In my study of Jabez Bradwell’s diary I noted many strange comments about the village in the past. Perhaps the weirdest was that people considered it a veritable health resort in the 1800’s. In case you are not aware, that period saw Bradwell covered in lead dust from the mining. Add the smoke of various smelters of lead ore and the fumes of lime-burning and the health claim seems incongruous. However, in Bradwell Ancient and Modern, the claims are made. The reason was that the people of Bradwell were noted to live to a good age. Some reached 100 years and many died in their 80’s. These people were considered ‘hill people’ and the village was seen as remote and the countryside wild. However, I can recognise aspects that would have increased longevity and to have proclaimed that the Bradwell Health Resort was real.

Living well

The residents of Bradwell had to walk uphill, day in and day out. You either started off downhill and walked back up or the reverse. Hill climbing is, of course, good exercise. Then, with very poor public transport, you had to walk everywhere. You could try a cart but walking was probably more comfortable. For much of the time, the church on Sundays was a walk all the way to Hope. People walked long distances without giving it much thought. Jabez Bradwell and his brothers walked 17 miles to Stocksbridge, where they worked. They also had poor shoes or boots compared to today. In addition, nobody then looked fat in the few photographs that we have. Walking is, as we now realise, just about the best exercise we can take. You sleep well after a long walk.

Bradwell Health Resort

Perhaps the real answer to their enhanced longevity was their diet. They lived on oatcakes and could not have experienced constipation, a curse of modern times. You even had a long walk to the netty down the garden and dare not hang about! Oats are good for us and form our best cereals for breakfast, ideal for protein and fibre and low in sugars. Consequently and without thinking about it, they had a very healthy diet. It was the rich, who had a bread oven and could afford white flour, who were all bound up. Now for my bad news! They doubtless did not have enough to eat. Being slightly short of calories is maybe good for our health, but they were poor. I am not advocating this. And with all those oats, they no doubt had lots of wind.