A new exhibition exploring the history and place of alcohol in the East Midlands is opening at Lakeside Arts next week.
Using local examples from archives held by the University of Nottingham, 'Last Orders: Stories of alcohol and abstinence in the East Midlands' examines changing attitudes to alcohol in the region across the two centuries before the First World War.
The exhibition has been jointly curated by the University of Nottingham's Manuscripts and Special Collections and Dr David Beckingham in the School of Geography. Several public events with experts from across the University accompany the exhibition.
Dr Beckingham said: "Last Orders showcases the unique collections held by the University."
The items on display allow us to explore the relationship between local debates about drink and vital social and economic questions that shaped national politics. They help us trace important changes in drinking cultures and the regulation of alcohol consumption. Such shifts also affected the place of pubs in local communities.
The exhibition explores the reputation of pubs as spaces of companionship, storytelling, and political debate. Brewing was a source of local pride, and the everyday act of drinking provided plenty of government revenue. But alcohol was also blamed for causing personal harm and public disorder.
Visitors will learn how, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, members of new temperance societies challenged the role of drink in everyday life. They presented sobriety as a route to collective self-improvement and civic participation.
A series of talks by the University's experts, held in the Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside Arts, will complement the exhibition:
- Beer Flavour – A matter of taste?
Tuesday 28 June, 1pm
Professor David Cook, of the University's International Centre for Brewing Science, will examine how beer stimulates our senses and evaluate historical and modern trends in consumer preference and expectations for Britain's national drink.
- Taking the pledge: The temperance movement in Britain
Wednesday 10 August, 1pm
Dr David Beckingham, of the School of Geography, will illustrate how temperance groups were organised and investigate how they impacted national debates about drink control for the rest of the nineteenth century.
- Does the way we drink alcohol change with age?
Tuesday 4 October, 1pm
Dr Katy Jones, of the School of Medicine, will explore current research on patterns of alcohol consumption and whether people drink differently in different life stages.
Visitors can also learn more about the items on display by booking a free guided gallery tour.
Last Orders is at the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts, University Park, Nottingham. The Gallery is open 12noon-4pm, Tuesday to Sunday, from Thursday 16 June to Sunday 9 October 2022.
Image below shows an Advertisement for Hardy's Kimberley Brewery from Allen's Nottingham Red Book (1902) © University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections
Image below shows a sketch of Characters in a Village Ale-House from GM Woodward, Eccentric Excursions (1817) © University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections
