The old recipe book had lived at the back of the kitchen cupboard for as long as anyone could remember. Its cover was warped from years of steam, the pages soft and slightly translucent with absorbed butter and vanilla. Every member of the family had added something to it at one time or another — a cutting from a magazine, a recipe card from a friend, a note in pencil on the inside of the back cover. My grandmother found it when she was clearing out the house after my great-aunt passed. She spent an afternoon at the kitchen table going through every page, reading aloud the recipes she recognised and exclaiming at the ones she did not. Some were written in hands she did not recognise at all. We made the elderflower cordial that summer. It took most of a Sunday and left the kitchen smelling of flowers and warm sugar for days afterwards. The recipe called for forty heads of elderflower, which turned out to be far more than we expected — we had to stop twice on country lanes to gather enough.

The Saturday market runs every week from April through to the end of October. It started thirty years ago with just six stalls and now fills the entire market square and both sides of the lane that runs down to the river. You will find vegetables, cut flowers, honey, cheese, and bread from the town bakery. In the middle of the season there are usually two or three stalls selling preserves and cordials made from whatever is ripest that week. The cheese stall has been run by the same family since the very beginning. They bring three or four varieties each week, always including their aged hard cheese, which has won awards at the county show several years running. A small café sets up under the old chestnut tree. They do good coffee and a rotating selection of cakes. The almond cake sells out quickly.

Wildflower Meadows Return to the Valley

After more than fifty years, the wildflower meadows that once stretched across the lower fields of the valley have been restored. A combination of reduced mowing, overseeding with native species, and the reintroduction of traditional hay cutting has brought back species that had not been seen in the area for decades. Volunteers from the local conservation group spent three seasons preparing the ground and managing the grassland. The results this spring have exceeded all expectations. Visitors walking the footpath along the river have reported seeing orchids, cowslips, and ragged robin in numbers not seen since the 1960s. The reserve is open to walkers year-round on the public footpath. Dogs should be kept on leads between April and July during the ground-nesting season.

The book club meets on the last Wednesday of every month, alternating between members' homes. Whoever is hosting chooses the next book — the only rule is that it must be something they have genuinely read and enjoyed. This month's host has chosen a short novel set in a fishing village on the west coast of Ireland. It was published quietly some years ago and has since become a word-of-mouth favourite.