Thank-you letters were exchanged between the fieldworkers and the people they interviewed. One such exchange between Harold Orton and Mr Ellis (not to be confused with fieldworker, Stanley Ellis) shows how co-operative the relationship was between fieldworker and informant. Letters dating from late 1949 and early 1950 feature Orton and Mr Ellis discussing making oatcakes. It is Mr Ellis who invites Orton over for another visit saying: “I am always baking Oatcakes on a Tuesday afternoon about the same time”. [sic]
This illustration at the bottom on the page depicts a bread rack used for drying oatcakes from the ‘Pilling, Lancashire’ Response Book.
‘Book V: The House and Housekeeping [Pilling Response Book]’ (LAVC/SED/2/2/5/6/5) by Peter Wright. Held at Special Collections, Leeds University Library. Licensed under CC-BY-NC 4.0.
