In your last issue of the Scene Extra, I read with interest the extracts from the Rev. Stevens diary and was particularly amused by the one related to William Poulton and his wife. They were my late husband Justin’s great grandparents and my father-in-law told many tales about them. Apparently, William was normally quite a placid man but his wife had a very hasty temper.

William liked to go down to the Bishop’s Blaize at Sunday lunch time to have a few quiet drinks with his mates. This annoyed his wife, as the dinner she had cooked was often delayed and consequently spoilt. One Sunday she decided that enough was enough and putting his dinner on a plate, she marched down to the pub with it and plonked it on the bar in front of him. If she had expected to shame him, she was disappointed, for, thanking her for her kindness, he proceeded with equanimity to eat it, much to the amusement of his friends. I doubt if she bothered to repeat the experiment!

Mary Poulton