21ST CENTURY NORTHUMBRIA HERBAL PROJECT NEWSLETTER No.4 MARCH 2019 Contents: This issue contains some articles and poetry in full; others are shortened with the full article available on the Regional website on the Herbal Project site at https://u3asites.org.uk/northumbria/page/85303. In this issue of the newsletter we have a range of poetry and folklore from Felicetta Smith, a fascinating article from Margaret Timothy about the health benefits of indoor plants; Carol Burnett gives a progress report on her physic garden; some historical medicine articles show traditional remedies from County Archives (going as far back as 1610) and also how medicines moved from herbal to chemical ingredients. Websites and Books. With a plethora of herbal sites on the internet it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the wheat from the chaff and to know which sites are contain reliable information and are not sites which are mainly vehicles to sell particular products. With this in mind and after feedback about the difficulty of knowing where to find quality information, we are soon adding to the Herbal Project section of the Regional website a list of websites that give good quality and reliable information about herbs as medicines. If anyone has other websites that they have found useful and reliable, please let me know so we can add to the list. Books: As with the internet, there are many, many herbal books out there – some based on historic herbals, some on specific conditions, some more generalised and so on ….. This makes preparing a book list difficult but not impossible. As a starting point, Carol has prepared a list of books, and I have added a list of herbalist-authors who write with authority of herbs and herbal matters – again available for download from the Regional website. Anne Larvin Alnwick U3A Email: [email protected] REMEDIES FROM THE ARCHIVES Our county archives are treasure troves of historical information and included in these troves are remedies and recipes for traditional medicines. Woodhorn Museum, just outside Ashington, holds the majority of Archive records for Northumberland and a visit there can unlock some fascinating information on traditional treatments and remedies from earlier centuries. (Woodhorn/Archive staff are currently updating their on-line archive and so searches can be frustrating and sometimes unproductive): https://northumberland.spydus.co.uk/cgi- bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/OPAC/BSEARCH_ARC?HOMEPRMS=ARCPARAMS If the Northumberland Archive yields little, it may be helpful to do the same search in the National Archive database. The link below shows the results from a search for the Bamburgh Dispensary: http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_q=Bamburgh+Dispensary Nice to see that the Dispensary had a ‘wine account’ and from this, they dispensed wine daily to their patients! The Dispensary was actually a hospital at the castle with in-patients as well as out- patients, set up in the late eighteenth century, but more about that another time. Another archive resource is the County Durham and Darlington Archive at County Hall in Durham City: http://www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/article/8338/Home. They describe themselves as ‘a mine of information’ so it could be happy hunting. And finally, the Tyne & Wear Archives are held at the Discovery Museum in Blandford Square just off Westgate Road. https://twarchives.org.uk/collection/catalogue A relatively recent on-line resource is The Cullen Project. http://www.cullenproject.ac.uk/ transcribed and brought to the internet by University of Glasgow in association with the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. Dr William Cullen, who died, aged 80 years, in 1790, left a fascinating archive of letters, consultations and prescription. He was an Edinburgh doctor, who was very famous and influential in his day – a friend of Adam Smith, David Hume and others. Some of his patients hailed from the Borders and North Northumberland but his fame meant that he corresponded with patients and physicians from the whole of the UK and Europe with the occasional correspondence with the West Indies and America. Among his more illustrious patients, he had at least one consultation about Dr Samuel Johnson with James Boswell shortly before Dr Johnson died in 1784 (No, it wasn’t his treatment that killed him!). This archive is well worth a good rummage around, showing, as it does, the medical approach in the late eighteenth century at a time when plant medicines had moved largely towards ‘exotic’ plants from distant, overseas origins, and an increasing use of chemicals such as lead or mercury as part of a remedy. What is also very evident in the consultation letters is the emphasis that Dr Cullen places on the type of diet followed, the exercise taken and spa baths. He frequently recommended cold water baths - just the ticket if you are feeling ill or fragile. From the Northumberland Archive Visiting the Northumberland Archive, held at Woodhorn colliery museum, there are many records that provide an insight into past centuries’ treatment of health and disease. The earliest I found was a book started in 1610, ‘A Book of Physicke & Chyrugery’ by Edward Potter, which included a treatment ‘for memory’. Over the following 2 centuries it was added to by various un-named people. Later records include a recipe for Fern Soap, a remedy for burns and a recipe of 21 herbs marinated in brandy as a ‘surfett water’. Details of these and more remedies from the archive can be found if you click on a link on the right side of the Regional website Herbal Project page. An Exploration of North East Traditional Plant Remedies by Margaret Timothy INDOOR PLANTS FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING Plants can transform the look of a room. Their role in helping our health and wellbeing is less widely known. Horticultural scientists advise that house plants can benefit our physical and emotional health through removing toxins and particles. NASA tests in a space craft packed with plants showed markedly better air. Within their BioHome project NASA has found common house plants serve as living air purifiers. Living closer to nature can also help you to live longer. Hospital patients who have a view of nature recover from illness and surgery more quickly than those who don’t. Indoor air can be up to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air. Toxic gases emitted from paints, cleansers, air fresheners, vinyl floors, carpets, upholstery fabrics, furniture and much more can cause damage to our bodies. Plant-filled rooms contain 50-60% fewer airborne moulds and bacteria than rooms without plants. Plants can capture potentially harmful gaseous and volatile chemical compounds in 3 ways through small pores in their leaves, by diffusion through the plant cuticle on the leaf surface and through the activity of micro- organisms Varieties of dracaena(a small shrub), ficus(figs), nephrolepis(ferns) and syngonium(vines) can remove the largest quantities of these compounds. A spider plant placed in a small enclosed space can remove 96% of carbon monoxide from the air. Plants boost air humidity levels through evapotranspiration – the movement of water from leaves and soil into the atmosphere Therefore they can relieve the impact of ‘sick building syndrome’ which can cause dry skin, itchy eyes, respiratory irritations and headaches. Peace lilies and ivy have particularly high transpiration rates. Groupings of plants with variation in plant shape, size and colour often grow better as humidity naturally increases around them – reducing stress on the plants as well as people The positive effect is not fully understood but care for plants can give a sense of purpose and reward and in work situations there can be perceived wellbeing through a theory called ‘attention restoration’ .Many research projects have found reduced fatigue and stress in office workers when plants were present. There were also less cold-related illnesses less sick days taken. Plants with the best benefits. The following plants are most effective in removing chemicals-: Mother Fern Dragon Tree Ivy Ficus Phalaenopsis (orchids) Peace Lily Ferns Chrysanthemum Palms Spider Plant Orchids Mother-in-law’s tongue Gerbera Azalea Carol’s Physic Garden Adventures Part 2 In the Oct 2018 issue of our newsletters I told you the story of my idea to create a mini physic garden at my home near Alnwick. I told you how it developed from a neglected patch of grass to 5 planters containing medicinal plants which I was able to watch grow and, more importantly, use. Although Spring 2018 was very late in arriving, most of the plants survived, eventually grew and were still producing leaves and flowers well into October. For example, the marigolds look wonderful in the picture taken 6th Oct and the trailing Tom Thumb tomatoes were still producing fruit at the beginning of Nov! I have yet to try the green tomato chutney I made. October 6th 2018 17th January 2019 Although we had some snow in mid- January, as I write in mid Feb 2019 spring seems to have arrived! The Moroccan mint is growing and there are new shoots on the fennel. In the side path patch the mugwort will need to be contained and the lemon balm is nearly ready to pick and use. The other mint varieties are slower to shoot and it will be interesting to see how they do. 17th February 2019 My plan for the next few weeks is to have another patch of garden dug over. I will transplant larger plants such as Angelica, Valerian and Wormwood, leaving space in the planters to experiment with new herbs. I need some trailing medicinal plants for the planters such as creeping thyme. The seeds didn’t germinate last year so I will try seedlings.