Quite a lot of people in Frittenden say they have a treacle mine in their gardens. But the grand-daddy of them all may be in a friend's garden....

During the course of the festival I learned that the lake at the back of my friend's house was dug by navvies who had just finished working on a local railway line. Because my garden in a nearby village is on the same clay I can say with certainty that it would have been hard, heavy work. This lake, I should say, extends to quite a few acres.

Any way it seems that when plastered with yellow and greay clay at the end of the day they would repair to the pub for a pint, and the locals would josh them about working in the treacle mine.

So there Gadaffi... another legend for your collection. You should ask our mutual friend about it when you get a chance.

Gav