# Poor rural Victorians 'had best diet'



## Northerner (Mar 10, 2018)

Poor, rural societies which ate high-quality foods bought locally had the best diet and health in mid-Victorian Britain, a new report has revealed.

The healthiest regions, measured by low mortality rates, were often the most isolated.

In those areas, people would have consumed plenty of locally-produced potatoes, whole grains, vegetables, fish and milk.

There were also fewer deaths there from pulmonary tuberculosis.

This suggests people had better diets, the researchers writing in JRSM Opensuggest.

They found the most nutritious diets were enjoyed in isolated, rural areas of England, the mainland and islands of Scotland and the west of Ireland - which was at that time part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43323098


----------



## Matt Cycle (Mar 10, 2018)

Northerner said:


> Poor, rural societies which ate high-quality foods bought locally had the best diet and health in mid-Victorian Britain, a new report has revealed.
> 
> The healthiest regions, measured by low mortality rates, were often the most isolated.
> 
> In those areas, people would have consumed plenty of locally-produced potatoes, whole grains, vegetables, fish and milk.



Sounds to me like a balanced diet _including_ potatoes and whole grains, i.e. carbs, proteins and fats and without the processed crap and immense quantities people consume now.


----------



## Mark Parrott (Mar 10, 2018)

The whole grains then really would be proper whole grains.  It's all processed these days, even the so-called wholegrain stuff.


----------



## HOBIE (Mar 10, 2018)

Miles away from supermarkets & Mc D


----------



## Ralph-YK (Mar 10, 2018)

HOBIE said:


> Miles away from supermarkets & Mc D


----------



## Ralph-YK (Mar 10, 2018)

I wonder if their water supply was cleaner too. As well as not being so crowded, which also encouraged the spread of disease.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 10, 2018)

LOL - cleaner in some ways but with added sheep pee, drowned critters etc 'upstream' unless you had a very deep well and the top gad a decent cover.

They were certainly further away from processed food and supermarkets since most of those hadn't been invented yet - it was the late 1950s/early 1960's before West Bromwich had a 'self service' shop.  Even Mr Sainsbury had a normal retail grocer's shop with staff and a counter when he started.


----------



## Robin (Mar 10, 2018)

trophywench said:


> Even Mr Sainsbury had a normal retail grocer's shop with staff and a counter when he started.


That jogged a memory! I remember my mother going to Sainsburys when I was little, and it involved queuing up to be served at all the different counters, cheese, cooked meat, raw meat, fish etc. It was the talk of our town when they introduced a self service grocery section adjacent to the counters.


----------



## kentish maid (Mar 10, 2018)

Robin said:


> That jogged a memory! I remember my mother going to Sainsburys when I was little, and it involved queuing up to be served at all the different counters, cheese, cooked meat, raw meat, fish etc. It was the talk of our town when they introduced a self service grocery section adjacent to the counters.


Jogging memories, I remember shopping in Home and Colonial and the International, pre supermarket days.
Home and Colonial was one of three stores immortalised in a verse in John Betjeman's poem "Myfanwy":[11]

_Smooth down the Avenue glitters the bicycle,_
_Black-stockinged legs under navy blue serge,_
_Home and Colonial, Star, International_,
_Balancing bicycle leant on the verge._


----------



## trophywench (Mar 10, 2018)

We didn't have a Home & Colonial - it was more rife in locations like County Towns where there were gentlemen's residences and streets of large Edwardian bay windowed dwellings, where the sons of the family if not Eton & Oxford, would at the very least have been boarders at Shrewsbury (possibly followed by The Guards LOL) (gels at Malvern or Roedean)

(I know my place ........)


----------



## Robin (Mar 10, 2018)

trophywench said:


> We didn't have a Home & Colonial - it was more rife in locations like County Towns where there were gentlemen's residences and streets of large Edwardian bay windowed dwellings, where the sons of the family if not Eton & Oxford, would at the very least have been boarders at Shrewsbury (possibly followed by The Guards LOL) (gels at Malvern or Roedean)
> 
> (I know my place ........)


Oh we had a Home and Colonial in our local parade of shops where I grew up ...just round the corner from the council estate. ( Though I have to admit, that parade of shops also served the posh detached houses by the sea)


----------



## Northerner (Mar 10, 2018)

Never heard of Home and Colonial  When I was a lad the nearest thing we had to a supermarket was the Co-op round the corner


----------



## trophywench (Mar 11, 2018)

Definitely had shops as far north as Shrewsbury Alan!  LOL

(our equivalent was George Mason's, though we also had a Co-op)


----------



## zuludog (Mar 11, 2018)

I was brought up in a village in Warwickshire
When I was about 11 or 12 my friend Lawrence's father opened a new grocery shop
On the day it opened, Lawrence, me, and another friend, Paul, had to stand at the doorway handing out wire baskets and explain to the customers that they didn't have to wait to be served or pay for each item at at time; they were to help themselves then pay for everything at the end

My Mum thought that was a strange idea and she wondered if it would catch on


----------



## Mark Parrott (Mar 11, 2018)

I can just about remember shopping before the big supermakets took over.  We had a Sainsbury's & a Safeway in the town centre, but my parents did most of their shopping at Liptons on the local parade of shops.  There weren't really any price wars back then.  You paid the price for food & that was it.  I think Liptons became Presto.


----------



## kentish maid (Mar 11, 2018)

Old fashioned grocers shops would have tins of broken biscuits that you could buy cheap, and always hoped you would get a few cream ones thrown in.


----------



## Vince_UK (Mar 11, 2018)

Butter and milk in Churns sold by the pound at the corner shop I remember that, as was sugar in blue paper bags etc. They used to let you "tick up" until pay days on Thursdays
Being from a large working class family in the 1950's that was a godsend to my poor mom at times. Not ashamed to admit that either.
There were 2 TV series a couple of years or so back I downloaded and watched, "Victorian Farm" and Edwardian Farm".
Very interesting and just highlighted although the were poor the food quality they had was excellent and farmers during those periods ate very well.
I get terribly nostalgic when I go to Beamish Museum which I try to do every summer.


----------



## kentish maid (Mar 11, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> Butter and milk in Churns sold by the pound at the corner shop I remember that, as was sugar in blue paper bags etc. They used to let you "tick up" until pay days on Thursdays
> Being from a large working class family in the 1950's that was a godsend to my poor mom at times. Not ashamed to admit that either.
> There were 2 TV series a couple of years or so back I downloaded and watched, "Victorian Farm" and Edwardian Farm".
> Very interesting and just highlighted although the were poor the food quality they had was excellent and farmers during those periods ate very well.
> I get terribly nostalgic when I go to Beamish Museum which I try to do every summer.


Brilliant programmes "Victorian Farm " and "Edwardian Farm" . A friend's girls had to do a project on Victorian times so he sent them round to me, he had told them I was around back then and could tell them all about what life was like back then !!

"


----------



## zuludog (Mar 11, 2018)

Getting a bit off topic, but - 

VINCEUK - If you like Beamish you'll probably like Blist's Hill near Telford in Shropshire and The Black Country Museum (think that's the right name) in Dudley, NW of Birmingham 
Search for them on Google


----------



## Northerner (Mar 11, 2018)

kentish maid said:


> Old fashioned grocers shops would have tins of broken biscuits that you could buy cheap, and always hoped you would get a few cream ones thrown in.


We used to get broken biscuits from a market stall


----------



## Northerner (Mar 11, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> I get terribly nostalgic when I go to Beamish Museum which I try to do every summer.


You've just reminded me that that's one place I want to visit when I move back up North


----------



## Vince_UK (Mar 11, 2018)

zuludog said:


> Getting a bit off topic, but -
> 
> VINCEUK - If you like Beamish you'll probably like Blist's Hill near Telford in Shropshire and The Black Country Museum (think that's the right name) in Dudley, NW of Birmingham
> Search for them on Google


Will try that one day @zuludog. thanks for the tip


----------



## Vince_UK (Mar 11, 2018)

Northerner said:


> You've just reminded me that that's one place I want to visit when I move back up North


The tickets are valid for 6 months @Northerner from date of purchase so you can go back as many times as you want to during that period.


----------



## Northerner (Mar 11, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> The tickets are valid for 6 months @Northerner from date of purchase so you can go back as many times as you want to during that period.


Bargain!  I've still got some of the old money too!


----------



## Vince_UK (Mar 11, 2018)

Northerner said:


> Bargain!  I've still got some of the old money too!


----------



## HOBIE (Mar 11, 2018)

Been to both River seven & black country & Beamish. Both excellent.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 11, 2018)

It's best to get an 'Ironbridge Gorge Passport'  ticket which as mentioned lasts 6 months - because you might be able to do Blist's Hill in one day there are so many things to see and do over a large area so plenty of walking - but all the other museums and the Iron Bridge itself of course, are also well worth visiting.  The wrought iron place and the Jackfield Tile factory across the bridge, which you walk to with Coalbrookdale China & others this side.  Better to book a B&B or something and make a few days of it and see everything Vince. 

So very very interesting with an engineering slant in some of it of course - but natural countryside and river gorge beauty included plus the add-on of man-made beauty in places - not least of course the fairground (traction engine powered) back at Blist's Hill where you started.

The Black Country museum - at Dudley as said, is another day when they have workshops open (a long half day if not)  it includes a ride on a canal barge and that's worth it again when there are plenty of volunteers who hop on the saloon roof and foot the barge through the very low tunnel and Wow! - you won't believe what's at the other end of the tunnel!  What a surprise!   usual stuff for round there - chain making (pron. Chair-n mekkin where Ah cum from) Nail making, wimmin bashing the washin in the meddin tub (wi the dolly o course luv) and angin it aht on the loin.  \just a normal day in the loif o the folk as live theer.

OTOH if you go to either mid-week there may be less going on to attract hordes of people - you can get round it all a lot easier and the volunteers that ARE manning the places have a lot more time to show you things that you'd miss on busy days, including a long discussion we had with the 'householder' at Blist's Hill, about his Tamworth piggies in his back garden - Alan!  Gorgeous creatures, really jealous of their eyelashes!

Though as you can tell anyway, I'm somewhat familiar with both the above - and we've visited Crich Tramway Museum (not very far further than Matlock - a biker's paradise, Hobie!) we've never been to Beamish and it's absolutely been on my Bucket List for many years now!  It's not exactly handy for us to visit LOL


----------



## mikeyB (Mar 11, 2018)

That’s how we eat currently. I eat hardly any processed food, and only eat local fish and meat. And veg too, in season. Our water comes out of the sky and sent to us after cleaning from Mishnish lochs. 

That’s why I’m such a great advert for healthy living.


----------



## FM001 (Mar 11, 2018)

Northerner said:


> We used to get broken biscuits from a market stall



My Father delivered to a biscuit factory and would buy the rejected biscuits that failed the quality control, they cost pennies for a huge bag. 

Mother would buy cracked eggs from a fruit & veg van that delivered on our street, she'd get a tray of eggs for the same price as a dozen in the local shop, long before health & safety spoilt things.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 11, 2018)

Ooh - my mom used to buy cracked eggs sometimes - as she said as long as they aren't 'off' the cakes she'd make with them wouldn't know they were pre-cracked - and they were indeed cheaper !


----------



## Amigo (Mar 11, 2018)

We used to have a Co-op van come round too and you stepped into it. I can still remember my mum’s Co-op number!


----------



## Vince_UK (Mar 12, 2018)

toby said:


> My Father delivered to a biscuit factory and would buy the rejected biscuits that failed the quality control, they cost pennies for a huge bag.
> 
> Mother would buy cracked eggs from a fruit & veg van that delivered on our street, she'd get a tray of eggs for the same price as a dozen in the local shop, long before health & safety spoilt things.


That is interesting Toby. My Mom worked the "twilight shift", I think it was something like 4pm unto 9pm, at the now long defunct Wrights BIscuits Factory in South Shields when I was a kid to make ends meet and we used to get broken biscuits. It used to be at the top of Stanhope Rd. and Boldon Lane. You just jogged my memory on that one. We use to get occasional chocolate ones also.


----------



## trophywench (Mar 12, 2018)

@Amigo - 175749, whereas the lady next door to mom's was 45836, cos she inherited it from her mom!


----------



## Amigo (Mar 12, 2018)

Vince_UK said:


> That is interesting Toby. My Mom worked the "twilight shift", I think it was something like 4pm unto 9pm, at the now long defunct Wrights BIscuits Factory in South Shields when I was a kid to make ends meet and we used to get broken biscuits. It used to be at the top of Stanhope Rd. and Boldon Lane. You just jogged my memory on that one. We use to get occasional chocolate ones also.



My mum worked at a similar factory on nights Vince. Looking back now I realise just how shattered she must have been running a home and family and my dad was in hospital for quite some time.


----------

