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Unrest and riots broke out in West Cumbria in early 1917 when the price of potatoes saw a fourfold increase.

The Maryport miners wives took things into their own hands and organised a boycott of the traders and farmers who they believed were overcharging for a staple food. Things got ugly with famers run out of town, barrows overturned and night time raids on the potato fields.

The protest spread as far as Keswick and Carlisle and was only brought under control when the authorities cracked down on the thieves and brought in price control.

This experience of civil unrest led eventually to the government bringing in rationing in 1918 – an important lesson that wasn’t forgotten at the outbreak of World War Two when full-scale rationing was introduced at the beginning.

Location: Maryport, Cumbria CA15
Image: Excerpt from a newspaper article at the time, courtesy of Carlisle Library