Essence of English Life

by Rosemary Weller (Photographer), Sheila Pickles (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.25

  This work contains 40 photographic still-lifes that capture the essence of all things English, from fish and chips in newspaper to a bluebell wood on a misty spring morning. The photographs are complemented by passages by Sheila Pickles, and her selection of classic verse and prose extracts, from Shakespeare, Jane Austen and Keats. This volume is presented in a slipcase, with quarter cloth binding and a silk marker ribbon.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1993

  $3.25

  In this book Sheila Pickles draws on memories of her childhood in rural Yorkshire to identify those moments that are dearest to English hearts. As the year unfolds, she evokes the gradual transformation of the landscape and describes the character of timehonoured annual events, from St Valentine's Day and Easter Week to the joyful celebration of Harvest Festival. She records the pattern of the gardener's year and seasonal activities in the kitchen, from tossing pancakes to baking and jam making, and includes recipes for traditional favourites such as simnel cakes and Yorkshire parkin, lemon curd and piccalilly. The timeless summer pleasures of picnics and cream teas, village cricket and trips to the seaside are recounted, as well as the fashionable events of the Season, from Henley and the Trooping of the Colour to the Chelsea Flower Show. After the musical feast of the Proms and the noisy excitement of Guy Fawkes Night, the fireside beckons, and the author looks back at the classic children's books, games and hobbies that amused her in her vouth and are still enjoyed today. Then it is time for much-loved winter traditions such as the pantomime, skating and tobogganing, and the comforting ritual of roasting chestnuts and toasting muffins by the fire. As the year draws to a close, she describes a typical English Christmas.