Stir Up Sunday Christmas Pudding Race

We had a terrific lot of rain overnight, the road across town was flooded. I decided not to go raptor hunting. I saw on Twitter that the Church of Mary The Virgin in Tollesbury was holding a Christmas pudding race. I've got all my ingredients for my puds but the recipe I always use doesn't need maturing so I thought I'd honour Stir Up Sunday without stirring.

Tollesbury is a sleepy Essex village on the bank of the River Blackwater on the way to nowhere. I arrived a bit before the appointed time so had a coffee in the King's Head. A friendly crowd was drinking beer and tucking in to a lovely selection of cheese and biscuits that the landlord provides gratis on a Sunday.

It was very quiet at the church. At first only me and the organiser and her husband. Normal for Tollesbury she said. They gave me a lovely book on the history of the village which I will enjoy dipping into. She is the only woman I have met with hair to match her boots. In fact she was clad head to toe in purple. As she pointed out, it is the liturgical colour for Advent. I thought it best not to go into Hillary Clinton's choice of purple for her concession speech.

People started to arrive and we walked the course round the church to comply with 'elf and safety regs. The runners didn't compete with the beautiful red-wrapped puddings donated by Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree but with past-their-sell-by-date mini supermarket ones. Great fun was had by all. It's a shame more people don't get off Facebook and get out and actually do stuff. 

I then went to Old Hall Marshes nature reserve. I had it to myself, which is how I like it. By then the light was very poor and the tide was in, so not many birds about - or so I thought. I heard a loud bang and loads of birds flew up from nowhere. It wasn't until I got home and looked at my pics on screen that I saw that I had captured a wildfowler and his dog on the saltings.