WINTER CORDIAL (Makes 6-8 glasses) Ingredients 1 large lemon 2 tablespoons rolled oats 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar 1 ½ pts well-strained tea. (Darjeeling or Kenyan) ¼ pt whisky or dark rum.
BALE AXE-HEAD Lost 5,000 years ago? Deposited 5,000 years ago? Abandoned 5,000 years ago? Just the tip of this axe-head was sticking up out of the mud when it was found in the bottom corner of a field bordering old marsh overgrown with scrub woodland. It came out into the light of day in one smooth pull, a surprisingly long and bulky object to have survived whole; orange churt 24 cm long, 8cm wide and 3cm thick. Sent to Norwich Castle Museum for identification it turned out to have possible links with Scandinavia. The method used to work the flint, which is not like that of most local Neolithic flint tools, seems to be similar to that found in Norway. This enigmatic piece of stone, dull ochre, marked with the brown lines of root attachments, hefts in the hand in a strangely familiar way, as though it belongs there. Yet presumably once it was attached to a wooden haft. It must have been a valued tool, essential for clearing land for settled farming and cutting timber from which tools, human shelters and animal pens could be made. Was it owned by someone who farmed here, or were they just passing through? Or did it belong to a small community working the land rather than one individual? It raises more questions than it answers, but it unquestionably draws us close to our very distant ancestors and our roots here in Bale. JW & HT
Method Finely grate the lemon rind, and squeeze out the juice. Put the rind, oats, sugar and hot tea into a saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil. Add the lemon juice and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Strain the liquid, return it to the saucepan then add the whisky or rum. Heat the liquid through but do not let it boil. Serve in warmed glasses.
MIXED PICKLE Ingredients 1 quart spiced vinegar 1oz mustard 1oz ground ginger 1 med sized colander mixed vegetables ¼ lb white sugar 1 tablespoon flour ½ oz turmeric.
Method Marrow, onions, apple, green tomatoes, or any other vegetable can be used. When prepared and put into a colander, sprinkle well with salt and allow to drain overnight. Simmer in half the vinegar for 20 mins. Take the other half of the vinegar and other ingredients and mix well, then add to vegetables, and boil for 10 minutes, stirring gently. As soon as cold, ready for use. Grace Allison
BALE VILLAGE HALL SOCIAL CLUB DRAW September October Henry Carter £25 Anthony Hayward £25 Mary Ramm £10 Katie Andrews £10 Lady Nicolson £5 Betty Carter £5 Katrina McCubbin £5 Betty Preston £5 November December Patricia Church £25 Colin McCubbin £25 Richard Scott £10 William Sankey £10 Margaret Barnes £5 Sarah Mitchell £5 Albert Dent £5 John Allison £5 Special Christmas Draw - Betty Preston £25
OLD YEAR’S NIGHT Bale village hall has been the venue for a number of excellent and well-attended social events during the year. This continued on Old Year’s Night when a band of 35 hardy souls assembled there to see out 2006. The group comprised those born and bred in the village, those recently arrived and all sorts in between. With enough food and drink laid on to sustain a small army we ate, drank and laughed away the evening. Parlour games were the order of the night, including a particularly competitive round of Simon Says. A keenly contested quiz was won by the Famous Five - quite possibly Blyton’s originals, but plans for a round of musical chairs were shelved following a comprehensive health and safety risk assessment. The more reckless revellers did, however, engage in a bit of dancing under the watchful if lazy eye of a trained first-aider. Arms were linked and songs sung at midnight and then festivities carried on until 2am. Old Year’s Night is as much about looking back as it is looking forward and this hasn’t been the best of years for everyone in Bale. What the evening showed, though, was that good company in a good village can go some way to making things a little better. Thanks as ever must go to Ann, Grace and Margaret, and their respective spouses, for making it happen. AM
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