Remembered Remedies of Northumberland

Well, its finally published - my book, that is. And I am so pleased to have reached this stage. It is available on Amazon but it would be quicker (and the same price) to contact me at Bondgate House.

Researching the book was a fascinating experience and I learnt a lot along the way. There were many interesting aspects to the writing, and one that stands out in my mind was reading correspondence and papers at the Kew Garden Archive in London, relating particularly to herb collecting during the second world war. Herb growing and wild herb collecting was a vital part of maintaining 'drug' supplies during the war and a huge country-wide organisational effort was set-up to oversee and manage this. Apparently, in the north east, we have the best rose hips in the country for making rose hip syrup - with the highest Vitamin C content.

Many of the remedies given to me for the book are based on readily available foods in the kitchen or plants growing in the wild - onions, turnips, cabbage, comfrey leaf, and nettles; others are either no longer used or no longer available - such as spider's web, Virol, and Scott's Emulsion. What is striking was the degree of self-sufficiency in managing illness in the home, in the days before the NHS - hence the use of kitchen staples and locally available plants. We seem to have lost a lot of that knowledge and confidence in such 'home treatments', and so many remedies are dismissed as old wives tales. Honey was a remedy given to me to speed healing by spreading onto cuts and wounds, and it is now being used in some hospitals as a dressing for slow healing wounds and ulcers. Indeed recent research in Ireland has found that honey is effective against the MRSA bacteria. So much for that 'old wives tale'!