Home Guard Company Dinner

E Company, West Riding 66th Battalion

When Dore became part of Sheffield in 1934 it moved from Derbyshire to the West Riding of Yorkshire. (South Yorkshire was not created until 1974.)

The Home Guard had been stood down on the 3rd of December 1944 so this will also have been a farewell dinner.

Although this menu card does not state where the dinner was held its menu items reference Whirlow and Ecclesall. You can see they ate Celerie de Whinfell and Weet–a–wood Biscuits among the other fanciful dishes.

This menu card was donated to Dore Archive in 1999 by Mrs Nicholson. If you have any information about the Home Guard in Dore please do get in touch. Perhaps you recognise one of the autographs. We would be pleased to hear from you.

Dore and Christmas Pudding Traditions

Pudding History

There are lots of recipes for Christmas Puddings often passed down through families, but you may be surprised to learn that in medieval times in Dore the traditional Christmas 'pudding' was a potage. This was a thick soupy porridge made up of boiled beef or mutton broth, plums and various spices. This evolved into frumenty which was still sloppy, being made of boiled wheat, milk, and spices.

During the time of Oliver Cromwell the eating of Christmas Pudding was declared illegal as being 'too sinfully rich'. Apparently this piece of legislation has never been repealed. It gives a new meaning to 'naughty but nice'.

It wasn't until Victorian times that the more solid Christmas pudding appeared. Mrs Beeton's Cookbook from 1861 has a recipe for a Christmas pudding which is recognisable today. However Mrs Beeton also included two recipes for 'Figgy Pudding'. Plum Pudding or Christmas Pudding is supposed to have 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and the Twelve Disciples.

Figgy Pudding dates from the 14th Century and has far fewer ingredients albeit still luxurious for the times: "Take blanched almonds and finely grind them. Mix with water and wine, quartered figs and whole raisins. Add powdered ginger and clarified honey. Boil well, salt and serve."

Stir–Up Sunday

Going back to Plum Pudding means explaining that 'plums' were raisins and that there was a ritual involved in the making of the pudding. On Stir–Up Sunday (the first Sunday in Advent — in 2025 this being Sunday 23rd November) all the family were expected to assemble. Each family member stirred the ingredients from East to West mimicking the journey of the Three Wise Men travelling to meet baby Jesus. As they did so they could make a wish for the coming year.

The introduction of silver sixpences to the mix started in Victorian times but must have led to many a cracked tooth. Traditionally whoever found it would have good luck, wealth and happiness in the coming year. It is not a wise thing to do today to our puddings and their potential heating up in a microwave.

Military Stories Leaflet

The results of Dore Archives Research Team's recent research have been used to create a leaflet that visitors to the graveyard of Dore Parish Church can use to navigate their way to the following eight graves.

Click on the name underneath the picture of the gravestone to read their military story. A pdf will open in another tab for you. It can then be downloaded if wished.

Featured Memorials

Private William Bowler, Crimean War	Lieutenant John Henry Waterfall, Crimea and India

	Private Saville Tasker
Lieutenant Cedric Arthur Jackson	Private Herbert Jackson

	Flying Officer Douglas Frank Newsham
Corporal Philip Norman Horner	Pilot Officer Walter Patterson Angus

Dore Military Memorials and Burials

Links to this research can also be found in the Military Stories menu above. In future more research findings about the men and women commemorated in the Dore graveyard will be added to the menu.