Welcome

Penhale Sands, site of the Early Medieval St Piran's Oratory, Cornwall © Past Recipes

I was incredibly lucky to grow up amid the wild moorland and dramatic coastline of Cornwall. There, the landscape is characterised by all manner of heritage site, from Iron Age settlements to Medieval castles and Industrial engine houses. It is no surprise that it became my dream to study archaeology!

Like many teenagers, I could not wait to escape my hometown, and my studies (which progressed into the conservation of historic buildings) took me as far away as Scotland for several years. Yet, no matter how far I travelled, Cornwall always remained home at heart.

Now in my mid-twenties, I have recently been able to return to the South West and am eager to reconnect with my family history. As luck would have it, upon visiting home, I discovered the handwritten recipe book of my great-great-grandmother Lottie.

Contents pages from Lottie Fern's "Cookery Recipes", handwritten in 1912 © Past Recipes

Lottie married her husband John on Christmas Eve in 1912 and wrote her "Cookery Recipes" that festive season. The couple lived in St Agnes, on the north coast of Cornwall - John being a Mining Surveyor and Engineer based at the nearby Wheal Kitty. Indeed, Lottie had been born in St Agnes, where her father was a coastguard.

Maintaining that tradition, my great-grandmother Thelma was born just a few years later at No. 2 Stippy Stappy - an iconic terrace of 19th century cottages which step down the steep hill of the village. Charmingly, both Thelma and my Nan's childhood annotations can still be seen in the margins next to Lottie's instructions.

Stippy Stappy, St Agnes, Cornwall © Past Recipes

The book offers a fascinating insight into domestic life in Cornwall at the end of the Edwardian period and into the First World War era. While Lottie made such popular Cornish delicacies as pasties, saffron buns and fairings biscuits, she used traditional family recipes - sometimes quite unlike what you will find in the tourist hotspots of today.

It is my hope not only to conserve the book but to experiment by trying out the recipes for myself. Although a few have been passed down through the generations (I have a particular fondness for Lottie's Congress Tarts!), the vast majority have not been used for decades. It is my dream to bring them back and to share them with you all!

I hope you have enjoyed this little introduction to Past Recipes - I would love to hear from you, so please feel free to comment or to catch up with me on social media.

Katie

Lottie Fern in 1910, aged 18 © Past Recipes