Learn to Harvest Cockles and Grow Large Onions - Jack Hargreaves

[@GemmaSinclair]

if only the UK was still like this

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Gemma unfortunately things change althgough not always for the better.

[@horsenuts1831]

Most of Jack Hargreaves' films are the last gasp of an older England from the 1930s. If you would be prepared to put up with no free healthcare, no car, no pension, no indoor plumbing, no central heating in winter, and food costing 50% of your income, then sure, you would love it. Oh, and you wouldn't have the internet to complain about how ghastly everything is. It's an interesting retrospective on a past life, but it's only illusionary.

[@djscoah8037]

Couldn’t agree more Slower, quieter and a greater appreciation of making and producing beautiful useful things

[@wales123100]

⁠​⁠@@horsenuts1831when this programme was made most of that list was irrelevant we had all of it bar the internet and that’s done more harm than good plus people could buy their own houses unlike the youngsters of today

[@andycollins7215]

@@GemmaSinclair I was lucky enough to be there and think about quite a lot now, and yes I do miss how simple life was then, nothing much makes sense to me now.

[@flashtheoriginal]

God bless you Jack. England at its most serene

[@rogerspencer9698]

i close my eyes and its like the 70s and 80s, watching Jack Hargreaves on telly with my grandad. bliss

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Hi Roger so pleased the programme brought back obvious fond memories.

[@jontalbot1]

One of the great broadcasters. All credit to Southern TV for these marvellous programmes and Dave Knowles for putting them on You Tube. Really appreciated

[@garymilburn4511]

Jack hargreaves is a big hero of mine these clips come from a bygone age ,England no longer like this sadly. Rip Jack a great man.

[@malcolmhill691]

Thank you once again for a perfect piece of broadcasting, which is the perfect antidote to these troubled times. Sunday evening viewing at it's very best.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Malcolm.

[@m.brizzy5407]

Beautiful. No one else like Jack.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you.

[@neilattaway2182]

​@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker. Wonderful old gentleman. I learned so much about everything from him. Everything that is worthwhile is in Jack's shows. I find myself yearning for simpler times. Thank you for posting this. Please keep them coming 🙏.

[@crazycressy7986]

Great to get back to the England i love

[@XFlaviousX]

Cheers Dave, love these old documentaries with Jack. Brings back memories.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure

[@deptfordgel]

From the Days when TV was worth watching, I really miss those days.

[@londongirl1733]

Yes agree I miss them too 😊

[@johnd8538]

Only 3 channels aswell.....sometimes two when the test card was on!!

[@flashtheoriginal]

Thank you Dave What a treat. No script, no autocue. Just a proper communicator. God bless you Jack

[@kf-dk5pb]

As a nurse I used to nurse Mr Robinson from the mammoth onion. He and his wife was approaching their 90s at the time and was not on any medication, He said the secret was to eat one boiled onion every night 😅

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Not heard that one before.

[@johnd8538]

Onions purify the blood

[@garyharley3868]

What a joy to watch thank you for showing it. My day is complete

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Gary.

[@darenwright1071]

Thanks Dave I love anything Jack did and used to watch with my Grandad.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure Daren.

[@timstradling7764]

Love Jacks easy way to describe and explain all his activities😊

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes he had a wonderful way of telling a story. I spent many hours with him during editing Out of Town and producing the 60 programmes of Old Country and the stories he had to tell were very special.

[@mikesaul8711]

My god, this should be on main stream TV, In stead of the rubbish we have now.takes me back to my childhood, watching these with my family, Thanks for posting. Kind regards Mike. Norfolk.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Mike. As for your comment even Channel 4 decided they didn't want a fourth series back 40 years ago so no chance now.

[@markosullivan6444]

Superb. Brings back memories of watching Jack 40 years ago.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@andrewmarsden1970]

The world Jack talks about has sadly long, long gone.

[@treaclepie]

this is what they took from us

[@keeksputels1851]

Defo gunna try cook this. Top recipe, old school. Sadly I doubt I can get a kidney with the fat on, unless I slaughter the animal myself 😂. These little hints of culture are so important to me, far to often we are encouraged to forget or outright reject the past. But I think it must be celebrated. Thankyou for recording this

[@kennethmaney914]

My family where doing cockling for hundreds of years in the Wash, they where from Kings Lynne. They use a board about 2 ft square with an a frame up to a handle, You dig a little and when you find a bed,you put your board flat down on them and rock it back and forwards. These bring the cockles to the surface easily every time, Oh and put them in a bucket with sea water, pour it out into another bucket at tide time, then pour it back with ground oatmeal. Do this twice and throw any open cockles away The cockles feed on this and clean there selves, no more sandy crunch, you can feed mussels the same and remember to take off the weed they were clinging too.mmmmmm.

[@Cornz38]

I used to love watching this as a kid back in the 70's.

[@DavidMayOnline]

Made my day ! Thank you.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you David

[@Deliquescentinsight]

That does it, I am making a few kidney onions, Jack's suggestion of pork chops and a pint of real beer is superb. Thank you for this,

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you enjoyed the programme.

[@johnd8538]

Go for it lad, get a joint of beef with the seperate fat on top you get nowadays and put a piece over the kidney ( drooling 😂)

[@sevenwatson5854]

Thanks for this...every episode of Jack's is a treasure of memories and folk law!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so pleased you are enjoying the programmes.

[@hopethisworks1212]

Brilliant. When I first went cockling in France at the Mont St Michele 50 years ago, they used to sell little rakes to the tourists which we dutifully bought. After fruitless hours a kind French woman showed us the trick. It was less mud there just coarse sand and you can see what she called their eye showing through the sand......in fact it was just a small opening in the shell. It took about an hour to get your eye in but after that we stuffed ourselves. Had never thought of the "coques a la mariniere". Will try the kidney onion. We are growing the onion Johnny onions this year for the first time ......the variety is "Keravel". We will see how they go.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Many years ago I went cockling in Poole but I do not really remember how we found them.

[@davidsandilands1285]

I remembered seeing these programmes when younger but thought they were boring, how’s things change absolutely loving them now, do much appreciation now, I hope they are all posted on here.

[@LawrenceTyson-l3u]

Exactiy

[@tresparivet6348]

Thank you for doing whatever you have to do to share these classic old TV shows. I remember them so well.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you like them Diane

[@woodsie2740]

Wading around in the mud in yer kesters,great stuff,sun setting,peace and quiet and jack commentating.truly heartwarming tv

[@billywhippet]

The real England

[@StormwatchDruid]

Lovely looking Onions. Used to always watch Jack on the telly when I was growing up and met him a few times down at Ringwood Market, Back in the days when TV was interesting and when you might learn something nowadays there are hundreds of channels with brain dead self obsessed idiots who can't tell right from left. Thanks for putting this out Dave.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure I am so pleased you are liking the programmes I made with Jack.

[@Dan-zr5em]

What a super episode, such charming, fond memories Jack clearly treasured throughout his life.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes Dan I loved seeing it again after so many years since we made it.

[@georgeslade7217]

I remember watching this episode forty pluss years ago . I was always more interested in Jack than any other TV programs.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so glad George you enjoyed the progamme.

[@newprimitiveart]

Just to mention shot of Jack in sunset at end of part one is lovely. Getting all the right shots to tell the story is an art. Thank you not just for posting this but all your work, It was appreciated then as it is now however many years latter.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

It is my pleasure to share the programmes I made with Jack especially as so many enjoy them so much.

[@juliegraham5033]

How wonderful to see my home town Poole. I am fortunate to still have a view over the harbour from the centre of town, but the view is gradually disappearing because of massive over development😢

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you for sharing it sounds wonderful.

[@2frogland]

really appreciate you putting these up ,perfect

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you like them!

[@stephenrice4554]

Magnificent. Real advice , good food and common sense .

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Stephen

[@helloxyz]

For those who don't know how, cockles mariniere is easy to make. Put the cockles in fresh salty water with a bit of wine vinegar for a couple of hours to clear any sand; rinse and refresh. Any cockles that don't close when you touch them, remove as they are possibly not good. Slow fry some shallots, maybe garlic if that is to your taste, bay leaves or bouquet garni, white wine. Add the cleaned cockles. Stir every minute or two. Cook until they are done 🙂, which you can recognise because all the cockles will have opened. Any that haven't opened, don't eat. Serve with white wine (chablis or any other chardonnay), or dry white champagne.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you for sharing. It sounds delicious.

[@michaelsalt4223]

I used to leave the cockles in a bucket of sea water overnight and sprinkle some porridge oats into the water. The cockles would eat the oats and throw out any sand. They would be fat and juicy when cooked the next day, with no grit in them.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@michaelsalt4223 I bet. Sounds a great idea.

[@helloxyz]

@@michaelsalt4223 that sounds Scottish !

[@jill-ti7oe]

Happy days. 😄👍

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you.

[@SpireUtd]

Boiled onions in butter. My Dad's occasional favourite from his childhood & passed on to me. Thanks Dad ❤ Thanks Jack & Dave.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Sounds interesting. Do you serve them as a vegetable dish accompaniment?

[@SpireUtd]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker no, just onions. Probably a result of the times ? No supermarkets in those days, tripe was popular too. Rice was only ever in a pudding & never ever part of a meal, oranges only appeard at christmas & a takeaway was a mathematical problem 😂 ah the good old days 🤣

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@SpireUtd Yes Dad and I ate tripe. He liked it raw with salt and vinegar on it. I tried when I got married various recipes (as I love cooking) with tripe, the only problem was it always tasted like tripe.

[@sezwho8561]

When people ask what does it mean to be English. Jack Hargreaves is the answer

[@jontalbot1]

So is Lenny Henry, Margaret Thatcher, Charles Hawtrey and Cardinal Wolsey. What’s your point?

[@sezwho8561]

@@jontalbot1 Lenny Henry 😂

[@jontalbot1]

@@sezwho8561 Presumably cos he’s not white. Tell me: do you have an issue with cats? For example do you think ginger ones are better than black and white ones? Or do you think they are all the same species that happen to be different colours?

[@candide1065]

@@jontalbot1 Can woke people just not make a fool out of themselves for once in their life?

[@geraldfunnell7932]

Thank you Dave a wonderful film I used to work for my uncle a farmer and was very much like Jack complete with a beard and pipe !

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Gerald I am so pleased you enjoyed the programme.

[@peterww3241]

Awesome! Long live the kidney-onion. Sounds and looks so yummy!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

It certainly is worth a try Peter.

[@nigelbarrett3602]

Big thanks to you Dave i have been feeling very down today so just watched Jack and loved the whole episode as always. Now feeling a lot more upbeat really enjoy watching Jack as we didn't have these programmes in Cornwall back then. Already looking forward to the next one.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am sorry you were having a down day Nigel but I am so glad Jack cheered you up a bit. There are more to come on the first Sunday of each month.

[@jonbirchall4665]

As others have commented I used to watch this in the late 70’s and early 80’s as a child; normally with my Grandma. It was a different time and one I feel very fortunate to have been able to experience. I was fascinated by the countryside as a child and this provided even more inspiration at the time. When Britain was Great.

[@alarmactionukalarmactionuk893]

Thank you so much for a much needed slice of nostalgia!

[@simoncossar4173]

This takes me right back to my childhood. Used to sit down at the age of 4 glued too the tv to listen to jack. Wouldn't get away with smoking a pipe on tv now i bet 😂. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, keep it up

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure I am so pleased you enjoyed it.

[@pauldurkee4764]

Cockles have always been a favourite in South Wales, coming mainly I think from the famous cockle beds in Penclawdd. I remember my grandmother buying them for me as a child, add some vinegar and pepper and eat them with your fingers. We used to get people coming around the pubs selling cockles and laverbread.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Sounds absolutely perfect Paul.

[@michaeltreadwell777]

BRILLIANT ! I'll HAVE to try Kidney Onions - they sound lovely. Thanks for sharing all these old shows Dave, they are something that will never be matched these days. Take care 🙂

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Michael don’t forget Jacks advice about the fat when you make them and also please let us know what you think of them.

[@deerohdeer8000]

Those were the days !!! Great as always Dave 👍👍

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Craig.

[@diogenesegarden5152]

I’ve got huge onions, grown from seed (Alisha Craig) this year, I’ve used wood ash and fed them weekly with comfrey tea and watered as required. I love the onion dibber, will be whittling one for my gardening tool box.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thanks for sharing!

[@wales123100]

There a great variety dont keep long though

[@dominicohea5624]

What. A. Lovely. Man. A great. Voice. Beautiful musical Introduction. Pure. Quality.

[@themayalls5594]

That's a great victorian recipe with the kidney...I bet it is delicious 😋 x

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I like kidneys so for me I al sure I would enjoy it.

[@carlosdeferrer3585]

I used to love going out for the day to Whitstable/Seasalter the 70s and early 80s and walking out when the tide was out and spend time with my dad and his friends collecting cockles bringing them home to put in the bath for the night to get the sand out, always delicious with some malt vinegar.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

You can't beat it Carlos cockles, vinegar and a littloe salt.

[@ditch46uk]

The tip about putting a fishing swivel every few feet in the garden line works beautifully. Thanks for another wonderful video.

[@TerryC69]

Hi Dave! This kidney onion sounds like something I need to try! Thanks for sharing.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes Terry I have also added it to my list of things to try sometime.

[@mergrew0110]

My first girlfriend’s father had a yacht and we used to go out near the submarine boom at foulness, let the tide go out and spend several hours cockle hunting. Come home on the tide and have fresh cockles for tea. The professionals sailed out of Old Leigh and beside their sheds were piles of cockle shells ten feet high. You could buy them for garden paths, sometimes they were free. Cockles make good bait for dabs and flounder, if you don’t eat them first!

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

Another wonderful episode, thank you!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PeteLewisWoodwork]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker I'll be trying out Jack's recipe this week.

[@theofarmmanager267]

In the sixties, I would cycle from Deal to Pegwell Bay with a bucket balanced in each end of the handlebar. I don’t recall mud like in the film, it was drier and sandier in my memory. Anyway, after an hour or two, I had filled the buckets with cockles and cycled back heavily laden. My grandmother would rinse the cockles still in the bucket and have in a load of salt. This made the cockles spit out the grit in their shells. Then into large saucepans of boiling water. We ate some for tea that evening - cockles with vinegar and bread and butter - whilst she bottle all the others for weeks and months to come.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us.

[@martincarlyle946]

Cockling? Only Jack!! Bloody priceless.

[@JimNicholls]

Another super-interesting episode, Dave. Many thanks as always. I have seen (very rarely) people cockling on the beach here at low tide, using a vacuum pump which they plunge into the sand over a sign of a cockle's presence. They then pull up the handle and bingo! - there is usually a catch most times, which beats digging for them I guess.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

That sounds an interesting way to get the cockles up Jim.

[@leonardjackman354]

Always interesting videos with Jack

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you.

[@shauncorless8965]

Great shows I watched them all and what knowledge he had ,,

[@robertcotton9091]

Massive thanks for sharing, very enjoyable to watch Mate.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure Robert

[@General813]

Fantastic series👍

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you are enjoying the programmes.

[@Desertfox170]

Brilliant

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thanks you.

[@jamesbarr1620]

Miss old jacks wisdom 👏👏

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you James.

[@markdewdney9370]

What a great programme! Thanks

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Mark.

[@TraitorVek]

19:00 - Final Process, Blimey! Removing the footmarks! That brought back some Memories! Every Night we had to do that before going back home. Good Memories. Seventies.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

So please you enjoyed the programme and it brought back memories.

[@williamkinnear345]

Great video of our late friend i was cockling last weekend

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you William. How did you know Jack?

[@dennisclapp7527]

Thanks Dave

[@KAHouli-p1x]

thank you Dave

[@goddam9925]

Absolute magic thank you !!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so pleased you enjoyed it.

[@burniemaurins2382]

Superb, I like Cockles but don't like Kidney, so I will give that a miss, I remember this show from when it was first shown on tv, loved watching these as it was the only fishing/country program on the tv back then.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I also love shell fish of all kinds. I remember as a kid collecting winkles down in Dorset and my Dad cooking them for us. Then we would with a pin extract them.

[@johnwalker91]

Fantastic thanks for sharing more please

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure John.

[@greenlanes5140]

Fantastic memories.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so glad the programme brought back good memories.

[@spmoran4703]

I am so glad they are repeating Out of Town on Talking Pictures TV..

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Yes it’s good to see them again.

[@SydBleak]

Eel identifying as a flounder . Best nostalgia on youtube. Always learn something new from Jack and I grew up on the estuary.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I did notice that but sometimes he did that to make sure people were watching and paying attention or that's what he told me.

[@joseph14052]

Many thanks Dave for another cracking video you have restored. I used to work with Dennis as seen in the video and he told me he went out several times with Jack. My old boss told me there is a film series Jack made called Country boy goes Fishing and one of the episodes is about cockling with Dennis in it.

[@RichardHealyCoffey]

Fantastic show keep them coming tank you

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Will do. Keep an eye out on the first Sunday of each month.

[@KeithRobertson-h1h]

That was brilliant, the wonders of life. I'm at peace when i watch the norm, doesn't come often these days. Well thankS DAVE.

[@keithadams1538]

Always brings a BIG happy smile to my face. Thank you

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so pl;eased you enjoy the programmes Keith.

[@hugobosswood9002]

❤ thank you already looking forward to the next one

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you. The next one on September 2nd.

[@GavinM161]

I loved these old programmes and an absolute joy to come across one I'd not (knowingly) seen before! Thank you.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you enjoyed it Gavin.

[@AA-69]

😋...guess what I'm asking the butcher for next week 👍😘💔🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am sure it’s not cockles……

[@chucky2316]

Ask him for a mixed bag my Scottish friend and then fry it in the wok liver kidney hearts they will dice it up for you lovely 😍 best part of the animal in question I.m.o those parts. I'm english and love haggis yum 😋

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

@@chucky2316 Sounds great

[@Bhh-j2s]

"the inferior modern kidney.' a very Jack thing to say.

[@davidfarley1913]

Class

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you

[@taffpatch1]

Please don't run out of episodes XX

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Well there are only 60 of them but by putting them up one a month I am hoping in 60 months time people will enjoy watching them again.

[@seanH1768]

Bye eck that was a proper kidney. You’ll be lucky to get those unless you’ve a proper butcher. Love it Jack “I’m not a cook” - you were a legend.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Sean you are right about those kidneys. I have only seen the defatted ones.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Jack always reminds me of those gardening and fishing tips, comic strips in the newspapers.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Are you thinking of Adam the Gardener by any chance.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

@@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker That's one of them. I'm trying to remember which paper the fishing one was in. I keep coming up with The Sunday Express.

[@shirleydrury5565]

David thank you once again for bringing this timeless upload of are Jack ❤Much enjoyed as always 😊kind regards to you❤😊❤😊

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you Shirley.

[@tomgallagher4949]

Fab.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Thank you.

[@frankflegg8968]

Great video. Thank you.

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you liked it Frank.

[@robertcorradi8573]

Fabulous ... Thank you Dave .

[@memofrf]

Beautiful work. Thank you.

[@stiffish001]

Can I time travel back to more sensible times (that would be well sort after I’m sure)

[@Modernnannenginemarineengine]

Soo hungry watching this. As a kid. Late 1970s. Occasionally around a friends house7pm bbc2 I’d watch this. The other one was painting show. They were great.

[@patrickwalsh7719]

Very good well thanks dave

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

My pleasure Patrick.

[@johnnyknap]

Fond memories of treading for flounders on the Solway estuary with my childhood friends. More sandy than muddy. Nice onions !

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

I am so pleased Johnny that the programme brought back good memories.

[@michaelmiller641]

Wonderful episode! Thankyou!

[@DaveKnowlesFilmmaker]

Glad you enjoyed it Michael.

[@marylowrey8911]

Loved this . 🥰