Three Shires to Feature on BBC's "Secret Britain"

With presenters Ellie Harrison, Chris Hollins, and Denise Lewis, the new series of the popular BBC 1 programme Secret Britain explores the intriguing secret histories of the Lake District, Kent, Devon, and Northern Ireland; and we’re featuring in the first episode which airs at 9pm on Wednesday 30th March.

It promises to be a fascinating programme, featuring the wonderful tale of infamous Little Langdale character Lanty Slee and chatting with some of his descendants in the garden here at the Three Shires Inn.

Lanty was, putting it politely, a gentleman of some considerable entrepreneurial spirit. Born around 1800 of Irish descent, Lanty lived almost all his life in and around the Little Langdale Valley; working as a farmer and quarryman (at least during daylight hours!). But it is his unofficial side line of distilling and smuggling illicit moonshine which earned him a splendid reputation as one of the greatest and craftiest rogues the Lake District has ever seen.

To the best of anyone’s knowledge, this enterprising character operated at least four secret whisky stills around the valley – but in truth who knows how many there may have been, as Lanty had sufficient guile and cunning to always keep him one step ahead of the authorities.

His brew was of fine quality, and sold to ‘discerning local gentry’ for ten shillings a gallon – pretty expensive for the time, although of course Lanty’s business wasn’t unduly troubled by the additional burden of excise duty! One such customer was actually a local magistrate, and it was often noted that Lanty’s frequent fines had a habit of being somewhat reduced by the time that payment was made. As his operation expanded, Lanty also branched out into the import/export business, smuggling his hooch during darkness over Wrynose Pass by packhorse to the port at Ravenglass, and bringing back supplies of tobacco on the return trip.

At one point during his illustrious career, a quarrel with a ‘business partner’ resulted in Lanty being shopped to the magistrates and fined the princely sum of £150. The business partner fled the area in fear of retribution, while Lanty apparently ‘retired’ – although it was noted that strangely the supply of whisky didn’t appear to dry up, and Lanty remained, shall we say, ‘reasonably active during his retirement’.

The Three Shires Inn was built during the later years of Lanty’s lifetime, and one can’t help but wonder whether the original landlord may even have been a customer. We don’t sell illicit hooch these days of course, but we’re proud to serve an impressive collection of over fifty fine malt whiskies – although regrettably a century and a half of inflation has inevitably nudged prices just a little over ten shillings a gallon. And of course if whisky isn’t your thing, there’s also our extensive wine list and a broad selection of excellent local ales to keep you suitably refreshed and replenished, so we very much look forward to welcoming you to the Three Shires very soon.