Regular readers will know of the situation regarding meat mincers in the village. Basically there's a Communal Mincer, still in its box (albeit held together with a rubber band) that is passed amongst us to deal with our Sunday lunch leftovers. But what's this? A usurper none less. It was like this: Saturday afternoon saw the annual village fete. Pimms on the lawn, cream teas in the village hall and me with my nose in the book box. Oh, and My Son successfully eating a jam donut without licking his lips. Towards the end, with both boys laden down with even more plastic kit to fill up the remaining spaces in their bedroom, I had another look at the bric-a-brac stall. Why hadn't I noticed the huge 12 cup Bialeti coffee maker before? And, why, oh why had I missed this. The Spong 100. Hand in pocket, job done. Then it started. My Neighbour Who Knows What I Like hissed as I went past her toy stall. She's the Official Keeper of the Communal Mincer. I'm sure somebody else sibilantly whispered "Traitor" close to my ear. Others gave sidelong glances, looking away whilst saying "You'll be in trouble". So I've had to promise to keep it as yet another Kitchen Display Item. Which I'm very glad to do. Just look at those trademarks, something you'd usually expect to see on an aero engine. Now, where's that bit of mutton...
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
Regular readers will know of the situation regarding meat mincers in the village. Basically there's a Communal Mincer, still in its box (albeit held together with a rubber band) that is passed amongst us to deal with our Sunday lunch leftovers. But what's this? A usurper none less. It was like this: Saturday afternoon saw the annual village fete. Pimms on the lawn, cream teas in the village hall and me with my nose in the book box. Oh, and My Son successfully eating a jam donut without licking his lips. Towards the end, with both boys laden down with even more plastic kit to fill up the remaining spaces in their bedroom, I had another look at the bric-a-brac stall. Why hadn't I noticed the huge 12 cup Bialeti coffee maker before? And, why, oh why had I missed this. The Spong 100. Hand in pocket, job done. Then it started. My Neighbour Who Knows What I Like hissed as I went past her toy stall. She's the Official Keeper of the Communal Mincer. I'm sure somebody else sibilantly whispered "Traitor" close to my ear. Others gave sidelong glances, looking away whilst saying "You'll be in trouble". So I've had to promise to keep it as yet another Kitchen Display Item. Which I'm very glad to do. Just look at those trademarks, something you'd usually expect to see on an aero engine. Now, where's that bit of mutton...
5 comments:
Spong. One of those surnnames no longer encountered. Like Chicken or Shufflebottom.
A wonderful name indeed. And two artful arrangements of the letters SPONG for the price of one. I trust it was going for a spong.
Re Shufflebottom, Anthony Burgess recalled that he knew a lady in Lancashire who referred to herself as 'Shufflearse's missus'.
marvelous - do you have the sausage filling adaptor, my pigs are growing VERY fast
Bring 'em round Diplo. Soon have 'em sorted out on the kitchen table. But don't dob me in to the neighbours.
The magnificently named SPONG looks as if it could deal with pretty much anything,on the evidence of the photograph.Whole limbs,probably.
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