Steadwood said:

Does the rock come with Blackpool written all the way through or is that added later?

LittlePill said:

This looks like something Ma Rosewood keeps in her handbag for those quiet moments.....down the mine,...but it's too big!!!

Steadwood said:

Thank you for explaning the process! You must work very hard to keep treacle in the homes of each family in the UK!
BUT...where lies the dark treacle and where lies the golden treacle? Is the dark treacle older or more concentrated?

soulyacolia said:

No....it's added later.....Though we hold the rights to what can and can not be added.

It would not be in our interests not to...as this is a very precious commodity...(though there are a lot of cheap copies out there).

We especially pride ouselves on the rock with the stawberry all the way through the middle as we ...(Pa Sandalwood mainly)..did the artwork for it.

CanvasBeauty said:

The dark treacle lies on the upper vein and is therfore less refined and a little more concentrated than the syrup which, due to the filtering process through the rock, leaves the syrup with it's rich golden colour and sweet yummy flavour....(it also tends to be a bit runnier and can be more awkward to get to the surface.

This filtering process also has the added effect of giving the rock subtle distinctive flavours and texture....which only a an experienced treacle miner can properly identify.

This process also gives the rock candy that melt in your mouth experience when you suck on it.

Steadwood said:

WOW! This is quite an art!

Why....Thank you for your kind words...it is quite an art and a skill...passed from generation to generation.

We have had a little problem today in the form of a flood.....



But we have managed to get it under control without damaging any of the precious veins.

Again thank you for your interest...I will answer any of your questions if possible.

Steadwood said:

You're welcome.

What a horrible flood! I hope no one was warped or suffered water-log!

And, yes, I'm sure I'll have more questions. It seems like a fulfilling life...I may entertain the idea of changing professions!

Everyone was fine thank you...Although brother Redwood tried doing his heroic act when Pa Sandalwood fell in the water and bumped his head on some aniseed rock stalagmited sticking up under the surface.....He can be a fool sometimes , but is good at heart

I will have to get some of our produce together and show you some of the things which are produced from our labours.

Steadwood said:

Thank you! I'd love to see the fruits of your hard work!

I'oll get on to it as soon as possible...once I've got this sugary sediment from outa my shoes....it gets everywhere when you have a flood you know.

We have to be very careful to make sure the whole passageway down to the veins of treacle and syrup are exceptionally clean to prevent contamination....thats what Ma Rosewood and brother Redwood are on with now.

I'm just keeping things going on the surface for now and making sure Pa Sandalwood is definately OK after his little ordeal...he seems fine.

As promised..I have been rumaging around in our stock room...(we don't keep much of the end product here...some of it is made at other secret locations....and as previously mentioned ..a lot of the rock candy goes to Blackpool for processing).

Anyway....here is some of our produce...

This is our Lovely Treacle And our Rich Golden Yummy Syrup


This is some crumbly rock candy taken from the empty vein of treacle here...and some soft candy from the sweet sediments of the syrup veins



And Finally we have the rock candy..(formed from the layer of rock between the treacle and the syrup)


As you can see a lot of it is from Blackpool...if you ever get the chance try the one with the Strawberry through the middle...and beware of cheap imitations

Steadwood, this is a supreme thread. Now I know my feelings for Ma are obvious, but you and your family are utter legends in my book.

you carry out a painful, dangerous job day-in and day-out, and you don't get the thanks you deserve.

but here. from the bottom of my slightly grey and oily heart (but i still mean it truly), i thank you.

If I'm not mistaken this is a Cadburys Crunchie!!! Do they have Steadwood family permission to market this product??

Well thank you Frog...we appreciate your kind words....it's nice to see there are some people who appreciate the work we do.....
.....We are a welcoming family and trust peolple until we have reason not to (obviously are mines are secret and we have to be careful over the information we give out)... it would be nice...one day...for those who appreciate our work to come for tea.

It's a nice quaint house....


It's a roomy place and we occupy only a tiny space.....we are quite devoted to what we do.....(Ma Rosewood and Pa Sandalwood would live down the mine if they could, but thats impractical what with the contamination and the floods..especially recently).....

.....I have even installed a toilet near the computer so we don't have to go far when dealing with outside people...


(all the admin work isdone on computer we hardly see anyone...our biggest regret!!)

Thanks once again Frog....I will keep you informed of our progress and answer questions as best as possible..for as long as people show an interest.

soulyacolia said:

This is a porous, crumbly rock candy which crumbles rather easily. This is due to the chemical reaction between the treacle..of which it is in constant contact and the raw rock candy...which then, when exposed to air after the treacle has been mined, causes it to alter it's structure and become crumbly.

This rock has a tendency to "crunch" underfoot..and it is true,...one company did seize upon that and gave it that name...to which we approved.
(brother Redwood loves it and I am partial to it....but you gotta watch out for them teeth and those cavities)

Steadwood said:

I wonder if treacle is much like our American Karo Syrup...

light



dark






http://www.karosyrup.com/history.asp
[This message was edited Wed Jul 28 21:36:12 2004 by applekisses]

Thank you for your question...I'm sorry it has taken so long to answer today but we have been very busy and it has been soooo humid.....

We have been tending to Abygale today...who is part of the family..(along with her husband Rodney). We don't like calling Abygale this, ..here are a few photo's of them.....
. .

Abygale and Rodney live and eat with us for the most part...(the house is a little spaceous)...and we have feilds of Lemongrass which Abygale loves to graze on whenever she has time and once a week she produces a lovely rich, creamy milk which is used to produce this delectable Lemon Curd or Lemon Cheese as some call it.....


Today was the day which Abygale needed to yield some of her milk...so Ma Rosewood saw to that...it being a woman thing and all...While brother Redwood Pa Sandalwood and myself attended to the mine (the new vein of treacle looks rich and yummier than ever...

Anyway none of this is answering your question...which was

applekisses said:

I have not actually tried this product, but beleive it has some similarities...however the corn syrup which is used in it's production comes from a different source.

It comes from corn grown in vast vast underground caverns...(say one or two hundred metres down) These caverns are lined with the purest, clearest, hardest crystal rock candy you have ever seen.

This clear crystal rock candy has the property to filter and magnify the little light which reaches these depths and so bathe and nurture the corn with the purest light possible.

This combined with the fitered, pure, sugar sweet water to feed the roots and the sherbert soil...(fertilized also with ground Barley sugar) Produces the finest corn syrup producing crop you ever will come across.

I know this because it is some long lost cousins ...(sigh)...which farm it and I beleive they have to keep their locations very secret also.

We produce some and transport it directly to the supplier, but it is our cousins who are the experts.....

.....Do you enjoy this treacle syrup?

There are some photo's of these very little known crystal caverns....
....Pa Sandalwood wasn't very happy about the idea of me showing them here...
...but after pointing out that no one knew where they were anyway he agreed...

This is a sample of one of the caverns and its tremendous ability to magnify and purify light



Here is a close up...(taken through a special filter)...of a crystal stalagtite


and this is a sample of a pure rock candy crystal



Finally this is a project Ma Rosewood has been working on since the last question....
....It's been sculpted from pure rock crystal....(it's one of Ma Rosewoods pastimes when she gets chance....which isn't very often.....

steadwood of the cute avatar, i am not joking.

those are just beautiful pictures. the second one looks a bit like a bogey in an old man's nose, but it's still strangely lovely.

the first is just...wow. speechless. you truly work in a beautiful environment.

and please give my congratulations (and a ) to Ma - the sculpture is inspired! so pretty.

thanks for sharing.

TheFrog said:

You are most welcome Frog.....I am going to dig the photo album out and see if there are anymore I can share with you all.....
....In the meantime Abygale has allowed me to show you this of her on holiday...
...(her husband Rodney has approved it as well)


We hope you like it...for now at least....keep looking in....

Good day everyone ...How are you all?

I know some of you will probrably think all this is is rubbish and we don't exist

That the treacle mines are a mere figmant of the imagination.

I can let you know that we do exist and the treacle mine...(there are more...over the world)...are operational!

If you doubt me just click on the link below....This is also one of the reasons why we have to be so secretive and extraordinarily elusive...otherwise there would be no real treacle and no real rock candy.....

http://www.thisislancashi...WS5VQ.html


I must let you know that this was not one of our mines, but some distant relatives of ours. Here I have some pictures of those relatives after they lost their mine...we have lost complete touch now unfortunately.

Uncle Ashwood and Aunt Elmwood Cousins Cedarwood (back) and Teakwood (front0
. .

As you can see..mindless acts and ignorance can have devastating effects..
...especially on us little people...so please be careful in your judgement.

On a lighter note we had a quieter day today..thankfully...the only problem came when brother Redwood spilled raw treacle all over himself and had to spend the whole afternoon cleaning himself...(it just will not come off)...It is messy...as you can see....


Anyway...I was able to go and have a relaxing mid evening rest down by the pond.

I am currently sorting through our photo album....so you can see a little more about us and I will let you see them in due course....if you are interested of course.....

Until then I hope you will be happy with this photo of me while getting ready to go to a Prince concert some time ago now.....

Steadwood said:

great picture of you all dressed to the 9s, steadwood. serious ladykiller!


so how's lancashire at the moment? wigan doing well? St Helens a happy place to be?

and by the way, your Uncle & Aunt are SO cute!

some seriously foooonkay shades being sported in that second photo too.

tell me, Steadwood, is this year looking up from a mining point of view? Or is it a struggle? I know this year has been tough for many manufacturers in the UK, but i'm not sure about the treacle mining industry. I hope all's well if not, you have a frog at your service, my friend.

As you know I can't give away our location due partly to the vandalism and raiding of our precious mine....(though they would have to be seriously small to get down there).....

...I was in Wigan some months ago....purchasing some of our treacle shovels and tubs..
.....(all hand crafted)....However, they only trade in pies there....(cost us 200 meat and potato pies...60 Cornish pasties a kilo of carrot cake and 100 steak and kidney puddings for 3 buckets and 3 shovels....I'm going to have to buy in bulk next time. Ma Rosewoods gonna be cooking for a month!

Anyway... the mining is not doing too badly,... but it would be better if this weather would let up.....(I know it's been warm just lately,..but it can take weeks for the water to reach the levels of the treacle...and it can seriously hamper production...(as you saw with the flood the other day)...We have to be constantly on guard.

If we do need your help we will call on you,.....but you will have to become an honorary troll of the Wood and abide by our very very strict code of professional treacle mining troll of the Wood Practice, but we will cross that bridge if necessary.

I found this photo of cousin Milkwood the other day...I am sure she would like you...
...if only we knew where she was.....(sigh)....


There are some photo's of sister Cherrywoods wedding somewhere (she left home some time ago now).....I will find them for you soon.

Hope things are fine with you

Steadwood said:

Would love to see pictures of sister Cherrywoods wedding. However how long ago was this?


A while back I fear!! The Steadwood legacy continues!!!

I am sorry for the delay, but Ma Rosewood and Pa Sandalwood have been in quite a "Tizzy" this evening as you will find out later, (you must be psychic), but yes I have found them..(at least some of them)... They are as mentioned, from Cherrywoods wedding last June....so here they are for all to see....

This is the main group photo

Left to right...Cherrywood..Oakwood..Dinglewood jnr Dinglewood snr Dellwood Pinewood jnr


This is Maplewood Hollywood jnr and Balsawood after the ceremony


and this is Ma Isherwood Ma Dellwood and Ma Dinglewood again after the ceremony


The night before though me and a few of the lads took Oakwood (Cherrys husband) on his stag night and we had a little too much of the Barley wine...here is the result at 3am...

(please don't ask me to name them...I can't tell from this angle!)
I hope you like them

We have had a quiet day down the mine today....things have just been trundling along.....

....All the excitement came at tea time when we had a very welcome and unexpected phone call out of the blue.....

...It was from Cherrywood...she had seen us talking here and had done a search for our phone number on the troll grapevine ...to cut a long story short .....She is expecting a baby very shortly...It is due within days.....

This is great and rare news as trolls such as ourselves rarely give birth as we live for such a long time...(I am a young 184 years old!)..... So you can imagine our joy

Ma and Pa are over the moon at becoming grandparents for the first time!!

Anyway I shall not keep you any longer as you all have other things to be doing no doubt, but we will keep you informed of any progress.

Take Care Everyone