Bill Moffat, of Natland, highlights the importance of pigs, especially during the war years

Lots of farmers, small holders and even people with space in a back garden would have a pig for their own use.

They would be fed on scraps, potato peelings, meal etc.

Killing a pig was a big job. Nearly everything was eaten. The pig’s throat was cut and while the pig was being bled, the blood was stirred to stop it from clotting and this was then mixed with fat, barley and seasoning to make black pudding.

It was then put in a large baking tin to set and then cut into slices when required.

Boiling water was poured over the pig’s skin and its hair was then scraped off. The various joints would be cut up, covered in salt (bacon) and saltpetre (round the bones) to preserve, bound together and tied in rolls with string, then hung from hooks in the kitchen to mature. The pig’s ears and trotters were also used – nothing was wasted.

You would often see black pudding on the farmers’ stalls in Kendal market when they used to come with their produce on a Saturday morning and sit behind their trestle tables laden with home produce.

You got the usual eggs (hen and duck), homemade produce – butter etc, vegetables and fruit in season, for example damsons from the Lyth Valley; lilac and daffodils and extra festive food and poultry (geese, turkey, chicken, duck and pheasant) at Christmas.

They also had stalls down Stramongate and they were always very popular.