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Lord Byron, that rebellious 19th century poet, once wrote,
‘The English winter -ending in July,
To recommence in August.’
In the light of this year’s weather, Byron could still be right!
Apropos of all this, as autumn wends its weary way, I ask myself ‘Do urchins go blackberrying anymore? Is blackberrying still legal or has it been put on the banned list along with bluebells? Are urchins still legal?’
The secret of an ideal blackberrying expedition was to keep it a secret. There used to be just two of us. I would forage among the higher bushes while my friend plundered the lower depths. That way we’d strip a bush bare of berries before the rest of the mob could discover us!
The lanes and fields where we urchins used to pick plump blackberries into baskets are now housing estates and a supermarket or two. All the fruits were ready to hand. Elderberries and blackcurrants grew in the hedgerows; redcurrants in our own back garden. One of my duties, if my mum felt a redcurrant tart coming on, was to pluck the beastly things!
Everyone in those days grew something, whether it was lettuce, radishes or cauliflowers. It was the job of us young urchins to prepare the salad ingredients for a Sunday meal. And we were allowed to own our own plot of land in the garden, on which to grow what we pleased. For myself, I had the ambitious plan to grow corn, but combine harvesters weren’t available in those days! We could grow enough in our gardens to feed the world, but nowadays we’d require a supermarket trolley instead !
I close on an evocative note, from one of the Old Testament psalms:
‘Praise him, hills and mountains,
fruit trees and forests;
all animals, tame and wild,
reptiles and birds.
Let them all praise the name of the Lord!’
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