, who will ensure that the beef is matured in cold,

dry conditions allowing natural enzymes to produce

meat a dark maroon in colour with a dry firm texture.

The fat should be cream to yellow depending on the

animals forage. Bright cherry red beef is to be avoided

at all costs.

The careful butcher (a good joint can be spoiled by

poor preparation and trimming), then hands the joint

over to the cook for the equally important final stage to

produce a roast with crisp golden fat covering meat

which will produce tender, flavoursome slices of pink

beef – Sir Loin indeed!

So if you seek out these naturally fed animals (look

through the adverts in this magazine) you will not only

be treating yourself to a superb eating experience, but

will also be helping preserve our wonderful landscape.

In these straitened times you may like to effect a little

economy and also enjoy new tastes and textures by

asking your butcher about the new speciality steak

range created using seam butchery techniques on under

used cuts. Ask for hanger steaks, bavette, onglet and

blade steaks. �

Aristrocratic beef? Eric Phipps tells us how

Arise Sir Loin!

W

ERIC PHIPPS

So if you seek out these naturally fedanimals you will not only be treatingyourself to a superb eatingexperience, but will also be helpingpreserve our wonderful landscape

Opposite: Lincoln Red CattleBelow: Meridian Meats with a prize-winning Longhorn bull

GOOD TASTE | 27

after all a potato is 80% water. They areconstantly harried by Kirk with a sieve andat the exact right moment a little sluice gateopens and the crisps leave on yet anotherconveyor belt. They’ve travelled probablyno more than 20 feet to turn from dirtypotato to cooling crisp and we are allfascinated. They are then hand sorted forquality control with the rejects being fed topigs, waste oil being sent to make bio-dieseland the dirty water/peelings forcomposting. We are now surrounded byconveyor belts of moving crisps in alldirections as they head off on different linesfor flavours to be added. The cheese andonion go into the tumbling drum emergingan even richer golden colour, whilst thesalted ones are lightly dusted with Angleseysea salt. All head off to be weighed andbagged into their distinctive silver foilpackages.

The constant movement and ingenuity ofa production line is irresistible to watch andthis bunch of 14 year olds are impressed.Very unforthcoming to start with, they arenow full of questions, they’d “no idea howmuch work goes into a bag of crisps”. Alex,like many farmers wants people to knowwhere their food comes from and hasalready found the involvement with theschool ‘enormously rewarding’.

Last week I was in the British Library for a meeting and in this rarefiedatmosphere delighted to find Pipers Crispsin the café – bet they’re the very crisps Isaw being made and I feel quiteproprietorial towards them and fractionallyless of the country bumpkin! �

lex Albone is probably mynoisiest Tastes of Lincolnshiremember! The former wheat and

potato farmer claims to have had a lightbulb moment when he came up with theidea of Pipers Crisps – but knowing Alex, Isuspect it was more of a big bang! Butbehind the rumbustious exterior is ashrewd brain and the 18 months he thenspent working up to the idea will have beenwell spent. So when I found out that he hadentered into a partnership with HavelockAcademy, Grimsby, I knew that it wouldbe something a bit different so I couldn’tresist inviting myself along when thechildren were to visit the factory.

The programme is genuinely field toplate. A field on the edge of Grimsby,complete with web cam has been plantedwith wheat, barley, oil seed rape andpotatoes. As well as watching the progressof ‘their’ crops, they will visit a bakery andbrewery, see oil extracted and potatoesturned into crisps.

Alex started making crisps in April 2004and sold them to local brewer Tom Woodwho has four pubs and to a deli in Sleaford.Pipers Crisps now go to 1500 assortedpubs, delis, tea-rooms, and garden centres;but apart from the Lincolnshire Co-op hedoesn’t supply supermarkets. For a moreindividual product, Alex feels that it’sbetter to have a relationship – places wherethere is good service and people to explainwhat his product is all about. Gettingadvocate customers like Harvey Nicholswas terribly important at the beginning andthe bags for Eastern Airways have theirown special strapline “Made by Farmers,

Chosen by Pilots”!Hearing Alex talk, the word relationship

keeps recurring, whether it be the potatoesall grown very locally, the stories behindthe people they source their flavours fromor the places where Pipers Crisps are sold.

It’s all about provenance and he wants toencourage the visiting children to be moreaware of their locality.

We all change into our hats, coats andovershoes so that we can go into thefactory, where we are immediately assailedby warm cooking smells. Pipers fry 4

tonnes of potato, 4 days a week, with thevariety of potato used changing through theyear because they all have differentdormancy periods. The potatoes come inout of the cold store and are warmed upprior to frying, too cold and they tend toburn.

We follow the conveyor belts, startingwith a huge rumble as they pour in to bewashed, appearing surprisingly quicklyready to go. Constantly on the move, theysuddenly emerge all sliced and literally flyinto the oil for just 280 seconds. Steam iseverywhere for those first few moments,

They are then hand sortedfor quality control with the rejects being fed topigs, waste oil being sentto make bio-diesel and the dirty water/peelings for composting

A

Crunch TimeAlex Albone talks to Mary Powell about Pipers Crisps and Going Back to School

SPRING/SUMMER 2009


ennyson was probably thefirst poet to gain bothrecognition and financialsecurity in his own lifetime.He was appointed Poet

Laureate becoming the voice of VictorianBritain and at the height of his popularity50,000 print runs of his poetry books werecommon place. He was hero worshipped tosuch a degree that he was completelyplagued by sightseers peering in throughhis windows and lurking at his gate.Comparable with a modern day pop star.

I suspect that we all know moreTennyson poetry than we think, so much ofit having become a fundamental part of theEnglish language but without the sourcealways being recognised. “Nature, red intooth and claw” for example.

However his first twenty-eight yearsspent in Lincolnshire were more difficult.Born in the Rectory at Somersby in theLincolnshire Wolds, his was an eccentricfamily life with a father whoseunpredictable behaviour was exacerbatedby drink. Alfred was one of eleven childrenand with servants and a wide variety ofpets, this made for an overcrowded home.

The children roamed far and wide dayand night, their mother encouraging themto be free spirits. Alfred began to writepoetry at an early age and was often seen

rambling local lanes mumbling to himself.He certainly composed in his head andwrote it down later. After the death of hisfather he took responsibility for his motherand younger siblings whilst still strugglingto gain recognition as a poet. It was hispoem In Memoriam, his elegy to a collegefriend who died aged 23, which secured hisreputation and led to him being offered theLaureateship in 1850.

In 1992 I was involved in a whole seriesof events that marked the centenary of his

death. I worked with Kathleen Jefferson,then and now Secretary of the TennysonSociety but then also a senior manager inour Library Service and responsible for theTennyson Research Centre within LincolnCentral Library. Kathleen has been retired10 years but I sought her out as there’s noone I respect more on the subject ofTennyson. We couldn’t resist reminiscingabout the events of ’92. I recalled beingsent to Lincoln Station to collect the artcritic of The Times who had come toreview a splendid Tennyson exhibition atthe Usher Gallery. Orange linen suitshaving failed to reach Lincoln at this time, I mistook it for an orange boiler suit andthought he was just one of the similarlyclad railway men pouring from the train. Iwas mortified and ‘Famous Art Critic’ whooriginated from Lincolnshire, probablyremembered at this point why he’d left!

Kathleen and I spent much time at theTennyson churches of Somersby and BagEnderby, on one occasion meeting aneccentric vicar who instructed me on theart of being interviewed on TV: this advicecomprised continuous movement so youcouldn’t be edited in unflattering ways. Idid wonder whether flailing arms mightmake for an equally odd appearance! Ipicked up a more useful lesson, whenKathleen and I delivering exhibition boards

“I am part of all that I have met”Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 – 1892Discover the Lincolnshire born poet in 2009 says Mary Powell

T

There, on a slope of orchard, Francis laidA damask napkin wrought with horse and hound,Brought out a dusky loaf that smelt of home,And, half-cut-down, a pasty costly-made,Where quail and pigeon, lark and leveret lay,Like fossils of the rock, with golden yolksImbedded and injellied; last, with these,A flask of cider from his father’s vats,”From Audley Court, Tennyson

“


to the churches got the van stuck in a field.She, older and wiser, knew that the sappushing at the back gets covered in mud,and chose the drivers seat!

Can I recommend therefore that 2009be the year you discover a bit more aboutAlfred Tennyson and his poetry? There isa very good new trail leaflet which tells hisstory and details all the places inLincolnshire to visit. Across the countywill be a packed programme of events andin particular I look forward to a newexhibition at The Collection in Lincoln (30 May – 31 Aug). A new double CDcommissioned by the Tennyson Societyincludes a variety of readings by membersof the Tennyson family, Andrew Motionand Lynne Truss, and finishes with thegreat man himself, very crackly butreading from his ‘Charge of the LightBrigade’.

My contribution has been to install aseries of artworks illustrating Tennysonlines of poetry along our new riversidepath Water Rail Way. Joan Smith from theTennyson Society kindly researched all thewatery lines in his poetry, which as a greatnature lover there are many and thesewere sent out to assorted masons,blacksmiths and wood carvers. I wasn’tsure what the reaction would be, wouldTennyson be considered ratherunfashionable? Not so, the response was

immediate. Not surprisingly, three choselines from The Brook and one the line fromthe Lady of Shalott that has great resonancein Lincolnshire; “On either side the riverlie long fields of barley and of rye thatclothe the wold and meet the sky”. Onechose “’Tis better to have loved and lostThan never to have loved at all”, notwatery but it is a favourite and Dark Leavesa rather lovely seat that interprets a girlhiding in a drift of autumn leaves andhearing the clanging of the minster clock.It’s been good to hear from path users whohave been inspired by the poetic additionto their daily commute.

Tennyson and Food? I’m afraid there areslim pickings here. When James Speddingand Tennyson met for lunch at the CockTavern in London, it is reported that theyconsumed 2 chops, 1 jar of pickles, 2cheeses, 1 pint stout, 1 pint port and 3cigars. Tennyson apparently drank a pint ofport a day for most of his life. The poemAudley Court about a picnic inspired ourphoto shoot in the orchard at Church FarmMuseum, thanks to Tryphena and Bethanyfor joining in. �

www.tennysonsociety.org.ukwww.visitlincolnshire.comA leaflet details the route and all the artworks andI’m delighted to say Water Rail Way is a finalistin the 2009 Waterway Renaissance Awards.

Clockwise from below: DarkLeaves by Mick Burns; Lady ofShalott by Anwick Forge; ThePike by Nigel Sardeson; TheBrook by Griffin Memorials;River Pillar by Nigel Sardeson


The Young VictoriaDuring the 1850s, Tennyson and his wife went to

live on the Isle of Wight. Prince Albert was a fan

and made an unannounced visit one day causing,

as you can imagine, general panic within the

Tennyson household. After Albert’s death it is

known that Queen Victoria gained much comfort

from the poem In Memoriam.

Relating to an earlier period of her reign a new

film The Young Victoria is due out in March.

Featuring Emily Blunt, Jim Broadbent, Miranda

Richardson, Harriet Walters and Princess Beatrice,

it also stars Belvoir Castle and Lincoln Cathedral.

The Young Victoria – in cinemas from 6th MarchImages courtesy of Momentum Pictures


hen I recently met our Tastes of Lincolnshire awardwinners I was impressed with the personal servicethat they all offered their customers and guests,

which makes them stand apart from the crowd. The award-winning Lincolnshire businesses are shining examples of going theextra mile for the customer as well as successfully sourcing andpromoting local produce.

Tastes of Lincolnshire has held these awards each January

following the results from our mystery shopper visits that takeplace over the previous year. Although it may seem like anenviable job, the team of mystery shoppers, who take a differentcategory each year, spend considerable time at each establishmentand evaluate each visit. Their report provides an ‘outsiders’ look ateach business, commending facets of the company that areperforming well and providing sound recommendations forimprovements. The mystery shopper closely scores each visit and

Simply the BestLydia Rusling investigates what it takes

W


this leads into our Tastes of Lincolnshire awards.Within the membership of Tastes of Lincolnshire the

competition at the top is very tight and all of our winners andthose that have been highly commended have attained a very high standard.

Our special award, the ‘Mr George’ Award, recognises anindividual’s contribution to Tastes of Lincolnshire and theirenthusiasm for Lincolnshire and its food and drink. Named inmemory of George Bateman of Batemans Brewery, this year’saward went to Pauline and Chris Thornley of the Sandgate Hotelin Skegness.

The mystery shopper’s report was glowing and said, “You are tobe congratulated for flying the flag for Tastes of Lincolnshire inSkegness. I was pleased to hear that you encourage your guests tovisit other establishments in the town and that you promote thelocal shops where guests can buy Lincolnshire produce. You are

The WinnersPRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Martin Carnell and Laura Parrish-

Leech, Kings Butchers, Claypole, Newark

Highly commended: Geoff Dees, Alford

Five Sailed Windmill, Alford

Highly commended: Maf Huda, Mr Huda's

Surma Secret Spices Ltd, Scunthorpe

RETAILER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Kathryn Byrne, Pedigree Corner,

Spilsby

Highly commended: Mr G Overy, Fairfield

Farm Fresh Products Ltd, Holton le Clay,

Grimsby

Highly commended: Paul Davey, Ideal

Lincs Ltd, Burgh on Bain, Market Rasen

GROWER OF THE YEAR

Winner: Michael and Mary Davenport,

Cote Hill Cheese, Osgodby

Highly commended: Hazel Hammond,

Sunnyside Up, Market Rasen

Highly commended: James and Sandra

Neave, Saxby Aberdeen Angus Beef,

Saxby, Market Rasen

TEAROOMS

Winner: Irene Ward Kendal, Wold View

Tea Room and B&B, near Tealby, Market

Rasen

Highly commended: Steve and Meryl

Ward, Uncle Henry's Farm Shop and

Coffee Stop, Grayingham

Highly commended: Geoff Dees, Alford

Five Sailed Windmill, Alford

PUBS

Winner: Billy and Sonia Gemmell, Village

Limits, Woodhall Spa

Highly commended: Jayne Cividin, Barley

Mow, Friskney, near Boston

Highly commended: Deborah Stride,

Coach & Horses, Hemingby, Horncastle �

Clockwise top left: VillageLimits; Kings Butchers; CoteHill Cheese; Pedigree Corner;Wold View Tea Room and B&B


both so very passionate about the quality and source of the foodyou cook and serve, no visitor could fail to be aware that themenu consists of Lincolnshire food which you so admirablypromote. I was delighted by your scheme of bribery to encourageyour younger guests to try vegetables, even if some parents haveto tackle preparing and cooking fresh items for their offspring as a result!”

“To be presented with this award is particularly special to us aswe knew George Bateman,” enthused Pauline. “We feel like he’ssaying well done! Being born and bred in Lincolnshire we havebeen brought up on fresh food – the taste is so much better andit’s better for you, so we naturally want to pass that onto ourguests. We encourage our guests to take some of Lincolnshirehome with them by offering homemade pickles, which we make

from marrows grown in our cousins local allotment. Tastes ofLincolnshire has helped us source new products for our guests,like flour from Alford’s Mill.”

Sonia and Billy Gemmell of Village Limits in Woodhall Spascooped the award for the best Tastes of Lincolnshire pub. In thecurrent economic climate with many pubs throughout the countystruggling to survive, I was impressed with the Gemmell’s successafter only 3 years at this establishment. Sonia explains, “Tastes ofLincolnshire enables us to differentiate from other businesses aswell as meet new local producers. We take the time to visit oursuppliers building a friendly relationship. We really feel that oursuppliers do a fantastic job for us.”

Sonia and Billy were delighted to get this award, “It’s a lovelyrecognition of all our hard work and effort. We really love what


RESTAURANT

Winner: Sharon and Chris Noble,

Windmill Restaurant, Burgh le Marsh,

near Skegness

Highly commended: Alan Ritson, Old

Bakery, Lincoln

Highly commended: Steve and Meryl

Ward, Uncle Henry's Farm Shop and

Coffee Stop, Grayingham

ACCOMMODATION OPEN TO

RESIDENTS ONLY

Winner (serviced): Sally Ward, Hoe Hill

House Bed & Breakfast, Swinhope, near

Market Rasen

Winner (self-catering): Joyce Marshall,

Enfield Farm Cottages, Fulstow, near

Louth

Highly commended: Margaret Lockyer,

Chaplin House B&B, Martin, near Lincoln

Highly commended: Sarah Stamp, The

Grange at East Barkwith, near Market

Rasen

ACCOMMODATION OPEN TO

NON RESIDENTS

Winner: Patrick Hunt, Olde Barn,

Marston, near Grantham

Highly commended: Billy and Sonia

Gemmell, Village Limits, Woodhall Spa

Highly commended: Tony Woodrow,

Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa

MR GEORGE AWARD

Pauline & Chris Thornley, The Sandgate

Hotel, Skegness

we do and feel it’s that extra care and attention to detail that givesus a loyal customer base. Making our own chips is a labour oflove, but it definitely makes the difference.” This care andattention feeds through to the whole of their business. Theirmystery shopper report said, “This pub had a lovely ambiencemaking you instantly feel welcome. The small team of staff offereda professional service with the focus on customer service, as wellas actively promoting local dishes. All the food was of a very highquality and excellently presented.”

I’ve just given a few glimpses of our award winners, can Irecommend taking a culinary tour of the county and discoveringfor yourselves their passion and commitment.

Well done to all finalists. �

Clockwise top left: Olde Barn;Enfield Farm Cottages;Sandgate Hotel; Hoe HillHouse Bed & Breakfast;Windmill Restaurant


Helen Banham talks to Mary Powell about Nature’s fast food and keeping it local

Top of the Milk


between Louth and Boston. Theircustomers tell them that they can taste thedifference and that their milk is neverwatery. The whole milk and skimmed arenot homogenised, so the cream naturallyrises to the top, ‘just like it should’.

Despite all her years of farmingexperience, Helen tells me that this newventure has been the steepest of learningcurves for all sorts of reasons.

She and David had worked on the samefarm in the past, but with him in dairy andher in arable they weren’t as involved asthey are now. “It’s a new interestingdynamic” she says ruefully and a threeyear old son adds to a tricky work lifebalance.

When she was supplying brassicas tosupermarkets across the UK Helen had a

huge team around her, “now I’m it andhave to be jack of all trades, 365 days a year.”

After years of dancing to the tune of verydemanding supermarket buyers, she knowsthe importance of quality control and thatyou need to get it right. However she can’tresist saying “we have some lovelycustomers now, more human, moreunderstanding”. I’m glad to say that someof these customers are Tastes ofLincolnshire members, WindmillRestaurant at Burgh, Melanie’s and Lakingsat Louth and Dennetts Ice Cream; but alsomany local shops are stockists. Helen wantsRich Pastures milk to be 100% quality,service and value 100% of the time. Andalthough they are still in their first year ofthis venture, knowing Helen it will be. �

’ve known Helen Banham for someyears but in her former incarnation asTechnical Manager at TA Smithmanaging their Brassicas. When Iheard that they’d been bought out and

that Helen had decided she needed achange and had ‘gone into milk’ I had tofind out more. The UK has been losingdairy farmers at around an alarming 1000per year, so for determined people likeHelen to be investing in it has to be good news.

Their farm is 10 miles inland fromSkegness and Helen’s husband is the thirdgeneration to farm it. David has built upthe pedigree Holsteins herd to 160 cowsand they are now selling direct, the freshestof milk, under the brand Rich Pastures. “Iwanted to take what we’d got and addvalue to it” Helen tells me, “Our milk isgrass to glass in 24–36 hours and its allfrom one herd and not mixed with I don’tknow how many other herds like much ofthe milk you buy. It’s a fresher product andit has 100% traceability.”

Helen is concerned that the cows aren’tgoing to look their best for having their

photographs taken “they’ve got their wintercoats on, so they do look a bit rough!”Each cow has a separate cubicle but is freeto wander. They are bedded on sand in thewinter and apparently it’s the bovineequivalent of lying on a bean bag, theylove it so much that the cows are veryreluctant to get up in the morning! I am notsurprised that David and Helen areaccredited by the RSPCA Freedom FoodsScheme, one of few dairies to have gonedown this route.

Helen is delivering along the coastal strip

I

They are bedded onsand in the winter andapparently it’s thebovine equivalent oflying on a bean bag,they love it so muchthat the cows are veryreluctant to get up inthe morning!


You will need…80g 75% minimum cocoa

solid Belgian chocolate

60g Unsalted butter

80g Caster sugar

50g Plain flour

30g Chopped cooked

organic beetroot

3 Whole free range eggs

2 Egg yolks

80g Cornish clotted cream

1 Vanilla pod

20g Icing sugar

• MAKES 4

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.

• Butter and flour 4 porcelain ramekins.

• Melt the chocolate with the butter

over a water bath (1) and chop the

cooked beetroot (2).

• In a separate bowl whisk the eggs until

pale and fluffy (3).

• Gently fold the sugar and flour into

the eggs.

• Add the melted chocolate and the

chopped beetroot and mix well (4).

• Pour the mixture into the ramekins (5)

and cook for 8–9 minutes.

• Serve warm (6).

• For garnish whip the Cornish clotted

cream with the seeds from the vanilla

pod and the icing sugar.

21 3

54 6

MASTERCLASS


Warm Belgian chocolate and Woodland Organic beetroot fondant

The Masterclass for this luscious and unusual puddingis by Ivano de Serio of The Old Bakery in Lincoln

Winner of many awards, this restaurant goes to enormous lengths in its local

sourcing. Ivano is no stranger to sharing recipes as he runs special one day

courses designed for both serious enthusiasts and complete novices.

his issue we turn our attention to the years between the twoWorld Wars. Most of the elements of the modern food worldfell in to place in this period, including kitchen technology,branded produce, food imported from around the world,cooking education and nutritional theory. The 1920s are seen

as a period of relative prosperity, before the onset of the Great Depressionin 1929. Food rationing, which had been introduced to conserve supplies in1916, finally ended in 1921. However, for the unemployed there was realhardship, and between 1927 and 1936 there were a number of HungerMarches from industrial regions to draw attention to their plight.

Many of today’s famous brands were in business by this time. Walls IceCream began production in 1922, and on the international scene, Spam,which was to be so important during the Second World War, was firstmarketed in 1937. The Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd was formed inLondon in 1920, and became famous for the distinctive blue twist-wrap ofsalt in its bags. In 1936 the company bought the Nocton estate, whichproduced potatoes for its factory in Lincoln.

Nutrition & electricityDr Mike Rogers looks at food between the Wars

T

Photograph: High Street, Lincoln


However, today’s multinational brandswere often still small companies in the 20sand 30s, competing with many others.Trade directories from the period list allmanner of local food producers,wholesalers and retailers, ranging fromBanana Importers to Sausage and PickleManufacturers; from Lemon CurdManufacturers to Pork Pie Makers.Bankruptcies, retirements and mergershave considerably reduced the competitionover the years, and few people will nowhave heard of the Jay Sauce, Pickle &Vinegar Co Ltd of Caistor, or the British &Argentine Meat Co Ltd at Gainsborough. Atypical case is the brewing industry wheremany local breweries such as James Fox &Sons Ltd of Crowle, and Mowbray & CoLtd of Grantham, are no more, thoughGeorge Bateman & Son Ltd at Wainfleethas survived. The fishing industrydominated Grimsby, with scores of separatefish merchants and fish curers in business.Local sugar beet growers were served bythe British Sugar Corporation Ltd factoriesat Bardney, Brigg and Spalding.

Food shops were still mostly singleoutlets. Some local grocery chains had beenestablished, such as Melias Ltd and theInternational Tea Co’s Stores Ltd, whichhad a presence in many of the county’stowns, as did the Lincolnshire Co-operative. Nationally, Jack Cohen, thefounder of Tesco, entered business as astallholder in 1919, before opening his firststore in 1926, though the self-servicesupermarket was still decades away. Marksand Spencer first sold food products in1931.

In the 1920s and 1930s many homeswere wired for electricity for the first time,and the electric cooker (patented in the

1890s) began to gain popularity in domestickitchens. By 1939 there were estimated tobe 11/2 million electric ovens in Britain,compared with some 9 million gas ovens.The Electrical Association for Women wasfounded in 1924 to increase women’sinterest in the domestic use of electricity,and produced a range of pamphlets andeven plays to promote labour-savingkitchen appliances. Though resembling theolder technology of the coal or gas range,the first Aga was not produced until 1923.

A new form of food preservation – fastfreezing – was developed by ClarenceBirdseye in America in the 1920s. He soldhis patent in 1929 to what became theBirds Eye company. The process wasinitially applied to fish, but the companylater diversified into vegetables and otherproducts. However, few homes had fridges,let alone freezers, before the war so thefrozen food industry remained in itsinfancy.

The importance of good nutrition wasofficially recognised during this period, andin Lincoln there were schemes for theprovision of free milk and meals for thepoorer schoolchildren, and the same on apaid basis for other children. In January1938, 9.8% of the school children in thecity were receiving free milk, and a further49.8% were buying it.

For those able to eat out there were awide range of outlets, from teashops andcafes, to hotels and restaurants, such asMusson & Co’s Oyster Rooms atCleethorpes and the Café Royal inHolbeach. Fish and chips was a popularmeal among the working classes: Kelly’sDirectory for 1937 lists over 450 fried fishretailers in the county. �

These two menus from March 1931,

give a flavour of the fare on offer at

formal meals. The Russell Lodge

Centenary Ladies’ Evening, held at the

Albion Hotel, Lincoln on the 18th was

a relatively sophisticated affair:

Hors d’œvres Varies

�

Consomne Royal

�

Steamed Halibut

Hollandaise Sauce

�

Roast Saddle Mutton

Red Currant Jelly

Duchess Potatoes

Brussels Sprouts.

�

Roast Guineafowl

Game Chips

Green Salad

�

Lemon Pudding

Trifles

However, the Annual Dinner of

Lincoln’s ‘P & C Club’, held at the

Arcadia Café on the 30th, was rather

less pretentious:

Mock Turtle Soup

Tomato Soup

�

Fil. Plaice & Tartou Sauce

�

Roast Chicken & Sausage

Vegetables

�

Trifle

Fruit Tart

�

Coffee

‘Trade directories from the period list all manner of local food producers, wholesalersand retailers, ranging from Banana Importers to Sausage and Pickle Manufacturers;from Lemon Curd Manufacturers to Pork Pie Makers’

42 | GOOD TASTE42 | GOOD TASTE

The following detailed recipes are

taken from a small booklet produced

in about 1932 to help fund the

building of the new church at St Giles

in Lincoln:

Raspberry FluffBeat the whites of 5 eggs to a stiff

froth. Beat a cupful of ripe raspberries

to a liquid, and 2/3 cup of powdered

sugar, the juice of 1/2 lemon and the

beaten yolks of the eggs. Boil this until

it begins to thicken, remove from the

heat, add quickly the beaten whites,

and stir briskly for 2 or 3 minutes.

Pour the mixture into custard glasses,

and serve cold with sponge fingers.

Sloe GinPick fine sloes and prick them with a

needle, but do not bruise.

Fill a wine bottle with the fruit and

then shake in as much crystallised

sugar as the bottle will hold between

the fruit.

Shake it down well and fill up with gin

and cork down not too tightly.

Shake bottle well every other day for a

fortnight, then press the cork tightly in

and leave for at least three months.

Strain off the liquor through a muslin

into a bottle and your Christmas

liqueur is ready.

Sweet Omelette3 eggs, 1/2 oz. sugar, pinch salt, 1

dessertspoon milk, 3/4 oz. butter, 1

tablespoon jam.

The omelette pan should not be

washed, but rubbed out with clean

tissue paper, and before using again

heat some salt in it. Turn out and rub

well. Separate the whites from the

yolks of the eggs, mix the yolk, salt and

sugar together, put the butter in the

pan to melt. Whisk the whites of eggs

stiffly, add the yolk, etc., to this, and

gently mix. When the butter is hot, but

not brown, put in the mixture, and just

allow to set. Brown the top of the

omellete under the red hot grilling

burner (if an electric or gas oven is

used), turn on to a paper dredged with

sugar, spread with warm jam, fold over

and serve at once. Great care should

be taken that the butter and eggs are

perfectly fresh.

Education in cookery and home economicswas becoming more important, both atschool and for adults. Gainsborough hadhad a Cookery and Manual InstructionCentre since 1903, which was moved to theTrent works in about 1931. The Board ofEducation in London produced syllabusesof lessons, such as The Hygiene of Foodand Drink, first published in 1922. Amixture of nutritional theory and moralguidance, this included headings such as“What things do we eat?”, “The differentkinds of food”, “Why people eat variouskinds of food and why they are wise to doso”, and “Prevention of the evils arisingfrom alcoholic excess”.

Popular magazines published recipes andhousehold tips. There was also a popularnew entertainment and educationalmedium, the radio, which rapidly grew inpopularity in the 1920s (the BBC wasestablished in 1922). For blatantlycommercial reasons, the Be-Ro flourcompany organised cookerydemonstrations, which in turn led to theproduction of the first Be-Ro cookbook in1923. This contained tips for feedingfamilies on a low budget but also promoted the brand. Successive editionsare to be found on many kitchen shelves tothis day. �

Sample entries from 1921 in the Record of Meals Supplied at the Boston Union

Children’s Home, indicate the monotonous nature of institutional food at this time:

Saturday, 21 January Breakfast Bread Margarine & Cocoa

Dinner Cold Meat, potatoes, vegetables, Rice Pudding

Tea Bread, Margarine, cakes & cocoa

Sunday, 22 January Breakfast Bread Margarine & Cocoa

Dinner Mutton potatoes cabbage & Milk Pudding

Tea Bread, Margarine, tea and cakes

Monday, 23 January Breakfast Bread Margarine & Cocoa & Milk

Dinner Roast Beef, Cabbage & potatoes

Tea Bread, Margarine & Cocoa Cake

SPRING/SUMMER 2009


Alfred Tennyson was born at Somersby

on August 6th 1809 to the rector George

Clayton Tennyson and his wife Elizabeth,

née Fytche. During his early education at

home he was encouraged to write and

when aged eighteen (in 1827) he and his

brother Charles had a volume of poems

published by Jackson’s printers in Louth.

(Their shop still stands in the Market

Place). Alfred of course went on to

Cambridge and eventual fame and

fortune as the Poet Laureate to Queen

Victoria. He died on the 5th October 1892

and is buried in Poets Corner in

Westminster Abbey.

Somersby church is dedicated to St

Margaret and built from local Spilsby

Sandstone. A sundial adorns the porch

and inside there is a fine George III Royal

Arms, together with a Tennyson

exhibition including a marble bust of the

poet. St Margaret’s churchyard also

retains an extremely rare, complete cross,

still surmounted by a small tabernacle

with a crucifix.

The Old Rectory itself stands directly

across the road. Notice the section with

the lower roofline; Tennyson’s father had

this built in 1819, co-opting the family

coachman as his bricklayer. (NB The

house is private property.) Next door

stands a more unusual edifice, Somersby

Grange, built in 1722 and which, because

of its castellated styling, has been

attributed to Sir John Vanbrugh.

One of Tennyson’s most popular poems

was The Brook written in 1855 and it is

widely regarded as referring to the River

Lymm which, as a mere stream, passes

close by Somersby village. Our walk

crosses it twice; at the second ford as we

come from Hagworthingham to Bag

Enderby and again at the little road

bridge between Somersby to Stainsby.

We reach Somersby through the tiny

village of Bag Enderby. On his death in

1407 Albinus de Enderby bequeathed

money for a new village church - another

St. Margaret’s – that survives to this day. It

too is built of Spilsby Sandstone, which is

known locally as Greenstone because it

contains glauconite, a mineral that on

exposure to air weathers to a khaki-like

green colour. Much of Albinus’s church

remains though now considerably

patched, partly in red brick. Some of the

stained glass dates from 1407 too, notably

two small window panels, one of which

bears the arms of Crowland Abbey with

whom Albinus had connections. Other

curiosities are a font bearing a rare,

carved Pieta and the original south door

with part of a Saxon shield nailed to it.

Alfred’s father was rector here too from

1806 to 1831.

And so back to Hagworthingham, an

attractive village (locally known as Hag)

where those with spare energy will be

well rewarded by extending their walk

amongst the secluded lanes leading to

the church.

In this edition of Good Taste we celebrate the bi-centenary ofthe birth of Alfred Lord Tennyson, an occasion that promptsus to explore the countryside around the poet’s birthplace.

Somersby &Hagworthingham

HUGH MARROWS

St Margaret’s at Somersby


Theriver-sidepathWaterRail Way

The WalkSTARTMain Road, Hagworthingham. (At the lay-by opposite the café.)

MAPSOS Landranger 122 (Skegness) : Explorer 273.

DISTANCE6 miles : 9.5 kilometres.

TERRAINGreen lanes, field paths, meadows,country roads and farm tracks.

REFRESHMENTSThe George and Dragon inn and JJ’s Café in Hagworthingham.

NOTESA grand picnic spot is the shelteredSomersby quarry (GR336729), whichlies just off route about halfway roundthe walk.

Face the café and turn right. Onreaching the inn walk through itscarpark onto a footpath by a house andkeeping forward cross two fields tomeet a lane at a stile. Turn left. Beyonda farm the lane dwindles to a track andwithin another mile crosses two fords,both with footbridges, (the secondbeing Tennyson’s Brook) to reach BagEnderby at the church. Walk throughthe churchyard.

Enter the lane opposite the far side andat the end pass to the right of acottage and join a field edge footpaththat gradually curves away to the right.On reaching the field corner you willsee a stile to your left. From here aimtowards a white farmhouse seen just tothe right of the distant Somersbyvillage; cross two more stiles on theway. A final stile is situated to the left ofthe house garden hedge. Turn rightthrough the farmyard and left along thelane to Somersby church.

Keep ahead on the road out of thevillage into a valley where a bridgecrosses the Brook and you will thencome to a T junction where you should

turn left. (For picnics though, and this isrecommended, the old quarry, whichcontains some interesting carvings inthe rocky outcrops, is only 250 yardsahead.) Follow this lane for a little overhalf a mile until another, a No ThroughRoad, departs to the left for StainsbyHouse farm. Walk past the house onto atrack heading downhill to a reservoir.From the embankment there is a lovelyview to Ashby Puerorum’s remote littlechurch.

Opposite the reservoir a footpath goesoff to the left. After crossing a streambear right along the far bank beforegoing left to zigzag uphill (look back formore views) eventually joining a lane.Continue ahead, now downhill, and atthe bottom use a short stretch of theold A158 road on the left to join themodern road and walk back intoHagworthingham village.

There will be another Tennyson walk inour Autumn edition; both walks will linkto combine into a full days ramble.

1

2

3

4


SPRING/SUMMER 200946 | GOOD TASTE

Mary Powell takes tea with Victoria, Rachel… and Henry too

A slice of the past


his year is the 500th anniversary of the accessionof Henry VIII to the throne. As he was clearly agreat trencherman, Good Taste’s interest wasaroused; that he visited in 1541 the medievalmanor house at Gainsborough with his then wife

Catherine Howard settled the matter.Gainsborough Old Hall is one of the loveliest and best

preserved timber framed manor houses in the UK and arecommended visit whether you be a regal with a seriousmarriage habit or Rachel and me on a foodie mission. For thosein the know, the Old Hall Tea Room is a must and their homemade cakes deservedly renowned.

Afternoon tea may not be very ‘Henry VIII’ but looking backsuits our mood and Rachel, inspired by an old handwritten recipebook sent to her by an elderly lady is exploring those hand-me-down recipes for timeless tea time treats.

Victoria Mason, Site Coordinator at Gainsborough Old Hall isour guide or thought she was, until Rachel sets her to grindingspices for a traditional Pound Cake. Victoria is almost aspassionate about local produce as she is about Gainsborough OldHall, but then in the nearly 20 years that I’ve known this buildingeveryone associated with it has felt just the same. We have turnedour noses up at all the mod cons of the tea room kitchens anddecided to be more adventurous in the magnificent medievalones. These are truly atmospheric and deeply cold on a frostyJanuary day. Rachel and Victoria who is expecting her first childin April are hard at work whilst I sit on a three legged stool inthe huge fireplace about as close to the fire as I can get. I look upand can see the sky far above, definitely an open fire. Variousvisitors to the Old Hall wander in clutching their audio guides,they look slightly startled by our antics but we soon gather anenthusiastic audience.

I read the old recipe book which is a joy with its Bath buns,rock cakes, gingerbread, seed cakes, plum loaf and Shrewsburybiscuits all in immaculate copper plate hand writing. There is theodd recipe for liver medicine thrown in and an Exhibition Cakemade with what seem alarmingly large quantities of ingredients.Aunt Jane’s Pound Cake and Mrs Ward’s Raspberry Buns; cooksthat are long gone but what better way to be remembered?

The Old Hall has always had a great events programme.Victoria says that the Murder Mystery Evenings are hugelypopular. Always in a different time period with food to matchand naturally 2009’s crime will be Tudor.

Rachel has raided the old cookery book as well as making adaring heist of her own family recipe bank. The scone recipemay be original but Rachel Green has melted it down, reformedit and it’s so good no one will ever know!�

T

‘I read the old recipe book which is a joy with its Bath buns, rock cakes, gingerbread, seedcakes, plum loaf and Shrewsbury biscuits all in immaculate copper plate hand writing’

Opposite page, clockwise from left: Chocolate Cake;Coffee Cake; Cherry and Almond CakeAbove: Victoria and Rachel and the Lemon Drizzle Cake;Rachel and Victoria grinding spices for the Pound Cake

• MAKES 8

360g Self raising flour1/2 tsp Mustard powder

Pinch of Cayenne pepper

Sea salt & black pepper

60g Butter

2 Large eggs

5 tbsp Milk

120g Cote Hill blue cheese,

finely crumbled

(if dry, grate)

4 Spring onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Sieve the flour

into a mixing bowl along with the mustard

powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt and black

pepper; rub the butter into the flour until it

resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the spring

onions and the blue cheese, make a well in the

centre of the bowl, beat the egg with the milk

and tip the mixture into the well and mix with a

flat bladed knife to form a soft dough. Put onto

a floured board and knead very lightly, make

into a circle 2cm thick and cut into segments or

cut into rounds. Brush lightly with milk and top

with a little Cote Hill blue cheese, if desired.

Bake for 12–15 minutes until

brown on top.

Cote Hill Blue Cheese & Spring Onion Scones

RACHEL GREEN


Coffee Cake180g Soft butter

180g Muscovado sugar

180g Self raising flour

3 Eggs

2 tbsp Camp coffee essence

1 tsp Vanilla essence

COFFEE BUTTER ICING:

200g Icing sugar

110g Soft butter

2 tsp Instant coffee melted in a

little boiling water

9 Walnut halves

Preheat oven to 160°C/Gas 3. Put the

butter and sugar into a bowl and beat

until light and fluffy, add the eggs one

at a time with 1tbsp flour to stop the

mixture curdling and then add the

remaining flour and beat together

gently until the mixture is smooth, do

not over-beat. Add the coffee and

vanilla essence then put the mixture into

2 x 18cm lined cake tins and cook for

approximately 30 minutes. Be careful

not to overcook. To make the coffee

butter icing, cream the butter to soften,

add the icing sugar and beat all of the

ingredients together until the icing is

light in texture, finally beat in the instant

coffee. Put half of the coffee butter

icing in the cake and half on top.

Decorate with the walnut halves.

Lemon Drizzle Cake110g Self raising flour

110g Soft butter

110g Caster sugar

2 Eggs

1 tbsp Lemon curd

30g Ground almonds

1 Lemon, rind of

LEMON DRIZZLE:

1 Lemon, juice of

55g Caster sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C/Gas 3. Cream

butter and sugar; add eggs and flour,

then lemon curd and ground almonds

and lemon rind. Put into 1 x 2lb lined

loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes in

moderate oven. While cake is still hot,

pour over mixture of juice of lemon and

caster sugar.


180g Soft margarine

3 Large eggs

3 tbsp Boiling water

180g Sugar

85g Drinking chocolate

(not cocoa)

CHOCOLATE BUTTER ICING:

200g Icing sugar

110g Soft butter

30g Drinking chocolate

2 tsp Instant coffee melted in a

little boiling water

1 Crumbled chocolate flake

Preheat oven to 160°C/Gas 3. Put all of

the ingredients together into a mixing

bowl. Beat together well for 2 minutes.

Put into 2 x 18cm greased and bottom

lined cake tins and bake for

approximately 30 minutes. Be careful

not to over cook. When cooked,

remove from oven and turn onto a wire

rack. To make the chocolate butter

icing, cream the butter to soften, add

the icing sugar and drinking chocolate

and beat all the ingredients together

until the icing is light in texture and

finally beat in the instant coffee. Put half

of the chocolate butter icing in the cake

and half on top. Crumble chocolate

flake on top to decorate.

Gran Green’s Chocolate Cake

52 | GOOD TASTE

Cherry & AlmondCake225g Butter, softened

225g Caster sugar


4 Eggs, lightly beaten

110g Ground almonds

180g Glace cherries, quartered

2 tsp Almond extract

55g Flaked almonds for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Cream

the butter and sugar together until light

and fluffy, gradually beat in the whisked

egg a little at a time. Then sift the flour

and carefully fold this into the mixture.

Add the quartered cherries with the

ground almonds and carefully fold these

into the cake, add the almond extract

and mix. Put the mixture into either a

lined loaf tin or a lined round 20cm cake

tin/10cm deep and sprinkle mixture with

flaked almonds. Bake in the oven for 1

hour 10 minutes. To check if the cake is

cooked, insert a skewer into the centre, it

should come out clean. If further baking

is required, cover top with foil before

placing back into the oven to avoid

burning the almonds. Remove and place

the cake on a wire rack, allow to cool

before slicing.

Spiced Pound Cake450g (1lb) Butter, softened

500g (1lb 2oz) Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

Pinch Ground Mace 1/2 tsp Ground cloves1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Ground cinnamon

450g (1lb) Caster Sugar

450g (1lb) Currants

50g (2oz) Candied Peel, chopped1/2 Lemon, Juice and

Rind of

60g (2oz) Ground almonds

9 Eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Beat

the butter until pale and light, sift in the

flour, baking powder and spices, add the

sugar, currants, candied peel, almonds,

lemon and lemon rind, mix well together.

Whisk the eggs separately and blend

thoroughly with the ingredients. Beat the

cake well for a good 5 minutes. Put into

a round tin, lined at the bottom and

sides with a strip of greaseproof paper,

well buttered. Bake it for 11/2–2 hours in a

preheated oven. Test by inserting a

skewer into the centre. If it comes out

clean it is ready. Leave to cool for 30

minutes before turning out and slicing.

Raspberry Buns• MAKES 12


1 tsp Baking powder

75g Butter

75g Caster sugar

1 Egg, lightly beaten

Raspberry jam

A little milk

Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Sift flour

and baking powder into a bowl, rub in

the butter until the mixture resembles

fine breadcrumbs, stir in sugar, add

beaten egg and enough milk to form a

soft dough. Divide the mixture into 12,

with floured hands form each piece of

dough into a ball and place on a greased

baking sheet, make an indentation with

your finger in the centre of each bun

and place 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam in the

hole. Brush with milk and bake for

15–20 minutes.

RACHEL GREEN

SPRING/SUMMER 2009


n our last issue Mary visited Kirsty

Edmondson-Jones, director of hotel

services for the Northern Lincolnshire

and Goole NHS Trust. Kirsty and her

team have been working incredibly hard

to transform the hospital food; using

locally sourced, seasonal Lincolnshire

produce on the menu wherever possible.

I caught up with Kirsty for a quick

update; recent work has involved moving

away from meals plated in a main

kitchen, to a fresh, carvery style service,

served directly to patients at ward level.

Newly created posts of ward caterers

have been appointed. It is anticipated

that the Scunthorpe General Hospital

and Goole Hospital sites will go live with

this new style of meals service by the

end of March, closely followed by

Grimsby Hospital.

Four of Kirsty’s team of 150 chefs

grabbed the opportunity to cook with

Rachel Green at the Sausage and Potato

Festival in October of last year and the

Christmas Food and Drink Fair. Kirsty

told me, “They were very encouraged by

the warm reception they received from

the public when Rachel introduced them

and described their roles within the

hospital. This was a unique opportunity

for our chefs to promote the work we

are doing and to receive recognition for

their hard work and dedication and for

the public to learn of the aspirations we

have for our hospital catering service.” �

Annabel Skelton is brought up to speed on thelatest gastronomic developments at the NorthernLincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

Hospital food goes fromstrength to strength

Kirsty and her team havebeen working incrediblyhard to transform thehospital food; using locallysourced, seasonalLincolnshire produce on themenu wherever possible

I


CITY OF LINCOLN

WHERE TO STAY

Eagles Guest House552A Newark Road, North Hykeham,Lincoln LN6 9NGTel: 01522 686346 www.eaglesguesthouse.co.ukFriendly AA Four Stars Guest House.All rooms en-suite, ample privateparking. French and Italian spoken.Easy access from A1/Newark.

WHERE TO EAT

The Castle HotelWestgate, Lincoln LN1 3ASTel: 01522 538801www.castlehotel.netAward winning restaurant in Grade IIlisted hotel with views over theCastle and Cathedral. Intimate diningto weddings up to 60.

The Cheese Society �1 St Martin’s Lane, Lincoln LN2 1HYTel: 01522 511003www.thecheesesociety.co.ukVisit our shop or order on-line or justcome for a cheesy delight in ourcafé. Open Monday – Saturday 10am– 4.30pm.

Cloister Refectory – LincolnCathedralLincoln Cathedral, Lincoln LN2 1PXTel: 01522 576464Email: [email protected] and enjoy a selection of freshlyprepared snacks and light meals. Weare open all year and offer a warmwelcome.

Curtis of Lincoln �164 High Street, Lincoln LN5 7AFTel: 01522 538040www.curtisoflincoln.comQuality butchers and bakers. Familybusiness founded in 1828, producinga range of award winningLincolnshire specialities using manylocally sourced ingredients.

Elite Meats �89 Bailgate, Lincoln LN1 3ARTel: 01522 523500www.elitemeats.co.ukElite Meats is a quality butcher andgame dealers. We source localproduce and serve with ourexpertise and butchery skills.

R Foster & Son 111 Monks Road, Lincoln LN2 5HTTel: 01522 523369Home-made pies and other savourypastries, fresh baked bread andconfectionary. Locally sourced andmatured quality beef, lamb and pork

Henrietta’s Garden40 De Wint Avenue, Lincoln LN6 7JATel: 01522 690982 / 689652Email: [email protected] community project, providing daytime activities, producing vegetablesand other seasonal produce plus freerange eggs and fresh cooked meals.

Lombard Wines �Millstone Winery, Behind 112-113 HighStreet, Lincoln LN5 7PYTel: 01522 534434 / 07748 562858www.lombardwines.co.ukFruit and country wines made fromlocal produce. Personal wine making

Ice Cream Parlour3 Bailgate, Lincoln LN1 3AETel: 01522 511447www.dennetts.co.ukHave a cone or try an ice creamsundae in our 14th century cellartearoom in the historical area ofLincoln.

MaCh Indian RestaurantWragby Road East, North Greetwell,Lincoln LN2 4RATel: 01522 754488www.machrestaurant.co.ukModern, contemporary IndianRestaurant offering high qualityauthentic Indian food in a relaxedenvironment, with separate cocktailbar facilities.

The Old Bakery Restaurant withRooms26/28 Burton Road, Lincoln LN1 3LBTel: 01522 576057www.theold-bakery.co.ukThe award winning 4 star, 2AARosette Restaurant, Tastes ofLincolnshire Award 2008 andLincolnshire Life Restaurant of theyear in 2006.

Stokes High Bridge Café (since 1902)207 High Street, Lincoln LN5 7AUwww.stokes-coffee.co.ukMorning coffee, breakfast, luncheonand afternoon teas. Popular café inbeautiful 16th Century building over-looking the River Witham. Openeveryday.

WHERE TO BUY

service – you provide the fruit, wemake your wine.

Old Elephant Fudge �Tel: 01673 885562www.oldelephant.co.ukHome made fudge using top qualityingredients – many different flavours,Scottish tablet and organic available.Gift packs and wholesale possible.See me at Lincoln farmers market.

Poachers Brewery439 Newark Road, North Hykeham,Lincoln LN6 9SPTel: 01522 807404www.poachersbrewery.co.ukA Micro-Brewery that produces handcrafted ales using the finest andpurest ingredients. Suppliers to theon/off trade and home usersthroughout Lincolnshire.

COUNTRYSIDE NORTH

WHERE TO STAY

Black Swan Guest House21 High Street, Marton, GainsboroughDN21 5AHTel: 01427 718878www.blackswanguesthouse.co.ukRural located B&B offering en-suiterooms, internet access, private carpark, licensed, easy access to Lincolnand Gainsborough.

Canal View Bed and Breakfast6A Lincoln Road, Saxilby, Lincoln LN1 2NFTel: 01522 704475www.canal-view.co.ukLuxury en-suite accommodation,contemporarily furnished, with

Dinner B&B

B&B £30/£170

5 Family Room

POA

2 Double Rooms

From £24

2 Twin Rooms

From £24

Units: 2 Single Rooms

From £24£pppn/pppw:

Winner of Mr George award for outstanding contribution to Taste of Lincolnshire

Egyptian cotton bed linen and softfluffy towels. Close to Lincoln. Wi-fiinternet access.

The GrangeKexby, Gainsborough DN21 5PJTel: 01427 788265A welcoming Victorian farmhouse ona working farm. Homecooked foodand produce. Convenient for Lincoln,Hemswell Antiques and the Wolds.

Hickman Hill HotelCox’s Hill, Gainsborough DN21 1HHTel: 01427 613639www.hickmanhill.co.ukAA 2* hotel and restaurant set in twoacres of glorious gardens. Produce islocally sourced and freshly prepared.

Thornton Hunt InnThornton Curtis, Near Ulceby, NorthLincolnshire DN39 6XWTel: 01469 531252www.thornton-inn.co.ukFamily run Grade II listed buildingextended to include six en-suitebedrooms. Rural village setting withhomemade dishes on menu.

WHERE TO EAT

Blyton Dairy Ice CreamOld Hall Farm, Blyton, GainsboroughDN21 3LATel: 01427 628355Email: [email protected] award winning icecream andsorbet with over 50 flavours. Newextension of Icecream Parlour andCafé, open seven days.

Doddington Farm Shop and CaféDoddington Hall, Lincoln LN6 4RU

Tel: 01522 688581www.doddingtonhall.comUK’s Best New Farm Shop 2008/9showcasing homegrown producefrom walled Kitchen Garden.Popular café, freshly cookedseasonal menu. Reservationsrecommended.

Ealand Gate RestaurantOutgate, Ealand, Scunthorpe DN17 4JETel: 01724 711322Email: [email protected] quality restaurant, serving thebest of locally sourced food inrelaxed, comfort and style.

Gainsborough Old Hall TeaRoomsParnell Street, Gainsborough DN21 2NBTel: 01427 612669www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/gainsborougholdhallEmail:[email protected] manor house open to thepublic. Light refreshments, locallysourced and freshly made on thepremises.

Hall Farm ParkCaistor Road, South Kelsey LN7 6PRTel: 01652 678822www.hallfarmpark.co.ukRelax and enjoy a light lunch orsnack in our tearoom or on the patiooverlooking beautiful opencountryside.

Hemswell Antiques Coffee ShopHemswell Antiques Centre, Caenby

Corner Estate, Hemswell Cliff,Gainsborough DN21 5TJTel: 01427 668389Email: [email protected] everyday 10am – 5pm.Choose from a selection ofhomemade cakes and coffees or afreshly prepared lunch or light snack.

Hickman Hill HotelCox’s Hill, Gainsborough DN21 1HHTel: 01427 613639www.hickmanhill.co.ukAA 2* hotel and restaurant set intwo acres of glorious gardens.Produce is locally sourced andfreshly prepared.

The Loft Restaurant BriggAbove Grandads Shed, 10 WrawbyStreet, Brigg DN20 8JHTel: 01652 650416www.theloftbrigg.co.ukBrigg’s premier restaurant, open 9 – 5pm Mon-Sat. Serving Englishcuisine all freshly prepared, usinglocal Lincolnshire produce.

Normanby Hall Country ParkNormanby, Scunthorpe DN15 9HUTel: 01724 720588Email:[email protected]/normanbyRegency Hall set in beautifulparkland and award-winninggardens. Café and shop withorganically grown heritage fruit andvegetables, wedding venue.

The Pink Pig Farmshop andRestaurantHome Hall, Holme, Scunthorpe

DN16 3RETel: 01724 844466www.pinkpigorganics.co.ukFully licensed restaurant servinghomemade breakfasts, lunches andteas. Made from fresh Lincolnshireproduce. Delicious gooey cakes andfresh scones.

Pooley’s Tearoom46 High Street. Messingham,Scunthorpe DN17 3NTTel: 01724 762220A warm welcome and log burningstoves await you at Pooley’s Tearoom,well known for their homemadesoups, quiches and cakes. Tastes ofExcellence Award 2008.

Thornton Hunt InnThornton Curtis, Near Ulceby, NorthLincolnshire DN39 6XWTel: 01469 531252Email: [email protected] run Grade II listed buildingserving traditional homemade barfood. A previous winner of‘Lincolnshire Taste of ExcellenceAwards’. Food served daily 12 – 2pmand 6.30 – 9pm.

Tullivers Teas & Treats26 Caskgate Street, GainsboroughDN21 2DLTel: 01427 610153Treat yourself at our traditionaltearoom with a contemporaryflavour! A warm welcome. Tuesday – Saturday. Taste ofExcellence winner 2008.

Uncle Henry’s Farmshop & Coffee StopGrayingham Grange Farm,



Grayingham, Gainsborough DN21 4JDTel: 01652 640316 www.unclehenrys.co.ukTastes of Lincolnshire Award for café2008. Delicious home-cooked foodin a stunning setting with friendlyservice. Licensed premises.

Whisby Natural World CentreMoor Lane, Thorpe on the Hill,Lincoln LN6 9BWTel: 01522 688868www.naturalworldcentre.comTastes of Lincolnshire, beautifulviews, drinks, snacks and lunches,Sunday roasts, celebrations,weddings and business lunches.Open daily 10am – 4.30pm.

Winteringham Fields1 Silver Street, Winteringham NorthLincolnshire DN15 9NDTel: 01724 733096www.winteringhamfields.comWinteringham Fields is one of themost individual and secret placesyou could wish to stumble across,with an ambience and cuisine to rivalEurope’s finest.

WHERE TO BUY

Chapmans Finest Fishcakesc/o Riverside Food Services Ltd,North Quay, Fish Docks, GrimsbyDN31 3SYTel: 01472 269871www.chapmansfishcakes.co.ukHandmade gourmet fishcakes andother luxury fish dishes. Grimsby fishand Lincolnshire potatoes, made foreach other!

DN31 3LBTel: 01472 352335Email: [email protected]’s oldest family smokehouseembracing traditional curing andsupply of freshest top quality fishand seafood available in our shop.

Gringley Gringo �Main Street (next to Fox Inn), KirtonNG22 9LPTel: 01909 500953www.gringleygringo.comHome-made chilli products to suitevery palate. Our stylish rangeincludes chilli sauces, jellies,chutneys, pickles and much more.Wholesale orders welcome.

The Pink Pig Farmshop andRestaurant �Home Hall, Holme, Scunthorpe DN16 3RETel: 01724 844466www.pinkpigorganics.co.ukFarm shop of the year 2005/06,selling home-grown organic meatand vegetables. Prize-winningrestaurant serving homemadebreakfasts, lunches and teas.

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork �Blyton Carr, Gainsborough DN21 3DTTel: 01427 628270www.redhillfarm.comFarmers and producers of NationalAward Winning free range pork, drycured hams and bacon, handmadesausages and pork pies.

Uncle Henry’s Farmshop & Coffee StopGrayingham Grange Farm,Grayingham, Gainsborough

DN21 4JDTel: 01652 640316 www.unclehenrys.co.ukFamily farmshop showcasing homeproduced pork products and anextensive range of Lincolnshireproduce. Radio 4 IndependentRetailer 2007 finalist.

COUNTRYSIDE SOUTH

WHERE TO STAY

Branston Hall HotelLincoln Road, Branston, Lincoln LN4 1PDTel: 01522 793305Email: [email protected] www.branstonhall.comSet in 88 acres of parkland andlakes, our award winning two AARosettes Lakeside Restaurant isrenowned for its culinary excellence.

Byards Leap Cottage Bed andBreakfastCranwell, Sleaford NG34 8EYTel: 01400 261537www.byardsleapcottage.co.ukAttractive country cottage, inbeautiful garden, offering goodhome cooking using local suppliersand our own fruit, vegetables andpreserves.

Chaplin House B&B92 High Street, Martin LN4 3QTTel: 01526 378795www.chaplin-house.co.ukQuiet, relaxing atmosphere in awardwinning, stylish accommodation.Delicious breakfasts using local,mainly organic produce. Tastes ofLincolnshire Award Winner 2008.

Church Farm ShopMain Street, South Scarle, Newark onTrent NG23 7JHTel: 01636 892003www.churchfarmshop.co.ukAward winning shop on a workingfarm, home-grown vegetables,home-made cakes, lots of localproduce. Open Tuesday – Saturday9am – 5pm

Croft ApiariesCorner Croft, Main Street, BishopNorton, Market Rasen LN8 2BETel: 01673 818711Honey direct from the producer,Lincolnshire honey the very best foryou. Trade enquiries welcome,farmshops, catering, health shops etc.

Doddington Farm Shop and CaféDoddington Hall, Lincoln LN6 4RUTel: 01522 688581www.doddingtonhall.comUK’s Best New Farm Shop 2008/9showcasing homegrown producefrom walled Kitchen Garden.Popular café, freshly cookedseasonal menu. Reservationsrecommended.

Fenella’s Garden �Tel: 01522 681580Mob: 07971 705234www.fenellasgarden.co.ukOnline shop supplying a range oflocal, ethical and organic produce,delivered in the area for free(minimum order of £10)

The Fishwife TraditionalFishmongers @ AtkinsonsSmoked Fish Ltd44a Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby


River Farm House B&BClay Lane, Norton Disney, LincolnLN6 9JSTel: 01522 788600Email: [email protected] and enjoy 4 star farmhouseaccommodation. Convenient accessto the historic city of Lincoln andmarket town of Newark.

The Stables Studio94 High Street, Martin, Lincoln LN4 3QTTel: 01526 378528www.stablesstudio.co.ukCosy, stylish 4* ensuite in convertedstable block. Rural village setting,local produce for breakfast. Alsoself-catering cottage sleeping 4.

Village Limits Country PubRestaurant and MotelStixwould Road, Woodhall Spa LN10 6UJTel: 01526 353312www.villagelimits.co.ukFriendly and relaxing, homemademeals Tues – Sat lunch and dinner,Sunday lunch only. 4 *accommodation. Awards for Puband Accommodation 2008.

WHERE TO EAT

Branston Hall HotelLincoln Road, Branston, Lincoln LN4 1PDTel: 01522 793305Email: [email protected] lakeside restaurant has recentlybeen awarded two AA Rosettes andis renowned for it’s culinaryexcellence.

The Bustard Inn & Restaurant44 Main Street, South Rauceby,Sleaford NG34 8QGTel: 01529 488250www.thebustardinn.co.ukBeautiful listed stone inn, excellentreal ales and wines, delicious barfood and exquisite à la carte mealsby award winning chef. Tastes ofExcellence Award 2008.

Devon Dumpling TearoomBranston Moor Nursery, Moor Lane,Branston LN4 1HZTel: 01522 790022www.growinggifts.co.ukHomemade cakes and scones, lightlunches. Open 10.30am – 4.30pm,closed Mondays except BankHolidays. Taste Of Excellence GoldAward Winner 2008.

Ebrington ArmsMain Street, Kirkby on Bain,Woodhall Spa LN10 6YTTel: 01526 354560Traditional cosy village pub servingexcellent home cooked meals with alarge selection of wine and local ales.

Food for Thought Shop and CafeRectory Lane, Branston, Lincoln LN4 1NATel: 01522 797970Relaxed, friendly atmosphere, cakes,light lunches, all day breakfast andgifts. Open Monday - Friday 9am –3.00pm (closed Tuesday), Saturday9am – 2.30pm.

Four Seasons Garden CentreLondon Road, Silk Willoughby,Sleaford NG34 8NYTel: 01529 304966

Email:info@fourseasonsgardencentre.co.ukwww.fourseasonsgardencentre.co.ukA family run garden centre andrestaurant, serving homemade mealsand snacks throughout the day, 7days a week.

The George HotelHigh Street, Leadenham LN5 0PNTel: 01400 272251www.thegeorge-hotel.comAn Old English Coaching Innspecialising in local produceespecially Lincoln Red Beef, also astock of over 600 whiskeys.

The Hub SleafordNavigation Wharf, Carre Street,Sleaford NG34 7TWTel: 01529 308710www.thehubcentre.orgThe Riverside Café offers the chanceto relax with light meals andexcellent coffee in stylishsurroundings. Open Tues – Sat 10am – 4.30pm, Sun – Mon 11am – 4.30pm.

Three Kings InnSaltersway, Threekingham, SleafordNG34 0AUTel: 01529 240249www.threekingsinn.co.ukQuintessentially old English coachinginn steeped in history providing finedining, real ales, continental lagersand wide selection of wines.

Village LimitsStixwould Road, Woodhall Spa LN10 6UJTel: 01526 353312www.villagelimits.co.uk

Kirkstead Old Mill Cottage B&BTattershall Road, Woodhall Spa LN10 6UQTel: 01526 353637www.woodhallspa.comThis 4*, Silver Award, country homeoffers free quality twin/doublebedrooms, including fully accessiblesuite with wetroom. Full English andGold Award healthy breakfasts.

The Manor House StablesThe Manor House, Timberland Road,Martin LN4 3QSTel: 01526 378717www.manorhousestables.co.ukWarm relaxing self-cateringaccommodation in historic stables,restored using natural eco-friendlymaterials. Located at edge of ruralvillage.

Petwood HotelStixwould Road, Woodhall Spa LN10 6QFTel: 01526 352411www.petwood.co.ukEdwardian Country House Hotel in

30 acres of secluded gardens andwoodland. The restaurant promoteslocal produce. Tastes of LincolnshireAward Winner 2008.

Rose Cottage B&B Wharf Lane, Kirkby on Bain,Woodhall Spa LN10 6YWTel: 01526 354932www.rosecottagebandb.netStay in a mud and stud, thatchcottage dated 1604 with privatefacilities. Ideally situated in thecentre of Lincolnshire.


Friendly and relaxing, homemademeals Tues – Sat lunch and dinner,Sunday lunch only. 4 *accommodation. Awards for Pub andAccommodation 2008.

WHERE TO BUY

Abbey Parks Farm Shop �Parks Farm, East Heckington, Boston,Lincs PE20 3QGTel: 01205 821610www.abbeyparks.asparagus.co.ukOpen 9 – 5 Monday to Saturday, 9.30– 5 Sunday. Vast selection ofhomegrown and local vegetables,cheese and meats. Coffee shopserving homecooked food andSunday lunch.

The Bakery & Delicatessen14 The Broadway, Woodhall SpaLN10 5STTel: 01526 352183www.woodhallbakery.co.ukBeautiful bakery, fantasticdelicatessen, this bakery anddelicatessen offers a feast ofthousands of foods local andworldwide, simply magnificent.

James & Lucy Barclay �Abbey Farm, Stixwould, WoodhallSpa LN10 5HRTel: 01526 351739www.abbey-farm.co.ukTraditional home reared Lincoln RedBeef, Gloucester Old Spot Pork,Jacob and Lincoln Longwool Lamb.Visitors welcome, please phone first.Mail order.

Cogglesford MillEast Road, Sleaford NG34 7EQ

Tastes of Lincolnshire award winningbutcher, best shop/producer 2007.Best quality local produce with fulltraceability. Handmade Lincolnshiresausages.

Manor Farm Shops LtdManor Farm, 2 Moor Lane,Leasingham, Sleaford NG34 8JNTel: 01529 302671Family owned farm shop withoutlets at Leasingham, Ruskingtonand Heckington, supporting localgrowers and producers.

Millstream ButchersUnit 1 Millstream Square, SleafordNG34 7ZRTel: 01529 414638www.millstreambutchers.co.ukHomemade pies and sausages aspeciality. Top quality Lincoln redbeef, local pork and lamb.

Odling Brothers Ltd54 High Street, Navenby, Lincoln LN5 0ETTel: 01522 810228Award winning Pork and Meat Pies,Lincolnshire Sausages and Haslet.Traditional family butchers andgrocers providing high qualitypersonal service.

R H Papworth (Butchers)Broadway, Woodhall Spa also atSilver Street, Coningsby Tel: 01526 352196 or 343854Email:[email protected] meat, from local suppliers, forlocal people, served by localassistants, Lincolnshire born andbred, proud to be yellow bellies.

Tel: 07966 400634 venueTel: 01529 414294 contactwww.heartoflincs.comWorking watermill in picturesquesetting. Organic wholemeal flour stillproduced on site and sold in the millshop. Events programme.

Fen Farm Venison �Fen Farm, Horbling Fen, SleafordNG34 0JXTel: 01529 421272www.fenfarmvenison.co.ukQuality farmed venison – fillets,joints, steaks, casseroles, sausagesand burgers. Sold on farm and atlocal shows and farmers markets.

Gourmet Roasted Nuts �40 Station Road, Bardney, LincolnLN3 5UDTel: 01526 398203 / 07761 241488Email: [email protected] types of nuts freshly roastedon site in our special recipe ofcinnamon and sugar glaze.

Heath Farm PreservesHeath Farm, North Rauceby,Sleaford NG34 8QRTel: 01529 488409Email: [email protected] of carefully hand madepreserves. Find me on SleafordFarmers Market or contact medirect. Gift baskets available.

R J Hirst High Class FamilyButchersStation Road, Woodhall Spa LN10 6QL (next door to the Mall)Tel: 01526 352321www.hirstlincolnshiresausages.co.uk

F C Phipps �Osbourne House, Mareham le Fen,Boston PE22 7RWTel: 01507 568235 www.britainsbestbutcher.co.ukHome-grown, naturally reared meats.Home-made prize winning pies,sausages, black pudding, bacon,cooked meats, Lincolnshire chine,ready meals and deli.

Real Tea and Coffee Company �Tel: 01526 833458Email: [email protected] teas and coffee beans,cafetieres, teapots, coffee grinders,infusers and lots, lots more. We alsoretail luxury hand-baked cookies andcakes.

Shop on the FarmNorth End Farm, Swaton, SleafordNG34 0JPTel: 01529 421241www.swatonbrewery.comA family farm, producing quality realales and specialising in Lincoln RedBeef, with a coffee shop. OpenedSeptember 2008.

Southern and Thorpe3 High Street, Ruskington, NrSleaford NG34 9DYTel: 01526 834359Lincolnshire Poacher 2008: pork piechampion, haselet champion, GoldAward for home cured bacon andham. Past Sausage champion. Fullmeat range available.

Thorpe Latimer Traditional FarmMeatsThorpe Latimer Farm, Thorpe

SPRING/SUMMER 200960 | GOOD TASTE

Latimer, Sleaford NG34 0RFTel: 01529 421206www.thorpe-latimer.co.ukTraditionally reared Lincoln Red Beef,bone matured for 3 – 4 weeks andLincolnshire Lamb. Available directfrom farm, farmers markets andwebsite.

Welbournes Bakery �38 High Street, Navenby, Lincoln LN5 0DZTel: 01522 [email protected] homemade special plumbread, Lincoln Red Beef pies andothers. Lincolnshire sausage rolls,homemade bread and cakes, localcheeses.

WOLDS

WHERE TO STAY

Enfield Farm CottagesMain Street, Fulstow, Louth LN11 0XFTel: 01507 363268www.enfieldfarmcottages.co.ukCottages are elegantly furnishedconverted barns, retaining originalfeatures on a working farm. Awardsfrom East Midlands Tourism 2006and Tastes of Lincolnshire 2008.

Glebe Farm B&BChurch Lane, Benniworth, MarketRasen LN8 6JPTel: 01507 313231www.glebe-farm.comQuality accommodation in listed 18thcentury farmhouse, in the heart ofthe Lincolnshire Wolds. All roomsen-suite.

The GrangeTorrington Lane, East Barkwith,Market Rasen LN8 5RYTel: 01673 858670www.thegrange-lincolnshire.co.ukA perfect retreat, offering b&b andself-catering. Excellent facilities andquality traditional home cookedcuisine, using local produce. Tastesof Lincolnshire Award 2008.

Hoe Hill House Bed & BreakfastHoe Hill House, Swinhope, MarketRasen LN8 6HXTel: 01472 399366www.hoehill.co.ukEnjoy our home and award winningbreakfasts. Beautiful scenic locationconvenient for Louth, Grimsby,Lincoln and coast. Relax and unwind. 2008 Winner foraccommodation.

Kingthorpe Manor FarmKingthorpe, Market Rasen LN8 5JFTel: 01673 857290www.kingthorpemanorfarm.comHistoric farmhouse offering luxuryaccommodation, peace andtranquillity. Spacious en-suite rooms,excellent facilities. Organic, home-grown and locally sourced produce.

The Paddock at ScamblesbyOld Main Road, Scamblesby, LouthLN11 9XGTel: 07787 998906www.thepaddockatscamblesby.co.ukModern 4 star ground flooraccommodation in the heart ofLincolnshire Wolds – an ideal basefrom which to explore Lincolnshire.

The Red Lion, PartneySkegness Road, Partney, SpilsbyPE23 4PGTel: 01790 752271www.redlioninnpartney.co.ukFour star en-suite accommodation inquiet village. Tastes of ExcellenceAward winning meals using localproduce with daily specials and realales.

Toynton Lodge Painting HolidaysToynton Lodge, Boston Road,Toynton All Saints, Spilsby PE23 5NPTel: 01790 752876www.artprofile.co.ukPainting holidays and day paintingcourses in most media, for allabilities, based in a listed Georgianhouse near Spilsby.

West View B&B and CottagesSouth View Lane, SouthCockerington, Louth LN11 7EDTel: 01507 327209www.west-view.co.ukConverted barn in rural village, relaxand recharge, friendly atmosphereoffering quality and comfort.Disabled access and also self-catering cottages.

Wold View Tea Room and Bed &BreakfastWold View House, Bully Hill Top, nearTealby, Market Rasen LN8 6JATel: 01673 838226www.woldviewhouse.co.ukCosy, homely on top of the Wolds,above pretty village of Tealby.Locally sourced food, home cooking.2008 Winner of best tearoom.

WHERE TO EAT

The Black Horse InnMagna Mile, Ludford, Market RasenLN8 6AJTel: 01507 313645Email: [email protected] ales, good wine and great food.All food cooked in house usingquality, local (where possible) andseasonal ingredients.

Botts Coffee ShopCrowders Garden Centre, LincolnRoad, Horncastle LN9 5LZTel: 01507 528610Open daily Monday to Saturday 9.30 – 4.30, Sunday 10.30 – 4.30.Variety of home-made cakes, snacksand lunchtime treats.

The Coach and HorsesHemingby, Horncastle LN9 5QFTel: 01507 578280http://coachandhorses.website.orange.co.ukTraditional village pub serving arange of real ales and good qualityfairly priced bar meals. Tastes ofLincolnshire Award 2008.

The Cockerel7 & 9 South Street, Caistor LN7 6UBTel: 07954 696856Email: [email protected] licensed café-bar-bistroserving delicious, traditional dishes,homemade soups, scones andplumloaf. Ramblers, cyclists anddogs welcome.

The Haywain Motel and RestaurantUlceby Cross, Alford LN13 0EY


Tel: 01507 462786www.haywainmotel.co.ukA warm welcome awaits, in ourfamily run motel and restaurant.Experience locally sourced produce,cooked fresh to your taste.

Jossals Coffee Shop & BistroThe Old Post Office, 7 Queen Street,Market Rasen LN8 3EHTel: 01673 844221A warm welcome 7 days a week. Weuse fresh local produce, somethingfor everyone. Also openFriday/Saturday evenings.

Magpies Restaurant71-75 East Street, Horncastle LN9 6AATel: 01507 527004Award winning restaurant, offeringfine dining, everything is made onthe premises using the finest andfreshest local produce available.

Melanie’s Restaurant37 Upgate, Louth LN11 9HDTel: 01507 609595Email:[email protected] local restaurant serving freshlymade dishes, created from the finestingredients the Lincolnshire Woldshas to offer.

Myers Bakery and Café Tearoom �20 the Bull Ring, Horncastle LN9 5HUTel: 01507 525871Email: [email protected] famous Lincolnshire Plumloaf –original recipe since 1901 – family andcafé tearoom based in Horncastle.

hot and cold snacks, homemadecakes, delicious cream teas and localicecream. Home of Poachers Pasties.

Wagon House Tea ShopGoltho Gardens, Lincoln Road,Goltho, Nr Wragby LN8 5NFTel: 01673 857814www.golthogardens.comOpen Wednesday to Sunday 10amto 4pm. Cakes, sandwiches, soup etcmade on the premises. Homemadepreserves and gifts available.

Willingham FayreAshgrove Farm, North Willingham,Market Rasen LN8 3RJTel: 01673 838123www.willinghamfayre.co.ukWe make Lincolnshire Wolds DairyIcecream with whole fresh cowsmilk. Visit our Icecream Parlour, Caféand children’s play area.

Wold View Tea Room and Bed &BreakfastWold View House, Bully Hill Top,near Tealby, Market Rasen LN8 6JATel: 01673 838226www.woldviewhouse.co.ukA delightful traditional English tearoom. Serving home-made fayrefrom locally sourced produce.Winner of the Best Tea Room Award2008.

WHERE TO BUY

Alford Five Sailed Windmill & Tea RoomEast Street, Alford LN13 9EQTel: 01507 462136www.fivesailed.co.ukOne of the gems of rural

Perkins’ Pantry7 Mercer Row, Louth LN11 9JGTel: 01507 609709www.lincsuk.com/perkinspantry.htmTraditional English licensed familyrestaurant and tea room. Runner-upin Tastes of Lincolnshire Awards2007. Special diets accommodated,including coeliac.

The Railway TavernMain Road, Aby, near Alford LN13 0DRTel: 01507 480676Come and enjoy the real fires, home-cooked food and ale – a warmwelcome awaits! Newly re-furbishedwith extensive menus.

The Red Lion, PartneySkegness Road, Partney, SpilsbyPE23 4PGTel: 01790 752271www.redlioninnpartney.co.ukExcellent award winning homemademeals using locally sourced freshproduce. Daily specials and real ales,four star accommodation.

Shakesby’s Restaurant5 West Street, Horncastle LN9 5JETel: 01507 526626www.shakesbys.comRustic English food cooked byaward winning chef. Open Monday –Saturday 5pm til late. Beat the ClockMonday – Friday 5 – 6.30pm.

Tealby Tea Rooms12 Front Street, Tealby, Market RasenLN8 3XUTel: 01673 838261www.tealbytearooms.co.ukSee website for opening times, for

Lincolnshire. A beautiful workingwindmill, flours, cereals, preserves,antiques and stylish tea room.Tastes of Lincolnshire Award 2008.

Cooks FarmHighgate Lane, Moorby, BostonPE22 7PNTel: 01507 568362Email: [email protected] meat and eggs sold atFarmers’ Markets and CountryMarkets. Farm shop selling lambmeat, eggs, jams, preserves andhomemade cakes.

A E Dennett & Son24-26 Boston Road, Spilsby PE23 5HGTel: 01790 752573www.dennetts.co.ukEstablished in 1926, this familybusiness makes award winningnatural ice cream in 30 flavours, alsofrozen yogurt and sorbet.

Fairfield Farm Fresh Products LtdTel: 01472 823031A mobile butcher at Caistor Marketon Saturdays, all meats andhandmade sausages in natural skinsfor extra taste. Tastes of LincolnshireAward 2008.

Field Farm OrganicsField Farm, High Toynton, HorncastleLN9 6NLTel: 01507 523934www.fieldfarmorganics.co.ukWorking organic farm with farmshop,supplying home-grown vegetables,eggs, chickens, traditional lamb, rare-breed Berkshire pork, sausages,bacon and gammon.


Fulstow BreweryUnit 13, Thames Street, Louth Tel: 01507 363642 / 07730 733212Small brewery producing craft beersfrom 100% natural ingredients. Sixregular beers, individual ‘one offs’.Cask and bottle conditionedavailable to the on and off trade.

Glebe Farm Shop �Willingham Road, Market Rasen LN8 3RQTel: 07976 717858Quality local beef, lamb and pork atbelow supermarket prices – our ownspeciality Lincolnshire sausage andburgers. Discount for bulk buys.

Goodies of Covent Garden �Tel: 01507 463468www.goodiesofcoventgarden.co.ukProbably the best home-made fudgeyou’ll ever taste, and fine chocolates.See us at Louth Saturday market orcraft markets at Alford Manor House.

Bill Grundy’s Real Dairy IceCreamWhite House Farm, Main Road,Moorby, Boston PE22 7PLTel: 01507 568885www.oslinc.co.ukDelicious home made real dairy icecream. Available from our FarmShop, open Thursday, Friday andSaturday 10am – 5pm.

Horncastle Cake Art �25 North Street, Horncastle LN9 5DXTel: 01507 525926www.horncastlecakeart.co.ukCelebration, birthday and weddingcakes handcrafted with care.Everything for the cake decorator.

Gluten free, low sugar cakes ourspeciality

Lakings of Louth �33 Eastgate, Louth LN11 9NBTel: 01507 603186Email: [email protected] of Lincolnshire qualitybeef, pork and lamb. Bakers of porkpies, game pies and fresh bread

V T Lancaster & Son Ltd �15/47 Queen Street, Market RasenLN8 3EHTel: 01673 843440Email: [email protected] family butcher (Est 1892).Local beef, pork, lamb, game inseason. Lincolnshire sausages, porkpies, haslet, sausage rolls, cookedmeats a speciality.

B Leaning & Sons (VikingSausages) �26 Front Street, Tealby, MarketRasen LN8 3XUTel: 01673 838205www.vikingsausages.co.ukFor almost 150 years this tiny villagebutchers shop has been producinggenuine Lincolnshire sausages, astraditional as they come.

Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese �Tel: 01507 466987Email:[email protected] winning artisan cheese madeon our farm near Alford, using milkfrom our 230 Holstein cows.Available from good cheese shopsand farmers markets.

Lincolnshire Quality Beef, Lamb & PorkTel: 01526 398915Email: [email protected] cooperative of county farmers andbutchers who produce and supplythe highest quality meat, which isfully traceable back to the farm.

Lincolnshire Wild Venison �Benniworth, Market RasenTel: 01507 350505www.lincolnshirewildvenison.co.uk“Wild Natural and Free Range”Local venison supplied through localretail outlets and mailorder UK wide,chilled straight to your door

Little Hays Poultry �Ashby Puerorum, Horncastle LN9 6QUTel: 01507 533202www.littlehayspoultry.co.ukFree range chicken and ducknaturally reared in a caringenvironment to produce quality andflavour. Please contact us forproduct details.

Meridian Meats Family ButchersLtd �108 Eastgate, Louth LN11 9AATel: 01507 603357www.meridianmeatsshop.co.ukHome produced Longhorn beef, rarebreed lamb, pork, national awardwinning speciality sausages, porkpies, stuffed chine, dry cured bacon.

Minting Park Farm MeatsGautby, Nr Wragby LN8 5JPTel: 01526 398373 / 07775 628259http://www.mintingparkfarm.f9.co.uk

Home produced beef, lamb andmutton matured on the bone in ourchiller, also rare breed pork and freerange eggs.

Oslinc �White House Farm, Main Road,Moorby, Boston PE22 7PLTel: 01507 568885www.oslinc.co.ukOstrich farm shop open Thursday,Friday and Saturday 10am – 5pm.Also attend farmers markets, mailorder available.

Pedigree Corner26-28 Market Street, Spilsby PE23 5JXTel: 01790 753782An enthusiastic and knowledgeablewelcome awaits you: excellent localfresh fruit, vegetables and delicounter. Tastes of Lincolnshirewinner 2008.

Poachers Pasties �Tealby Tearooms, 12 Front Street,Tealby, Market Rasen LN8 3XUTel: 01673 838261www.bestdressedbird.comPoachers Pasties, pate and gamesoup made with pheasant andvenison. See website for list of showsI attend.

Pocklington’s Bakery2 Market Place, Louth LN11 9NRTel: 01507 600180www.pbl.uk.comFamily bakers Est 1924. Fresh crustybread, rolls, pies, pasties,sandwiches, homemade pork pies,Lincolnshire plumbread, traditional,wedding and celebration cakes.


Primrose Free Range Eggs(Trading as S & J Rhodes Dairy)Primrose Hill Farm, Bardney Road,Wragby, Market Rasen LN8 5JETel: 01673 858379Email: [email protected] run farm producing freerange eggs from hens withunrestricted movement within theirfield and shed which are accreditedto the Freedom Food Scheme.

Simons of Spilsby �14 Market Street, Spilsby PE23 5JTTel: 01790 754543www.simonsbutchers.co.ukOur specialities include: ready meals,sausages, pies, haslets, Lincolnshirestuffed chine, dry cured bacon andhome cooked meats.

Special Edition Chocolate �Willingham Hall, Market Rasen LN8 3RHTel: 01673 844073www.specialeditionchocolate.co.ukHand made Multi-Award winningchocolate. Specialities – truffles,ginger, Lincoln Imp Mints, bars in upto 30 flavours! We support Fair Aid.

Sunnyside UpPoplar Farm, Tealby Road, MarketRasen LN8 3ULTel: 01673 843840www.sunnyside-up.co.ukFarmshop selling Lincoln Red Beef,free range eggs, lamb and BerkshirePork produced on the farm andmuch more. Tastes of LincolnshireAward 2008.

Wells Traditional Meats �Manor Farm, Main Road, East Keal,

Mablethorpe LN12 2PYTel: 01507 441171www.theramblers.infoAward winning Four Star guesthouse, where you can enjoy freshlycooked local produce and the menusare changed daily.

Sandgate Hotel44 Drummond Road, Skegness PE25 3EBTel: 01754 [email protected] home cooked meals. Tenrooms, 3 star licensed guestaccommodation. Near to towncentre. Tastes of Lincolnshire MrGeorge Award 2008.

Willow FarmThorpe Fendykes, Wainfleet,Skegness PE24 4QHTel: 01754 830316www.willowfarmholidays.co.ukBed and breakfast and self-cateringone bedroom cottage on family farmwith ponies, goats, hens and ducks.Superb location.

WHERE TO EAT

Applebys IcesMain Road, Conisholme, Louth LN11 7LTTel: 01507 359002Manufacturing our family’s ice creamsince 1913. Supplying wholesale, retailand attending functions. Visit ourfamous parlour at Conisholme.

The Barley MowSea Lane, Friskney, Boston PE22 8SDTel: 01754 820883

Spilsby PE23 4ASTel: 01790 753810Traditionally reared Highland Beefand Saddleback Pork. Reared slowlyto produce a fuller flavour andimproved texture. Please contactanytime.

The Wild Rabbit Company �Benniworth, Market RasenTel: 07798 926921www.thewildrabbitcompany.co.ukLean and tasty with a subtle gameyflavour. Locally sourced andavailable in local outlets or mailorder. List the website for detailsand recipes

COAST

WHERE TO STAY

Colours Guest HouseQueens Park Close, MablethorpeLN12 2ASTel: 01507 473427www.coloursguesthouse.co.ukRelax and enjoy a break in our 4 starguest house set in a stunninglocation sandwiched between thebeach and boating lake.

Poplar Farm Shop and HolidayCottagesCrabtree Lane, Sutton-on-Sea LN12 2RSTel: 01507 443112www.poplar-farm.org.ukQuality self-catering cottages nearthe coast, set in the ancientmeadows of Sutton Ings.

The Ramblers Guest HouseSutton Road, Trusthorpe,

Excellent home-cooked meals, usinglocally sourced fresh produce.Comfortable and relaxingenvironment with friendly efficientservice. Tastes of Lincolnshire Award2008.

Batemans Brewery & VisitorsCentre �Salem Bridge Brewery, Wainfleet,Skegness PE24 4JETel: 01754 882009www.bateman.co.ukAward winning picturesque familybrewery. Day out for everyone in thevisitors centre. Tours daily 2pmadditional 12.30pm 1st April to 1stOctober.

The CountrymanChapel Road, Ingoldmells PE25 1NDTel: 01754 872268www.countryman-ingoldmells.co.ukWarm and friendly village pubserving home-made food with dailyspecials. Parties catered for. Homeof Leila Cottage Brewery.

Lyndhurst Coffee ShopLyndhurst Garden Centre, SkegnessRoad, Burgh le Marsh, SkegnessPE24 5AATel: 01754 812801www.lyndhurstgardencentre.co.ukHome cooked traditional food andsnacks, daily roasts served in ourrelaxed restaurant. Open 7 days aweek.

The Point Café, Gibraltar PointNational Nature ReserveGibraltar Road, Skegness PE24 4SUTel: 01754 898057Email: [email protected]


Enjoy delicious food and drink at ThePoint Café in attractive and friendlysurroundings.

Poplar Farm RestaurantChapel Lane, Addlethorpe, SkegnessPE24 4TGTel: 01754 765174www.poplarfarmrestaurant.co.ukRestaurant overlooking the Wolds,serving prime fresh local producewith theatrical flair. Open Tuesday toSaturday evenings, Sunday lunchand by arrangement.

Poplar Farm Shop and HolidayCottagesCrabtree Lane, Sutton-on-Sea LN12 2RSTel: 01507 443112www.poplar-farm.org.ukFine honey, preserves, jam, jellies andchutneys, cakes, Poacher cheese,plum bread and Lincolnshirehampers. Tea shop and art gallery.

Seacroft BarSeacroft Holiday Estate, SuttonRoad, Trusthorpe, Mablethorpe LN12 2PNTel: 01507 472421www.seacroftcaravanpark.comSeacroft Bar offers a warm andfriendly welcome. Enjoy our locallysourced menu and daily specials.Taste of Excellence Award 2008.

Windmill RestaurantHigh Street, Burgh le Marsh,Skegness PE24 5JTTel: 01754 810281www.windmillrestaurant.co.ukFreshly cooked local produce,friendly efficient service, homemade

desserts, open Wednesday toSunday. See website for menus.Tastes of Lincolnshire Award 2008.

WHERE TO BUY

Alfred Enderby Ltd �Fish Dock Road, Fish Docks,Grimsby DN31 3NETel: 01472 342984Email:[email protected] year old smokehousespecialising in smoked haddockfillets and finnans, plus whole sidesof smoked Scottish salmon. Openweekdays 8am – 2pm.

Lyndhurst Garden CentreSkegness Road, Burgh le Marsh,Skegness PE24 5AATel: 01754 810295www.lyndhurstgardencentre.co.ukFamily run garden centre and coffeeshop, selling many locally sourcedplants as well as a growing range oflocal produce.

Rich Pastures LtdRich Pastures Dairy Farm, ThorpeDales, Thorpe St Peter, SkegnessPE24 4QFTel: 07939 328899Email: [email protected] farmers producing andpacking the milk from the RichPastures herd to sell locally.

Smiths SmokeryNova Lodge, Sea Lane, Friskney,Boston PE22 8SDTel: 01754 820262Smiths Smokery catch and smoke

their own eels caught around thewash also smoking salmon, haddock,trout etc.

Willows Farm Fruit �A52, Chapel St Leonards, SkegnessPE24 5QHTel: 01754 873266 / 07771 696001www.willows-farm.comOpen summer months forstrawberries, raspberries,gooseberries, currants, blackberries,rhubarb, plums, blueberries – readypicked or PYO, plus vegetables,salads and potatoes.

FENS

WHERE TO STAY

Elms Farm CottagesHubberts Bridge, Boston PE20 3QPTel: 01205 290840 www.elmsfarmcottages.co.ukAward winning four and five starbarn conversion into eight selfcatering ground floor cottages.Walk to local pub. Golf and fishing.

The Forge Holiday CottageChapel Road, Tumby Woodside,Boston PE22 7SPTel: 01526 342943www.the4ge.co.ukDetached self-catering holidaycottage set in rural Lincolnshire,sleeps 5, fully equipped withenclosed garden and parking area.

WHERE TO EAT

Chestnut Tea Rooms andFarmshopA17, Main Road, Gedney, Spalding

PE12 0BSTel: 01406 363123A friendly country tea rooms andfarmshop, offering traditional homecooking. Lunches, snacks, creamteas, Sunday lunches – plus a gardencentre too!

WHERE TO BUY

Geo Adams & Sons (Retail) Ltd�25-26 The Crescent, Spalding PE11 1AGTel: 01775 725956www.geo-adams-direct.co.ukTraditional butchers and bakers since1910 supplying award-winning porkpies, sausages and haslet.

Boston Sausage �Bridgefoot, 13 High Street, BostonPE21 8SHTel: 01205 362167www.bostonsausage.co.ukPurveyors of finest quality, hand-made Lincolnshire sausages. Nopreservatives or flavour enhancers.Also open at London’s famousBorough Market.

Prilly’s Country Kitchen �Old School House, Asperton Road,Wigtoft, Boston PE20 2PJTel: 01205 460825www.prillyscountrykitchen.co.ukTraditional homemade chutney’s andpreserves made from the finestquality of locally sourced ingredients.Gift baskets made to order.

Spalding Farm ShopScoldhall Lane, Surfleet, SpaldingPE11 4BJ


Tel: 01775 680101www.spaldingfarmshop.co.ukTastes Award Winner 2007.Lincolnshire grown produce, pickedand delivered to the shop on thesame day so it is field-fresh everyday.

Woodlands Organic FarmKirton House, Kirton, Near BostonPE20 1JDTel: 01205 722491 / 724778www.woodlandsfarm.co.ukOrganic Box Scheme homedelivering vegetables, fruit, LincolnRed Beef, Lincoln Longwool Lamb,Rare Breed Turkeys. Organic FoodAwards Winner 2008.

VALES

WHERE TO STAY

Belvoir Vale Cottage B&BStenwith. Nr Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir,Grantham NG32 2HETel: 01949 842434www.belvoirvale-cottage.co.ukThree relaxing en-suite rooms insecluded cottage onLincolnshire/Leicestershire border.Views to Belvoir Castle, goodwalking. We like people.

The Old TavernBaker’s Lane, Westborough, NewarkNG23 5HLTel: 01400 281071www.theoldtavern.co.uk1750’s house, lovingly refurbished inthis quiet Conservation Village. Awarm welcome, tea/cakes on arrival.English breakfast, optional eveningmeal.

Grasmere Farm TraditionalButchers �8-10 Market Gate, Market DeepingPE6 8DLTel: 01778 342239Email: [email protected] Lincolnshire porkproducts made to original recipes,produced from pigs bred and rearedon our farms.

Kings ButchersDoddington Lane, Claypole, nrNewark NG23 5BETel: 01636 626272Traditional family butcher, LincsQuality Beef, Lamb and Porkmember. Sausage specialists, locallysourced produce and premium foodranges. Tastes of Lincolnshire Award2008.

Syston Park Farm Shop & CaféSyston Park, Nr Grantham NG32 2BZTel: 01400 250000Stocked with fresh locally grownproduce (summer soft fruits), freshbreads, a deli counter and lots more.

CATERERS & FUNCTION VENUES

Branston Hall HotelLincoln Road, Branston, Lincoln LN4 1PDTel: 01522 793305www.branstonhall.comSet in 88 acres of parkland andlakes, our award winning two AARosettes Lakeside Restaurant isrenowned for its culinary excellence.

The Olde Barn HotelToll Bar Road, Marston NG32 2HTTel: 01400 250909www.theoldebarnhotel.co.ukTry Lincolnshire tapas in our barnbar or our restaurant menu featuringthe best of local produce. Starawards 2007 and Tastes ofLincolnshire Award 2008.

WHERE TO EAT

Hambleton Hall Hambleton, Oakham, Rutland LE15 8TH Tel: 01572 756991 www.hambletonhall.com The ultimate in small country househotels with elegant surroundings,spectacular lakeside views, theMichelin-starred restaurant is ratedamongst England’s very best.

Syston Park Farm Shop & CaféSyston Park, Nr Grantham NG32 2BZTel: 01400 250000Delicious home cooked food madewith specially selected locallysourced seasonal produce served inpeaceful and beautiful surroundings.

WHERE TO BUY

Downtown Garden CentreGreat Gonerby Junction A1,Grantham NG32 2ABTel: 01476 512333www.get-it-all.co.ukBrand new food and drinkdepartment, featuring a wide rangeof luxury food ranges, includingfresh and frozen produce.

Finefood2uTel: 07772 582792Email: [email protected] provide a quality outside cateringservice to suit your needs forcorporate and private lunches,dinners and other events.

Grasmere Farm 127 Station Road, Deeping St JamesPE6 8RQTel: 01778 342344www.grasmere-farm.co.ukFull catering service, specialising inhogroasts, banquets and barbecuesfor all events from small celebrationsto weddings and anniversaries.

Hemswell Court LtdLancaster Green, Hemswell Cliff, NrGainsborough DN21 5TQTel: 01427 668508www.hemswellcourt.comLincolnshire’s premier venue forweddings, banqueting andconferences is exclusively yours onday of your event. 5 Stars awardedby the AA.

Hog Roast – LincolnshireTel: 01652 660978 / 07850 438624www.hogroastlincolnshire.comLocally sourced produce taking fastfood to a higher level. Professionalmobile catering units and Hog Roastsalso full entertainment packagesavailable private and corporate.

The Lawn in LincolnUnion Road, Lincoln LN1 3BLTel: 01522 568080www.thelawninlincoln.com


For that special occasion, weddings,ceremonies and receptions, parties,banquets and conferences.Excellent reputation for high qualityfood with professional, friendlyservice.

The Pink Pig Farmshop andRestaurantHome Hall, Holme, Scunthorpe DN16 3RETel: 01724 844466www.pinkpigorganics.co.ukLovely rural venue formeetings/conferences, 3 minutesfrom J4, M180. Seats 40 theatrestyle, 20 boardroom. Homemadebreakfasts, lunches and teas.

This Little PiggyTel: 01673 818481 / 01652 648362Private or corporate events, cateringfrom 30 upwards. Mobile hog roastspecialists in Lincolnshire Pork andLincoln Red Beef.

TD’s French Patisserie & OutsideCatering Company16 Broad Street, Stamford PE9 1PGTel: 01780 755756www.thierrydaugeron.co.ukEverything is possible from anintimate dinner at home to anunlimited party anywhere in theworld. I will make your dream.

WHOLESALERS, HAMPERS & ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Anglia Woods Foodservice �Tel: 01472 353636www.angliawoods.co.ukA family food distributor that hasbeen supplying an extensive range

of quality food products to thecatering trade for over threegenerations.

Bassingthorpe Beef01476 585274Aberdeen Angus Beef, GloucesterOld Spot Pork and Dorset Lamb,phone or can be found at farmersmarkets – Lincoln Castle Square,Stamford, Brigg, Grantham andSleaford.

Bizzibees – Golden Bar Apiaries�Tel: 01754 830654/820369Email: [email protected]% Pure Lincolnshire Honey directfrom our apiary complimented byour natural range of cakes, puddingsand seasonal chutneys. Tradeenquiries welcome.

Cote Hill CheeseTel: 01673 828481www.cotehill.comGold Medal Winner Cote Hill Blueand Cote Hill Yellow, handcrafted onour farm using unpasteurised milkfrom our herd of Friesian cows.Tastes of Lincolnshire Award 2008.

Eden Farms �Tel: 01790 763582www.edenfarms.co.ukOrganic vegetable farm supplyingfresh-cut home grown produce tohouseholds and farmers markets inLincolnshire, Nottinghamshire andLeicestershire. Organic farmers for27 years.

Highwood Brewery �Melton High Wood, Barnetby

DN38 6AATel: 01472 255500www.tom-wood.comTom Wood beer brewed in theLincolnshire Wolds using finestmalting barley and whole Englishhops, available wholesale or at pubsand retail outlets.

Mr Huda’s Surma Secret Spices161 Frodingham Road, ScunthorpeDN15 7NHTel: 01724 335492www.mrhudas.co.uk‘We have done the hard work soyou don’t have to’. Ready blendedauthentic fresh herbs and spices.Tastes of Lincolnshire Award 2008.

Ideal Lincs LtdGrange Offices, Girsby GrangeFarm, Burgh on Bain, Market Rasen LN8 6LATel: 01507 313855www.ideal-lincs.co.ukSpecialist wholesaler of Lincolnshireproduce serving multiple andindependent retailers, food serviceand restaurants. ‘Regional ProduceHub’ serving ASDA locally. Tastes ofLincolnshire Award 2008.

Lincolnshire Agricultural SocietyLincolnshire Showground, Grangede Lings, Lincoln LN2 2NATel: 01522 522900Email: [email protected]“Promoting food and farming in a

sustainable environment.”

Lymn Bank Farm �Tel: 01754 880312www.postacheese.com

Producers of smoked and flavouredcheeses and Lincolnshire smokedgarlic.

Peter’s Eden �Tel: 01754 820733Email: [email protected] family business, hand producing‘Temptingly Tasty’ jams, chutneysand condiments from local produce.

Pipers Crisps �Tel: 01652 686960www.piperscrisps.comHand made crisps produced inLincolnshire using local potatoesand natural flavours from peoplewho care.

Pocklington’s Bakery �Tel: 01507 450872Email: [email protected] family bakers Est 1924.Crusty bread, speciality breads, rolls,cakes, pastries, pork pies, pasties,sausage rolls and Lincolnshireplumbread. Wedding cakespecialists.

Readman Desserts LtdExchange Road, Lincoln LN6 3JZTel: 01522 500294www.readmandesserts.co.ukSupplying quality handcrafteddesserts to the trade and generalpublic. Also half and full day dessertmaking courses, see website.

Red Hen Children’s Day NurseryManor House Farm, Legbourne,Louth LN11 8LSTel: 01507 603535


Email: [email protected]‘Quality of Life’ for 0-5 years. Healthyenvironment, quality home cookedmeals using local produce withexcellent childcare and nurseryeducation.

Stokes Tea and Coffee �Tel: 01522 512534www.stokes-coffee.co.ukCoffee roasters and specialists since1902. Supplying tea, coffee andequipment to the retail, wholesale andcatering trades.

Truly Homemade �Tel: 01522 888964Email: [email protected] sumptuous rich dark fruitcake withalmonds decorated with a choice of

fruit and nuts finished with a brandyand jam glaze. All truly homemade.

Waltham HerbsWillow Vale Nursery, North KelseyRoad, Caistor LN7 6SFTel: 01472 859481www.waltham-herbs.co.ukOpen by appointment only -telephone 07949 883091 first. Widerange of herbs, lavenders, perennialsand shrubs. Attends farmers markets.

Yellowbelly Hampers �Tel: 01529 309675www.yellowbellyhampers.co.ukBaskets filled with produce grown or made in Lincolnshire. For anyoccasion, choose from one of ourpre-selected hampers or create yourown.


Farmshops, Retailers,Wholesalers, Hampers,Associates & Delis

Abbey Parks Farmshop 59

Anglia Woods 66

The Bakery & Deli 59

Church Farmshop 57

Doddington Farmshop 57

Downtown Garden Centre 65

Fenella’s Garden 57

Field Farm Organics 61

Ideal Lincs 66

Lincolnshire Agricultural Society 66

Lincolnshire Quality Beef, Lamb

& Pork 62

Lyndhurst Garden Centre 64

Manor Farmshops 59

Pedigree Corner 62

Pink Pig Farmshop 57

Shop on the Farm 59

Spalding Farmshop 64

Sunnyside Up 63

Uncle Henry’s Farmshop 57

Woodlands Organic Farm 65

Truly Homemade 67

Yellowbelly Hampers 67

Bakers & Flour

Alford Five Sailed Windmill 61

Meridian Meats Butchers 62

Millstream Butchers 59

Minting Park Farm Meats 62

Odling Brothers 59

Oslinc 62

Papworth Butchers 59

Phipps Butchers 59

Poachers Pasties 62

Redhill Farm Free Range Pork 57

Simons of Spilsby 62

Smiths Smokery 64

Southern &Thorpe 59

Syston Park Farmshop 65

Thorpe Latimer Farm Meats 59

Wells Traditional Meats 62

Wild Rabbit Company 62

Preserves & Confectionery

Bizzibees – Golden Bar Apiaries 66

Croft Apiaries 57

Goodies of Covent Garden 62

Gourmet Roasted Nuts 59

Gringley Gringo 57

Heath Farm Preserves 59

Mr Huda’s Spices 66

Old Elephant Fudge 55

Peter’s Eden 66

Pipers Crisps 66

Prilly’s Country Kitchen 64

Special Edition Chocolate 62

Drink

Fulstow Brewery 62

Highwood Brewery 66

Lombard Wines 55

Poachers Brewery 55

Real Tea and Coffee Company 59

Stokes Tea & Coffee 67

Vegetables

Eden Farms 66

Henrietta’s Garden 55

Waltham Herbs 67

Willows Farm Fruit 64

Cheese, Ice Cream, Eggs & Dairy

Bill Grundy’s Ice Cream 62

Cote Hill Cheese 66

Dennett Ice Cream 61

Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese 62

Lymn Bank Cheese 66

Primrose Free Range Eggs 62

Rich Pastures Milk 64

� – Mail order available

Cogglesford Mill 59

Curtis of Lincoln 55

Horncastle Cake Art 62

Pocklington’s Bakery 62

Readman Desserts 66

Welbournes Bakery 60

Meat & Fish

Geo Adams 64

James & Lucy Barclay 59

Bassingthorpe Beef 66

Boston Sausage 64

Chapmans Finest Fishcakes 57

Cooks Farm 61

Elite Meats 55

Alfred Enderby Smoked Fish 64

Fairfield Farm Fresh Products 61

Fen Farm Venison 59

Fishwife Fishmongers 57

Foster Butchers 55

Glebe Farmshop 62

Grasmere Butchers 65

Hirst Butchers 59

Kings Butchers 65

Lakings of Louth 62

Lancaster Butchers 62

Leaning Butchers 62

Lincolnshire Wild Venison 62

Little Hays Poultry 62

Sourcing Your Produce





Gardening

To dreamful wastes where footless fanciesdwell among the fragments of the golden day”From ‘Maud’, Tennyson

“

rive around Lincolnshire and youcan’t help but notice thathorticultural knowledge is just

oozing out of our rich fertile soils. Thefields of flowers and vegetables in the Fensare the clearest manifestation, but digdeeper to find family run nurseries wherereally good help and advice is to be had;flower arrangers decorating our magnificentmedieval churches for the various flowerfestivals. The private charity gardenopenings reveal private passions and are agreat source of ideas and more knowledgeand I can never resist those little villageplant stalls by the side of the road, for whoknows what treasure you might pick up?

When I came to Lincolnshire 19 yearsago and acquired a blank canvas of agarden, tracking down obscure nurseriesdown country lanes became a way ofdiscovering this big rural county.Meandering with purpose, I acquired plantsfrom nurseries, garden open days, statelyhomes and plant fairs: every purchase

marking a great day out. Still my favouritebuy is Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’, one of theearliest roses to flower, so unfortunately alate frost or scorching wind can wipe out

that year’s flowers. But eternal optimism iswhat keeps us gardeners going and when itis a mass of soft yellow, passers-by stop intheir tracks and demand to know what it is.It has great Lincolnshire credentials beingnamed for Sir Joseph Banks, the

Lincolnshire born plant hunter. But my rosehas even more being bought at HarringtonHall, from a cutting of the one on theirgable wall, more Tennyson connectionshere as he lived nearby and this lovelygarden and Rosa Baring who lived thereinspired his poem ‘Maud’.

There are always foodie connections tobe made, not least because tea, cakes andgarden visiting go so well together! StevePenney of Waltham Herbs is a greatstalwart of the farmers markets and of ourfood fairs. Specialising mainly in herbs,lavenders and perennials, Steve is a greatsource of good advice and what can benicer than your own herbs from the gardento make that special dish. Don’t forget thatamongst lavender’s many bonuses are itsculinary uses, the cake recipe featured herewas developed for us by Rachel some yearsago. It’s delicious and I offer it as areminder now and don’t do as I invariablydo, remember it just as the lavender hasgone over…

The Garden Open Days are a greatBritish invention and goodness me, theowners work so hard to have them readyfor our delectation. One can only imaginethe nerves of throwing open your privateeden to public gaze, but we should all begrateful that so many people inLincolnshire do.

Marion and Colin of Ermine Cottage Nursery atColeby often visit our foodfairs. I know that they can’tagree on who makes thebest Lincolnshire sausagesand in the interest ofharmony a sausage mealhas to include both of their favourites!

Footless FanciesGardens and nurseries, seek them outsays Mary Powell

D


Lincolnshire Lavender CakeCAKE:

100g Self-raising flour

2 Large fresh eggs

25g Ground almonds

100g Butter

100g Caster sugar1/2 Grated rind of large lemon

1 Good tbsp lavender flowers removed from stalk

Cream butter and sugar. Add one egg, sift in half the

flour, add the other egg and the rest of the flour. Mix

together with a wooden spoon. Add almonds, lemon rind

and lavender flowers. Place mixture in a greased loaf tin

(20cm x 9cm x 6cm). Bake at Gas Mark 4 or 170°F for

45 minutes – but keep an eye on it.

SYRUP:

1 tbsp Granulated sugar

2 tbsp Water

6 Lavender flower sprigs

Heat ingredients gently together until reduced by half.

Strain and reserve the syrup.

ICING:

100g Icing sugar

Lavender syrup (see above)

Sift icing sugar into a bowl and mix with syrup to

required consistency. Drizzle icing mix over the cake

when cool. Decorate with sprigs of lavender.

Recipe by Rachel Green

Can I also recommend for 2009 theevents put on by the Lincolnshire GardensTrust as a source of great treats. The LGTreminds me of yet another of my socialgaffes when some years ago attending oneof their multi venue events I was asked totransport a fellow gardener. My unwisechoice of shortcuts turned out to be a gatedroad, progress was laborious as I made mypassenger trot between the gates. I wasalarmed to find that the panting gateopener was in fact our very illustrious

speaker who was to lecture us on thelandscape architect Humphrey Repton.Apparently the rather impractical Reptondidn’t believe in telling a Gentleman whatto do – alas that I will ever find this aproblem! �

www.gardenstrusts.org.uk/new/LINCS

We visited the gardens ofGarden House, Saxby asthey were preparing for oneof their Open Days. The wetweather of last summer wasdriving them to despair, butthere was still much toadmire

Left–right: Ermine Cottage Nursery;Saxby Garden House; Saxby GardenHouse; Ivano de Serio of the OldBakery, Lincoln takes local sourcing soseriously he has his own allotment;Steve Penney, Waltham Herbs



Last year Doddington Hall

Farm Shop invited villager

Amy Claridge to cook in its

garden. The idea was to invite

the public to come and enjoy

a morning in the restored

Kitchen Garden, watch the

produce being cooked and

then eat the result.

The one dish that went

down exceptionally well was

the what-no-basil pesto. “I

took the classic pesto

ingredients but substituted

basil with flat leaf parsley,

which grows very well at

Doddington,” explained Amy.

The demos also attracted

people who want to grow, or

already grow, their own veg.

Kitchen gardener Gavin

Roberts was on hand to chat

and share his love for the

two-acre walled Kitchen

Garden.

It was such a success that

Amy will be returning, with

trusty camping stove and

battered orange wok in tow,

for five Saturdays in 2009:

9 May, 6 June, 11 July, 22

August and 19 September.

The demos are free, with no

need to book.

Cooking in the kitchen garden

News

Huda’s Surma Secrets, the

popular herb and spice mixes,

have launched a new recipe

range on www.mr-hudas.co.uk.

Maf Huda explained, “We

decided to give our customers

recipe ideas using the Anglo-

Indian twist because our

quality spice mixes don’t

necessarily have to be used

for just making a curry, they

can also be used to give that

traditional dish a little extra

boost of flavouring without

taking away the true texture

of the dish.”

One of the recipes even has

a local flavour! The

Lincolnshire Yellow Belly

Bhuna includes Lincolnshire

sausages and Lincolnshire

potatoes. Give these Roasted

Vegetables a try.

New recipes with a twist!

3 Garlic cloves, peeled

and the tough end

removed

1 Good handful of flat

leaf parsley leaves

40g Pine nuts

40g Freshly grated

parmesan

75ml Good olive oil

A little rock salt

Put the garlic, herbs, pine

nuts and parmesan in your

processor. Blitz for a few

seconds until thoroughly

chopped and combined.

Pulse while adding the oil

and salt, have a scrap down

half way through. Check

seasoning and transfer to a

jar or dish.

What-No Basil Pesto

700g Peeled root

vegetables

400g Baby potatoes

skins on

1 tsp Mr Huda's Universal

curry paste

2 tsp Olive oil

1 tsp Runny honey

Mix olive oil and Mr Huda's

Universal Curry Paste in a

small bowl. Put the

vegetables and potatoes into

a roasting tray, pour over the

olive oil and paste mix and

stir the vegetables until they

are all coated evenly.

Put the tray into an oven

180°C Gas mark 5 for

approximately 45–45 minutes,

until cooked through.

Take out of the oven and

stir the teaspoonful of honey

through the vegetables.

Sweet Curry Roasted Vegetables


This year’s Chelsea Flower

Show will see the launch of

a new David Austin rose to

celebrate the poet

Tennyson’s 200th centenary.

David Austin is a poetry

lover himself and was keen

to make the connection

when approached by the

Tennyson Society. I

understood that it is apricot

and will be called The Lady

of Shalott.

There are several garden

openings that strike a

Tennyson chord. Somersby

Rectory where he was born,

Harrington Hall, home of

Rosa Baring, an early love

and for whom the poem

‘Maud’ is derived and Gunby

Hall (NT) with its lovely

walled gardens, his ‘haunt of

ancient peace.’

www.tennyson2009.co.uk

Come Into The Garden…

Pho

tog

rap

h ©

David

Austin

Ro

ses

Key to symbols

Disabled Access

Parking Facilities

Plant Stall Sales

Suitable for group visits

Tea/Coffee/Drinks

Toilet Facilities

GoWild!

Mary Powell says encourage the natives


isiting Growing Wild, inthe shadow of Boston’sPilgrim Hospital, remindedme that not everythinggrown in Lincolnshire’s

fields is for us to eat! One of the largestproducers of wildflower seed in thecountry, Growing Wild farm over 80 acresof their own seed crops.

This small company, now in its 11th year,emerged phoenix-like from the demise ofJohnsons Seeds in Boston. James had beena Director, David responsible for wildflowers and John farm manager for all theirtrials. The site where they operate from wasoriginally used by Johnsons for researchand development.

David tells me that they grow everythingindividually, a staggering 70–120 differentspecies per year, but then make up mixeswhich are supplied to other seed companiesto be mixed with grasses for verges andmotorway embankments. To supplementtheir own seed production they also harvestdirectly from the wild over 120 acres ofprivately owned and Lincolnshire WildlifeTrust meadows. “This gives us valuableLincolnshire provenance wildflowers” hesays, “all of our seed is harvested, dried,stored and cleaned by our own staff. Wehave complete control over our stocks fromsowing to selling the seeds.”

Growing Wild has supplied seed for theChannel Tunnel Rail Link and the LondonOlympic site. Producing seed for theM6/M74 link in Scotland provided its ownchallenges. Under the strict jurisdiction ofthe Scottish Office, the seed was collectedin Scotland and then multiplied in isolationin Lincolnshire before being returned forsowing.

I watch James pouring Salad Burnet intothe seed cleaner so that twigs and otherdebris can be removed. There is a varietyof work throughout the year, but the wintermonths are for cleaning and packing theseed. Combining starts in late April andthey progress through each species as itbecomes ready for harvesting usuallyfinishing in November. Not everything canbe combined. Large vacuums are used tosuck seeds from the Hawkbit andDandelion family. Big sheets are needed tocatch seeds that explode like Pansies andCranesbills. Whilst Teasels and Foxgloveshave to be clipped and thrashed.

The burgeoning interest in wildgardening has encouraged Growing Wildinto a new venture for 2009. They haveproduced for the retail market, a collectionof six seed mixes for different habitats:Busy Bumblebees, Wetlands, Old Cornfield,Butterflies, Woodland Glade and HayMeadow. The new seed packets are very

attractive and the names of their contents soevocative; Lady’s Bedstraw and Gipsywort,Bladder Campion and Black Medick,Betony, Self Heal and Devil’s Bit Scabious.

“Everyone has a corner of the gardenthat doesn’t do very well” David tells me,“absolutely ideal for wild seed!” Any tips Ineed to know? Just treat as normal plants,

wildflowers don’t need specific conditions“they survive because they just do”, butweeding will remove their competition.Other advantages are that they will attractwildlife in a remarkably short timescale andbecause they are native they are a lot morerobust than many cultivated forms.

Look out for the packets at Abbey ParksFarm Shop, Tastee Farm Shop, JohnsonsGarden Centre, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trustshops and many others.

As I prepare to leave I see Jamespreparing an order for dispatch, it’s 200kilos of seed and it’s going all the way toFrance. Their export side isn’t huge buttheir seed is going to Germany, Hollandand Estonia as well.

As ever when visiting a business andseeing ‘behind the scenes’ I am impressedand fascinated by the expertise anddedication, not least that David canrecognise a sackful of any one of his 120species at a glance. Sow some yourselvesand encourage Lincolnshire natives intoyour garden! �

Other advantages are thatthey will attract wildlife in aremarkably short timescaleand because they are nativethey are a lot more robustthan many cultivated forms

V

Above: Abbey Parks Farm Shop, East HeckingtonLeft: James prepares an order for dispatch


Open Gardens St JohnAmbulanceSunday Afternoons (March-Sept)2pm – 5pm£2.50 One garden, £3.50 Two or more Private gardens opened to thepublic for St John Ambulance;teas and plant stalls.www.sja.org.uk/lincolnshire

MARCH

Skellingthorpe Open Gardens31 May 200911am – Last Entry 4:30pm£2.50Variety of Village gardens open inaid of St Barnabas Hospice; onewith live music.Tickets and refreshments at theCommunity centre, Lincoln Road,Skellingthorpe01522 683627www.stbarnabashospice.co.ukOff A46 by-pass

MAY

Goltho Gardens3 May 200910am – 4pm£3 4 1/2 acres of established gardensincluding wild flower meadow,rose and gravel gardens andponds.As featured in English Garden 2009Goltho Gardens, Lincoln Road,Goltho, Market Rasen, Lincs LN8 5NF01673 [email protected] A158 one mile from Wragby

Rippingale Open Garden9 & 10 May 2009 Sat 2pm – 6pmSun 11am – 4-30pm£2A collection of approx 12 gardensof varying sizes, teas and plantstalls available. 01778 4404995 miles North of Bourne half amile off the A15 Signposts will be out

St Barnabas Hospice Grand Plant Sale10 May 200910am – 1pmFree of chargeA wide range of indoor andoutdoor plants and shrubs – atgood prices! Refreshments alsoavailable. Grandstand Community Centre01522 540300fundraising@stbarnabashospice.co.ukwww.stbarnabashospice.co.ukoff Carholme Road Lincoln

Claxby Open Gardens21 June 200912:30pm – 5:30pm£3 (Tickets from car parks) Lovely Wolds village, 10+ gardens,homemade food from 12 noon,other activities. Valley Farm, Mulberry Road,Claxby, Lincolnshire LN8 3YS01673 [email protected] Claxby village, just off the A46between Market Rasen andCaistor

Minting Open Gardens21 June 200911am – 6pm£3, accompanied children freeAt least 8 different gardens,including ponds and wildlifemeadows. Ploughman’s lunches,teas and bar.01507 5784881.5 miles off A158 betweenWragby and Horncastle

North Scarle Garden & Scarecrows Weekend27 & 28 June 200911am – 5pm£2.50 Adults, Young children freeif accompanied Follow the scarecrow trail.Gardens open, from small &delightful to large & rugged.Refreshments.North Scarle Village, Lincolnshire,LN6 9EP01522 778882One mile from A1133 Newark-Gainsborough

Hemingby Open Gardens28 June 200911am – 5pm£2.5010 gardens open, withrefreshments available in 2 ofthem. Flowers in the churchThe Villa, Chapel Lane, Hemingby,Horncastle, LN9 5QG01507 5786233 miles North of Horncastle

Hidden Gardens of Worlaby28 June 20091pm to about 5pm£2.50Charming village gardens withcream teas in several. Teddybearwedding exhibition in St.Clements ChurchWorlaby, North LincolnshireParking in village hall car park01652 [email protected] A180/M180 junction,following signs to Elsham village,turn left onto B1206, then rightonto B1204 for 1 1/2 miles

Goltho Gardens24 May 200910am – 4pm£3 4 1/2 acres of established gardensincluding wild flower meadow,rose and gravel gardens andponds. As featured in English Garden 2009Goltho Gardens, Lincoln Road,Goltho, Market Rasen, Lincs, LN85NF, 01673 [email protected] A158 one mile from Wragby

21st Tathwell Fine Art Exhibition23 – 25 May 200910am – 6pm£1Water colours, pastels, oils.Quality second hand books oldpostcards. Painting demonstrationguided village walk Sunday10:30amSt Vedast’s Church, The Lane,Tathwell, Louth01507 602869Between A16 and A153

JUNE

Friends of Bolingbroke CastleOpen Gardens Living History & Plant sales weekend6 & 7 June 2009 1pm – 5pm£3.50 (16yr and under free)Open gardens, Plant sales,Historical events at the castle,Craft exhibition and various otherattractions.enquires 01790 7632854 miles west of Spilsby, 7 mileseast of Horncastle

Bassingham Open Gardens & Scarecrows14 June 20092pm – 6pm£3, Accompanied children freeVisit traditional and new gardensin our friendly rural village andlook out for the scarecrows.Bassingham Village Hall Car Park,Lincoln Road, Bassingham, LincsLN5 9HQ 01522 [email protected] 3 1/2 miles fromA46 Halfway House roundabout

Open Gardens in Upton and Kexby20 & 21 June11am – 5:30pmAdults: £2.50 covers all gardens,accompanied children free Approximately twelve gardens inaid of George Henderson Lodge,St Barnabas Hospice. FamilyattractionsUpton and Kexby Village,Lincs DN21 5NF01427 788611www.uptonlincolnshire.co.uk13 miles North of Lincoln, 3 milesEast of Gainsborough off B1241

JULY

Billingborough Open Gardens 4 & 5 July 200911am – 5pm£3 accompanied children freeA delightful mix of formal andinformal. Gardens of all sizes in a delightful villageSt Andrews Church,Billingborough01529 240676Just to East off A15, between Bourne and Sleaford

Bigby Open Gardens12 July 20091pm – 5pm£2.50, accompanied children free,in aid of church funds. Open gardens including Pinefieldsand The Old Rectory, Somerby,Teas/Home-made cakes in villagehall Bigby, Near Barnetby, North Lincs DN38 6EW 01652 628414Between Brigg and Caistor offA1084

Winterton Open Gardens18 & 19 July 2009 Sat 1.30pm –6pmSun 10.30 – 5pm£2.50 for 1 or 2 days (children free)Theme Birds, Bees & Butterflies.Approximately 20 gardens. Freeparking and free shuttle bus 01724 [email protected] 5 miles North of Scunthorpe

SEPTEMBER

18 Field Lane, Open Garden5 & 6 September 200910am – 5pmDonation to CharityFamily garden with pet dogs andBantams. Containing a nationalcollection of hardy Fuchsias.18 Field Lane, Morton,Gainsborough, Lincs DN21 3BY 01427 612329In Morton off minor road toWalkerith

Goltho Gardens13 September 200910am – 4pm£3 4 1/2 acres of established gardensincluding wild flower meadow,rose and gravel gardens andponds.As featured in English Garden 2009Goltho Gardens, Lincoln Road,Goltho, Market Rasen, Lincs, LN85NF, 01673 [email protected] A158 one mile from Wragby

Open Gardens


82 | GOOD TASTE

ome Good Taste readers mayremember back in 2005 that weattached one of our Food Fairs to

the Lincoln Cathedral Flower Festival.Flower arrangers came from all over Britainand we were able to impress them withLincolnshire’s produce as well as someknock out flowers in an equally knock outsetting. When we heard that Boston Stumpwere holding a flower festival in 2009 tocelebrate their 700th anniversary, we had to get involved – food and flowers does itfor us.

On the 20th and 21st June we will beholding a Tastes of Lincolnshire Food Fairall around the outside of Boston Stump. Sobe wowed by the flowers inside and then betempted by the many Tastes of Lincolnshireoutside. We may not be quite so artistic butwe feed your soul too!

I can’t resist recommending another visitwhilst you’re in Boston. A major project bythe Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership has

Recycling with styleS

recently completed and is worth a look.Our new lock with its massive steel gates isa magnificent engineering structure but mayleave you unmoved, the restoration of aderelict building to a waterside café maynot tear you from the flower arrangements,but please do go and look at the amazingcarving that has been created from the twoold wooden lock gates. Re-installed at BlackSluice as a decorative screen, the carvingon the gates represents those men, whowith just pick, shovel and wheelbarrowbuilt the Black Sluice Navigation in the 19thcentury. Local wood carver Nigel Sardesonhas created the work from the oldgreenheart gates, one of the toughest oftropical hardwoods. The work has beendifficult and Nigel has burnt his waythrough more equipment than he probablythought possible! The resultant piece issimple but so striking – sneak preview here(unveiled 20 March). Go see! �

Documents

Good Taste Magazine Edition 9