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22 heriTageRoger Logan, Honorary Secretary of theForesters Heritage Trust, looks at thesomewhat controversial origins of theForesters Homes in Bexleyheath, andwhat they offer todayWhen something has been aroundfor more than 175 years, asForesters Friendly Society has,every year throws up an anniversaryworth commemorating, and 2013 is noexception. This year, the Foresters Homesin Bexleyheath are celebrating 140 yearsof existence as an almshouse for eligibleelderly Foresters.“Shame and disaster”However, the plans for the homes weren’texactly welcomed at the beginning. Opinionson them appeared in the Foresters Miscellanyof July 1863, with the then editor SamuelShawcross expressing the view that: “Thescheme is one which, if acted on, will not onlyspeedily fail of its intended purpose, but resultin shame and disaster to all connected with it,and especially the promoters.”The same edition included a rather harshletter from a leading south London member,James J Holmes, who stated: “I am afraidthat the gentlemen who are endeavouring toattain it on the basis they assume and putforward are guided more by sympathy thanby calm judgement.”No placelike homeThe scheme is onewhich, if acted on, willnot only speedily fail of itsintended purpose, but resultin shame and disaster toall connected with it.Voluntary committeeSuch withering condemnation must have hitthe promoters hard, so who were they, andhow did they respond?A provisional voluntary committee oversawthe project, and it is assumed that HenryBuckland, (pictured above), was a leadingmember. At the St James’s Hall, Piccadilly, inJanuary 1864, he talked about “establishing anasylum for the benefit of the aged and decayedmembers of the Ancient Order of Foresters,”and argued that there was “sufficient energy,honesty and integrity of purpose” among thebody to carry out the scheme.Occupation beginsSo, criticism notwithstanding, the work of thecommittee began, and in January 1869 a plotof land in Bexleyheath, Kent, “about five acresin extent, ...one well adapted to meet in everyrequirement the necessities of the case,” wasrecommended. Unanimously it was agreedto purchase the land, with the total costrecorded as £1,275, including legal expenses.Four years later, on 1st May 1873, the first ofthe completed homes was ready.The homes todayOne hundred and fifty years on from whenthey stoked such controversy in Miscellany,the homes are still serving the purpose forwhich they were originally intended. Theyconsist of 21 flats – 14 single and sevendouble – with communal rooms includinga lounge and library and a large garden. Allresidents are fully retired Foresters members,who are able to live independently, withassistance from social services if necessary.There is a resident warden and all flats areconnected to an emergency call line so helpis on hand throughout the day and night.Therefore, residents have the advantage ofliving in their own home, but with security, andbest of all, among friends.The Foresters Homes is an Almshouse Charity Trust Sheltered HousingUnit administered by a board of Trustees who are Foresters members.Image: AlamyA loadof oldwife?Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?Will you really catch a chill if you go out in the cold with wet hair?We get to the bottom of some of the most common old wives’ tales about health…An apple a day keepsthe doctor awayTRUEThey might not cure absolutelyeverything, but apples have beenscientifically proven to have excellenthealth-boosting properties. They containvitamin C, fibre and something calledquercetin, a powerful antioxidant andnatural anti-histamine which has been foundto help prevent both lung and prostatecancer, as well as lower the likelihood ofheart disease. Research has also discoveredthat apples can help to fight Alzheimer’s andbreast and colon cancer.Eat chicken soupto get betterTRUEScientists in America have discoveredthat chicken soup actually hasanti-inflammatory properties that canhelp to relieve congestion and clear mucus.In addition, chicken soup was found tocontain the amino acid cysteine, which issimilar to a drug called acetylcysteine, whichdoctors prescribe for patients with bronchitisand respiratory infections.Oranges can helpto fight a coldfalseAlthough eating oranges is very good foryou as part of your recommended dailyintake of fruit and vegetables, there is noreal evidence yet that vitamin C candirectly cure a cold.Carrots help yousee in the darkfalseResearchers in Holland havediscovered that eating alot of beta-carotene,which gives carrots theircolour, can reduce therisk of macular degeneration(which leads to blindness) byup to a third. But unfortunatelythere’s no real basis for ithelping you to see in thedark! This tale harks backto the Second World War,when the military pretended that RAF pilotswere eating carrots to help them see, ratherthan reveal to the Germans that they haddeveloped a radar to see enemy planes.Wrap up to avoida chillTRUECardiff University’s CommonCold Centre decided to test this theory out,rounding up 180 volunteers in the middleof winter and convincing half of them to sitwith their feet immersed in iced water for 20minutes. Over the next week, nearly a third ofthe ‘frozen’ volunteers (or victims!) developedcold symptoms, compared with only 9 percent of the ‘unfrozen’ ones. Apparently, beingsubjected to the cold leads to a significantconstriction of the blood vessels in the noseand shuts off the warm blood that suppliesthe white cells to fight infection.Wrap a bruise inbrown paperImages: GettyOLD wives’ tales 23falseThere are a lot of home remedies that involvespreading vinegar, goose fat, molasses,mustard and such like on brown paper andthen wrapping it around your bruise or injury.Unfortunately, though, there is no scientificevidence to prove that any of it will work.Honey cures a coughTRUEResearchers compared theeffects of honey to those ofdextromethorphan (the active ingredientin most cold and cough medicines) onchildren’s night-time coughs. One groupof children were given honey by theirparents, the second had honey-flavoureddextromethorphan, and the third gotnothing. Unsurprisingly, the realmedicine scored betterthan nothing at all, but,interestingly, the honeyperformed even betterthan the dextromethorphan.The scientists concludedthat the stickiness andviscosity of honeyhelps to alleviatecoughs, andits naturalantioxidantscan help inthe healingprocess.