IN the late medieval age people began keeping notebooks of interesting stories, prayers, quotations and other trivia they came across. These commonplace books (also called Zibaldones or Hodgepodges) were, in effect, the Facebooks of their day with family members and friends contributing to each other’s Hodgepodges. By the 19th Century every serious figure travelled with a notebook and pen specifically for hodge-podging. This notebook is a collection of folklore, legends, walks and tales I have come across since moving to Cumbria in 2005. I’d always jotted down things of interest as my wife Lesley and I walked the county’s footpaths and fells. Semi-retirement offered me the time to turn these jottings into something a bit more considered. I had always wanted to explore handwritten and hand-drawn illustrated books so this 'Hodgepodge' is my attempt to re-create those notebooks of old that record anything that piques my interest.