Further extracts from notes contributed by Patrick Duffy in 1994:

Herbal remedies abound here.  Eat three feeds of boiled young nettles [Urtica dioica] in the springtime, and it will keep you free of disease for the rest of the year.

The garlic [probably wild garlic, ramsons, Allium sativum] is of course the great elixir of life and widely used to cure almost every kind of ailments in both humans and cattle.  The leaves of the meadowsweet [Filipendula ulmaria] have been used to cure malignant growths in humans.

Boil the fruit taken from the black currant [Ribes nigrum] bush and drink it piping hot for to cure the common cold.

The skin taken from a boiled potato [Solanum tuberosum] used for to cure a burn.

The dock [Rumex] used to cure acid stings.

Raspberry [Rubus idaeus] leaves, an ancient cure for period pains.

The milk taken from the stem of a dandelion [Taraxacum officinale] used for to cure warts.

Image: raspberry, Tooting Common, London Borough of Wandsworth, March 2025.

1 April 2025