Doctors and dock puddings

Nature abounds in April, and we are now seeing many obvious signs of Spring. One of which is the dock leaf, which is reportedly the antidote to the sting of a nettle. Handily the dock and the nettle often grow together as they are both lovers of nitrogen rich soil.

Although having similar looking leaves to the common dock, dock pudding is made from the leaves of the polygonum bistorta. This local delicacy is little known outside the Calder Valley area of Yorkshire and the world dock pudding championships usually take place at the end of April in Mytholmroyd. The championships were set up in 1971 to preserve the tradition of dock pudding making. The leaves are mixed with nettles, oatmeal, onions and seasoning and served with bacon and eggs.

Cathy has been to Thirsk this week, running a journal cover making course for Rural Arts. Rural Arts is situated in the old Court house in Thirsk and has a beautiful café with the most amazing cakes and a little art gallery selling local people’s work. We were teaching in the magistrate’s court room where hearings were held up until 1995. We were most intrigued by the little locked secret door that we spotted inside the court room!

In the workshop this week, we have been doing a lot of repairs. We have been making a replacement case for a leatherman penknife for a good friend of ours, replacing a broken strap on a saddle bag and replacing the buckles on an artist’s toolkit. The biggest job this week has been repairing and refurbishing a vintage attache case (as pictured) which is destined for use by a doctor in Portsmouth.

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