CENTRAL METHODIST LADIES FELLOWSHIP

FROM “Palais Benedictine to Plumbe Street Burnley” was the unusual title of an illustrated talk by Denise North at the recent ladies meeting.

Most people think the liqueur was produced by monks in a Benedictine monastery, but it was, in fact, created by Alexander Le Grand who built a distillery in 1882 in his palatial home in Fecamp, France, thereafter known

as Palais Benedictine.

The recipe is a secret balance of twenty seven herbs and spices which are aged in oak barrels for two years.

Due to Alexander’s salesmanship, 28,000 bottles were sold in the first year, and the liqueur is still very popular today.

Advertising appeared on posters, fans, tiles, menus, etc.

One amusing poster showed two men, the one on the left looking tired and weary after drinking absinthe, and the man on the right looking robust and healthy after drinking Benedictine.

Some of the posters were in a lovely art nouveau style. There are various theories how the link to the East Lancashire Regiment and Burnley arose, and no-one is quite sure which is correct.

One is that the locals of Fecamp took the drink to the men in the trenches and they brought the taste home with them.

Burnley Miners Club on Plumbe Street is reputed to be the biggest consumer of the drink in the UK and Europe, outside of France.

The club was initially opened as a social club for sick miners in 1918, 75 bottles of Benedictine were ordered in December 1919, by January another hundred bottles, and in March another large order was sent for urgently.

Extra large bottles are now made especially for the club.

“Bene and Hot” - the addition of hot water seems particularly popular in Burnley.

Burnley F.C. goes through 30 bottles per home match; shots are lined up on the bar ready to add the “hot” at half time.

Advertisements for Benedictine are all round Turf Moor and the man of the match is now given a bottle instead of champagne.

The ladies enjoyed a very entertaining and informative afternoon.