[MR] BBC: The Last Norfolk Reed Cutters

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today the BBC has a brief illustrated article on the last Norfolk Broads
reed cutters. They cut reeds and sedge for thatching roofs, our medieval
tie-in:https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-47725967 .

Don't miss the photo of the lovely thatched Sisland Church of St. Mary. A
view of the church before it was re-thatched can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisland#/media/File:Sisland.jpg .

More about thatching is on Wikipedia at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatching . When I first toured in England,
our driver/guide our driver guide pointed out a long pole with a hook
looking something like a shepherd's crook on steroids hanging from the wall
of a thatched dwelling. That hook, which hopefully will never be needed, is
to pull down the thatching bundles in case of a roof fire.

The Norfolk story mentions a bittern. That is a very noisy marsh bird in
the heron family: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittern . Bitterns are said
to "boom" when they call. In Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novel THE HOUSE
OF THE BASKERVILLES, the villain Stapelton tries to pass off the howls of
his evil canine hidden in the moors as "the booming of a bittern".

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆