A Taste of the Arctic...

Just a little reassurance to those planning on coming down to the South Coast of England for Christmas – we are not experiencing arctic conditions here on our beautiful South Downs -Slightly chilly, grey and damp but most certainly not arctic conditions, so you can throw out the snow boots now okay?
Arctic Roll – to be precise. There was no way that I could let this week pass without spending a moment or two reminiscing about an old family favourite which not only became evident in almost every freezer during the 1970’s but, found its conception within a ‘rolls throw of where I live – Eastbourne! Becoming a big seller for good old Birds Eye, its popularity eventually wavered and Arctic Roll ceased being manufactured around ten years ago.
Remember this family favourite from your childhood maybe? Miss it? Never had it anyway? – What is it did I hear you say from across the water?
..For those of you who (mercifully) escaped the delights of growing up with such a sweet sickly ice-cream dessert I had better explain. Arctic Roll originally consisted of vanilla ice cream rolled in what appeared to be luminous red jam and then wrapped Swiss roll style in a thick layer of sponge – and frozen. Therefore the ‘ideal family dessert’ that could be kept in the freezer in readiness for a quick and convenient dessert for the family- indeed an Arctic Roll could feed the largest of families due to its ease of being cut into the thinnest of slices, or of course hulking great pieces if one was feeling extravagant!
Way back in 1939 Dr Ernest Veldon, a Czechoslovakian lawyer fled the Nazis and eventually found himself living in Eastbourne (just a few miles from where I live).He set up an ice-cream factory and Artic Roll was born in 1958.

UK’s largest frozen food manufacturers Birds Eye set up a factory in Eastbourne (now closed and the site of Tesco's) where it became a large employer for the town. Employees would treat family and friends to the numerous products that were deemed ‘seconds’ from the factory shop – therefore Arctic Roll, became almost part of the Eastbourne scene as a walk along our famous Carpet Gardens.
Speak to anyone over twenty and they will each have their own particular memory of the good old Arctic Roll. The way in which it was eaten became almost a family ritual. Some would swear by 'eating the ice cream first technique' thus leaving the sponge for last. Others would carefully roll out the sponge from around the edge, taking care to scrape off and eat the sticky jam first. If you really wanted to impress friends and family back in the 70’s a slice of this ‘delicacy’ could be topped with tinned fruit (a nightmare ‘dessert’ from my own childhood…who remembers tinned fruit cocktail with vivid plasticlike pink cherries?) – Then the ultimate ‘garnish’ could be carefully placed on the top …..A dollop of Birds Dream Topping. On reflection we may wonder how any of us have survived that era of quick and convenient and vile packet mixes!
Personally, I must have been in my late teens before I tasted the delights of this British ‘delicacy’, - and it wasn’t until I went to my boyfriends house that I was introduced to such things. I can remember now the look of disgust on my Mothers face when I relayed to her what we had had for dessert one Sunday. The look of distain said it all and I was firmly reminded that the foods we eat are forever linked to the good old British class system, and like it or not they remain so -possibly even to a greater extent now in 2008.
Well, let’s say the eating habits of the boyfriend I spoke of certainly didn’t put me off – I married him! Not only that, I indulged him in his passion for Arctic Roll - and even introduced our children to it before it was withdrawn ten years ago….but I don’t think I ever presented my Mother with a slice in all that time, maybe I should?!
As for me, I don’t think I have ever had another slice of Arctic Roll since that day at my mother-in-law’s house – Just not my idea of a dessert I’m afraid. I can’t help feeling that now Birds Eye is reintroducing it, there may be just the odd Arctic Roll appearing in my weekly grocery order…but only occasionally!
To read more up to date info on this and many more of our favourite British Frozen Foods go to http://www.birdseye.co.uk/

Love Molly x

Weeping For Woolworths ..

Woolworths slashes prices by 50%- so the headlines tell us today. In a last ditch effort to sell off stock our dear old 'Woolies' is a sinking ship for sure. But why the outpouring of grief? Surely if much loved Woolies were quite so special to us we would have been frequenting her stores far more and thus spending our money? – Well, yes that could be argued. When did you last go into a Woolworths? – Or, more importantly, when did you last spend any money in Woolworths? Bless her heart; she had clearly lost her way even before the current economic climate, so really we shouldn’t be surprised at her downfall. She is fast becoming a fossil on our High Streets – and that is what makes me weep for Woolies.

Woolies have been an enormous landmark in our little town here on the south coast. She could always be relied upon to sell us everything from a pack of paper clips to the latest CD. But clearly we haven’t been using her enough.



Like many of us, my own recollections of Woolies stem from my childhood, and I can still remember now the sound of the old wooden floorboards as people dashed from the counter to counter. There was the cheese counter where one would queue to purchase odd coloured ‘processed cheeses’ – which resembled plastic – and tasted like it too! The most sophisticated cheese one could buy would have been a piece of Edam with its vivid red wax covering. The biscuit counter always held great fascination for me. For although I was never told not to buy them, my Mother would always look slightly aloof if I ever suggested buying a few to take home. Looking back that was most possibly the first purchase I ever made as a child without an adult beside me – a bag of broken biscuits ate whilst hiding around the corner - which tasted fairly stale anyway. Maybe Mum was right?



From childhood purchases of toys and sweeties, Woolies would always tempt me with her array of garish cosmetics – Miners Make Up. One could be guaranteed to find the very brightest of acid green eye shadows, or the clumpiest of black mascaras.
Who remembers the ‘Winfield’ brand? This was a forerunner of the ‘Savers’ or ‘Value’ brands we find in our supermarkets today. Cheap and cheerful, ‘Winfield’ brands could be relied upon to give you the sweetest and sickliest of own brand perfumes and talc! – Was there ever a mother in the land who didn’t receive a bottle of Winfield Perfume with matching hand cream and talc – all topped with, most probably a bright mauve ribbon?



From Miners make up to a finding your first ‘Saturday Job’ – Woolies was ‘the’ place to be seen on a Saturday. In fact it was the only place to go to listen to the pop songs of the day. One would queue patiently at the counter to request what song you wanted to hear. This process could take quite some time, especially on a Saturday afternoon when half the towns population of teenagers were all wanting to listen to ‘Puppy Love’ at the same time! Small ‘listening booths’ were installed next to the record department and we would make our way to the vacant booth, place a pair of greasy, mucky looking headphones over our ears and await the glorious sound of Donny Osmond- Oh sweet memories!
I was one of those ‘Saturday Girls’ – in fact, I worked full time for Woolies at one stage. Employed on the ‘record counter’ I was in heaven! Not only that, it was deemed that all employees of the record counter would not have to wear a uniform. Thus it became very much a fashion parade of tank tops, mini skirts and platform shoes. Great thick bleached streaks adorned my hair, and although I had, by then moved on from the delights of Miners Make Up I was purchasing Brute aftershave by the bucketful – and, like many girls of the time ‘splashing it all over’ not only my boyfriend but myself!
There I would be with my platforms clip clopping around on the wooden floors listening to anything from The Bay City Rollers to Demis Roussos – it was a perk of course to be able to choose what music to relay around the store. However, on entering my Leonard Cohen phase the manager would come storming over to switch the record player off as he was convinced that listening to Leonard Cohen would make his sales drop.- He was most probably right.
The really young teens would come in and buy their ‘Top of the Pops’ LP (a long player) – these were ghastly ‘cover’ type records which the uninitiated lapped up but were very much frowned upon by anyone with a scrap of taste! Another big seller would be ‘Pickwick Records’. These would be ‘middle of the road’ type LP’s and thus the ideal gift to give to parents or an elderly relative for Christmas.
Working on the record counter introduced me to the world of ‘stereos’ – or rather ‘music centres’ as we called them. Enormous great machines that gave us the ultimate in choice of listening to a record, a cassette or the radio. I remember one Christmas in particular when these music centres were ‘the’ Christmas purchase. Ferguson and ‘Alba’ were all the rage (courtesy of Alan Sugar I believe?).


Indeed Woolies are inevitably facing the end now. I know for many of us customers and ex staff alike will always have special memories of ‘our good ‘ol Woolies’.
On a final note I would like to say an enormous ‘thank you’ to one particular member of staff at our local Woolies. Out of courtesy I will not name her of course, but I think a tribute should be made – listen out Seaford Gazette or Eastbourne Herald! – This member of staff has been working at this store since she was around 15 years old. In all that time she has served our little town tirelessly. – Always with a smile and always has time to stop and chat however busy her day may be. Over the years this dear lady has seen the families of our town grow from babies to adults, she has helped them make their first childhood purchases of sweeties on a Saturday, or that little gift for Mothers Day whilst Mummy’s not looking. She’s seen those children grow into stroppy and sullen teens and finally into adults now with children of their own. She remembers all their names, and never fails to ask each of us about our families. She is indeed a star and one person I know will be surely missed by us all. – Let’s make sure those of us in this town look out for her in the future, just as she has smiled daily at us.



Molly x