Over 200 people came through the door of Slaley Parish Hall on Easter Saturday to try the tastes which the Smelters and Carriers would also have enjoyed. Displays of cooking implements and old recipe books were set alongside tables crammed with gingerbread, curd cheese, lemon posset, Hexham Gooseberry Tart, honey shortbread, lardy cake, toffee, and rabbit and mushroom casserole.

One highlight was watching buttermaking, with the beaten cream being patted into shape by a pair of well-practiced hands. As a little girl, May would help her mother on the farm to make over 20 pounds of butter each Wednesday. She can still recreate their unique identifying pattern, so everyone would know which farm the butter came from.

We hope to be able to put some of the recipes used onto this website in the near future, then you can all have a flavour.