Studying medlers here, has made me ask for a medler tree for christmas, began Nicky. Autumn leaves falling all around us.
Many had childhood memories, mothers making medler jelly and jam; I used to have a medler tree in Sommerset. So we wondered where the popularity of the medler had gone, for it had: the new generation had not heard of medlers or knew what to do with them. ‘What is that?’ said one before today. Seen one for the first time here. They’ve been cultivated for over 3,000 years, originating in Iran and South East Asia, bought to the UK by the Romans. They are good for us, have medicinal qualities – good for kidneys, high in potassium, and generally good for the FLOW. Pregnant women should not ignor their cravings. So the story goes a woman did ignor her craving for medlers, and when he child was born he refused to eat, until that was she remembered her repressed craving and put some medler juice on her childs lips which worked: the child began suckling.
Armoral recalled being fed disgusting medlers at boarding school. Someone said you could make marmalade from the pulp.
Perhaps because of their unusal disposition to be half rotten before we can cook or eat them. Called Bletting. They must be allowed to blett, which is when the fruit starts to breakdown by before rotting. As Chaucer says:
Til we be rotten can we be ripe
Gabrielle has planted a medler tree on the Millennium green Halesworth which has started to bare fruit.
And the bottom thing, what Medlers remind us of. We collected three bottoms: Dog, Monkey and Donkey.
It’s up to us to resurect the tradition we concluded. So it was, following Will’s direction (a la Nigel Slater) we began the making of Medlar Jelly.
In recognition of last weeks Spindle, we danced:
Hey big Spindle, spin a little yarn for me.
With Kally’s direction, Meg did her own spinning of yarn. Some carded.
Roy and Chris began the making of the great Loom in the Wood, with a good bit of square lashing.
Big thanks to Clare for all her cheese cutting and Yvonne for all washing up – we were missing the lovely Leslie
At the end we gathered around the fire and listened to our star guest speaker, Michael Imison. Today was the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Dr Who, and who better to invite to tell us some of its history, than the last surviving director of the first Dr Who series, staring William Hartnall. And what a story it turned out to be: born as an educational programme, staring a grandfather educating his grandchildren. He never had control of the Tardis so never knew in which time it would land.
We all had our own Dr Who moments: Who knew that Tardis – stands for Time and Relevance Displacement in Space? Rose-Ann’s husband was also a director with Granada and invited Kitty Black to a dinner, over which she described this thing she was considering backing. Rose-Ann said, she wouldn’t watch it! One of the first draliks was an actor called Peter Badger – who for his life was most proud of this role. ‘I remember when they captured one, opened it out, and after the slime came tiny grey creatures.’ We recalled some of the past Doctors: Matt Smith, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Colin Baker Paul Mac. The memory that I will find hard to forget is Chris, as a child, walking around with a laundry basket on his head with a sink plunger exclaiming ‘I will exterminate you’ !
Kinda Elders in the woods 