Ted Ramsbottom

Not my cup of tea really. I watched Thunderball at the Odeon in Bolton and the underwater bit went on too long. This one was even longer and Desmond Llewellyn wasn’t in enough scenes. Also why can’t there be any bond films set in Lancashire? We’ve got good pubs and winding roads here, plus plenty of scenery around Bolton. Daniel Craig would feel at home as well, as he’s Lancastrian. Anyway I missed most of it and I saw that ‘Bond will be back’ in the credits at the end, so hopefully Mrs Broccoli will read my comments and shoot the next one in Lancashire! All the best, Ted

Gradely! Matthew tackles the dichotomy of pickles vs power in his retelling of the famous story of how Norco Pickles Co. Ltd of Pendlebury, Lancs. undermined the Third Reich by supplying ‘modified’ Piccallili to Adolf Hilter during WWII under a special operation codenamed ‘windbreaker’ which was personally overseen by Winston Churchill. It might be ‘forgotten history’ in London but it’ll never be forgotten by those who stirred, bottled and despatched thousands of jars from the yellow Piccallili cauldrons at Norco Pickles in 1943. Amazing bravery from Edna ‘she makes yer dinners’ Collier and her WI team!

I was very disappointed. I’m an amateur historian myself, specialising in the role the Lancashire condiments industry played in WW2, and I couldn’t find any mention of the import of Lancashire condiments into our American colonies during the period concerned. Out of interest, our driver at the pickle works is Billy Jackson who is probably related to Andrew Jackson, Fifth President of The United States of America. I’ll take the book back to Pendlebury second hand bookshop and see if I can get my 35 pence back. Yours sincerely, Ted