Traditional pipe making skills ...

Just a century ago, smoking a pipe was a common sight with smaller plain pipes smoked by the masses while more intricate ones were a status sign. The bowls were small because tobacco was expensive.

Clay pipes were also quite fragile, they needed you to take time to fill them up from a tobacco pouch, tamp them down, then light them, not a quick process.  

The first world war brought about a change to cigarettes that travelled well with soldiers & pipe manufacture declined over time. 

Broseley Clay & Pipeworks is a fairly local one -I noted that they were open as part of a Heritage Weekend so we went off for a much needed return visit. 

 I last visited about 20 years ago & because part of the Museum is besides private 1 up 1 down cottages, it is not open too often. 

It is humbling to stand in the museum part of the 1 up, 1 down cottage & know that an entire family of parents & perhaps 6 or more children lived in these tiny spaces with just a fireplace for cooking in the downstairs room. 

It makes us look at our large homes with fresh eyes & appreciation of how life has changed in just a century. 

This clay pipe works was abandoned in 1960, shut up shop with unfired pipes still in their saggars, orders still packed, equipment left as it was & it became a time capsule of the industry. The buildings needed extensive remedial work when they were brought in to use as a museum & their listed status guarantees their future. The little glass office in the image below was where all the paperwork was done in, a window open on to the street behind where the wares were collected or sent on from. 

These little industries were essential work & the prestige of this small pipe maker meant that clay pipes were often just called 'The Broseleys' after the place they were made & the pipes were sent to far flung places that the workers could never even dream of.  Pipes had been made in this area from about 1600. Local clay was used but it was a creamy colour so white clay was brought up the nearby Severn River from Devon & this was seen as better quality. The cast iron pipe moulds were made in the metal works & fired in the numerous furnaces along the Severn River where the world famous Ironbridge of 1779 was cast. It was fortuitous to use what was available. 

Touring the small space with a very knowledgeable volunteer was very interesting as her grandmother & great grandmother & great aunt all worked there in their time. She had photos of them at the pipe works, smartly dressed & neatly turned out.  They were paid per full saggar (firing pot) of pipes they made. It was precise work with long hours & poor pay but options were limited so people took up whatever employment they could. Their records show that one worker made 1,056 pipes a week. 

The low ceilings, small rooms, poorly lit spaces make you appreciate the working conditions of people. Pipes had been made in Broseley since the early 1600's, a highly prized industry.

It was a fascinating return visit of a time when smoking was mainstream & there was a huge demand for such items. 

There is much beauty in the lines of beautifully made pipes laid out on the tables & in the saggars as they would have been when prepared for firing in the kilns at 1000C, then the time spent cooling before they could be taken out - a process of about 5 days. 

A full kiln held 60-70 gross of pipes which was 8,640 to 10,080 pipes per firing. 

Good honest work was what happened in these little places ... 

I hope you have enjoyed the visit with me, thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 

A fruity lamb tagine ...

 There is a decided chill to the morning & evening air & thoughts turn to warming stews or tagines. Southern African cooking uses fruit in meat dishes which reflects the Malay heritage influences at the Cape 300 years ago. 

Some years back, Ms M (my sister in law & often travelling companion) & I did a fantastic tour of Morocco & the food was just sensational. The aroma from the tagines filled the markets & dining-rooms & it was inspirational combinations of sweet & savoury. 

These are some of the memories of that trip 

Exploring-moroccan-city-of-fes-fez

Time-stands-still-in-bakery-in-Al Jadida

jardin-majorelle-ysl-gardens-in Marrakech

The-portuguese-port-of-Al-Jadida-in Morocco

Making-time-to-travel-explore-new places

I have cooked from Tagine, Spicy stews from Morocco by Ghillie Basan many times over the years. Having some lamb in, I decided a fruity tagine would be perfect. I used lamb chops, not a shoulder of lamb & adjusted the recipe to take in to account the smaller portion. 

The meat was marinated in fresh garlic & ginger (grated), salt, chilli, cumin, olive oil, honey & half a freshly squeezed lemon. I cut an onion in  to the mixture & this was left in a bowl in the fridge for about 3 hours. 

The marinated lamb was fried to brown it, I added the onion & then lastly the remains of the marinade to the pan. This was then returned to the oven dish (I no longer have a tagine but a deep covered ceramic dish worked well.)

At this point I added about 8 prunes & some hot water, covered the dish & baked it for about 45 minutes. Lastly, I stirred in 2 quartered fresh figs & covered it while I made the cous cous. 

150g of cous cous in 250 ml of salted boiling water in a heat proof bowl. Cover & leave to absorb the liquid, stirred in a small knob of butter & fluffed it up. 

Served with the lamb on the cous cous base, alongside some garlic flatbread. The stew had formed a delicious rich dish that was perfect for cooler weather & it reminded me how much I enjoy fruity stews. 

I hope I am not the only one who enjoys spicy & fruity food. Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 

A hearty plum & apple crumble …

Our weather turned very wet yesterday & having friends for a midweek supper, I decided it was crumble time for pudding.

I had some juicy fresh plums & apples in the fridge so they were perfect for baking.

I love a substantial crumble topping so just winged it.

Cut up the plums - I used 5, cut in pieces, pits taken out

4 eating apples, core taken out & each half sliced into about 6 slices

A few bits of crystallised ginger - cut up & dotted about the fruits, a little water (about 50ml) over the fruit in the bowl for a little liquid.

The crumble was made with

120g butter & about 75g Demerara sugar, mixed together

I measured 200g of flour, oats, coconut into a bowl & rubbed it into the butter & sugar mixture to form large crumbles because I think they are far nicer. 

The crumble was scattered over the fruit & baked at about 180c till golden brown.

Served hot with ice cream or cream. 

It was absolutely delicious using just what I already had at home. We ate in the conservatory with my favourite pink & green table setting - they are all things I love & have had for years.  

The ones on the sideboard are IKEA ones that are cheerful & colourful (& affordable) from some years back. 

The pinks & greens are lovely summer colours & I have enjoyed them, in various combinations, for weeks now. 

What is your favourite fruit combinations? Do tell …

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🧈📖👩‍🍳

Experimenting with reverse appliqué

 In the past week I have seen the sewing technique of reverse appliqué demonstrated by this sewer.

It is a new technique for me & I was keen to have a go. This week my social media memories popped up of a visit to Transylvania 3 years ago. 

While in Romania at Bran castle, I photographed an art piece with winged angel shapes.

I drew it then scanned it onto tracing paper (glue tracing paper on printing paper by just dotting a bit of glue on each corner so it goes through the printer.)

I cut out 4 different linen fabrics, then tacked them together around the edge to keep them together. 

I pinned the traced sheet on to the top layer & then sewed on the lines with black no 8 Perl cotton. Because of the 4 layers, I could not do a long line of stitches because you have to stitch through all 4 layers. I worked out that back stitch was easier most of the time. 

Once all the lines were done, the tracing paper tore away easily to reveal the black lines. 

The technique is to cut the sections through the layers so I cut 1layer on 2 wings to reveal blue linen, cut through 2 layers on another 2 wings to reveal pink linen, then the last 2 wings were cut through 3 layers to reveal the dark brown linen. 

Linen doesn’t give sharp lines but it is effective & a technique I would approach it differently next time by tracing the outline on a light top layer instead of using tracing paper. 

That should make the sewing lines neater & give a sharper edge. 

I will try another one as it is an interesting technique with creative possibilities.

Have you tried .this & what hints do you have for me? Thank you for stopping by & supporting my blog, 

Dee 🏰🪡📍

A challenging goldwork embroidery gift ....

Some months back, my friend & I did a workshop in our county town of Shrewsbury as an introduction to goldwork embroidery.  It was a relaxing day getting some understanding of goldwork embroidery. The technique we used was just couching - laying down gold threads & couching over with threads to hold the shape. It is a technique I use for various threads & it is relaxing. 

However, from background research online before that course, I knew that goldwork is much more complex, often used in intricate religious & ceremonial garments & it is a specialised field. 

I bought a book to better understand the techniques & various threads used, but other than a brief read, it was not studied. 

My talented friend & neighbour who makes the most amazing beaded miniature books surprised me with a goldwork kit for my birthday in April, as a follow-up to the workshop I had done a few days before. 

I must admit to being rather overwhelmed when I opened it & found an array of gold threads, beads, & instructions that were rather challenging. I  put it aside & thought - this will take careful work to even find out what each thread & instruction is for. 

This weekend, being a long one here, I decided now or never; I had postured enough. 

I have my creative space & machines in a spare room that I have taken over & so I laid out the contents of the goldwork kit & spent a lot of time deciding which threads are which - rough or smooth purl, pearl purl, leather, bright check. passing thread, beads & more.  Once they were laid out on the right section of the instructions, it felt more ordered & manageable. 

Fortunately I have an embroidery stand that is essential when you need your hands free. 

Mine has a  small board that you can peg instructions to - essential at such times as these when following instructions is the only way to see a way forward with unfamiliar techniques. 

I have not really used silk so putting in grid stitching to hold it to the backing fabric was interesting. 

Then the pattern was traced, then pinned to the hooped fabrics, running stitches around all the shapes, the tracing paper then torn away to leave just the outline stitches. 

That took much longer than I thought it would ... 

Then the process of following each & every instruction in order to couch the stems with the really fiddly pulling back of the threads at the end of each section so they are not visible at the front. 

Tracing & adding felt to part of the flower shapes, then beading it by cutting some of the wire - I think I made mine a little big but it worked out even though it was fiddly. 

The gold leather shapes on the flowers needed a thimble to get the fine needle through the leather & keep it neat. Gold beads on part of the shapes followed before the shapes were outlined with the stretchy bright check wire. I worked through the order of things & on the second day was relieved that the progress was good. 

Finally after about 10 hours of stitching, cutting, threading multiple needles, the last stitches went in & I could un-hoop it & decided what next. There is a carboard backing board, but perhaps I will just hoop it for now until I decide how I want to display it. 

It is easily the most challenging sewing I have done, & it requires very nimble sewing & an awareness of several techniques & use of threads & wires. 

It is a massive relief to say it is done, I did it after putting it off for weeks because of the unknown nature of the techniques. 

My friend Diane is a City & Guilds embroidery & her stitching is precise, mine is good but she is way too generous to say anything other than be complimentary. 

I feel a sense of relief & pride that I completed this rather challenging gift & I am in  awe of the work of guild people who do intricate goldwork. 

It is a real skill, one which  I don't have, but then again, I have never studied embroidery formally. 

Do you also procrastinate when challenged until you have to step up? Thank you for stopping by, please subscribe & share - it is much appreciated. 

Dee 🪡📍📖