I’m not one for taking pictures of my own lunch but this has to be a worthy exception. Until last week I’d never had East End Eels. I’d heard about Pie and Mash shops and Jellied Eels, of course, but never sampled the delights. A trip to Hackney and there stands an old established Eel and Pie shop. On a perishing cold day, it seemed sensible to have a hot dinner. Under that sea of green lurk the eels in question, the sea of green is described as liquor, but to you and me it would be parsley sauce ( … Continue reading Eels and Mash

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith Let loose the dogs of war! Have at ye, varlet! In the Olden Days, soldiers used to say things like that. They also said “Lay on, Macduff” and “I want my mammy”. The Nosepipians’ journey across the sea was total chaos, with quite a few of the ships being sailed by people who had only done wind-surfing before. There were no signs or anything to give them directions, and the weather got worse and worse. They thought they were … Continue reading 9. Let loose the dogs of war! Have at ye, varlet!

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith It was usually muesli for the poor wee lamb. Nicky Tams looked at the muesli jar. It was a special, very good for you sort of muesli, specially mixed by the Royal Special Muesli Mixing Herald Pursuivant. It had large quantities of sharp bits, blended carefully with hard bits and chewy bits and stick-between-your-teeth bits, all together with loads of round, flat, floury tasteless bits. Nicky Tams was allowed no salt or sugar, but he found that if he … Continue reading 8. What the King had for his breakfast.

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith What a girl. She’d already written out the list. This was the list. Bows. Arrows. Catapults. Air pistols (they wouldn’t sell proper guns to someone still at junior school, even in the Olden Days, and even if she was the Prime Minister). Slugs for the air pistols. Uniforms. Boots. Tents. Flags. Trumpets. And, of course, Men. They didn’t allow girls in the army. “Now, what about lunch on the first day?” she said to herself. “Would a Chinese take-away … Continue reading 7. The Prime Minister gets the shopping in.

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith The Doom of Nicky Tams. Perhaps some Eye of Newt would have been better. Tracy was good at History as well as everything else, and so she knew the answer to that question. “They usually try to make their kingdoms bigger, so they can be more important than the other kings.” “But that’s silly,” said Nicky Tams. “Obviously.” “Like, why?” asked Tracy. “Well, obviously. I mean to say, if I were to make my kingdom bigger, that would mean … Continue reading The Doom of Nicky Tams.

Just a short film of a very small selection of the morris dancing and their bands yesterday in Stroud, there to celebrate Wassail. What a talented bunch.There were too many to film all of them all of the time, but these few give the flavour of the event. Make sure you don’t miss it next year. A brilliant way to cheer people at the most miserable time of year. This was no morris minor.   See if you can spot this chap!   Continue reading Morris minor, parts thereof…

A day out in Stroud to see the Wassail. Read all about where it comes from here In actual fact, I saw more of the Morris men and women than the Wassail thing itself as by the time I’d had a spot of chilli and bread with the horse nearby I was at the back of the crowd outside the Subscription Rooms in Stroud. That aside I got loads of shots of the very fine Morris Dancers, who were all very accommodating, but then if you spend time decorating yourself like this you must expect some attention. I’ll leave you to enjoy … Continue reading This was no morris minor.

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith   Why can’t people leave things alone? “Never mind,” said King Nicky Tams The Easily Led, when he noticed his feet weren’t touching the floor. “Hello, everyone in Nosepipe. This is your King speaking. And a very special hello – to YOU.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say, which hardly mattered seeing as nobody was listening, so he read the palace copy of the Nosepipe Courier and Advertiser. In the International section he was intrigued to see … Continue reading The new King gets busy.

I like to look for a project for the coming year and when I find something, I will probably ‘do it to death’. A bit like a stand-up comedian who finds a good story to follow and then proceeds to mine it for all it’s worth, I try to do the same. I’m not sure quite which seam to mine this year but folk dancing and ancillary musicians might be one. The danger at times for me is that I leave the seam before fully exploiting it, so haircuts had their day but there are more to be done there. … Continue reading Looking for a seam

I recently did this drawing and the original is going to be sold for charity by my chum Robin, who is keen on this sort of thing. For those of you not familiar with this sort of thing, then it usually goes under the title of Morris Dancing. I’m sure you’ll find out lots more about it on-line, and you could start here:Morris dancing . I’m not a massive fan myself but remember well when I saw some females of the breed doing a very energetic version up in Yorkshire many years ago. It really was something to behold, with the added … Continue reading Country dancing of a sort.

Our latest episode of Nicky Tams the King of Nosepipe,  as told by Gordon Thorburn and illustrated by myself Wordsmith Drawingsmith   This is an extremely scary part of the story which must only be read at room temperature. That night Scary Mary started her spell. As it was to be a spell against the King, she needed one very special ingredient. Without this special ingredient, spells cannot harm Persons of Royal Blood. She needed… Eye of Newt! She also needed some chocolate mouse-dirt, some fluff that had been blocking up the Hoover, and a bit of that greeny blue … Continue reading More magic from Scary Mary.