Long before the days of the National Health Service, home remedies were relied on to cure anything from colds to consumption.

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Many were handed down through the generations, along with advice on suitable clothing to keep chills at bay - red flannel, liberty bodices with rubber buttons that melted in the dolly tub, and silk scarves or woollen socks for a sore throat or earache..

Some remedies were actually made at home - tonic from beetroot and stout given to aid recovery from illness or pregnancy; hot water and pepper for an upset stomach; vinegar on blotting or brown paper for a headache or poultices made from bread or mustard.

Other were available in the oddest places - being taken to the nearest "cocky watchman's" hut to be held over his hot tar bucket, to breath in the fumes as a cure for bad coughs.

Often children would be sent to the chemists to buy an astonishing mixture, involving such arcane ingredients as "syrup of squills", "paregoric" or "ipequana" - more locally known as "ipec wine".

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