Blog

As I write this blog, the sun is shining and the sky’s blue. Quite a contrast to Thursday 12 September. On the day of the Westmorland County Show, the weather was very different. It started to drizzle as I walked onto the showground and the rain and winds just got heavier and stronger as the day progressed.

But we didn’t let that deter us. For this year’s WCS, the English Lake District World Heritage stand wanted to showcase how some local businesses had really grasped WH status and really incorporated into their operations.

Farrer’s of Kendal elected to use this event to launch their World Heritage Coffee with its first limited edition roast. Farrer’s managed to source coffee beans from a Colombian World Heritage Site. In fact, it’s a WHS for its coffee culture. So, the beans are imported from a WHS and then roasted in another WHS; so your double expresso could be a double World Heritage expresso! See the full story here.

Another local company, Pure Lakes from Staveley also launched a new range of skincare products inspired by the English Lake District World Heritage Site. Director Gareth McKeever said: “We are very proud to launch a brand-new range of World Heritage skincare products and champion the fact that we make all our products in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. “We think it’s very important that people know that we’ve made it in the Lake District National Park. One of the things we love most about our products is that when people go home they take something home with to remind them of their stay – they can take a little part of the Lake District home with them.”

Award-winning bakers Lovingly Artisan were also showcasing a WH-inspired product. Using whey from the milk of Lakeland sheep as a raising agent instead of the usual yeast, master baker Aidan Monks has created a new sourdough that truly links landscape to plate, a real personification of the World Heritage agro-pastoral story. Aidan’s whey sourdough is available from his outlets at Plumgarths just north of Kendal and at Altrincham Market.

Ginger Bakers provided samples of their locally produced cakes, including traditional recipes like Westmorland Pepper Fruit Cake and local ingredients like Damson Brandy Fruit Cake. Delicious. There were bags from Herdwick Limited. They source their Herdwick wool from farms originally owned by Beatrix Potter and all the weaving and leather work is done as close to home as possible (Sedbergh and Carlisle). And soap samples from the Soap Dairy, with their natural handmade soap made on their Lake District farm using rich and creamy Jersey milk. Lakeland Artisan provided a WH-themed hamper as a prize. The hamper was a bit of an experiment to see if there was any market demand for such a product. Judging by the number of entries, I’d say there was. The winner coming all the way from Preston.

We were also joined by Maria from Hawkshead Relish promoting her new book Embellish with Relish, the story of how Maria and her husband created the company as well as many recipes, using Hawkshead Relishes of course! Thank you to Maria and all our Lake District business and National Park colleagues for making the day a success, regardless of the rain and the mud. See you next year.