Historic images reflecting tales of wellbeing across the ages
WORDS: CLAIRE SAUL PICTURES: JOHN LEECH, JOHN HAMMOND, NATIONAL TRUST, RNLI
Rock Star
The seemingly precariously poised 2,000-ton Bowder Stone is in a memorable spot for walkers in Cumbria. And climbers!
People love to clamber up this 30ft-high lava boulder, which originally fell in the Borrowdale Valley many thousands of years ago.
A modern staircase there allows people to burn up a few additional calories while climbing to the top.
In fact, generations have done the same. After purchasing the rock in 1798, affluent Joseph Pocklington installed the first ladder to enable visitors to climb it in exchange for a small fee.
This photo shows a party enjoying the sights from atop the stone during Victorian times.
Keeping Clean
Interested in bathroom design? You might just spot an early version of the modern shower when you visit a historic house. Shower baths of the type shown in this illustration and photograph were portable – plumbed facilities were rare even in aristocratic residences during the first half of the 1800s, meaning staff were responsible for conveying water to wherever it was required. Even in the garden, such as here at Erddig in Wrexham, it seems!
This fascinating 1850 illustration by John Leech in Erddig’s archive is entitled Domestic Sanitary Regulations and shows some reluctant youngsters awaiting their ablutions.
Having to wear the conical “extinguisher caps” clearly didn’t help their mood – these were oil cloth creations designed to protect the head against the cascade of water.
Leech himself once referred to a shower as “menacing” and described its force as capable of toppling him “clean over like a ninepin”. nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/erddig
Safety At Sea
Keeping volunteer crews safe at sea has always been a priority for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Early lifeboats needed to be rowed. The first lifejackets were issued to crews in 1854, and RNLI Inspector Captain Ward’s design provided the flexibility the men needed as they paddled, along with the required buoyancy, weight, durability and water resistance.
Rigorous testing had been conducted to find suitable component materials. Having rejected canvas jackets filled with large pockets o
