Through vivid local stories, Last Orders: Stories of alcohol and abstinence in the East Midlands, examined the tensions that have marked Britain’s changing relationship with alcohol. It considered the two centuries before the First World War, and a series of economic and political transformations that prompted questions about the place of drink and the need to regulate alcohol consumption.

The materials on display demonstrated some of the ways in which drink was celebrated. Brewing beer was a source of local pride, and selling alcohol provided employment and tax revenues. Local pubs were places of storytelling, companionship and plenty of incident. 

Against these constructions, the exhibition traced the emergence of the temperance movement in the 19th century, which held drink responsible for urban disorder and domestic neglect, economic inactivity and poor health.  Last Orders made the case that temperance efforts to call time on drinking represented a new model of civic participation and even citizenship.