Visit to the Beacon Museum, Whitehaven


On the 15th January, we joined Creative Conversations group from Prism Arts on a trip to the Beacon to learn about the Trade Triangle.

Alan from the Beacon told us about the trade triangle and especially the slave trade and Whitehaven's involvement.

  
We learned that between 1710 till 1769, 69 slave ships sailed from Whitehaven - which amounted to 1 - 2% sailing from Britain - in comparison 1250 sailed from Liverpool.  The first leg of the trade triangle ships had set sail from European countries.  From Britain they were loaded with textiles, firearms, weapons, gunpowder and metal goods to trade with dealers in West African countries.

 The second leg - the middle passage -  saw West Africans, kidnapped by their own kind,  sold and packed onto the ships - men, women and children - for an eight week journey to the Caribbean and North America to work in the plantations.  We learned that the slaves were treated appallingly - they were chained, force fed with butter beans dipped in fat and many did not survive.
 
model of ship showing how up to 300 slaves were stowed



Slaves that survived were sold and put to work in the plantations.

The third leg - ships returned to Europe laden with rum and molasses from the Caribbean and tobacco, coffee and cotton from North America.  


We learned that Sir John Lowther had developed the port of Whitehaven. In 1700 Whitehaven supplied 80% of Ireland's coal and in 1730 81,000 tons was exported leading to the expansion of the Harbour.  He encouraged the manufacture of pottery and clay tobacco pipes and also shipbuilding.  By this time, Whitehaven's tobacco trade was only second to London.

Model of 'King George' built in Whitehaven in 1763


local pottery made to wish success to a ship built at Whitehaven
Whilst at the Beacon, we also enjoyed visiting the exhibition, Atom - A Tale of Matter and see artwork completed by members of Prism Art's Studio Theatre West, Seascale Primary School and pupils from our school.



     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Banner - the West Cumbrian Connection - Carlisle Library Exhibition 24th September, 2019 until 6th January, 2020

Image
Our banner suspended in Carlisle Library Our personal coats of arms displayed in Carlisle Library We all signed our names to go on the reverse of our banner As from the 24th September, our banner and our work forms part of an exhibition in Carlisle Library, celebrating the end of a year long project involving our school, Studio Arts and Creative Conversations groups from Prism Arts and Upperby Primary School. The exhibition continues until 6th January, 2020 and represents our creative response to our journey in learning about our local textile industry. The project was made possible by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Jacqui Ridley Artist & Creative Practitioner jacquiridleyart.co.uk 07928444814
Read more

David Ramshaw - Carlisle Canal

Image
Today  26th February,  David Ramshaw, writer, publisher and local historian joined us at Prism Arts, Carlisle where we met up again with participants from the Creative Conversations group. David told us about transport in the early part of the 19th Century as part of our research in uncovering the history of Carlisle's Textile Industry. We learned that factories in Carlisle were powered by water initially - there was a large furnace for example under Dixon's Chimney turning water into steam and energy to power the factory.  This  was the biggest in Europe at the time.  Although as we know from our research into Whitehaven and the Lowther family there was plenty coal in West Cumbria, there was no way then of bringing this to Carlisle's factories - roads were poor and pack horses were used to carry goods relevant to local trade. This problem had been resolved in other parts of Britain by the use of canals.  A plan in 1795 looked at building a...
Read more

Visit to Lowther Castle, Penrith - 29th January 2019

Image
The Courtyard at Lowther Castle On a snowy winter’s day, we travelled from school to Lowther Castle and met the Creative Conversations group again. Cassie gave a short talk about the history of the Castle and Lowther family. She told us that the Lowther family has been on-site since as early as the 12 th century. A man named Dolfin, who is believed to be of Viking descent was the first to build on this land in 1150. He chose the area for its beauty and wildlife. The name Lowther comes from Old Norse meaning ‘foaming river’. The building was then renovated and improved in 1691, making it Lowther Hall. This was a much grander home with beautiful gardens to compliment it. Unfortunately, the building did not last long as it burnt down in 1718 due to the chimneys not being swept. It remained a charred shell and when the then owner Richard Lowther died in 1751 without an heir, the estates passed to his cousin James Lowther (known as Wicked Jimmy), which included the coal fiel...
Read more