From the dyke, the special gift of a water shrew

Blackwater Carr, Norfolk Silky dark fur squirming on the duckweed, looking like a paintbrush head writhing through green paint

The other day I was using my crome in one of the dykes. It is a tool dating to the Middle Ages with a name said to derive from Celtic (crom meant 'crooked'). Although it was a gift from a friend, it sometimes feels like a curse.

The thick ash handle is well over 2m long and the heavy iron head resembles a massive fork, but the tines are bent at more than 90 degrees back from the line of the shaft.