I delved into the fascinating history of the UK government’s communal British Restaurants for BBC Two’s A House Through Time. In the series, I told the story of Mary and Issac Long who moved into 10 Guinea Street, Bristol, after being bombed out of another house in the road in 1941.
Like many people who had lost their home and had no access to a kitchen, the Longs would have struggled to feed themselves. The solution was a visit to a ‘British Restaurant’, an initiative led by Britain’s Minister of Food Lord Woolton to improve the nation’s health and strength in the war. By 1944, ten different British Restaurants were serving the population of Bristol.
Communal feeding centres in the Second World War
On Lord Woolton’s instruction, the Ministry of Food formalized the establishment of ‘communal feeding centres’ in 1940. Also known as ‘community kitchens’, ‘community meal centres’, ‘civic’ or municipal’ restaurants, they had already been established by local authorities and volunteer groups across the country, some of whom had the experience of similar initiatives in the First World War.
