Fossils and Wine in A Courtyard

An unlikely combination brought about by a very hot day, a search for some Olympic history and a close encounter of the paleontological kind.

We went to hunt for The Raven Hotel in Much Wenlock, the scene of meetings between William Penny Brookes who started the Much Wenlock Olympian Games in 1850 and Baron Pierre de Coubertain who is often credited with the modern revival of the Olympic Games.

It was hot, we were thirsty and the rather smart hotel didn’t really take in passing trade for drinks.  The Manager (owner?) kindly offered to serve us in the courtyard and out we went into the shade.

A couple walked through, obviously going to their room and my eye was caught by a large piece of rock in the man’s hand.  Well, you know me!  I’ll talk to anyone – after all, the worst they can do is ignore me.  So I called out “that looks like an interesting piece of rock.”

It certainly was and the three of us spent some time in discussions of ‘fossils we have known’.  Our new friend’s wife disappeared very quickly so I assume she was not so interested!

The rock was mudstone and absolutely filled with brachiopods from 400 million years ago when a warm sea covered the area around Wenlock Edge. A geology hammer were wielded and we were presented with a section of the rock.

The Manager looked on mystified at the antics but then became enthused when he discovered why we were visiting. He had a lot of information on the history of the Much Wenlock Games and we spent a fascinating half hour looking at pictures and mementoes.

Wenlock, one of the two mascots, is named after the village because of the history.  If you think Wenlock and Mandeville are a little weird, you are not alone.  Have a look at this site and be sure to scroll down to previous mascots.  Perhaps ours aren’t so way out after all.

By the way, the wine was excellent.

Wenlock Edge Farm – A Food Hero from Rick Stein’s List

Rick Stein (one of my personal cooking heroes) did a couple of TV series on Food Heroes.  He visited small producers who were standing out against mass produced food and the pre-packaged uniformity of the supermarket shelves. There was a second series and two books. Rick Stein's Food Heroes and Rick Stein's Food Heroes: Another Helping'.

Among these was Wenlock Edge Farm between Much Wenlock and Church Stretton and lying just below Wenlock Edge itself.  This is typical Welsh Marches country, that land which was Welsh or English, depending on which army was stronger.  Small family farms, interspersed with stands of trees and a feeling of being in a land apart with people who stand on their own two feet and make their own fortunes.

We were attracted to the farm by the tagline that they made ‘proper sausages’.

We love ‘proper’ sausages – fried and served with mash, cooked in the oven with roast veg, in a batter as Toad in a Hole, in a casserole, in a sandwich . . . shall I go on?

It is fun, and a cheap hobby to try different sausages everywhere we go. So far the gold medal goes to Bobotie sausages from a Farmers Market at Horsemonden in Kent. So spicy.

So we bought some Pork, Plum and Ginger sausages which were delicious, cooked in the oven with carrots, onions and potatoes and accompanied by home made fruit chutney and broccoli.

The shop and working space are being rebuilt and they are working in a temporary building at the moment, so hats off to them for making us welcome and allowing us to watch as one of the butchers boned out a piece of pork and tied it ready for roasting. His hands flew and became a blur but I didn’t dare ask him to slow down as he was using one VERY sharp knife.  In the end, two photos were worth sharing.

We asked one of the butchers where the pork came from and he pointed to Wenlock Edge.

“Just over that hill there.”  That’s local enough for me.