Britain's Last Temperance Bar

Owner of Britain’s last Temperance Bar who extolled virtues of abstinence to TV chefs is banned from driving… for being drunk – read full article in Daily Mail here

I’m sure that even by the standards of our tabloid press that has to be a rare headline. It’s certainly one that made me laugh.

It also led me to visit Britain’s Last Remaining Temperance Bar in the town of Rawtenstall in Lancashire. Anywhere that serves Dandelion & Burdock is worth a visit as far as I’m concerned; it’s been a favourite ~~drink~~ tipple of mine since childhood but was only ever available to me on annual trips down from Scotland to visit my Lancashire grandmother.

Britain’s Last Temperance Bar ©HelenBushe

The Temperance Movement began in 1820 in both America and in England.

In the 1830s a more extreme form of temperance emerged called teetotalism, which promoted the complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. This movement originated in Preston, England, in 1833.

There was also a new focus on the working class and children; the Band of Hope was founded in Leeds in 1847 by the Reverend Jabez Tunnicliff and it aimed to save working class children from the parents of drink by teaching them the importance and principles of sobriety and teetotalism.- wikipedia

Temperance bars were once common in the High Streets of most Northern English towns.

Fitzpatrick’s Herbal Health in Rawtenstall is thought to be the last original temperance bar. The Fitzpatricks, a family from Ireland, came over to Lancashire in the 1880s. A family of many herbalists, they turned to building a family-run chain of shops throughout Lancashire. These shops dealt in their non-alcoholic drinks, sold herbal remedies, and cordial bottles. – wikipedia

They certainly didn’t go in for decadent luxury inside…………

Britain's Last Temperance Bar Lancashire Rawtenstall

What’s your Poison? ©HelenBushe

………………….but then revelling in decadence and luxury wasn’t what it was all about was it?

I enjoyed my visit there. If I ever return I’ll have a glass of the famous Sarsaparilla for which Fitzpatricks have won many awards.

This post is in response to WordPress Photo Challenge: Rare

7 Comments

Leah · 23 August 2016 at 14:33

Thanks for the little lookie-loo. It’s fascinating to learn about this little mini-societies!

HMB · 24 August 2016 at 23:54

Thanks Leah. Glad you found it interesting. I remember my grandmother talking about The Band of Hope and my mother talking of “signing the pledge” (not to drink EVER) when she was a child. How times change.