The hunt for watercress

The hunt for watercress
Originally uploaded by Di Di's Trip pics

For some reason, I just assumed finding fields of watercress along the Itchen Valley would be really easy. Rock up, point, shoot, job done. Erm, no. Certainly not that simple. I asked a little old lady with whiskers who was weeding her garden in the quaint village of Easton if she knew where I could find some. She umm-ed and aaah-ed for a moment before suggesting I head in the opposite direction along the river. Once on this path, I posed the same question to a German-sounding lady unpacking her car boot by a large riverside cottage. She suggested I head to a village called Kings Worthy where there was a farm shop.

This was a rather good tip off as the farm shop grew its own watercress but it was rather unfortunate that the whole lot had just been harvested. All three fields of it. The picture just looked like an endless patch of gravel. It was a great place to buy local cheese, chutney and freshly made bread for lunch though. It was during this little pause in the hunt that I realised all the watercress fields were actually marked on the map. Ah. Yes. Now that's quite helpful.

This picture is Bertie resting on a little bridge over the River Itchen just outside Easton in Hampshire.