Farmers

To complement our usual diet of  Poacher, a spot of a mild Comté from a young Frenchman the farmers' market in Epsom yesterday morning. Middle of the road, in terms of age.

We speculated about the domestic arrangements. Does he sleep in his van as he tours the markets of southern England? Is there some kind of cooperative which rents one of the arches somewhere near the Neal's Yard Dairy arches in Bermondsey? In which connection I might say that this cheese was even dearer than Lincolnshire Poacher. There was not a lot of action at the stall and we speculated on the propensity of the inhabitants of Epsom, many of whom are good deal better off than we are, to spend real money on cheese. House extensions, large cars and booze generally maybe; cheese maybe not.

Poligny, where the cheese comes from, is fairly near the Swiss border, so quite a long way to drive. So it would be quite a chunk out of the takings on a once a week basis, never mind more frequently. Does a van come out once a fortnight to stock up the chaps manning the stalls? Do they work the French flavoured restaurants in town during the week?

Later in the day, over the excellent cheese, we pondered on all the types who turn up for these markets, very few of whom look in the least bit like farmers. We thought it might be rather fun to turn up with an agricultural vehicle of some sort, plenty of straw and worse, dressed up as a farmer, complete with smock top, gaiters, floppy hat and straw in mouth. Full on ooo-arhh accent. Maybe selling live chickens which you offer to kill, pluck and clean on the spot for those who do not care to do it for themselves. Or perhaps a really lurid line in three foot high garden gnomes?

Perhaps one could use Tuppy Glossop doing a plumber of sorts as a model of sorts for the farmer? That is to say Plumbo Jumbo and his flying machine, in that famous last episode of the TV adaptation of Jeeves & Worcester. Or perhaps a pastiche of our PM pretending to be a man of the people?

PS: cognoscenti will of course know that Plumbo Jumbo was an invention of the TV people, rather than Wodehouse.

Reference 1: https://www.juraflore.com/fr. Yesterday's cheese.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/08/east-pole.html. The successful visit to Bermondsey.