Category: Notes from the sticks

READERS sometimes comment that this column is a welcome relief from the insanity of the modern world, so I apologise in advance that today’s article is not light-hearted. I start … Continue readingJohnson’s McGonagall moment

MY column a couple of weeks ago about climbers and the damage they can do reminded readers of some other pestilential plants. One of them is Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), a relative of the … Continue readingA beautiful beast from the Himalayas

LAST Saturday, le tout Clitheroe turned out for the annual Ribble Valley Scooter Rally (cancelled last year). It used to be called the Mod Weekender but they renamed it in … Continue readingA multitude of Mods

THERE isn’t much that proclaims ‘country cottage’ more clearly than a foliage-covered frontage. Here are a few pictures I took around our village last week. This is common or garden … Continue readingClimbing the walls

THEY didn’t waste much imagination when they named our local hostelries. Our neighbouring village of Waddington had The Buck and the Buck In The Vine a few hundred yards apart, … Continue readingThe Queen bobs in* for a brew**

DURING the summer there are usually quite a number of village shows in this area, probably half a dozen within a half-hour’s drive. Last year all were cancelled and this … Continue readingShow Time

IF YOU were to watch BBC and Channel 4 gardening programmes (which I don’t) I’m sure you wouldn’t hear much mention of bedding plants such as lobelia, alyssum, begonias and … Continue readingSalute to the English country garden

LAST week I mentioned that there was to be a vintage tractor rally that day. I duly went along and found a delightful crowd of enthusiasts admiring the old things. There must … Continue readingAttracted to tractors

ONE of the many pleasures of living in the country is that there are occasional tractor runs, when vintage farm vehicles parade through the village before driving around for a … Continue readingTransports of delight

WE are having some wonderful warm weather, which is very welcome. Not so welcome are the biting insects which accompany it. A few days ago a little wretch got inside … Continue readingOnce bitten . . .