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Family history is so much more than names and dates

Category: food & drink

Food control, and war service for women

Food control, and war service for women

Posted on October 25, 2020January 22, 2021 by Harriet
Food control was a matter of national concern in the UK in both the First World War and the Second World War. If the trade-off for the national prosperity of the Industrial Revolution was people leavi... Read More
Whisky and water on tap (or not)

Whisky and water on tap (or not)

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Harriet
Whisky and water link three otherwise random news stories, two from 1895 and one from 1833. The first is a cautionary tale about drink (but not as you might expect). The second shows an interesting at... Read More
Frozen fish, a Cumbrian discovery

Frozen fish, a Cumbrian discovery

Posted on January 19, 2020January 19, 2020 by Harriet
Frozen fish, a staple of any domestic freezer, was a 20th century discovery by Clarence Birdseye. Or was it? Well, no. But this isn’t a blog about native Canadians, or how the Romans invented underf... Read More
Food safety – sawdust sandwich, anyone?

Food safety – sawdust sandwich, anyone?

Posted on September 1, 2019January 22, 2021 by Harriet
Food safety isn’t something we can ever take for granted. With unscrupulous traders along the chain, our ancestors literally could not be sure what they were eating. Do a search for ‘trading s... Read More
Drunkenness – the Georgian view

Drunkenness – the Georgian view

Posted on June 24, 2019January 22, 2021 by Harriet
In a previous post, I looked at the 18th century craze for gin. And how a Cumbrian Character – George Smith, of Kendal – published a ‘how to’ guide for setting up a small commercial still. Sm... Read More
Cumbrian gin – invented in Kendal

Cumbrian gin – invented in Kendal

Posted on June 8, 2019January 22, 2021 by Harriet
‘Cumbrian gin’ as a search term pulls up some tempting modern offerings. But did you know a Kendal distiller wrote a best-selling book about it in 1725? Gin is in. According to a feature i... Read More
Put the kettle on – it’s tea time for some history

Put the kettle on – it’s tea time for some history

Posted on January 21, 2018January 22, 2021 by Harriet
Tea isn’t just a beverage in Britain, it’s a social institution, part of the very fabric of life. Tea time (and afternoon tea) may now seem quaint. But we still use it as a panacea for all ill... Read More

Port Carlisle – a history built on hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f41pHZq1Un8

Recent Posts

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