Bangor Pier

Photo © Rob Jones

Sunflowers, Totnes

Sunflowers, Totnes, Devon

August 10th 2024

St. Mawes, Cornwall

St. Mawes. Photo © Rob Jones

27th April 2004

Scratching the Itch

This time last year I was in Spain, the Canaries to be exact.

It’s been a November thing for a few years to head to my ‘Happy Place’ in Fuertventura. Not this year so.

In many senses it’s the bleakest of all the Canary Islands and I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea - but it’s the peace and quiet, the wind and sunsets that I find so appealing.

Photo © Rob Jones - El Cotillo

It’s back to basics. Bare feet. Empty beaches. Wild winter swimming. Simple food.

That’s a holiday in my book.

I’m not interested in the tourist restaurants … I’m no good at the surfing lifestyle, though I don’t mind watching the skills of others … I have no wish to buy the trinkets to take home, put in a drawer and forget about.

Last year it was followed by a quick turnaround in a snowy Manchester airport - two hours sleep in a cheap airportside hotel - and then off to Corfu via Athens to house sit till the end of Feb.

Photo © Rob Jones

And again - simple food, empty resorts, and time alone (with cats).

I don’t think I am the kind of tourist the travel companies would want anyway. I’m the least likely to buy into the upselling, and most likely to seek out the eateries used by the locals, which are always the best anyways.

But it’s been a long time. And I can’t see any overseas travel for sometime yet.

Doesn’t stop me checking for deals though…

R.

Newlyn

Newlyn, Cornwall

Portreath

Portreath, Cornwall

MENAI

The Menai Straits off Bangor Pier - July 2023

Ionian Sea, Albanian Mountains

During morning jog. View across the straight from Roda, Corfu to Albania.

Blue Sky - Jet Trail

Photo © Rob Jones

RAF training in the skies over Snowdonia - Friday, 22nd January 2021

Padarn Lake Railway Tracks

Photo © Rob Jones

Llyn Padarn Lake Railway - Looking towards the Slate Museum - 17th January 2020

London Lockdown

A cat cafe on bethnal Green Road, London, 3rd January 2021.

All non-essential shops closed during lockdown.

Trig Stairs, London

View from Trig Stairs, looking towards the Shard and Borough. 29th December 2020.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Christmas Day

Christmas Day outside St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.

Paternoster Square, London

Paternoster Square, next to St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. 26th December 2020.

Christmas Shopping 2020 - The Strand, London

Christmas shopping in a time of Covid. The Strand, London, Christmas Eve.

Yr Eifl from Dinas Dinlle

View of Yr Eifl, from Dinas Dinlle - 29th November 2020

Crumpets for Tea

(Written for the Minhall & Jones Food Blog)

I am easily influenced. I Confess. And Accept. I am an advertisers dream!

So when I heard someone on the radio the other day eulogising about the joys of Crumpets, it was just a matter of time before a bargain packet would drop into my basket at the supermarket.

And so it came to pass.

It’s something I have always assumed was universal - like pancakes, and faggots. Something everyone knows and eats. But life has shown me that this is not the case.

The oracle of all things - Wikipedia - immediately throws a spanner in the works by linking to a French cartoon series for children called The Crumpets about a family with 142 children, which I found mildly disturbing and entertaining in equal measure. Anyhow, it wasted 30 minutes on a wet day.

Then it flags up the uncertainty whether edible crumpets originated in Wales or were Anglo Saxon.

Then comes the name - I recall as a child, while toasting crumpets on the fire at home, my best friend announced that they were actually called Pikelets! The certainty in my world was crumbling at the edges.

It gets worse - in Welsh, there was a thing called a ‘Bara Pyglyd’ or sticky bread, with a name perilously close to Pikelet. Or does the name come from the Welsh for pancake - Crempog?

You’ll even find some people trying to pass them off as Muffins! don’t go there.

Anyhow it’s a minefield.

When should one eat them? Too bulky for breakfast. To meagre for dinner. It was always a Saturday afternoon in Winter thing in our house, eaten while watching the wrestling and waiting for the classified football results. Always smeared with butter. It’s tempting to add a topping, but why bother.

The key is to butter it several times, so the butter has time to melt and fill up all the holes.

Inevitably have a napkin on hand to wipe your chin and fingers.

Easily made:

In a bowl, stir together 250ml of warm water with 2 1/2 teaspoons of Dried Yeast. Let it stand for a bit. Add a little warm Milk, 50g of Butter, 1 teaspoon of Salt, and 2 teaspoons of Sugar.

Add 450g of plainflour, mix well and leave to stand. You can get it to the right consistency by topping up with warm milk.

Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder, first dissolved in water. Leave for another half an hour.

This is the tricky bit - Get a heavy frying pan, and put over a medium heat.

If you have Crumpet Rings, grease them, and pour the batter in up to about half way. Metal pastry cutters will work, but they need to be deep. Cook until the tops look dry.

Turn them over and cook for another five minutes.

RJ