3 December 2012   THE owner of Britain’s last surviving Temperance Bar has been banned from driving for 17 months after he admitted drink driving.
Christopher James Law, 52, who owns the 120-year-old Fitzpatrick's bar in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to the charge at Burnley Magistrates’ Court.
Temperance bars originated in Lancashire in the late 19th century. They advocated abstinence from alcohol, often asked their patrons to sign a no-booze pledge and renounce the demon drink.  They were also the first outlet for Vimto in the early 20th century.
Police in Burnley found Mr Law to be almost twice the legal limit when they stopped him at around 2.30am in Centenary Way, Burnley, on November 7.
Officers found 67 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Mr Law, of Gordon Street, in Rawtenstall, recently appeared on TV with Hairy Bikers Dave Myers and Si King, extolling the virtues of the wide range of non-alcoholic drinks he serves.
He had no previous endorsments on his licence, was fined £110 and also ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge.
He bought Fitzpatrick’s bar in Bank Street, which has been selling remedies and non-alcoholic drinks such as sarsaparilla and dandelion and burdock since 1890, 12 years ago after a 20-year career as a pipe fitter.
The shop also sells pottery barrels containing Blackbeer and Raisin, Ginger Beer, Cream Soda, Lemon and Ginger and Blood Tonic.
It attracts tourists from across the world and sells products at markets and other outlets across the area.
The Temperance movement was formed by tee-total Methodists in Lancashire and thrived throughout the 19th Century with the aim of decreasing the nation’s alcohol intake.
It declined following the import of a wave of imported, sugary drinks from the United States and the Rawtenstall bar, which opened in 1890, was the only one of Fitzpatrick’s 30 bars to survive.
Mr Fitzpatrick’s was originally a chain of bars started by the Fitzpatrick family of Dublin, herbalists who had migrated to Lancashire. The last of the Fitzpatrick’s was Mr Malachi Fitzpatrick, who was gifted one of his father’s temperance bars as a wedding present and then went onto run the bar in Rawtenstall for over 50 years.
In an earlier interview Mr Law said: "I used to come in here as a kid. The Fitzpatricks ceased to own the business a while back but six years ago I knew the then owner who mentioned he was selling it. I was at a point in my life when I just knew that I had to take it on."
In buying Fitzpatrick's, Chris not only bought a unique piece of history but also became privy to secret recipes that have been handed down for generations.
"The exact recipes for the various cordials we serve are known only to those who have owned the business," he said.
"It is a great responsibility knowing that this is the last original temperance bar in the country. I just hope that I can keep the business going and that tradition alive."
The Fitzpatrick's were also great herbalists and, again, Chris is keeping their legacy alive, for as well as running the temperance bar he also sells traditional herbal remedies.
As you look around, your eye is caught by jars with mysterious labels, such as Valerian Root, Wormwood and Comfrey.
"Some are for culinary use and others for medicinal," said Chris. Visitors to the shop are often surprised to see that, although it may look like a museum piece, Chris also stocks all the very latest natural health products.
But it is its link with the past that is Fitzpatrick's greatest draw.
The original bar still stands in the corner and it from behind here that Chris serves the various "brews" which make Fitzpatrick famous.
"You can either have a cordial with sparkling spring water or with hot water," said Chris. "My favourites change but at the moment I like the lemon and ginger."
Although very little has changed in the 116 years Fitzpatrick's has been in business, one major alteration in the law caused a problem which was felt around the world.
"A couple of years ago one of the key ingredients in making sarsaparilla was banned because it was claimed it was carginogenic. The experts said that sassafras could give you cancer after 150 years and we had to stop using it.
"I've consulted my own experts who reckon that you would have to drink six pints of the stuff every day of your life from the age of six until you were 86 to stand even the slightest chance of this, but the rules came in anyway."
For several months Chris had to experiment to see if he could replace the now-banned ingredient.
"It is impossible to find an exact replacement and people who have been drinking sarasparilla for years can tell the difference, it doesn't quite taste the same."
But following on from the law change, Chris issued a challenge to sarsaparilla makers around the world to a blind tasting to see who produced the best cordial. The winner's trophy stands proudly in his shop window.
"It took us a while but we must have got it right eventually," he laughed.
"Originally the Fitzpatricks would make all their cordials in the back room of the shop in a bucket," said Chris.
Now he produces over 200 bottles a week from a separate unit in nearby Stacksteads, for sale in the shop, at farmers' markets around the region and via the internet.
Fitzpatrick's fame has spread worldwide and visitors from overseas can often be found in the bar.
"I think the strangest was a group of aboriginal dancers who travelled up from London just to see the place," said Chris.
"The temperance bar had featured in a programme on Australian TV and they decided that, as they were giving a performance in London, they would come up to have a look at it."
Then there was the morning Chris arrived to open up and found a troupe of morris dancers in all their regalia waiting for him.
"In the mid 1800s, the building was a pub called the One Too Many," said Chris.
"This gang of lads were trying to do a morris dance in every pub in the country so they moved all the tables out, put their swords on the floor and danced around for a bit."