Food Gleaning
A significant element of peoples’ diets came from what they themselves gathered from the farms and fields around the town. Alan Langmaid recalls that once he had a bicycle, he came to know the food producing landscape around the town, and often gleaned produce as he went. His trips also proved useful in honing his haggling skills. “Everyone was bartering with everyone else”, he said,
you didn’t just go out and buy something, you bartered with someone else. You’d go out into the countryside, find some kids, and say, “wanna buy some apples?” You’d swap conkers for apples or something like that. It kept you on your toes.
Vera Harvey’s father worked on the railways, and often returned home with rabbits and turnips collected along the way. Marion Adams recalls getting the bus to Redpost and visiting a friend who lived near there, with whom she would go for walks in the country which often involved returning home with a pheasant, or other ‘available’ produce.
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