“Drawing with salt freed people up from their inhibitions, young and old alike, making me think about ways I could free myself up to work when I’m feeling stuck.”
Iain Davidson, Contemporary Artist
Cheshire Archives have been using the theme of food to engage with new audiences. Using historic recipes as inspiration, the team explored ideas around food memories, food cultures and
the sharing of recipes between generations, groups and families.
Cheshire Archives have been running food storytelling events since 2017, utilising sources such as John Gerard’s Herbal, a sixteenth-century book of plants and their uses, a historic recipe for marmalade, and unusual recipes from cook and businesswoman Elizabeth Raffald.
Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Cheshire’s archives: a story shared project enabled the service to develop these activities further, and to engage with local communities, organisations and businesses.
They held a half-term cooking workshop run with Hoole Young Chefs, delivered to 40 children aged 7-11 in November 2024. It featured four food stations: two teaching kitchen skills and the other two cooking historic recipes, including notable local dishes, pea soup and soul cakes. The workshop was fully booked and is likely to be repeated.
In 2025, the team also ran an arts-based project Food for Thought with communities across Cheshire. They engaged with four local community art groups to produce creative responses inspired by historic recipe collections: Crosshatch based in Winsford, Little Sutton Art Group, Live! Chester and Studio Art Group who work out of Nantwich.
Historic recipes can look very different to ones we would recognise today, and can include unfamiliar methods, equipment, quantities, measurements and even ingredients. This was used as a point of discussion and led to a wide range of different interpretations of the recipes. 55 artists created 33 different artworks spanning paint, textiles, film, sculpture and even salt – a product Cheshire is well-known for.
The project culminated in a public exhibition as part of the Chester Festival of Ideas in July 2025. Over 300 visitors viewed the artworks, and the archives that inspired them, over four days.
They are now touring more venues, bringing the exhibition to new local communities. For many participants, this was the first time they had ever had their work exhibited and they took pride in bringing their family and friends to see their pieces on display. The event also included family activities, including a story time inspired by local cheese-making and salt art workshops.
According to an early evaluation, the Food for Thought project has brought a whole new audience to Cheshire Archives. 80% of participants had not engaged with the service prior to attending one of the events.