Muck, Medicine & Mortality
MIKE WINSTANLEY
Mike was Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University for 32 years, retiring in 2010, He specialised in the regional history of the North West, particularly in the 19th century and publishing on a wide range of topics. However, he continues to research publish and give lectures to local groups. He also currently organises a series of online talks for members of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society and is actively involved with local societies in North Lancashire.
PRESENTATION
The presentation will explore the ways in which Victorians in the north west of England coped, or tried to cope with the squalor and disease which was generated by polluted or insufficient water…
The Victorians were the first to face the challenge of improving public health. They faced enormous problems: polluted water, inadequate sewerage, limited medical understanding and facilities, poor housing and very high death rates, particularly for infants. There was also the thorny issue of who paid for any improvements. When the Public Health Inspector visited Penrith in 1849 he was asked if he had ever surveyed a cleaner town; he replied that he had never surveyed a dirtier.
How well did they cope both nationally, in Cumbria and the Penrith district?
Cumbria 5,000 years ago – the arrival of the first farmers
BRUCE BENNISON
Bruce retired as the former County Library Manager for Cumbria in 2015, but he had a long-established career in archaeology and museums before that. He continues to pursue his own origins in archaeology, looking at the early history of Cumbria and indeed still digging whilst his back and knees allow! Most recently, he was involved with excavations at the Roman Fort of Birdoswald which have helped to reveal the story of the people who lived and worked there 2000 years ago.
PRESENTATION
Cumbria has some of the largest prehistoric monuments in the British Isles, dating from over 5000 years ago. Recent work has added much to our understanding of them and this presentation will explore some local sites and Bruce will talk about their origins, the people who built them and where they had come from.
Waiter, Miner, Butcher, Spy: Germans and Austrians in Cumbria during WW I
ROB DAVID
Dr Rob David was involved in education in Cumbria for many years, and since retirement has been investigating aspects of Cumbria's past, especially minority groups who found themselves living in the county during times of international turmoil. Between 2017 and 2020 Rob was President of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (CWAAS).
PRESENTATION
In 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War there were many dozens of, mostly male, Germans and Austrians living in Cumbria. After having lived peacefully in the county, often for many years, and in some cases married Cumbrians, they suddenly became ‘the enemy’. This talk examines who these people were, what happened to them during the war, and how Cumbrians reacted to them before, during and after hostilities. It will follow their story from their homes and places of work in our county to an internment camp in Lancaster and on to the enormous camp built especially for them in the Isle of Man. Case studies will follow the progress of individuals and their families as events unfolded and attitudes changed. A new section to the talk will follow the chequered history of one of these German citizens through internment for the duration of both the first and Second World Wars.
The internment camp at Lancaster: the initial destination of many of Cumbria’s German and Austrian nationals in 1914.
Camp Hill, Maryport. The home of a German-born family who were required to move away from the coast in 1915 for security reasons.
A danger to national security: the view across the Solway from Camp Hill, Maryport.