Love2Walk sloe?
Sloes, originally uploaded by simonwheatley.
With the Bridgend Love2Walk Festival and the Wales Alternative Food Festival both kicking off this week, we thought we’d do something in the lead up to combine the two themes.
The Sloe Walk on Thursday evening was led by Robert Jones, that’s the ecologist and not the former Wales and British Lion Scrum Half I add! Rob is the countryside Officer in Bridgend County Borough Council and his knowledge on plants and anything related to ecology is pretty impressive to say the least, he’s also a rare breed being an Ecologist with a sense of humour (though his jokes are sometimes not as memorable as his expertise). We were in for a good night though (hopefully with some gin!) and we weren’t disappointed. Well, I was disappointed at the lack of gin at the end of the walk, but not with the lack of sloes.
I hadn’t really walked around Bedford Park near Bridgend before, I had visited the Ironworks but not actually ventured further afield around the circular walk. It takes in part of the former Dyffryn-Llynfi railway line that must have served the docks in Porthcawl and Cardiff with coal from the Valleys. What a beautiful walk it presents us with today. There is one stretch in particular where the trees lining the route form a perfect archway in a straight line for about half a mile. Worth going to just to see that.
Anyway, Rob was a gem. He pointed out loads of edible plants and poisonous ones too that we should avoid obviously. Some were even too similar to call, so you have to be cautious and know what you’re doing, or take Rob with you! But Rob made it all very entertaining by bolting on the odd story or historical anecdote at nearly every stop that made this walk one of the most enjoyable I’ve been on for a while.
So, about the sloes. Yes, there were sloes in abundance but were they right for picking? A great debate ensued but even a bigger one surrounding the best recipe for sloe gin. I was amongst some experts that’s for sure but as for myself, I’m quite good at drinking the stuff and that’s about it.
Some recipies for Sloe Gin and other wild foods can be found at the following links:
http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/wild-food-guide.php http://www.sloe.biz/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sloegin_7722
Please remember there are old wild flood pickers and bold wild food pickers but no old and bold wild food pickers. If you have any doubts whatsoever about your identification of a wild plant or mushroom, don’t eat it!
The Great Welsh Leek Relay 2010
The Great Welsh Leek Relay 2010, a set on Flickr.
This was a pretty mad thing to do last year to promote Feastival, and this year we are doing it all again.
Basically to raise the profile of ‘food miles’ as an issue, and to fit in nicely with our Alternative theme at Wales’ Alternative Food Festival, we decided to do the Great Welsh Leek Relay.
Essentially, we managed to persuade three elite athletes from Bridgend to pick a leek from a field in North Wales and transport it over land by bike and foot (and over water by swimming!) all the way to Bridgend in order to open Feastival last year.
It does help when you’ve got people like triple Olympian marathan man Steve Brace in the team. The good news is, they are doing it all again this year. Full details to be announced soon.
Feastival, a quick glance at last year…..
Feastival 2010, a set on Flickr.
Feastival is only now in its second year and we’re really looking forward to what this year has in store for us. In the meantime, here’s a quick reminder how it went last year…..
Feastival turns Bridgend into Little Italy
Italian flag #1, originally uploaded by Ed Yourdon.
As part of this year’s Wales Alternative Food Festival on 30th September and 1st October 2011, we’re turning a part of Bridgend into ‘Little Italy’. The Italian Quarter at Feastival is a celebration of the historic and cultural links between Wales and Italy and how Italy has helped shape our food culture in the Principality.
There aren’t many places in Wales that you can go to without coming across a quality Italian restaurant, an ice cream parlour even and of course, their famous cafes dotted throughout the valleys. The idea is to create an Italian Quarter during the food festival to showcase some Italian icons and true to form with Feastival, this will be a little bit different too.
It’s rumoured for example (only rumoured!) that Wales Alternative Food Festival will get its very own Leaning Tower of Pissa this year (but with a twist). Watch this space!
In the meantime, if anyone wants to get involved in Little Italy or indeed has any ideas for us, be great to hear from you (email: tourism@bridgend.gov.uk)
