By Phil Spalding

cambolc.co.uk, @cambolc, linkedin.com/in/philipspalding66

November is here. Halloween is done. All Hallows day or All Saints Day is the first of November. An interesting time of the year for pre-Christian and latterly Christian Communities.

This part of the year is time for change. Traditionally (up to the industrial revolution) all the harvest should have been gathered. The livestock that are excess to the amount of feed you had available in the winter would have been slaughtered and salted down. Vegetable high in water content would have been pickled. Lower moisture content vegetables would have been put into earthen clamps and covered with straw. The men would have returned from the summer campaigns beating up the neighbours (or not so near neighbours) with a bit of rape and pillage going on, no matter the best intentions of their commanders. The mixed economy would have then turned to manufacturing tools for the next planting. These are all usually thought of as male pursuits by the social historians since the Victorian era. The little woman was supposed to remain at home and not be seen to have opinions or contribute to the family budget. But they did outside the upper echelons!

In the Silicon Age and equality, often the female in the partnership is the bread winner. No matter what the male thinks! The cycle moves on!