Hi Nela

Thanks for the picture of pig's cheeks and mountain snails, it took me right back to my childhood. I grew up after the Second World War, so I am what is referred to as a Mature Age Citizen!!!

I was born in the north east of England and when we went to the seaside (now referred to as the beach) there were stalls run by elderly ladies called "fish wives" who sold crabs, prawns, mussels, eels and cooked sea-snails. The snails came in various species such as "winkles" and "whelks". When you bought a paper bag of them you were given a pin, (as in dressmaking), which you used to dig the cooked mollusc out of its shell and slip it into your grateful mouth. It was a love / hate thing but I always regard it as a fond memory of the beach (oops...seaside!)