Daniels Flour Mill, Bridgnorth Shropshire.

While we were in Shropshire, we visited Daniels Mill, just outside Bridgnorth.

It turned out to be another of those casual visits which became a highlight of the stay.  The current miller gives an interesting and entertaining tour and actually sets the wheel turning and grinds flour while visitors watch.

Alan has written about the technical details here so I’ll leave them out.

To give you an idea of the scale, the wheel is 38 ft (11.6m) and is the largest cast iron waterwheel in England driving a corn mill.

The earliest reference to the mill is in the late 15th century, though it would have been much smaller and the wheel was probably made of wood.  The present wheel was cast in Coalbrookdale in 1854 and installed soon after.  The mill ground all kinds of grain for animal feed but, in common with many other small industrial enterprises, the mill closed when the last miller died in 1957.

Now, thanks to money from Grantscape, the wheel turns again and wheat is being ground for sale in Health food and speciality shops and, of course, it can be bought at the mill.

And very tasty bread it makes, too.

Shrewsbury Farmers Market

David and Shirley were off home on Friday so we took the Park and Ride bus into Shrewsbury and went to see what the local producers had to offer before they left. The weather has changed for the worse and we had to dodge the odd shower but nothing too bad.  There was a reasonable turn out of customers which gives me hope that the English are beginning to see reason.  I’ve never been able to understand how people rave about the markets on the continent but turn up their noses at the ones here.

Tasting damson gin before lunch is not something we would usually indulge in but how can you refuse?  It looks so churlish.  I can’t give a link to Chilton Damson Gin because my Vodaphone mobile connection won’t let me link to an alcohol related site.  I keep meaning to phone them and tell them I’m old enough to choose for myself but . . .   Bizarrely, it will let me link to this site which features the demon drink!

The Damson Gin is absolutely wonderful – rich, fruity, smooth and has an afterkick like a mule, understandably as it is 26% proof.  More than the one thimbleful we had to taste might have had us singing round the market.

  

Chirk Trout Farm and Smokery had a lovely display. As with MacKenzies, the smoking is natural and not overpowering.  There are no nasty dyes used to give a bright colour and the food looks plump and moist.  We bought smoked trout pasties for supper and the ladies from Chirk put them in their cool box for us till we were ready to go home.

Having had a sample of these ‘gourmet’ sausage rolls, we couldn’t resist buying a couple with pork, chillies and garlic. 

These are not sausage rolls as we know them, Jim!  For a start, the pastry is not the thick, dry flaky mess with a minimum of sausage inside that made me swear off sausage rolls years ago.  It is thin and melts in the mouth.  The sausage inside is thick and dense. Yes, I can taste the chilli and garlic but it is not overpowering.  We really enjoyed them as a late afternoon snack.

Smoked in the Dales

 

We do most of our fruit and vegetable shopping at Keelham Farm Shop, which is just up the road from us and, increasingly, our meat and fish is being sourced there as well.

We took a decision a while back that, as prices were going up and our income wasn’t, we would rather have less meat and fish but keep buying good quality – which is how we found produce from Mackenzies Yorkshire Smokehouse in Keelham Farm’s cooler.

The smokehouse is not far from us, right up in the dales at a small village called Blubberhouses.  So we loaded the car with a cool box, some money and our appetites and set off to sample the delights of it’s restaurant and shop.  After some delays and detours caused by road repairs because of a landslide, we arrived just in time for our reservation.

I haven’t quite got up the nerve to take photos in a restaurant  yet so I can’t show you the delicious meal we had but there are pictures of the restaurant and a menu on the website.

Then to the shop to fill the cool box with smoked mackerel, smoked tuna, smoked salmon, smoked meat, smoked sausages, smoked paprika – well, it is a smoke house!  All the produce is fresh and so I was shopping for the freezer.

The picture above is, believe it or not, a kipper.  Forget the bright yellow, dry fish sold as kipper in most places.  This is pale, delicate, moist, delicious. It is half a pack and plenty for the two of us with a poached egg to boost the protein.

Such a simple meal, quickly cooked and served with new potatoes and peas. 

And I’ve still got the other half of the pack in the freezer.  I’m off to browse in my cookery books.