Heritage Talk: The History of Tea

Join us for a fascinating heritage talk exploring the tea trade, the temperance movement, and the complex links to the transatlantic slave trade.

From bustling docks and global commerce to social reform and everyday rituals, this engaging talk reveals how tea shaped communities, economies, and moral debates that still resonate today.The talk will highlight how tea became intertwined with campaigns for social improvement, with temperance advocates championing it as a respectable and unifying alternative to alcohol, while also examining the broader economic systems including exploitation and enslaved labour that underpinned global trade.