Winners of the Marsh Award for Community Archaeology presented at the AGM of the Council for British Archaeology in London in November 2019

DVLHG was formed in the early 1990s and runs a programme of activities and talks for its members. Our five year long study of the whole valley has restarted extending the survey to cover areas not walked in earlier phases. Our findings led to a major project with Oxford Archaeology North excavating three medieval longhouse sites near Seathwaite Tarn 2016-2018. We have since completed further surveys on washfolds and shard fencing in the Duddon valley

Latest News October 2026

I have been doing very little with the History group website for some time because I wasn’t getting information about events and not getting reports for activities after they happened. Talking to members, few said they were actually visiting the site to get information so I rather lost heart.

I’ve been asked to get things going online again and so here we are. It would be encouraging to get feedback and content for the site – stephe.crumbly@gmail.com

A welcome for our new Chairman

Dave Hughes has been a long time member of the group and has participated in many of our major projects over the years. He appears on photos for the R2R and long house surveys, the archaeological digs and he was a key member in more recent surveys of washfolds and shard fencing. Look on the website under the projects tabs and there is plenty of information on the work we have done in the valley over the years.

New venue for meetings

Talks will now be held at the Methodist Hall instead of at the Victory Hall. This is a short term plan over the next few months and so we need feedback on how you have felt about seating, acoustics and heating compared with the comments we were getting about the big room at the VH. The reaction to the first meeting was overall positive but could be made more so with some minor adjustments.  Arrangement have been made for 10 more seats to be provided which would be the maximum available – after that, it’s the pews!

Talks Programme –

The next talk is on Wednesday, 28^th November when Dr Suzanne Tiplady will talk on “A mansion fit for demolition” at 19:30

Talks coming up:

November – Furness Abbey – 900 years and counting

January – the wells and privies of Broughton

February – Woodland crafts and industries

March – Harper Graythorpe and Furness field and naturalist clubs

April – Landscape archaeology of Dunnerdale

May – Folklore of the Lake District

June – Waiter, miner, butcher, spy: Germans and Austrians during the first World War

July – AGM followed by Lakeland artists

Further details on the Talks Page.

If you have ideas for speakers who you have come across through other societies, do let us know so we can investigate contacting them and making bookings

Walks Programme –

The programme for the coming year will feature many of the walks we had to cancel, with something to suit everyone. If you intend to go, please contact the Leader at least the day before stating where you will meet.  In the event of very bad weather confirm with leader on the day to see if the walk is going ahead.

See Walks Page for details of the Walks programme – 

Current project

Shopping – a history of anything that strikes your interest ready for an Exhibition in 2027

Some members have commented that they don’t have time or interest in research. That’s fair enough, but it doesn’t stop anyone passing on their memories.

Do you remember shopping before everything was packaged – fruit and veg, meat, broken biscuits etc in brown paper bags. How was your shopping preserved before fridges and freezers – did you have a meat safe with perforated zinc to keep the flies out or a stoneware pot full of water to keep the milk from going sour? Did you have traders coming along the street selling milk, fish or meat? Can you remember decimal money arriving, your first visit to a supermarket, your first Internet purchase? What about selling – did you advertise anything in the small ads, or from a poster in shop window, or on EBay. What about advertising slogans even before TV jingles? Which ones stick in your memory? What about products going out of production like Spangles or changing name like Marathon Bar.

Write down some notes and we’ll put them together with any old adverts, tin, bottles, packaging you may have in the attic, cellar or garage.

There’s plenty of time, but the more we can get in advance, the easier it will be to organise and set up displays and show up areas that are under-represented. Again pass your contributions, written or by email, to Stephe and Gail.

Recent Project

Local area Trade Directories?

They provide first hand data about local communities, their infrastructure and the individuals inhabiting those communities. Published more frequently than the census, directories can also help you fill in any missing gaps.

There are descriptions of cities, parishes, towns and villages including geographical, historical and statistical details; information about local facilities, institutions and associations; listings for private residents, traders, trades and professions; details of important people; and advertisements

The peak year for directory publications was 1936, with around 320 directories appearing. The 1950s, in many ways, marked the end of large-scale directory production and usage.

We have sorted the Directories for the parishes in

Cumberland: Millom Above, Millom Below, Thwaites and Ulpha

Furness: Broughton in Furness, Kirkby in Furness and Seathwaite

T   CCM   HHBB 75

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