Cheese

This being notice of an expedition to the Borough branch of Neal's Yard Dairy to top up supplies of Lincolnshire Poacher, otherwise to be found at reference 1.

A snap from the gallery that comes with reference 1, a galley which includes two shots of the windmill, so perhaps the windmill is part of the farm, making for even greener cheese.

Cold, overcast day, or at least at 11:15 it was. I wondered, when I was too far from the house to think of going back for one, whether I should have taken a scarf. Answer no as it turned out: wet but not cold enough to need a muffler.

Quick run from Waterloo to London Bridge. Bought my cheese and then headed down to the Italian grocery at Borough for some festive sausage, this festival's (actually my birthday) alternative to roast beef. Although, curiously, a quick look did not turn up the sausages in question at reference 2. An operation which appears to be more about online shopping than real shopping. But a very good shop or all that, with lots of interesting looking stuff. An outfit which I appear to have first come across and noticed (at reference 3) just about a year ago.

But, just like Sainsbury's they move their stuff about to make sure you take in lots of shelves and aisles, but I found them in the end.

Out to rain with no prospect of a definitive cessation any time soon, so down the stairs at Borough tube station to catch a train to Tooting. Settling for Balham in the event. Note the bench provided near the top for the greater comfort for those who have climbed. Not sure that I would still try that these days.

Having gone off the boil for Tooting, took a snack from Puccino's on the platform at Balham. A sort of lower grade croissant full of lower grade ham and cheese. Two of them. Rightly called junk food, but not expensive and at least it got some food inside me at roughly the right time of day.

Puzzled by this snap of a rare goods train at Balham, which does not appear to have a regular locomotive.

As far as I can tell, what we have is some third-rail job, painted up as if it were part of the South Western Railway operation. No idea what freight is being carried, but the rolling stock appears to belong to Touax of reference 4 - another French company which has muscled in on our critical national infrastructure. Or perhaps not so critical these days with most of our goods moved around on roads rather than rails.

Plenty of cloud, but the aeroplanes heading west to Heathrow were visible below. A steady stream of ones but never a two. 

Weather looking a bit brighter, but too late. The junk food was down the hatch and the die was cast for Epsom.

In my days as a commuter, the now lightly trodden stretch between the two posts, was mostly mud, the grass having been worn away by all those people who could not be bothered to use the path provided a few yards further along, that is to say to the right. People who, I should add, included me for years, until, that is, I saw the light for green and started walking around. What was all the hurry?

References

Reference 1: https://lincolnshirepoachercheese.com/. Do not eat the rind which is rather unpleasant - unlike the big factory cheddar of my childhood, the rind of which I rather liked. Perhaps just cheese impregnated cheese cloth, rather than the more organic looking stuff on Poacher.

Reference 2: https://www.prezzemoloevitale.co.uk/.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/11/facts-not-opinions.html.

Reference 4: https://touax.com/en.