Tasty treat served up to soldiers and visitors

For Members of His Majesty’s 33rd Regiment of Foot, might be spotted marching along Church Street, in Golcar, Huddersfield, in their bright red uniforms,

They’ll be heading for the kitchen at Colne Valley Museum, where havercakes, or oatcakes, are being made by museum volunteer Jane Lee and her helpers.

Demonstrations of how to make this once staple food will be on Saturday and Sunday from 2—5pm each day. Members of His Majesty’s 33rd Regiment of Foot will be visiting on Sunday.

Oatcakes were used to mop up gravy, crumbled into stews and soups and appeared at most meals.

Despite all the different names, according to historical food expert, Peter Brears, there were only two main varieties of oatcake.

The first, made from a stiff dough rolled into a thin cake and called clapbread, haverbread or havercake was common to the area north of a line running approximately from Bowland and the Three Peaks area and down the North Riding boundary to the plain of York.

South of this line, riddlebread, oatcake or havercake were made of a liquid batter poured or thrown on to the bakestone.