The Boltons of The Little Boltons Quotes

“But why ‘summer pudding’ I wondered. My guess was that prosperous Victorians or Edwardians, or their cooks, faced with an unprecedented abundance of home-grown berries, and new exotic berries and fruits from the empire, but unfamiliar with the delights (or benefits) of eating them raw, straight from tree or vine, were compelled to turn them into something they could recognise. And as they had always called the course after the main course ‘pudding’, and as it was always stodgy and cooked in a round pudding bowl, they did to that fresh summer fruit the only thing they knew: they put it into a pudding bowl, shaped it into a pudding shape, and called it a pudding. A summer pudding.”
― Robert Philip Bolton, The Boltons of The Little Boltons

“What’s the difference between cod and plaice?’ Kath asked the chippy, innocently. ‘Fifty pence, luv,’ he said. ‘It’s on the sign.”
― Robert Philip Bolton, The Boltons of The Little Boltons

“This jostling for position in the household hierarchy was a drama that was played out every day. It must have been important to the people involved, in the context of their narrow lives and their work, but to us it appeared petty and absurd. It had probably been going on for generations before us and will probably continue for generations into the future. But it must inhibit industry and innovation and is no doubt, even now, contributing to Britain’s commercial and social decline.”
― Robert Philip Bolton, The Boltons of The Little Boltons

“I realised then that they rarely did anything routine — such as drinking coffee — because they enjoyed it; rather they seemed to do it because, in their minds, it was somehow appropriate. It was as if they felt on show, anxious to do the right thing.”
― Robert Philip Bolton, The Boltons of The Little Boltons