So we
scrumped apples and pears in Llandough where we once trawled the famous Blue Pond looking for the fabulous king newt that ruled there, rumoured to be the size of a saltwater crocodile though no-one ever saw it, let alone caught it.
AS a boy Trevor Thorne regularly scaled the walls of Embleton Hall to
scrump an apple or two from its orchard.
We lived next-door-but-one to the Parkgate Hotel, which had an orchard at the front where I learned to climb trees and
scrump with the boys.
'I don't really need to be near many shops or anything - being in the trade, I've got a pretty well-stocked kitchen and there will always be orchards along the way to
scrump a bucket of plums, and later apples, blackberries.'
Alas, kids don't
scrump apples nowadays: the rush of spiriting away manky fruit doesn't hold a candle to hot-wiring a vehicle.
Meanwhile, their brothers disappeared straight after breakfast, spent all day playing Tarzan or 'Forin Leejun' in the woods with breaks to
scrump apples or try to capture stray horses, returning at dusk.
WHEN I was a child, I went with my brother and his friend into a neighbour's garden to
scrump apples.
You always used to
scrump the best fruit - and for city folk, that meant pinching it while the owner wasn't looking.
And had the right amount of little scrimps (
scrumps, scraps - whatever you call them) at the bottom of the helping, too.
I fished, climbed trees,
scrumped apples, collected birds eggs, got into trouble and generally lived the life of a boy when kids or parents didn't worry.
He said: "I hope that any chain of Oor Wullie cafes or restaurants will feature hand-guddled salmon and
scrumped apple pie.
A fresh-faced boy in school uniform
scrumps from the bowl, in a serendipitous reincarnation of the Luttrell Psalter thief.
My pear tree has been
scrumped to within an inch of its life.
"Mum baked cakes and kept us alive, but I got a Saturday job in a bakery and
scrumped as many doughnuts as I could.
In the best traditions of English improvisation, they
scrumped apples from suburban gardens where windfalls would otherwise rot on the ground, and produced a `cyder nouveau' that scooped prizes in its wake.
