An 'R' in the month

It’s the first Sunday of the month, so it’s Farmers’ Market in Romsey, and I always make a bee-line for this stall from Portsmouth Fish Market.
My treat is always  a bag full of  winkles, those curious looking sea snails which you eat with vinegar and pepper and extract from the shell with a pin.
I cannot remember when I first tasted this delicacy, although I recognise that they are not always regarded as such by some of my friends.  Those I buy from the fish stall are live and need to be thoroughly cleaned in several changes of water and then cooked for around five minutes in boiling water.
But alas, I have not been able to buy them for a few months now. Nor today.
I am well aware of the saying that you shouldn’t eat shellfish if there’s not an 'R’ in the month.  Effectively that is through the summer months of May through August to September  the time when many shellfish and other fish are spawning and coastal waters in which they are found can be affected by toxic growths.
Even so, the fish stall today did have the option of mussels and clams. Last month there were whelks, a bigger form of winkle.

But sadly, no winkles! And if I respect the no ‘R’ code it will be another couple of months at least till I can rekindle my taste buds with these curious yet irresistibly tasty treats.