Cheshire in the news again!

Northwich’s historic Anderton Boat Lift was featured on BBC1’s Country Tracks yesterday (6 December) – presenter Ben Fogle enjoyed a boat trip through the lift. He also visited the Winsford Rock Salt Mine and witnessed the giant salt mining machine at work, and talked to the salt mine workers. Do catch the repeat or watch it on i-Player if you missed the programme.

The repeal of salt duties in 1825 boosted Winsford’s fortunes as a salt producer, and after 1840, the town began to overtake Northwich in terms of salt production. Another reason why Winsford grew at Northwich’s expense was the ever-growing problem with subsidence in the latter town. You can find out more about the story of Cheshire salt-making and the salt workers in Regency Cheshire.

Images: Anderton Boat Lift photo © Sue Wilkes.
Marston rock salt pit, engraving from Illustrated London News, 24 August 1850.

Cold Comfort

The winter months were desperate times for poor families in Regency Cheshire. The wealthiest families raised subscriptions to aid the poor during particularly harsh winters, such as the one of 1819-20; nearly 5000 families in the Chester area needed help with food, fuel and bedding. If people were starving and had no jobs, they would pawn their furniture and bedding to buy food, but once those were gone, they faced real hardship. The same was true during trade depressions such as the one following the banking crash of 1825-6. Charity balls were held and soup kitchens set up to help relieve silk workers’ families in Macclesfield and Congleton.

If you were in dire need, there was the prospect of the poorhouse or workhouse. The quality of these varied hugely, but the Chester House of Industry was said by Hemingway, the historian, to be run kindly and humanely. After the new Poor Law of !834, workhouse regimes across Britain were purposely designed to be as forbidding as possible to deter applicants. Workhouse children, whose only crime was to be poor, might suffer greatly if they were ‘farmed out’ to contractors for a flat fee. The cheaper they were fed and housed, the greater the profit.

Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist told the story of a pauper orphan. You can find out more about Dickens and conditions for workhouse children in ‘Mudlarks and guttersnipes,’ my latest feature for children's magazine Aquila.

Images: Northwich Workhouse, built 1837 (now the Salt Museum). Many children under the age of 12 lived here in 1851; some were only babies. Image © Sue Wilkes.

Charles Dickens. (unknown artist) from Beeton’s Dictionary of Universal Biography (1870.) (Author’s collection.)

Bedtime Reading

Last week my bedtime reading was Jane Odiwe's ’s lovely new novel ‘Willoughby’s Return,’ which I can thoroughly recommend if you want to lose yourself in the world of Jane Austen.

This week I’ve been reading the Chevalier de Johnstone's’s ‘Memoir of the ‘45’, so I was very interested to see Neil Oliver’s History of Scotland programme on the Jacobite rebellions last night, especially as we have visited Culloden Moor, Ruthven Barracks and some of the other places mentioned while on holiday. If you read Johnstone’s eyewitness account, it is amazing how many chances Bonnie Prince Charlie threw away, and how close we came to living under the Stuarts today.

It must be really difficult choosing images to illustrate some events, and I nearly laughed out loud at one point. Oliver talked about Queen Anne’s death and showed her gasping out her last breath, and I was somehow irresistibly reminded of Pan’s People’s 0ver-literal interpretation of song lyrics! Not very appropriate for a monarch’s death.

Once again Neil Oliver treated us to sublime Highland scenery, and related the tragedy of the ’15 and ’45 rebellions and their aftermath with gusto. But it was the story of the Act of Union – in which Scotland sold its independence for English gold – which seemed to touch Oliver most deeply.
Image: Memorial at Culloden. © Sue and Nigel Wilkes.

Borders Books Signing III

Here’s a photo of me at the Cheshire Oaks Borders bookstore on Saturday, signing copies of ‘Regency Cheshire.’ I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the Borders staff, especially Stuart and Paul. They all made me feel really welcome on what must have been a very trying day for them – it was certainly a very busy one!
Thank you to everyone who bought a copy of my book – do get in touch if you can and let me know if you enjoyed reading it. It was lovely to meet everyone on the day.
Many people came up to me to say how shocked and sorry they were that Borders is closing, and we all hope that jobs can be saved somehow. There was no shortage of customers at the Cheshire Oaks store, and surely this must be a prime candidate for keeping open.

Borders book signing II

I was very sorry indeed to hear the sad news about Borders UK yesterday. This is obviously devastating news for hard-working staff and their families, especially just before Christmas. I would like to send my best wishes and sympathy to all the Borders staff; I sincerely hope that jobs can be saved wherever possible.

The stores are seemingly to remain open at present, so my book signing for Regency Cheshire at the Borders Cheshire Oaks store will be going ahead tomorrow (Saturday 28 November) from 11am until 4pm. I look forward to meeting everyone there.

Stirring times

I watched Neil Oliver's History of Scotland last night, and it was great to see some of the places I have been writing about recently although it is a shame he did not visit Wigtown or the Covenanters' memorial on Orkney. I love Oliver's wry sense of humour (and the flowing locks don't do him any harm) and think he did a brilliant job of summing up the pros and cons of the Covenanter movement, and explaining the differing religious sensitivities of the day.

Discover My Past England

Great news for family history fans with the launch of Discover My Past England! This is a 'must-see' if you are researching your ancestors. My first feature for this exciting new online magazine is 'Voices from the past,' which looks at how you can explore how your ancestors lived and worked using parliamentary papers. While I was researching Regency Cheshire and Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives I made some fascinating discoveries about the lives of Cheshire and Lancashire textile workers.

Image: Cotton weaving shed in Lancashire. Early 20th century postcard (Author’s collection.)

Photo: Macclesfield Heritage Centre, formerly the Sunday School which opened in 1813. © Sue and Nigel Wilkes.