Biscuits of the Rich and Famous Pt. 1

The Tenuous Purpose

This Blog is built - not, as some might expect, on a flimsy whim but on a strong and single minded principle.

That principle concerns Biscuits and their position in the world.

We are really very keen on biscuits.
As are many of you out there.
We think.

We wish to create an archive of Arrowroot, a backlog of Bourbons and a catalogue of Chocolate Fingers. Anybody can contribute an entry - or dispute somebody else's - provided they are not dull.
Even Americans who perhaps don't really have the heritage of biscuitry that we are fortunate to have here.

Or maybe they do and we are unaware of the full glory of the cookie.

We realise that this whole subject is admirably and concisely dealt with by that excellent and unbeatable website A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down. Our feeble efforts will be as the kicking of a gadfly in the face of their wisdom and experience but we hope that we may have a small contribution to make.

The Synod of Biscuitry

James Alexander-Sinclair of Blackpitts
Gardener, Blogger, Journalist, Lecturer etc, etc. Much of his life is spent loafing around other people’s gardens issuing directives and generally cluttering up the place. However, like the great Mr Kipling, he does (occasionally) make exceptionally good gardens. (Although even Mr Kipling messed up a bit with the Carrot and Walnut Mini Classics.)

Mark Diacono of Otter Farm
He does sterling work growing many inappropriate plants in Devon. He dedicates a great deal of time and effort nurturing a plethora of plants that are (mostly) totally unsuited to our climate. His is a life of such extreme eccentric dedication that to start a Blog about Biscuits seems perfectly normal. He treads gently in the footsteps of people like the great William Buckland,a professor of Geology who claimed that he could tell location by tasting the local topsoil.

Biscuits of the Rich and Famous Pt. 1

Posted on October 31, 2009 by blackpittsbiscuit

Last week I attended my first ever meeting at the University of Bath Gardening Club. How I wish it was called Bath University Gardeners, the resultant acronym’s much more interesting.

But I digress.

The club’s programme of speakers over the next few months is most impressive and kicked off with Fergus Garrett last Wednesday on the subject of Great Dixter: Past, Present and Future. Naturally there were many pictures for us to drool over and lots of anecdotes recounted about the late, great Christopher Lloyd. So much so, his presence in the room was almost palpable.

It appears that the Lloyds were great hoarders: nothing got thrown away, ever. So as well as being Head Gardener, Fergus now has the new role of wading and sorting through the Lloyd family archive. Naturally, there’s lots of plans by Lutyens from when he worked on the house and gardens, plus correspondence with the great and the good, such as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West. However, the most important artefact of note to readers of this blog was the discovery of an unopened packet of digestive biscuits from the 1970s.

Unfortunately the time left for questions afterwards was miniscule, so your correspondent was unable to ascertain which brand.

Michelle Chapman

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9 Responses

Mr Uku, on October 31, 2009 at 12:57 pm said:

I wonder if digestives age like a fine wine.

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VP, on October 31, 2009 at 1:10 pm said:

Apparently if Christopher Lloyd was alive he’d have probably insisted on eating them. Let us consider the evidence:

Also learned at the same evening…

One day Fergus unearthed several large sealed tins which turned out to be full of flour, several years, if not decades old. Christopher Lloyd insisted on not letting all that good flour go to waste and ended up eating homemade rancid bread for a number of years.

So Mr Uku, I suspect unfortunately they do not.

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Rob Stacewicz, on October 31, 2009 at 1:57 pm said:

Unopened? Surely there should be a prison sentence for such a crime? At least community service and a hefty fine.

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VP, on October 31, 2009 at 2:09 pm said:

Rob – agreed. I suspect there were several unhappy tea breaks at Great Dixter during the seventies, where the lack of biscuits was bemoaned at length.

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Rothschild Orchid, on October 31, 2009 at 4:48 pm said:

I was at that talk too VP. Bloggers passing in the night eh?

RO

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VP, on October 31, 2009 at 6:13 pm said:

OMG RO – our paths cross again!

Are you going next Tuesday?

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Rothschild Orchid, on November 1, 2009 at 5:46 pm said:

No I’ll still be at Tumbledown on Tuesday. It was a bit of an effort to get to Bath to see Fergus as I was working in Oxford that day. I’d like to hear the HG from The Courts and Derry when they do their talks next year.

You know we took our pumpkin pictures in the same place too!

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VP, on November 1, 2009 at 6:33 pm said:

RO – The Courts HG and Derry are on my must-go list too along with Keith Wiley and Charles Dowding

You got the better day for your pumpkin photos! It’s a fab place isn’t it?

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Rothschild Orchid, on November 1, 2009 at 6:54 pm said:

They have a good line up, I have to say I was quite impressed with the range of speakers they had organised. It is just frustrating I’m not living in the area now I’ve discovered them.

I was lucky with the sunshine the day I drove past the pumpkins, I was on the way to visit a garden and blessed with fantiastic blue skies and sunshine.

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