Utensils & equipment list:
One cooker (hob, grill & oven)
One good sized frying pan
One wooden spatula
One chopping board
One sharp knife
Bandages for cut fingers
One large slotted spoon
One ovenproof casserole dish
One sauce pot with lid
One potato masher
One cheese grater

Shepherd’s Pie is British peasant food at its finest. Shepherd boys are the watch wardens for the flocks of sheep and their lambs, to protect them from predatory harm ... human or animal in form.

However, even the shepherds must sustain themselves in a gustatory manner in order to fulfil their mission. So, they eat what is at hand, or staff.  

Lamb and root veggies are the primary ingredients, set off with a bit of seasoning and Cheddar cheese.

Firstly, it is necessary to go to the organic Manor Farm in Long Whatton, just near The Falcon Inn.  A nice short walk, even without a walking stick or cane.

If you should need driving help, do not trust your lady friend in the GPS as she may lead you, too, astray.  Just ask me instead. Just don’t ask to go backwards!

You will know when you are there when you see this doorway, adorned here by the beautiful and always smiling  Alison Wright.


Then, just follow Alison’s lead as she asks the butcher lady for some minced (ground) young lamb.

Also, select some fine carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes. And perhaps a couple of slender, tender, fresh dug parsnips.  All organic, of course.


On leaving the Manor Farm shop, please harvest a sprig of rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), the herb of  the Virgin Mary, growing at Alison’s feet above.


Then, step through her kitchen door into Alison’s back garden to pluck two or three leaves of Sweet bay (Laurus nobilis) from her twenty-year-old plant.