Producing the Goods is the title of a project undertaken by Common Ground to champion local distinctiveness. Food is the theme, but ‘work on water, building matters and more’ are planned. So far three booklets have been published - the first on ‘Goods’, that is the whole gamut from apples to watercress, the second, ‘Markets and Market Places’  and most recently ‘Souvenirs in Particular’. All these subjects are connected, link the land with its community and contribute to the particular character of our regions. As they explain in the introduction: ‘Buying a bottle of perry produced in Herefordshire or Gloucestershire may keep remarkable 60 foot high pear trees alive ...’, thus conserving the landscape, perry pear varieties, the craft of perry making, livelihoods of farmers, stuff of local markets and the holiday souvenirs. Many more examples include the success stories of recent years, such as Westmorland damsons, Kent cob nuts (both revived through the efforts of local groups) and Gloucester cheese made from the Gloucester breed of cows which were rescued from near extinction by Charles Martell, who is also responsible for the large collection of perry pears planted in the Three Counties Show Ground near Malvern.

It is an astonishing fact that we import 95% of our fruit and half of our vegetables. Such is the lack of interest in home produced fruit and veg that it seems we no longer have a designated minister responsible for horticulture after the last reshuffle. But at grass roots level public demand for fresh local produce has put asparagus from the Vale of Evesham and Kentish cherries once more on the list of fashionable ‘must taste’ delicacies. Meanwhile Farmers’ Markets have triumphed in the battle against food miles. Since 1998 when the first one was set up in Bath, 550 Farmers’ Markets are now in business, drawing in local produce from a 30 mile radius to villages and towns up and down the country; Winchester, we learn, attracts 20,000 visitors a week in the summer. Most enterprising of all of these local ventures is the Canterbury Goods Shed, the first daily market to have a restaurant cooking and serving the produce on sale that day from the locality.

The third booklet on ‘Souvenirs’, while highlighting the ironies of many of today's mementoes - ‘A present from Bognor is likely to be made in China’ - also demonstrates that local items are making a come back. You can now buy Northumberland tartan, a chic black and white check, Charshalton Lavender Oil from Surrey, once the centre of the lavender trade, and Cornish Serpentine marble worked into little keepsakes in the shape of Eddystone lighthouses. It seems all the criteria for a home produced worthwhile souvenir are embraced by Burrow Hill Farm, which makes cider, cider vinegar and Royal cider (cider brandy) from their surrounding orchards, labels it with designs created by local artists and bottles some in ceramic flasks made by a nearby potter. As the authors comment: ‘Taking home a “ Spirit of Somerset” gift pack ensures that this part of the country remains in good heart.’

All three Common Ground publications are a delight. Written with just the right balance of fact and proselytising, and ample common-sense the booklets admirably achieve their objective of reawakening interest in regional distinctiveness. They are well designed with evocative pictures and line drawings and in themselves a perfect souvenir.

Producing the Goods, ‘1’ (16pp);  ‘2 Markets and Market Places’ (24pp); and ‘3 Souvenirs in Particular’ (24pp) published as illustrated booklets will be on sale from September for £2.50 (each incl p&p). Contact:  info @ commonground.org.uk for details. They are also published on the Common Ground web-site - http://www.england-in-particular.info and can be downloaded as a pdf files.