Rachael Garside
Blog posts in total 53
Posts
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Spring makes a grand entrance
It's a sure sign that spring is on the way when the fields start filling up with new-born lambs. Tuesday was officially the first day of spring, and I spent part of it with the area warden for the National Trust in Carmarthenshire, Wyn Davies. Wyn admits this is his favourite time of the ...
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An unlikely siege: Dryslwyn castle
One advantage of living in Carmarthenshire is that we're spoilt for choice when it comes to castles and on a sunny day, it makes for a cheap and easy day out with the children to combat the familiar cries of "we're bored!" And it's an activity that doesn't involve sitting in front of a scree...
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Use it or lose it
So when the Post Office/general stores reopened after a recent makeover, thanks to a grant from the Welsh Government, the local male voice choir turned out to help celebrate the occasion in style. As well as the singing, there were speeches, a buffet and a glass of bubbly to mark the event...
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Community woodland
Have you ever thought of owning your own woods? How about getting together with people living around you and buying a community woodland? That's what happened when Troserch woods near Llanelli came on the market five years ago. Villagers got together, decided they didn't want to see their local woods falling into the hands of private enterprise and applied for a grant from the Forestry Commission to buy all 80 acres of Troserch woods. After the initial sense of achievement when the money came in, the committee members then realised that they had the small matter of maintaining a whole woodland to contend with. This week I've been for a walk in the Troserch woods, with the woodlanders, to find out how the project is going. We started from the car park and passed the 'Christmas tree nursery' where around 200 firs were planted two years ago with the aim of selling them (when they're big enough) to local people. Lincoln Glover lives next door to the woods and has acquired a chain-saw license in order to get stuck in with the continual work of maintaining the forest. 'We clear-felled a whole section near the river last year and sold the timber, giving us enough money to cover our costs for the next ten years' he told me as we headed down one of the trails through the trees. Around the next corner we came across the roundhouse, a wooden structure with grass covering the roof, complete with a hole in the top, allowing for fires underneath. It was made by the woodland members from materials gathered entirely from the forest and offers a bit of shelter for anyone using the woods. Standing on its own, completely surrounded by trees, it looked like something from a fairy tale. But there is a challenge ahead - getting more people to use the woods and get involved. Most of the committee admitted that not enough people in the area know about the woods on their doorstep, never mind helping out with running the scheme. Greg Wilkinson, another dedicated committee member said that they understand that people have busy lives and not enough time to donate to helping out, but he also stressed that the health benefits from a project like this are huge. Llais y Goedwig (the Voice of the woods) is the community woodland network for Wales and they're hosting their annual conference next week. This year's theme is 'participation' - trying to encourage more people to get involved in their local woodlands and having a greater say in how the environment is looked after in Wales at the same time. Jokes about tree-huggers aside, there's a lot to be said for getting away from it all by getting back to nature. Our walk in the woods took us down to the River Marlais, where I was reliably informed otters and kingfishers have been spotted. It was a beautiful place and only a few minutes drive from the motorway. Sometimes it's easy to miss what's right under our noses. For more information visit www.troserchwoods.co.uk and www.llaisygoedwig.org.uk
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Barafundle: The price of tourism
It used to be the best kept secret beach in Wales, but after visiting Barafundle at the weekend, it seems that the secret is out. Some years ago, the Welsh Tourist Board used a picture of Barafundle with its deserted golden sands, sweeping coastline and sparkling blue sea as part of its campaign to lure visitors to Wales. I can remember seeing a poster greeting arriving passengers at Cardiff Wales Airport showing Barafundle in all its glory. But there was no mention of where this idyllic beach was, which somehow added to the allure. And then if you did happen to discover its identity, it was quite an adventure trying to find the place, with a conspicuous absence of any road signs to get you there. I also remember interviewing someone quite high up in the Wales Tourist Board or 'Bwrdd Croeso' as it was also known and them admitting (off camera) that there was an inherent dilemma in trying to promote Wales. Barafundle beach from the steps looking down. You have to carefully balance the fact that places like Barafundle (and much of the Welsh countryside), are beautiful and enticing because there aren't too many visitors trampling up and down the mountains, beaches or moorlands. Then again, you can't have it all ways and a thriving tourist economy is after all, essential to rural Wales. But back to Barafundle, the National Trust now own much of the Castlemartin coastline, including the car park at Stackpole Quay from where the path meanders up some steep steps, across a couple of fields to the stone wall above the beach. That's where you get your first glimpse of Barafundle and it's still a stunning spot. The children ran wild across the sand, writing their names on it with pieces of driftwood then running back up the steps to see their artwork from above. We couldn't resist also proudly writing the score from the weekend's rugby match on the sand! This stretch of coastline is a haven for ravens and the much rarer choughs (of which there are only around 500 breeding pairs in the whole of the UK) and it's because of the choughs that the area has SPA status (Special Protection Area). During breeding season, painted red stones mark areas near the cliff edge where walkers mustn't tread, in case they disturb the nests. There was a steady stream of walkers and families out for the afternoon roaming across the beach, enjoying a rare bit of sunshine. A pile of rubbish at the bottom of Barafundle in Pembrokeshire. But it was sad to see a big pile of rubbish at the bottom of the steps, the first thing people saw arriving at the beach. As we left, a man walked past with a small rucksack on his back, the rest of his family already heading back up the steps. As he passed us, he dropped a plastic bag, bulging with rubbish including glass bottles on the sand, before greeting us with a cheerful 'afternoon' and heading home without a care in the world. I found this genuinely shocking. What kind of person thinks this is a perfectly okay thing to do? And who exactly did he think would be by later to collect his rubbish? Maybe I've reached a 'certain age' when I start ranting about litter louts, but it's just wrong on so many levels and definitely not something you could put on a poster promoting tourism.
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Birthday greetings to a Welsh waterway
It may seem that I'm becoming slightly obsessed with canals at the moment, but I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal a very happy birthday. Monmouth and Brecon canal A whole year's worth of events marking the celebrations began on 10 Februa...
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Art along the towpath
Transporting goods by horse-drawn canal boats may seem like a long-forgotten sight on our waterways, but an arts project in the Wales and Shropshire borderlands is bringing the old ways back to life. The Ellesmere Sculpture Initiative has commissioned renowned etcher Jason Hicklin who is bas...
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Beavers return to Ceredigion
The latest residents to join the Blaeneinion Conservation Project at Artist's Valley near Machynlleth are settling in well to their new Welsh surroundings. The pair of beavers (sisters) were released into their fenced enclosure last November and are being monitored as part of a programme to evaluate possible future releases into the wild. An American beaver on a grassy shoreline. The idea was met with some concern initially - the farming unions argued that beavers became extinct in this country hundreds of years ago, owing to the fact that they caused widespread destruction of wildlife habitats. They pointed to a similar project in Scotland, where beavers managed to escape from their enclosure and were extremely difficult to recapture. But at Blaeneinion they have a different view. They're hoping to prove that beavers are a valuable native species that are particularly adept at preserving aquatic habitats. I've been to Blaeneinion this week to see the project for myself. I met with the project manager, Sharon Girardi who is a woman with a mission. Blaeneinion Conservation Project at Artist's Valley near Machynlleth She moved to Artists Valley three years ago from the centre of London, with a vision to create a community based on the principles of permaculture - living lightly on the planet, and making sure that we can sustain human activities for future generations to come, in harmony with nature. They've already planted some eight thousand trees on the 75 acre site, with the help of a small army of 'WWOOFers' (I didn't know what these were either!). World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms or WWOOF is a membership charity, teaching people about organic growing and low-impact lifestyles through hands-on experience in the UK. People work on the farms in exchange for board and lodgings. At the moment there are two WWOOFers from France and Australia helping with the planting programme, giving Blaeniniona a distinctly international feel. A geodesic dome provides winter vegetables, a fruit orchard has already been planted, a bunkhouse offers accommodation for visitors and four other families have also moved in as tenants. But it's the beavers that are proving to be the main attraction. A feeding station has been built inside the enclosure with plans for two hides in future, where visitors will be able to watch the beavers. Beavers lodges are created from severed branches and mud. The beavers cover their lodges late every autumn with fresh mud, which freezes when the frost sets in. What I didn't realise before my visit is that beavers are nocturnal. But then as Sharon pointed out, "Why would you know that? They've been extinct for around 400 years!" At dusk, we crept into the enclosure and spiked apples onto canes at the feeding station, hoping to lure the sisters out of their lodge. Originally, before they moved in, great pains were taken to build the beavers a lodge, taking advice from experts and constructing what they thought would be ideal beaver bunkhouse. But the sisters had other ideas and set about building their own lodge immediately after their release, preferring to show the humans how it's done! As daylight faded, we took up our positions in the freezing cold, armed with an infra-red camera. We didn't have to wait long before we heard rustling sounds in the reeds surrounding the lake. It was really exciting as we could tell they were close and could hear them swimming towards us. At that point, the clouds parted revealing a full moon above us. In the moonlight I spotted a head in the water, with the trail across the lake as the beaver headed for the bank. We didn't actually see them out of the water and eventually the cold got too much for us, so we headed indoors. Then again, after being hunted to extinction, you can't blame the beavers for not being in too much of a hurry to get reacquainted with humans. BBC News: Beavers return to Ceredigion
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On the trail of Richard Burton
At one time, he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood, he was married to the world's most beautiful woman and had one of the most recognisable voices in showbusiness - he was of course, Richard Burton. Despite the glamour and success of his later years, his remarkable life began in far humbler surroundings - in the small village of Ponyrhydyfen in the Afan Forest Park near Port Talbot. Last year, the local community decided it was high time their most famous son was honoured and came together to create the Richard Burton Trail, a 3 mile walk, taking in some of the places which were important to the man himself. Today, I've been to the area to walk the trail and was greeted with the sight of the Afan Valley bathed in winter sunshine, with a sprinkling of snow on the surrounding trees and on the Foel, the second highest peak in the Afan Forest Park. The old mineral line viaduct over the Afan river. My guide was Jonathan Price, a ranger with the Forestry Commission, working in the Afan Valley. We began in the Rhyslyn car park and walked across the aqueduct, high above the Afan river. The house where the famous actor was born is under the aqueduct, backing onto the river - a lovely spot, but hard to imagine that a family of fourteen once lived there. Richard was the eleventh of twelve children and his younger brother Graham Jenkins who still lives in the area, has been involved with the trail project, helping to piece together interesting facts about his older brother's life. All along the walk, there are special way markers with information about Richard Burton, his life and career. The first we passed told us that he was born on 25 November 1925 in Pontrhydyfen weighing twelve pounds. This was accompanied by a photo of him in his rugby kit, posing with the team as a youngster. We passed Penhydd Street where many members of Richard's family lived and on to the Pontyrhydyfen viaduct, another reminder of the area's industrial past. We joined the Connect2 cycle route to continue on the trail towards the portrait bench and the amazing sight of three life-sized metal sculptures of three local celebrities - Richard Burton, Rob Brydon and Richard ('Dick') Wagstaff, who was the area warden for the Afan Forest Park until he retired last year. Sculptures of Richard Burton on right, rob Brydon in the middle and Richard Wagstaff on the left. He was voted in by local people and by all accounts is quite a character. Next to the sculptures is a metal box with a dial. If you wind the dial, you can hear the unmistakable sound of Richard Burton reading extracts from the works of Dylan Thomas, including 'Under Milk Wood' and the poem he wrote after his father's death, 'Do Not Go Gentle....'. It's a great idea to 'illustrate' a walk in this way and brings the person and their landscape to life. It's just such a shame that already, only a few weeks after the trail's official opening, many of the way markers along the route have already been vandalised - many of them have been sawn off, leaving a metal 'stump' behind where the information about Richard Burton would have been. Jonathan Price, Ranger with the Forestry Commission with a vandalised sign. Why would anyone want to do this? Jonathan Price was also at a loss to explain this and pointed out that those signs will have to be repaired at considerable cost. This innovative project has been overseen by Neath Port Talbot County Council and hopes to bring tourists to the area, proving once again that 'green tourism' is the way ahead, but also that increasingly, the tourism industry needs to provide and extra something to draw people into an area. The trail ends back in Pontrhydyfen, passing Bethel chapel, where the local memorial service for Richard Burton was held after his death in 1984. Today, the chapel is boarded up and for sale but it stands in a prime location, overlooking the river and the aqueduct where we began and where Richard Burton would have spent much of his childhood. For more information about this walk visit www.visitnpt.co.uk/richardburton BBC Wales Nature blog: Richard Burton walking trail opens
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How do you like your eggs?
Did you eat breakfast this morning? If you did, was it something just grabbed on your way out of the door or did you sit down and make a meal of it? Farmhouse Breakfast Week starts today , providing a perfect excuse to treat yourself to a 'proper breakfast'. This annual event is organised ...
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Wyn the Warden and Dinefwr Park
Looking out for hazardous trees, feeding fallow deer and pregnancy-testing a native breed of rare cattle - all in a day's work for countryside warden Wyn Davies. Wyn has worked as the Area Warden for the National Trust in Carmarthenshire for the past ten years and even though it's winter, there's plenty of work to do. Wyn Davies, Area Warden for the National Trust in Carmarthenshire. "This is the perfect time to maintain the pathways, mend fencing and signs and survey for any potentially dangerous trees" Wyn told me as we took a walk around near Llandeilo, "Christmas is behind us, we've had the shortest day and there are already signs that spring is just around the corner. I saw a horse chestnut coming into bud the other day, and a few snowdrops appearing." Wyn and I walked along a new footpath at Dinefwr - the 'Brown Path', not named after the colour of the terrain, but after the landscape architect Capability Brown, who visited Dinefwr in the eighteenth century and suggested the route from Newton House to the medieval castle, taking in some of the best views in this designed landscape on the way. We passed a field of grazing White Park cattle, one of our native Welsh breeds which have been here for around a thousand years. The herd has just been pregnancy-tested and of the 22 cows, 20 are in calf, which means there's a busy spring calving ahead. We walked on through the deer park, home to around 120 fallow deer. The herd needs to be fed daily at this time of year with sugar beet. In the misty rain today, there was no sign of any deer - they'd taken shelter in the trees. A fallow deer in the woods at Dinefwr Park by Steve Greaves. Dinefwr has one of the best collection of ancient trees in the country, with around three hundred trees thought to be more than four hundred years old. Wyn talked about them as if they were family members, talking about their characters and saying how upset he gets if they lose one in a storm. As he put it poetically, "In some ways, winter is the best time to see the trees because without their leaves, it's easier to appreciate their structure and majesty". Through the ancient woodland, we headed down towards the oxbow lakes created by the river Towy. At this time of year, the lakes are a haven for visiting wildfowl, hundreds of geese, ducks and other migratory birds stopping off in Wales to escape the arctic conditions of northern Europe. There's a thriving otter population here as well, but no sign of them on our walk. Finally we headed along the boardwalk, a meandering wooden pathway passing the millpond and paused to admire the Castle Oak, reputed to be the oldest tree in the park. At around 800 years old, it was quite a sight. Wyn assured me it was also home to thousands of invertebrates, part of the reason that Dinefwr is the only park in Wales designated a national nature reserve. A really enjoyable walk and a chance to escape the bustle of everyday life and an invitation to revisit Wyn and his work as a warden in the spring, his favourite time of year. For more information on opening times at Dinefwr visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dinefwr
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Waste not, want not
How does this sound for a really simple idea? - take the surplus produce from the food industry and instead of burying it in landfill sites across Wales, redistribute it to people in the community who really need it. That's the vision behind the charity Fareshare Cymru and I've been out with them this week, seeing how the process works. We've heard about waste strategies and Government targets to reduce waste - well this scheme fits neatly into part of the plans and the ultimate aim is that Wales should be a country where no good food goes to waste. It was an early start at the depot on the Capital Business Park in Cardiff where Fareshare Cymru has one of two bases in Wales (the other is in Llandudno Junction) Fareshare has been operating on a UK level for around 20 years now, but only came to Wales last September. Guy Boswell is the project manager in Cardiff and he showed me around the warehouse where they keep the produce. There was an amazing variety of foods stacked up on shelves stretching from floor to ceiling - from boxes of pasta, hundreds of tins of hot chocolate which couldn't be sold because the labels had accidentally been printed in Swedish to a whole pallet of after-dinner mints. They can also stock fresh produce in huge fridge and freezer stores. We joined volunteer Shelly on a trip in a chiller van up to Abertillery to the Tillery Frozen Foods factory where they had a stack of vegetable moussakas with one ingredient missing from the sauce which meant that meant they couldn't be sold, but are perfectly okay to eat. With the food on board, we headed back to Cardiff in time to see a huge lorry arrive from Bristol with a delivery from a well-known cream cheese manufacturer. We then took a delivery of produce to the Huggard Homeless Centre in Cardiff, where around 38 beds are provided for people who would otherwise be sleeping rough. In the kitchens, the staff were busy making corned beef pasties and explained to us that before Fareshare starting delivering, they were relying on fried foods, but could now provide healthier food for the men and women coming to them for help. As Guy explained, they need a lot more companies to donate surplus food (he was very firm on stressing that it's surplus and not 'waste'). After all, it costs £58 per ton to take anything to landfill - so it should make economic sense to donate it instead. Also, funding could be a problem in future because without it, the scheme couldn't work. The whole experience was a real eye-opener, but it also makes you think about just how much food we do waste. And how our demanding shopping habits have created all this surplus in the first place. Definitely food for thought. You can hear more about this story on 'Country Focus' this Sunday at 7am on BBC Radio Wales.
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In search of brown hares
I'm just back from a trip to try to spot brown hares here in Carmarthenshire. I was near the village of Brechfa and joined Vaughn Mathews who works with the Wildlife Trust Wales and is currently coming to the end of a three year hare survey of Wales. It's estimated that there's been a 75% drop in hare numbers in Wales since WWII, but the survey is trying to establish if areas which are being sensitively managed are seeing a resurgence in numbers. Farmland run as part of the Welsh Government's Tir Gofal scheme is being compared with land which is not part of any agri-environment projects. We climbed a steep hill, slowly, looking carefully for any signs of hare, but as Vaughn explained, we were unlikely to see any in daylight. Vaughn Mathews is currently coming to the end of a three year hare survey of Wales. He told me that most of his sightings have been at dawn or dusk and that 3 years on, he still finds it a thrill to spot a brown hare: "They're just such charismatic creatures," he says "they can be so secretive and then sometimes, you can see them plainly, boxing together or bouncing along a field." "I've also spoken to many farmers who say they'd like to see more hares on their land and wonder how they can attract them." Hares are quite choosy though and apparently they don't like to share their living space with rabbits, sheep or people for that matter, and prefer to be around cattle, probably because they don't graze the grass so low. Intensive farming methods, the loss of mixed farming systems and higher stock levels are all being blamed for dwindling hare numbers. Vaughn wouldn't be drawn on any of the surveys findings, which are due to be published in the Spring, but he hinted that there could be a few surprises in store. A hare from our BBC Wales Nature Flickr group taken by Ros Baylis. After a steep climb, several tricky farm gates and a lot of wading through thick mud, sadly we didn't spot any hares today. But the Wildlife Trust Wales is asking for members of the public to get involved with the survey, by reporting any sightings of this reclusive animal. If you're luckier than me and spot a brown hare, you can get in touch with them by visiting www.welshwildlife.org You can hear more about my hare spotting trip on this week's Country Focus on Sunday, January 8 at 7am on BBC Radio Wales. Watch a clip featuring Iolo Williams trying to measure the speed of a hare running.
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Looking back over rural Wales in 2011
I've noticed many of the newspapers have published their reviews of the year - so if you can't beat them... A limit on the number of wind farm developments in Wales, a levy on plastic carrier bags, reform of the Common Agriculture Policy, more delays and deliberations over a proposed badger cull in West Wales, not to mention an Assembly Election and a reshuffle of rural posts in the Welsh Government. Politically it's been a busy year and all these issues have been hot topics on Country Focus over the past twelve months. There was also an opportunity to remember the devastation of the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001, ten years after the event. Even a decade had failed to weaken the strength of feelings and bitter memories of such a tough time for the Welsh countryside and in a special programme, we revisited one of the areas worst affected near Brecon and spoke to people affected by the crisis. Ten years on, there were still tears, anger and frustration at what happened and a general agreement that if the disease recurred, things would be handled very differently. On a happier note, my wildlife year has included trying to count Kingfishers on the Teifi River (not one appeared, although I did see an otter), spot seals along the Cardigan Bay coastline (again, no luck), travelling to a secret location in deepest Carmarthenshire to try to hear the cuckoo (we heard one) and seeing a dolphin leap out of the water while swimming in the sea off Llangrannog. But the highlight for me this year was a trip to record a programme on Skokholm Island off the Pembrokeshire coast back in June. The weather and surroundings were glorious and the sea birds were out in force.Sitting on the cliff tops, only a few feet away from hundreds of puffins is a memory I won't forget in a hurry. At the time, the warden Jerry Gillham was coming to the end of his first year in the job and is still there, dividing his time between Skomer and Skokholm during the winter months and blogging about island life on Skokholm. I'm lucky enough to earn my living mostly outdoors and continue to be amazed at how rich and diverse our landscape and wildlife is in Wales.This year, I've walked along parts of Offa's Dyke, the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and joined the writer and poet Owen Sheers for a walk in the Olchon Valley, setting for his novel, Resistance. I've no idea where I'll be heading in 2012? But I hope you can join me!
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Swimming, hunting or singing?
You'll be glad to know that it's not too late to sign up or turn up for the annual Boxing Day Swim in Tenby this year. This time last year someone (who will remain nameless) suggested a radio programme which would involve me taking part in the aforementioned event which was celebrating its f...
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Which Christmas tree: Real, artificial or pot-grown?
It's that annual dilemma - real or artificial, cut or pot-grown, large or small, local or foreign? The decision to buy a Christmas tree has become a tricky business. I don't want to sound smug, but I'm feeling fairly virtuous after buying a medium-sized pot-grown tree at the weekend, which is...
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Erddig country house
It's a beautiful sunny and crisp day in Wrexham today (Wednesday) where I've come to record an edition of Country Focus at Erddig, the National Trust property described as the 'jewel in the crown of Welsh country houses'. For the first time this year, parts of the main house are being open...
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Tinkinswood burial site uncovered
Excavation work is drawing to a close at an archaeological dig with a difference in the Vale of Glamorgan this week. I've been to visit the Neolithic sites at Tinkinswood and St. Lythan's near the village of St. Nicholas to hear about a new project which is involving the local community in d...
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Royal Welsh Winter Fair
This is the 23rd Welsh Winter Fair which originally began as a one-day event but has grown steadily into two days of competing, and is steadily staking its place as one of Europe's main prime stock shows. There's a great festive atmosphere here with Christmas trees and decorations on every c...
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Christmas preparations
Do ever you get the impression that everyone else's Christmas preparations are far more advanced than your own? I have that sinking feeling (already) that I'm getting left behind. Last weekend was stir-up Sunday, the traditional day for making Christmas cake and puddings which always falls o...