Witches, Hazels and helmets ...
Those Romans again .. they brought the “Greek Helmets” to England – the husk which partly covers the fruits – the hazelnuts - became known by the Greek generic word for a helmet. The hazel may well have already been here when the Romans came to conquer, as it is known to be one of the first plants to reclaim the lands when the glaciers withdraw. Stone Age man would also have included these nuts in his seasonal diet.

What is a Persian Palette...? Turquoise, Seagreen, Magenta ...
Turquoise, Persian palette, manganese carnations, Spanish-Moorish lustres all hues, colours, and techniques that brightened and enhanced pottery over the last five hundred years. William de Morgan, a great friend of William Morris

Iron Curtain or a rich Green Natural Wilderness
The great divide – that Iron Curtain separating Western Europe from Eastern Europe – is now known as the European Green Belt – who would have thought it? That border defence symbolising the ideological and physical boundary dividing Europe from the end of World War II in 1945 unti

A is for Apple - an Apple a day keeps the doctor away ...
Harvest time is over, the mists, damp, grey skies are here, the cooling rain is in the air waiting to knock the final full fruits off their boughs, above the gnarled trunks, into the long damp grass beneath. The autumn offers us free foods in the hedgerows – the apples abound in the lanes, or are h

Fireworks and Bonfire Night - November 5th
Guy Fawkes really started the Bonfire and Firework parties that we now have throughout Britain during the early part of November, while Halloween has always been a much more American thing! Though there is definitely a cultural mix now – as our children enjoy the dressing up for the spooky Halloween