Skip to content
  • Home
  • Posts
  • Index – topics
  • Index – people
  • Index – places
  • Oxdown Gazette
  • Contact Us

Cumbrian Characters

Family history is so much more than names and dates

Category: food & drink

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

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

Posted on November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 by HarrietP
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
Food control, and war service for women

Food control, and war service for women

Posted on October 25, 2020January 22, 2021 by HarrietP
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 HarrietP
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 HarrietP
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 HarrietP
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 HarrietP
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 HarrietP
‘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

Port Carlisle – a history built on hope

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

Recent Posts

  • Dockray Hall
  • The rebel and the conman (part 2)
  • The rebel and the conman (part 1)
  • Coronation Day in Kendal
  • Port Carlisle baths

Categories

  • 20th Century life
  • animals
  • books
  • courts
  • crime
  • Cumbria history
  • Cumbrian people
  • customs and traditions
  • dogs
  • family history
  • First World War
  • food & drink
  • Georgian life
  • inquests
  • language
  • Manor courts
  • maritime history
  • medicine
  • politics
  • Port Carlisle
  • punishment
  • railways
  • Second World War
  • social history
  • Stuart life
  • Uncategorized
  • Victorian life
  • weather
  • wills

Useful links

Port Carlisle, on Amazon

Cumbria Family History Society

Cumbria Archive Service Catalogue

National Archives

British Newspaper Archive

Free BMD

General Register Office

Wills and probate search

Looking to visit?

Visitcumbria.com

News sites

News & Star

Cumberland & Westmorland Herald

Westmorland Gazette

BBC Cumbria

Whitehaven News

  • Home
  • Posts
  • Index – topics
  • Index – people
  • Index – places
  • Oxdown Gazette
  • Contact Us

Archives

  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
Theme Designed by InkHive.com. © 2023 Cumbrian Characters. All Rights Reserved.