Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Smelly shrimp paste for the Emperor
PETER FROST makes a right royal visit to woods in his native Northamptonshire.
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EVERY summer, beneath the canopy of high trees, in Fermyn Woods in the heart of the Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire members of a quaintly named organisation called the Purple Empire arrange an annual breakfast.
Chief item on the menu will be the most pungent and malodorous exotic oriental shrimp paste that members of the Empire can find.
Royal guest of honour at the morning feast is Britain’s second largest and most spectacular butterfly — the aptly named purple emperor (Apatura iris). Only male butterflies can attend the feast.
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