I have just returned from a family break to York. York is a city which continues to prosper from it's rich history and, as ever, I found myself finding a connection with our home town of Denbigh. It did not take long although the source of the connection may surprise some people. Although Denbigh now boasts a "Chocolate Shop", it's connection with chocolate is rather less obvious.
The connection goes back to York in the late 1700s. In 1796, the York Retreat opened it's doors for the first time. Still open today, it was originally opened by the Quaker William Tuke for people with mental health needs. At first, it was run mainly by Quakers for Quakers but it soon became open to people from all backgrounds. The ethos was based on "moral treatment". Before the advent of moral treatment, "lunatics and idiots" (as the mentally ill were then categorised) were often shackled and chained and kept in inhumane conditions. Bedlam in particular had come to define treatment of the insane in the UK before Tuke's York Retreat. Descriptions of Bedlam are harrowing to say the least and the basic inhumanity was recognised by Tuke.
The York Retreat though is important because the advent of moral treatment ushered in the first of the asylums promised a new approach to the treatment of mental illness. For that reason alone, the name of William Tuke ought to be much more well known than it is. Denbigh is famously associated with the asylum movement having been the centre of mental illness treatment for North Wales from 1848 until 1995 when the former North Wales hospital closed it's doors for the last time.
But how does Tuke relate to chocolate? The birth of chocolate in this country is synonymous with the Quaker movement which eschewed the evils of alcohol in favour of more genteel pleasures. During our stay in York, we signed up for the chocolate tour which documented the rise of the famous families who came to dominate chocolate production in this country; Rowntree, Terry and, originally, Cadbury. But those eighteenth century Quakers were merely developing the penchant of the Aztecs for the cacao bean. By adding sugar, they took it from a comforting hot drink to a highly desirable item of confectionary. The wealth accumulated by those families is testament to the popularity of chocolate in our society. Although alcohol is easily associated with mental illness, the same is less obvious for chocolate. Terry's chocolate production in York ceased in 2005 with the loss of 317 jobs as the new owner, Kraft foods, moved the jobs to Belgium, Sweden, Poland and Slovakia. Rowntree's chocolate was sold to Nestle for £2.55 billion in 1988 with 2000 jobs leaving York by the year 2000.
But so what if jobs were lost? The Quakers were looking after the rights of their workers long before the Union movement took off in the UK. The Bourneville village in Birmingham was famously built for the workers. Essentially, the Quakers were in business to make a livelihood but not at the expense of customers or employees. Many Quakers (although they were very few in number) gravitated to business principally because they were excluded from the professions due to their non-conformist stance. Only Anglicans were permitted to study medicine and the law. How the times change! As I write, the present batch of junior doctors in England are once more about to strike over pay. The Quakers would be perplexed by this situation as their prime focus was equality for all. It was not until the 1870s that the Quakers were finally admitted to Oxford and Cambridge. In the meantime, Quakers has founded the asylum movement, tin plate production in Wales, the British iron industry, the Stockton to Darlington railway and Allen and Hanbury pharmacists to name but a few.
Kraft foods which bought both Terry's and Cadbury's has also invested in Liverpool football club. The current football industry is a far cry from Quaker principles. It was revealed this morning that Premier League football clubs had spent a staggering £1,165,000,000 in the current transfer window. The salaries alone of these football players are beyond the comprehension of everyone else. They are symptomatic of a world more out of touch with itself than ever.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation was established by the founder of the Rowntree chocolate empire and continues to fund research in to social inequality. In April this year, it found that 1.25 million people in the UK are destitute. Of these, 300,000 are children. By 2012, 18% of women were at high risk of developing mental illness and this was inextricably linked to low income. There are approximately 1.25 million children who live with parents or carers with a mental illness. The life outcomes for such children are less favourable.
In this the "Me Generation" where looks, wealth and celebrity continue to exert massive cultural influence, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn this week that girls aged between 10 and 15 are becoming increasingly miserable. In particular, the research by the University of York found that appearance was the main source of dissatisfaction with many citing their worthlessness and ugliness. It is hard to foresee an easing of mental illness given these conclusions.
Of course, the asylum movement gave way to "Care in the community" during the 1980s and 90s as Margaret Thatcher put in to action the ideas first espoused by Enoch Powell in his famous "Water Tower Speech" of 1961. During a recent piece of research, I had asked former employees of the North Wales Hospital for their views on this transition. The prevailing view was that stigma against mental illness was every bit as bad for those with mental illness in this new era of "Care in the community". So although the asylums were anything but perfect, it is sometimes questionable how far we have come.
So Denbigh has a great deal in common with York, that great pioneer of the chocolate industry. Unlike York though, Denbigh fails to fully prosper from it's historical story. Just as the York Retreat continues to provide moral treatment, the former North Wales Hospital continues to rot and crumble. The Quakers of York placed a high value on the welfare of their workers but in the end sold out to the corporate greed which had been the antithesis of their beliefs. As ever, this connection reminds us of how far we have regressed as a society during the last couple of centuries. We may well have the internet but I sense that the Quakers of York had something far greater.
The connection goes back to York in the late 1700s. In 1796, the York Retreat opened it's doors for the first time. Still open today, it was originally opened by the Quaker William Tuke for people with mental health needs. At first, it was run mainly by Quakers for Quakers but it soon became open to people from all backgrounds. The ethos was based on "moral treatment". Before the advent of moral treatment, "lunatics and idiots" (as the mentally ill were then categorised) were often shackled and chained and kept in inhumane conditions. Bedlam in particular had come to define treatment of the insane in the UK before Tuke's York Retreat. Descriptions of Bedlam are harrowing to say the least and the basic inhumanity was recognised by Tuke.
The York Retreat though is important because the advent of moral treatment ushered in the first of the asylums promised a new approach to the treatment of mental illness. For that reason alone, the name of William Tuke ought to be much more well known than it is. Denbigh is famously associated with the asylum movement having been the centre of mental illness treatment for North Wales from 1848 until 1995 when the former North Wales hospital closed it's doors for the last time.
But how does Tuke relate to chocolate? The birth of chocolate in this country is synonymous with the Quaker movement which eschewed the evils of alcohol in favour of more genteel pleasures. During our stay in York, we signed up for the chocolate tour which documented the rise of the famous families who came to dominate chocolate production in this country; Rowntree, Terry and, originally, Cadbury. But those eighteenth century Quakers were merely developing the penchant of the Aztecs for the cacao bean. By adding sugar, they took it from a comforting hot drink to a highly desirable item of confectionary. The wealth accumulated by those families is testament to the popularity of chocolate in our society. Although alcohol is easily associated with mental illness, the same is less obvious for chocolate. Terry's chocolate production in York ceased in 2005 with the loss of 317 jobs as the new owner, Kraft foods, moved the jobs to Belgium, Sweden, Poland and Slovakia. Rowntree's chocolate was sold to Nestle for £2.55 billion in 1988 with 2000 jobs leaving York by the year 2000.
But so what if jobs were lost? The Quakers were looking after the rights of their workers long before the Union movement took off in the UK. The Bourneville village in Birmingham was famously built for the workers. Essentially, the Quakers were in business to make a livelihood but not at the expense of customers or employees. Many Quakers (although they were very few in number) gravitated to business principally because they were excluded from the professions due to their non-conformist stance. Only Anglicans were permitted to study medicine and the law. How the times change! As I write, the present batch of junior doctors in England are once more about to strike over pay. The Quakers would be perplexed by this situation as their prime focus was equality for all. It was not until the 1870s that the Quakers were finally admitted to Oxford and Cambridge. In the meantime, Quakers has founded the asylum movement, tin plate production in Wales, the British iron industry, the Stockton to Darlington railway and Allen and Hanbury pharmacists to name but a few.
Kraft foods which bought both Terry's and Cadbury's has also invested in Liverpool football club. The current football industry is a far cry from Quaker principles. It was revealed this morning that Premier League football clubs had spent a staggering £1,165,000,000 in the current transfer window. The salaries alone of these football players are beyond the comprehension of everyone else. They are symptomatic of a world more out of touch with itself than ever.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation was established by the founder of the Rowntree chocolate empire and continues to fund research in to social inequality. In April this year, it found that 1.25 million people in the UK are destitute. Of these, 300,000 are children. By 2012, 18% of women were at high risk of developing mental illness and this was inextricably linked to low income. There are approximately 1.25 million children who live with parents or carers with a mental illness. The life outcomes for such children are less favourable.
In this the "Me Generation" where looks, wealth and celebrity continue to exert massive cultural influence, it is perhaps unsurprising to learn this week that girls aged between 10 and 15 are becoming increasingly miserable. In particular, the research by the University of York found that appearance was the main source of dissatisfaction with many citing their worthlessness and ugliness. It is hard to foresee an easing of mental illness given these conclusions.
Of course, the asylum movement gave way to "Care in the community" during the 1980s and 90s as Margaret Thatcher put in to action the ideas first espoused by Enoch Powell in his famous "Water Tower Speech" of 1961. During a recent piece of research, I had asked former employees of the North Wales Hospital for their views on this transition. The prevailing view was that stigma against mental illness was every bit as bad for those with mental illness in this new era of "Care in the community". So although the asylums were anything but perfect, it is sometimes questionable how far we have come.
So Denbigh has a great deal in common with York, that great pioneer of the chocolate industry. Unlike York though, Denbigh fails to fully prosper from it's historical story. Just as the York Retreat continues to provide moral treatment, the former North Wales Hospital continues to rot and crumble. The Quakers of York placed a high value on the welfare of their workers but in the end sold out to the corporate greed which had been the antithesis of their beliefs. As ever, this connection reminds us of how far we have regressed as a society during the last couple of centuries. We may well have the internet but I sense that the Quakers of York had something far greater.
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