WE live in a world of technology where people apply for jobs seen online and might make a shortlist on the strength of their Facebook page.

Up to the 1930s life for would-be farm workers and domestic servants was very different and the hiring fair was the place to be seen if you wanted a job.

Places such as Ulverston and Kendal would see twice-yearly street markets or fairgrounds which would bring together employers and would-be workers.

People would offer their skills and be taken on for a typical half-year employment, including food and a roof over your head.

On most cases, there was no money exchange until the end of the contract – an effective way of stopping ploughmen or house maids regularly switching jobs.

Well before the Second World War, the hiring element of these fairs had dwindled away but they often survived as events for shopping and entertainment.

You can find out about the history of the northern hiring fairs in a talk by Stephen Caunce for the Grange and District U3A.

He will be speaking at the Victoria Hall, Grange, on Tuesday, September 20, and explaining how business and pleasure was combined in the period from 1890 to 1940.

It is part of a programme of five talks before the end of the year.

The first is on Tuesday, August 16, when Sarah Neill talks about the work of a marine biologist in Cumbria; while on October 18 Ken Taylor looks at the natural wonders of Iceland’s Land of Fire and Ice, including the northern lights and geology.

On November 15 Rob David will look at the treatment of German and Austrian “enemy aliens” who were living in Cumbria at the start of the First World War.

The talk on December 20 is by the food historian Ivan Day called the Forgotten Foods of Chrsitmas.

All the meetings are held in the Victoria Hall from 10.15am and cost £1 per person, including refreshments. Non-members are very welcome.