- 3 months ago
Documentary, BBC Victorian farm S01E06
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00:00For the last 10 months, in a unique project, this once deserted farm has been brought back to life, as it would have been in the 1880s.
00:10Gee up!
00:16Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn, and Alex Langlands have been living the lives of Victorian farmers, from the depths of winter to the warmth of summer,
00:26turning the clock back to rediscover an age gone by.
00:33They've restored the farm under the watchful eye of their landlord, Thomas Stackhouse Acton.
00:40I think it's slightly tilted.
00:42And experienced life without modern conveniences.
00:46Bathing in a room with no central heating, it's pretty cold.
00:50Successfully bred Victorian breeds of poultry, sheep.
00:54Little friends, look at those.
00:57Cattle and pigs.
00:58They're all a little curious and fluffy and cute and cuddly.
01:02But the dreadful June weather devastated the hay harvest.
01:07It's not cutting, is it?
01:09No, it's not.
01:09It's so wet.
01:11I mean, look, Peter's wringing it out there.
01:13For the Victorian farmer, this is a disaster, leaving him no hay store to feed the animals over winter.
01:20Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.
01:22Let's hope it doesn't affect the wheat, eh?
01:24Now it's late summer, and the year-long project is almost at an end.
01:30But first, the team faces their biggest challenge yet, the wheat harvest.
01:35Only a bumper wheat crop can offset the failure of the hay harvest.
01:42First, they must make some urgent repairs to their cart.
01:46Water.
01:47Then get to grips with cutting-edge technology, Victorian style.
01:55We've had a blockage.
01:57Brian's just going round the machine to try and work out what it is.
01:59But most importantly, they need a break in the rain.
02:04We've only got a very small window between now and when those clouds come over.
02:09A failed wheat crop could mean the workhouse for a Victorian farmer.
02:14It's early July.
02:34The wheat was planted back in September and has survived the harsh winter weather,
02:40as well as attacks by pheasants and rabbits.
02:42Now it needs to ripen from green to the familiar golden colour.
02:51Wow, this is amazing.
02:54This really is.
02:55It's a bit of a dream come true, this.
02:58This is actually probably better than I expected.
03:02But with harvest maybe four to six weeks away, weather depending,
03:08we've still got so many things that could go wrong.
03:11If we don't get the harvest right, we cut it too late, it's too dry.
03:14If we cut it too soon, it's too green, it won't thresh.
03:17Fingers crossed.
03:18I'll get it right and I won't look like too much of an idiot.
03:21If it's harvested at the right time, the wheat grain from the heads will be sold to make flour for bread.
03:28But wheat must be dry before it can be cut.
03:33If rain delays the harvest, all it will be fit for is animal feed.
03:38This acre of wheat would take our farmers a week of back-breaking work to harvest by hand.
03:47But in the 1880s came this, the horse-drawn reaper binder.
03:52As its name suggests, it not only cuts the wheat, but binds it into sheaves too,
03:57harvesting an acre in as little as an hour.
04:01What a contraption. It's amazing, isn't it?
04:03It's like something out of a Wallace and Gromit movie, isn't it?
04:06All these gadgets and levers and wheels and cogs.
04:11You've got the cutting face down there, the blade's going across,
04:13so it takes the wheat up and spits it out the other side, bound somehow.
04:17So this is the real labour-saving device.
04:20It means that we don't have to run around the field bunching all this stuff up and tying it ourselves.
04:25Putting this Victorian contraption back in action is going to be no mean feat.
04:31So local farmer Mr Thomas and his son Brian have offered to help.
04:36Now you've used one of these, haven't you?
04:38Yeah, my father had.
04:40Yes, I've used one of these.
04:41You have?
04:41Several years.
04:42And with horses.
04:43With horses?
04:44Oh yes.
04:45In 1936 when I started using one, like.
04:48And we went on into the...
04:5050s?
04:50Yes.
04:52Winding her down into her working position, approximately.
04:55Keep going till them wheels get is off the ground.
04:57That's it.
04:59Yeah, you're going down now, lovely.
05:01She's quite heavy, isn't she?
05:03She is, yeah.
05:03Do you prefer working with horses or tractors?
05:06It's a lot easier with tractors.
05:08Was it?
05:09It was.
05:11You can get on the seat and ride all day.
05:13So what's the next job then?
05:14We're going to put the knife in now.
05:16Alex will bring him round to us.
05:18We'll pop him in.
05:19Be very careful of that.
05:20It's sharp.
05:21Right.
05:25Right, so we're ready to cut now, are we?
05:27No.
05:28We've got to get the string in.
05:29We've got to have the string in that thread it through the needle and through the knotter.
05:32The string's in here.
05:33Yes.
05:33It's got to end up where Alex is.
05:35This ingenious knotter ties the cut wheat into bundles.
05:38Exactly, yes.
05:41Invented in 1857 by an 18-year-old Wisconsin farmhand, it was a revolutionary breakthrough.
05:47Have you done this job before, Peter, or not?
05:50No, no, I've never done this before.
05:52Well, you're quite a professional at it.
05:54I think you seem to have got this completely under control.
05:57I think I might need to pass over to you, Alex.
05:59Yes, Alex, yes.
06:00Lift the hatch and just get down in there.
06:02You'll see it coming through there now, Alex.
06:04Can you see that old hatch up?
06:06Yeah, I've got that.
06:07Right, okay.
06:08And it's basically like a giant sewing machine, this mechanism here, isn't it?
06:12This is the most complicated part of the whole procedure.
06:16Right, pull a bit more out here.
06:17You haven't got enough to do that more.
06:19That's better.
06:19Right.
06:20Hold it tight.
06:21And Pete is going to turn over manually just to check if it works okay.
06:25Here it comes.
06:28Yes.
06:29Oh, no.
06:30Oh, no.
06:30No, it's clear.
06:31Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem there, Pete.
06:33Let's try it again then.
06:34Let's try it again.
06:34Let's pull that.
06:35It shouldn't make any difference.
06:38When was this machine last used?
06:40Have you any idea?
06:42Maybe we should try it then with a, you think, with a sheave?
06:45I should put the straw in it.
06:46Yeah, yeah.
06:46A sheave?
06:47I've got one there, basically.
06:51Yes, ready to go.
06:53Yes, she's tied it, yes.
07:01And we have a sheave tied.
07:03Yes.
07:03Yes.
07:04Look.
07:04Excellent.
07:05Lovely.
07:06Look at that.
07:06That's brilliant.
07:06That's brilliant.
07:09That is going to save us an enormous amount of time.
07:11Really good.
07:13So is it good to see this working again after so many years?
07:16Oh, yes.
07:16It's very nice to see it working like a boy said.
07:19Yes.
07:19But I wouldn't like to go out and work with it all day now.
07:23No.
07:24Straw, the stem of the wheat plant, will be a by-product of the harvest once the valuable
07:29grain is removed.
07:32Ruth is keen to put it to good use.
07:36Local craft expert Anne Dyer is visiting the farm to teach Ruth straw plaiting.
07:41Hello.
07:42Hello.
07:43How nice to meet you.
07:45Yes.
07:45Oh, thank you so much for coming.
07:47I see you brought straw.
07:48Yes.
07:49Most of my female ancestors, if you go back into the Victorian period, were straw platters.
07:53The men were labourers and the women were straw platters.
07:55Well, it should be in your hands, my dear.
07:57Oh, I hope so.
07:58I've started a bit because it's easier to plait once it's begun.
08:02And you know it has to be kept slightly damp.
08:05No, I didn't.
08:06Otherwise it'll crack.
08:07Oh, right.
08:07And when it's, look how pliable that is.
08:10And that doesn't make it rot then, just being wet all the time?
08:13Well, think of the English weather.
08:15Yeah, that is a point.
08:17Now, you've got seven straws.
08:20So you've got four on one side and three on the other.
08:24And you're going to keep moving one to the other side.
08:26And whichever side you've got most on is the side you plait from.
08:29So it's easy.
08:30You can't lose yourself.
08:33I bet I can.
08:34Oh, you made it look so easy.
08:35Hang on.
08:36Ah, well, it's a few hundred miles of plaiting.
08:38That's right.
08:42Now keep them at right angles.
08:44This is addictive.
08:46You don't have to do this sitting down, do you?
08:48No, no.
08:49A bag on one arm to put the finished plait in.
08:51And your bundle of damp straws under your arm.
08:53And you can go walk about.
08:55Yeah.
08:55So you get these groups of young women behaving just like teenage gangs on street corners do today.
09:01Intimidating everybody who walks past.
09:03And nobody could really shout at them because they were earning good money.
09:07They were working.
09:08When you've got your 50-yard bundle and you can sell it.
09:11Sell it.
09:11You've got money for the groceries.
09:13Now, you know how to plait.
09:15You know how to sew.
09:16So you know everything you need.
09:18Everything I need.
09:19I brought my husband's hat.
09:20Oh, my goodness.
09:21To see.
09:22So a hat is just like, it's just a spiral of straw plait.
09:28And then you sew it as you go.
09:30So you're not molding it over anything.
09:32You're just bending it in your hands.
09:36And a skilled person would get a perfect shape.
09:38Ah, I thought there was all sorts of clever machinery.
09:42So how much of this do I have to make before I can make a hat?
09:45Depends how big the hat is, of course.
09:47Yes, but just a nice little small one.
09:49Probably about 15 yards, 20 yards.
09:5315 yards for a small hat.
09:54Yeah.
09:55And I've done three inches.
09:58Yes.
09:59I really want to have a real proper go at this.
10:02We've got all this straw out in the field.
10:03There's no excuse.
10:04Yes, yes.
10:07To carry the harvested wheat from the field,
10:10the Victorian farmers need a cart, or dray.
10:13But theirs has lain unused for decades,
10:17and Peter is unsure of the condition of its wheels.
10:21So he's visiting Mike Wright, the wheelwright, for advice.
10:25How are you?
10:26Hello, Peter.
10:26We've got a wheat harvest that we want to bring in,
10:29and for that we're going to use our dray.
10:31Yeah.
10:31But I've had a look at it, and the wheels are a bit wobbly.
10:33I was wondering if you could come as a wheelwright
10:35and cast your expert eye over it.
10:36Yes.
10:37The thing is, I know so little about wheelwrighting,
10:39I'd love a quick sort of demonstration, actually.
10:41All right, yes.
10:42Well, obviously, we start with the hub
10:44and work outwards to the spokes and the fellies,
10:47which are the wooden rim around the side.
10:49Right.
10:50The hub is made of elm,
10:51because elm's got a very twisted grain,
10:54and it doesn't split easily when the spokes are driven into it.
10:57Right, OK.
10:58The spokes are made of oak for strength.
11:01Yeah, so all the power of the wheel,
11:03the weight, is just transferred down the grain.
11:05Yeah.
11:06The rim of the wheel, or fellows, as they're called.
11:09Fellows, right.
11:10They're made of ash.
11:11So there's three different woods.
11:13You've got elm, oak, and ash.
11:15Ash is quite flexible, isn't it?
11:17That's the reason that it's used.
11:19It takes the shocks of the road better than anything else.
11:24Once we've got that on,
11:25I've got to make sure all these tongues are engaged.
11:28Right.
11:29And then tap them up gradually, all the way around,
11:33close all the joints.
11:36Well, this looks pretty complete as a wheel,
11:38but you don't use glue or nails,
11:39so how do you hold it all together?
11:41Well, we hold it together with the metal tyre
11:44that goes around the outside.
11:45Right.
11:48This is made smaller than the wheel.
11:50Okay.
11:51And it's normally heated to red hot,
11:54so that it expands sufficiently to go over the wheel,
11:56and then cooled quickly,
11:58so that it shrinks and pulls all the joints up tight
12:00and holds the whole wheel under tension.
12:02So this would be red hot as it was going on?
12:04Absolutely, yeah.
12:05And then it would start to cool.
12:07Yeah, and draw these joints up tight.
12:08And there we have a wheel.
12:10Yeah.
12:10And you can see it's quite...
12:13And that tyre really ties it all together, doesn't it?
12:19That's right.
12:20It's a very effective way of clamping up the whole wheel.
12:23I have to say, on our dray, there's a bit of a gap, actually.
12:26It's not as tight as this, so it might be the tyre that's a problem.
12:32That's it.
12:35Actually, we need to lift it a bit more, really, but that'll do it.
12:38This one, the tyre is a little bit loose,
12:40so I think we need to take that one off and re-tyre it.
12:42Yeah, the last thing we want is our dray to fall apart.
12:47As the year on the farm draws to a close,
12:50Ruth is keen to try something different in the Victorian kitchen.
12:57Curries were really popular in Victorian Britain.
13:00All the recipe books are full of them.
13:01Indeed, the first curry house was opened in London in 1811.
13:06This one calls for powdered ginger, turmeric and cayenne pepper,
13:11all of which were relatively cheap.
13:14So now I've coated the chicken pieces in my curry powder,
13:19my mix of spices.
13:20They're to be browned or fried in butter,
13:24along with lots of onion and garlic.
13:27I'm just popping the chicken into the melted butter,
13:31and I shall brown those off.
13:36Back on the stove.
13:37And you find recipes in Mrs. Beaton,
13:43in Mrs. Rundle, Eliza Acton,
13:46and also the family Save All,
13:48using leftovers,
13:50using a huge variety of meats, fish,
13:54even curried eggs.
13:55They're nice, I like curried eggs.
13:56Curries are also one of the few times
14:05in which the Victorian recipes include garlic.
14:09It's only supposed to be the one clove,
14:11so I'll let's make the most of it.
14:12I've got my stock pot here.
14:14I've just got some chicken stock.
14:17I'll just go straight in.
14:18These are the onions that have been cooked through,
14:25browned off in the rest of the butter and spices.
14:28And they go in two.
14:31And then open my marrow.
14:35And this is all going to stew down now
14:38for about 45 minutes to an hour.
14:41And it'll reduce as it does
14:44so that the stock combining with the spices
14:47will make the sauce.
14:57This is our dry tyre.
14:59Just taking it round to the forge.
15:01The metal tyre's been removed, repaired,
15:03and is ready to go back onto the wooden wheel.
15:07Hi, Mike.
15:08Hi, Peter.
15:09Well, I've got the tyre.
15:10All right.
15:11So it'll drop over like that.
15:13Right.
15:13You can see it's too small to go over at the moment.
15:15Yeah.
15:16But when it's hot,
15:16hopefully it'll be big enough to drop over.
15:18So when it gets hot, it'll expand.
15:20It'll expand.
15:21Bigger on the wheel.
15:22Yeah.
15:22And then it contracts and clamps.
15:24Yeah.
15:25A hundred years ago,
15:26we would have been using the
15:27Trusby Chronicle,
15:29not the Structure Star.
15:33Plenty of sticks around the outside,
15:35wigwam fashion.
15:37Right.
15:39Fill up all the gaps
15:40so that the wind can't get into it.
15:43We're now going to light our fire.
15:54Feeling a bit nervous about this, actually.
15:56There's nothing to it.
15:59Let your words have it.
16:00Let the air get to it a bit more yet.
16:03I'm starting to feel my eyes beginning to melt.
16:07Yeah, I think it's getting hot.
16:09It's time to move back a little bit, I think.
16:11Yeah.
16:13Seriously, the heat of this fire,
16:15I cannot exaggerate how intense this heat is.
16:18In an effort to retain my facial hair,
16:25and I have had it burnt off before,
16:28I'm just putting a bit of water on my face
16:29and my hands.
16:31So,
16:32that just gives me a little bit of extra protection
16:35against the fire
16:36when I go in with the tongs.
16:37So I'll keep my eyelashes,
16:38I'll keep my eyebrows,
16:40and I'll keep my beard.
16:41And unlike Mike,
16:42I'll keep my hair.
16:47You ready, Peter?
16:48I'm ready.
16:48We've got to go for it now.
16:50Grab one of these.
16:50I'll probably absorb the essence.
16:51Just raking the fire
16:59off the top of the tyre.
17:02One on.
17:03One on.
17:05Hang on.
17:07Are you ready?
17:07Ready?
17:08Ready.
17:11Joint on the middle.
17:13Yeah.
17:15Okay.
17:17Right, push all's out.
17:18Knock it down with a hammer this side.
17:20Hang on, wait.
17:21Do you want to...
17:24Water!
17:30Just evenly applying water here.
17:39This is just shrinking the tyre
17:40into place.
17:44As you can see,
17:45while the water boiling,
17:46as soon as it hits the tyre,
17:47it's still red hot.
17:49There's actually so much of a gap
17:58around the outside,
17:59I didn't think actually
18:00it was ever going to close up,
18:01but it is starting to close up now.
18:03It is.
18:06Once after the water touches it,
18:08it's still bone dry.
18:09That was very,
18:19very intense.
18:22Are you happy with that, Mike?
18:23Yeah, it seems fine.
18:25It's still quite warm to the touch.
18:29Yeah, it is.
18:30The water did work on my face,
18:32although now it's been replaced
18:33with a sheen of sweat.
18:35Right, one wheel,
18:47one cart jack.
18:49This is the wheel we've retired,
18:51and Mike's very kindly helping me
18:52put it back on the dray.
18:53And we just slip the wheel on.
19:03And now the linchpin.
19:08Wheel on.
19:09Wheel on.
19:10Yep.
19:11Hopefully this means that
19:12we'll have a working dray
19:14for our wheat harvest.
19:16Right, that's up.
19:17Trestle out.
19:18Trestle out.
19:19Wheel down.
19:19Job done.
19:20With both the dray
19:24and reaper binder
19:25up and running,
19:26Peter and Alex
19:26head back to the cottage
19:28to plan the harvest
19:29with Ruth
19:29over a curry.
19:34Smells very good.
19:35Curry always smells good.
19:37Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
19:39I never thought
19:40on this Victorian farm
19:41we'd be sitting down
19:42to curry.
19:42Curry.
19:43That was really popular.
19:45Good old Victorians.
19:47They were quite cosmopolitan
19:49in their food.
19:49I mean, if you go through
19:51Eliza Acton's recipe book
19:53you can find food
19:54from about 20 different countries.
19:56They're quite cosmopolitan
19:57in what they called
19:57the British Empire.
19:59Well, exactly.
20:02What are we going to do
20:02about harvesting them?
20:04I mean, even with a reaper binder
20:05we're going to need
20:06quite a lot of extra labour,
20:07aren't we?
20:09Yes.
20:10I suppose you'll want
20:10less than you would do
20:11if you were doing it
20:12entirely by hand.
20:14But more than you would do
20:16if you were doing it
20:17with modern equipment.
20:18But then if we do have help
20:20we should really have a party
20:21to say thank you.
20:23A harvest supper.
20:24And equally
20:24it's the end of our year here.
20:27It would be nice to say
20:28thank you to people,
20:29wouldn't it?
20:29Yeah.
20:30I mean, we can't afford
20:31to pay people much
20:32so how on earth
20:32are we going to...
20:33Well, I think we're going
20:34to have to pay them
20:35with the party.
20:36And the party's got to
20:37consist of good food,
20:39good beer,
20:40and good music.
20:41OK, good food.
20:45Reasonably passable homebrew
20:46and good music.
20:48So you're going to have
20:49a crack at some beer then?
20:51I think we should have
20:52a crack at some beer.
20:53OK.
20:54Also, how many
20:54Victorian farm labourers
20:55are wandering around
20:56in the 21st century?
20:59They might be quite
21:00a little come by.
21:00Yeah, they might be,
21:01might know.
21:02So how are we going
21:03to get them to come then?
21:04Do you think poster?
21:06We could get a poster.
21:08Advert?
21:08It was a very Victorian
21:09thing to do,
21:10advertise.
21:11In print, you know,
21:12in print, isn't it?
21:12I mean, there were
21:13adverts for everything,
21:14everywhere.
21:14First great age
21:15of advertising.
21:16Yeah.
21:17So they say.
21:18Hmm.
21:19Apparently farmers
21:20could read.
21:21Well, yeah.
21:22I might learn soon.
21:25So when are you
21:25opening your curry house?
21:26It's all right, isn't it?
21:27It's delicious.
21:28Very sort of
21:28English curry, but...
21:30Yeah.
21:33To attract help
21:34with the harvest,
21:35Peter and Alex
21:36are making beer.
21:37Victorian style.
21:40The first job
21:41is to heat
21:41malted barley
21:42in water.
21:44Smells delicious,
21:45doesn't it?
21:45Yeah.
21:46That smells fantastic.
21:48It's a bit like
21:48overteam, isn't it?
21:49Yeah.
21:49Malt drink.
21:50Hot milk drink.
21:51Hot.
21:52Malt.
21:52Drink.
21:55I'm getting tipsy
21:56just making it.
21:57We need to keep
21:58that temperature
21:58at that 150 degrees.
22:00We need to do that
22:01for two hours.
22:02The temperature
22:05is critical
22:05because if it's too much
22:06it kills the enzymes
22:07and if it's too little
22:08the enzymes won't work.
22:11But at 150 degrees
22:12Fahrenheit
22:12the enzymes
22:14will release
22:15sugars
22:15from the barley
22:16into the water
22:17to create the sugar water
22:18which is the wort.
22:19Basically this sugar
22:20is what the yeast
22:21feeds on
22:22and that reaction
22:23creates the alcohol.
22:25Back in the Victorian period
22:28you were very much
22:30responsible for providing
22:31not only for
22:32the sort of financial
22:33needs of your labourers
22:35but also
22:35for their refreshments
22:37as well
22:37and if you brewed
22:38a good beer
22:39there's a very good chance
22:41that you'd get
22:41all the best labourers.
22:43That smells
22:43absolutely lovely.
22:44It does.
22:45And it's holding
22:46its temperature well
22:47or at least it has done now
22:48and it's been
22:48pushing three hours.
22:51Yeah, that should be fine.
22:52Well, a big problem now
22:52is straining it
22:54into the cauldron
22:55because
22:57you'd normally
22:58have a hole in the bottom
22:59and stuff it with straw
23:00but obviously
23:01our wooden vessel
23:02leaked
23:03so we couldn't use that.
23:04I found this.
23:06Is that what I think it is?
23:08Top of Roost chamber pot.
23:10Is it?
23:11I hope you've given it
23:11a thorough cleaning.
23:13Let's go for it.
23:15For this.
23:16Just don't tell anyone.
23:22If that has been used
23:23in anger
23:24I think you might want
23:24to give it
23:25a slightly more thorough rinse
23:27I think so.
23:31I'll pop it in the cauldron.
23:33Brilliant.
23:34Sterilisation begins.
23:36Nobody will ever know.
23:37While the boys
23:38battle with the beer
23:39Ruth heads off
23:40to a printer's shop
23:41in nearby
23:42Blissed Hill.
23:45Hello.
23:46Good morning.
23:47Good morning.
23:48And how can I help you?
23:49I've come to order a poster
23:51if possible please
23:52to put up.
23:53What sort of size
23:54are we looking at?
23:55I don't know.
23:56Sort of poster size.
23:57Okay.
23:57Yeah.
23:58It's for the farm
23:59for Glebe Farm.
24:00Glebe Farm.
24:01Yes.
24:01And we want some harvest help.
24:03Now the boys think
24:03that we might have
24:04trouble getting labourers
24:05so they said
24:05we've got to make
24:06this poster really
24:06attractive.
24:07They suggested
24:08we put something like
24:08the best beer around
24:10was on.
24:11That's certainly
24:11a trap them in.
24:12Best beer around.
24:15Here we have
24:16our cases of type.
24:17This case here
24:18contains all the
24:19capital letters
24:20and this one here
24:21contains all those
24:22small letters.
24:23So printers often
24:24call this the uppercase
24:25and the lowercase letter.
24:27Oh I see
24:28that's what it means.
24:29So what we do is
24:30we're going to set
24:31the word Glebe Farm here.
24:32So we pick up a G
24:33from the compartment
24:34and put it into our stick.
24:36Now what it is
24:37you hold the stick
24:37in your left hand
24:38and you work away
24:39from your body.
24:40So we're going to
24:40put the next one
24:41is the L
24:41so we're following
24:42into each one
24:43L, E, B
24:45we're in the lowercase
24:46here.
24:48Right so we've done
24:49the word Glebe
24:49we need to put
24:50spacing material in here
24:51so we're putting
24:52two pieces of
24:52spacing material
24:53and then we're going
24:54to do the word Farm.
24:56Capital F
24:56again that uppercase
24:58F
24:58A
24:59R
25:01M
25:03so there you are.
25:04We've now completed
25:05our time.
25:06Now it looks as if
25:07it's upside down
25:08but when you turn
25:09the stick around
25:09like that
25:10you can actually
25:10see that it is
25:11backwards.
25:13Oh right
25:13and so when you
25:14were doing that
25:14you were spelling
25:15it out in order
25:16you weren't trying
25:16to spell it backwards
25:17were you?
25:18Oh that would make
25:18it so much easier.
25:19Yeah this is where
25:20the poor old apprentice
25:21after got this wrong.
25:23If we have a look
25:24at this
25:24this is a name
25:26of our shop
25:27this was done
25:27by an apprentice
25:28who simply started
25:30the wrong end
25:30of the stick
25:31or got the wrong
25:31end of the stick.
25:32Oh I see
25:33that's where the
25:34staying comes from
25:35getting the wrong
25:35end of the stick
25:35starting the wrong
25:36end.
25:36The 19th century
25:39saw the first
25:40great age of
25:41advertising
25:42and almost all
25:43of it was in
25:43printed form.
25:47As well as posters
25:48masses of printed
25:49leaflets
25:50junk mail
25:51flowed through
25:52the Victorian
25:52postal system.
25:54You're going to
25:54have to use all
25:55your strength
25:55that's half a tonne
25:56of pressure.
25:58Let's see how
25:58we've done with
25:59your first poster.
26:00Oh talk about
26:01half a tonne of pressure
26:01look at how that's
26:02come through.
26:03There you are.
26:04Oh fantastic.
26:07Great.
26:08Right well I'll just
26:08get these stuck up
26:09round the village
26:10I think.
26:12I suppose as
26:12Victorians if we
26:13got good at
26:15brewing beer we
26:15could invest in
26:18the proper kit.
26:21Back at the
26:22cottage the
26:23malted barley is
26:24filtered from the
26:24water drop by
26:26drop.
26:30This is tedious.
26:31That is a bit
26:32isn't it?
26:34We could always
26:35just tip it
26:36through the
26:37I couldn't say
26:38the pillowcase.
26:39Genius idea.
26:40Let's innovate.
26:42I'll nip this
26:43off Ruth's bed.
26:45Pour it in there.
26:48Necessity is the
26:49mother of all
26:50invention.
26:52That's good I
26:52think.
26:53Leave that at
26:54that.
26:56The case seems
26:57to be waterproof.
27:01I think put the
27:06hops in here.
27:08We've still got to
27:09drain it though
27:10haven't we?
27:11We've still got to
27:12drain the water out
27:13at some point.
27:17I think at this rate
27:18we're going to be
27:19lucky if we've got
27:19any beer for harvest.
27:22Don't say that.
27:23Eventually the barley's
27:26filtered out.
27:29Next it's time to
27:30flavour the beer.
27:32This is going to
27:33give it the bitterness
27:34and also the hoppy
27:34taste.
27:35Yep.
27:36We're going for the
27:37bittersweet aren't we?
27:38We are.
27:39Summer beer and all
27:39that.
27:40Put in some honey.
27:41Brilliant.
27:42Some honey.
27:43Yep.
27:43Well we've got so
27:44much of it at the
27:44moment.
27:45Honey's the only
27:45ingredient in the
27:46world that doesn't
27:47go off in its raw
27:47form.
27:48This is our yeast
27:51so I'm just going to
27:52put this into the
27:55beer and I'll just
27:58stir the yeast into
27:59the wort and the
28:00wort is sugar water
28:01and the yeast feeds
28:03off of that sugar
28:04and the result of
28:06that is alcohol.
28:08So this is it.
28:10This is now beer.
28:12It is in the lap of
28:13the gods.
28:14There's nothing more
28:15we can do for this.
28:18Hey piggies.
28:25This is the barley
28:26from our crew.
28:28And one of the
28:29things Victorian
28:30farmers would have
28:30done with it is feed
28:31it to the pigs because
28:33pigs pretty much eat
28:33anything.
28:35And look at them.
28:35They are really,
28:36really tucking in.
28:37I mean malted barley,
28:39it's like Maltesers.
28:40It's like Ovaltine.
28:41It's a malt extract.
28:42It's lovely.
28:44And they're absolutely
28:45scoffing it.
28:48With the piglets
28:49weaned, it's time
28:50they were fattened
28:51for slaughter.
28:53In just a few weeks,
28:55the team will leave.
28:56So Merle Wilson
28:57from a local farm
28:58has come to collect
28:59the pigs.
29:00Oh, hi Merle.
29:04Anybody back?
29:05Hi, how are you?
29:06Not so bad.
29:07They're very good,
29:08aren't they?
29:08They are.
29:09They're lovely.
29:10Absolutely lovely.
29:11Have you just
29:12weaned them?
29:13Yeah, pretty much.
29:14What are you going to
29:14do with them?
29:16Well, I think I'm going
29:17to fatten some up,
29:18see what they're like,
29:19because we haven't had
29:20Gloucester old spots
29:21before.
29:21But I'm going to keep
29:22one female to breed from.
29:25Right.
29:26Right, shall we take
29:27them over?
29:28Yeah.
29:28Do you think they'll
29:28follow?
29:29Yeah, I think so.
29:33Come on, pigs.
29:36So I suppose you'll
29:37miss these pigs,
29:38will you?
29:38Immensely.
29:39More than you'll know,
29:41I suppose.
29:42Yeah, this is goodbye.
29:44This is it, really.
29:45But that's the way
29:46of farming.
29:47I know.
29:48It is the way of farming.
29:50If they've had a good life,
29:52that's the main thing.
29:53Oh, yeah.
29:55Oh, I'd better get behind them.
29:57Come on.
29:58Pig, pig, pig,
29:58big, big, big, big,
29:59big, big, big, big.
30:00Come on.
30:01Come on.
30:04Come on, boys.
30:05You've got a long walk.
30:08Come on.
30:09Come on.
30:10Come on, pigs.
30:10Big, big, big, big, big, big,
30:12big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big big
30:23as well as the nurtured wheat crop the nearby hills of the long mind have their own natural harvest
30:29winburys
30:34this is a place where in the summer women and children came to pick a free harvest
30:40a free cash crop actually have quite a good commercial value i'm picking
30:44well locally they're called winburys much of britain they're called bilberries
30:50winburys are pretty much the same thing as american blueberries oddly many british people
30:55know american blueberries and don't know our own native version our native version is a little bit
30:59smaller but i think it tastes nicer in the 19th century this whole moorland was managed for grouse
31:09and they would burn sections of it year after year to take the big vegetation out and allow fresh
31:16young growth to come and that incidentally by the by is really good conditions for the winbury bushes to
31:24grow so you get this huge berry harvest all over the tops of these hills you don't have to plant
31:30anything you don't have to weed anything you don't have to fertilize anything you don't need any machines
31:35it's just there free and what made it commercially viable as opposed to just you know local produce
31:42for local people is the railway down at the bottom which meant the great big baskets and crates full of
31:49winburys could be whisked off to london where you could get really good money from the restaurant trade
31:54as july ends the wheat is turning golden and will soon be ready to harvest
32:09the harvest will be the culmination of their year as victorian farmers
32:15it's been a fabulous year but it's going to be a wrench having to leave this farm
32:19and one thing i really have learned is that farming isn't a job farming is a lifestyle and it is
32:27totally engaging we'll be back in the the real world soon and i don't know how i'm going to react
32:33to having to go back to modern living i've enjoyed victorian farming so much so it's going to be quite
32:38a shock to the system but of course we've still got the wheat harvest to do and you know i'm very
32:43anxious about that what with the weather at the moment the wheat must be dry otherwise the reaper
32:49binder will jam but the prospects aren't good the summer's been one of the wettest for years
32:59despite anxieties about the weather the preparations for the harvest are going well
33:04the posters are up around the village so hopefully they'll get some much needed help
33:09the horse-drawn dray and reaper binder are set to go
33:16and ruth's beginning preparations for the harvest festival making winbury jam
33:25winberries don't have very much pectin which is the thing that makes the jam set
33:29so i'm going to use some apple peel and apple cores to produce some pectin so all i've got to do is take
33:37all my corings and my peelings and let them simmer in some water and then the water will become
33:44the water that i make my jam with and hey presto a set will occur pectin is something which occurs
33:50naturally in lots of fruit and when you boil it up the liquid and the pectin react with the acids in
33:56the fruit and it turns into a jelly i'm going to put all the peelings in a cloth just makes it easier with
34:01the straining afterwards and i'll just pop that on the range and boil it for a couple of hours
34:12last of my whimberries all the fruit in top of my nice pectiny water now i need to weigh the sugar
34:22and with with most jam it's basically same amount of sugar as fruit
34:27earlier centuries sugar had been expensive and jam had been a luxury product
34:33but with slavery and new machines in the sugar refineries and better transport bringing the sugar
34:39back sugar had become a cheap mass ingredient in britain so bread and jam was something that
34:45many a person who couldn't afford a joint of mutton turned to
34:48the sheep have been one of the great success stories of this victorian farm the initial flock of
34:5810 has grown to 26. back in april alex sowed them a nutritious pasture to graze using grasses developed
35:08in the victorian era but with a year on the farm drawing to a close it's time for them to be taken
35:18away by sheep farmer richard spencer so what do you think of some of these lambs then richard well
35:24you've got one or two outstanding specimens there there's one of those your lambs it's an absolute
35:29beauty it's as good as anything i've i've bred this year i'm very impressed with what you've done
35:35richard's also impressed by alex's pasture good to think by the grass there see the clover's come
35:41through well those deep rooted plants they'll get down and pull the trace elements up your sheep
35:44couldn't wish for better and it's just what you need to sort of get these lambs to finish i'm very
35:48impressed alex i'm very impressed well done pete richard's advised enclosing the sheep in a small
35:54area and moving it every day this is a valuable feed for your sheep and if you put them on here
36:02they'll come in here hungry they'll eat it down then tomorrow you'll move them on to the next piece
36:06and also with them being on continually fresh grazing which in effect it is there's no chance for a
36:12parasite problem to develop let's just have a look and see what the conditions like on the back so
36:16we're going to catch one of those lambs and we're going to see what it feels like and we'll see if
36:19it's ready for the butcher jolly good are you ready let's go for it oh that's one go man go go go go
36:23where are you alex good grief you old man youth youth enthusiasm and no match rage and treachery
36:32he's a tough one isn't he i won't do you know that will do that will do i'll have to tell your
36:37mother he's a tough one right this is this is just about right you put your hands on there yep right
36:43across there where am i now yeah you can feel the meat it's about like that oh yeah yeah yeah
36:48and if you put your hands there yeah that is wonderful that is solid meat in there that is a very
36:54nice ram lamb actually it's not wool it's firm flesh yeah i'm quite quite impressed with that you've
37:00got some absolutely wonderful lambs there there's always one or two that aren't as good as the
37:03others it's a fact of life i mean i was the run to the litter but i survived so we'd stand up then
37:08as as victorian shepherds you would oh absolutely absolutely thank you ever so much richard absolute
37:15pleasure absolute pleasure well done alex well done well done back at the farm ruth has been bitten by the
37:23straw platting bug this straw platting has really turned out to be addictive i find myself doing it all
37:30the time and it's quite nice using our straw and look i've nearly finished it it actually looks like
37:38a hat i'm so pleased with it i really i just when i started sewing it together i thought well you know
37:45if i just make a disc shape that'd be something but as i sort of worked it it just sort of happened
37:51and came together it's quite fetching on top of head i think really though if i want to be victorian
37:58i always wear it with a big bow so tied around and then it should come under my chin which pushes
38:02the hat into a different shape sort of sort of bit like that
38:08it's the first of august known as lammas day this was traditionally the start of the wheat harvest season
38:17if the next few days stay dry this will be the best time to reap the crop
38:21to celebrate lammas day alex and peter are ringing the church bells under the watch of warden edward jones
38:31well we've had a few practices and i think last night we were sort of almost there weren't we did
38:36very well last night we're going to get it right today yes we are indeed and you're going to ring the
38:42tenor bell peter that's the heaviest bell half a ton weight wonderful rupert's on the treble the first bell
38:49bell and alex on the middle bell right so i'll uh set the pace with the treble bell and i'll try and
38:55keep it as slow as possible because i'm aware that your your bell is that is the heaviest and uh we
39:00have to try and keep up with each other that's right look to treble going treble gone
39:06really just trying to concentrate i'm getting a nice even ring all while i'm watching rupert
39:23so that my sally's going just after his which it isn't at the moment
39:30making quite a racket in there aren't they they're doing a wonderful job professor ronald hutton is an
39:35expert in british rituals what exactly is it that they're doing well you ring the bells twice
39:42traditionally you ring the bells at lammas the loaf mass which is the first of august to announce the
39:48beginning of the harvest and then in this parish uh you'd ring the bells at the end of harvest to
39:53announce the fact it was over for everybody this is a relatively new custom it's part of the harvest
39:59festival which doesn't come in until the 1840s to the 1860s and that's to get over the commercialization
40:06of agriculture in the early 19th century more and more harvest hands are accepting extra cash instead
40:11of a harvest supper which makes sense but it doesn't lose in that sense of community so what happens
40:17instead is the entire parish gets together to have a general harvest celebration when everybody's finished
40:22reaping everybody pays a bit towards it and it stores that sense of an organic community and it works so well we're still doing it
40:33how did we do them mr jones well it wasn't too bad there's room for improvement
40:42it's harvest time the rain's held off and the wheat is dry enough to cut
40:46local farmer brian davis and his daughter sharon have come to drive the reaper binder
40:59powered by three horses it cuts and ties the wheat into sheaves doing the job of dozens of workers
41:05such an amazing piece of money that is just tremendous i was hoping it would work oh it's just so fast
41:19whoosh
41:25but with just one row done the reaper binder comes to a shuddering halt
41:30back back back back back back
41:38we've had a blockage and brian's just going around the machine to try and work out what it is
41:43and there's another problem brewing on the horizon rain
41:50a downpour now will threaten the whole harvest
41:54the problem here is we've only got a very small window between now and when those clouds come over
42:04we really don't want to get uh to caught in a thunderstorm
42:08you'll click back a bit alex
42:13so it's the lamp that's locked up
42:15it's where it's going now so it was a blockage yeah blockage on the knife
42:23go
42:28weeds amongst the crop caused the jam but with a storm closing in they can't afford another hitch
42:35time for urgent action
42:37we were desperately keen to try and avoid this kind of harvesting this really is sort of early 19th
42:44century style harvesting all by hand but the reason we've had to do this is because
42:50we fertilized this patch along here and what we've really done is we fertilized the weeds as well
42:56and one of the weeds that we've got in here is a field vetch and that is a real pain to farmers
43:01so what we're gonna do is just clean ourselves a nice kind of sway through here if you like
43:07the weeds cleared the reaper binder can cut without risk of jamming
43:14in less than an hour the job's done and only just in time
43:23well here comes the rain hopefully it won't be too much of a heavy shower but it doesn't look good
43:29does it
43:32this has been probably one of the most stressful things after the disaster of the hay crop
43:36because of the weather we just um you know this has just been so stressful
43:46that was pretty quick but i think stooking is going to take us a bit of time
43:49and the rain's coming we can get everyone we can get they're launching there with intent
43:54you're gonna help us stook yeah
43:55we need to do it really fast ruth's poster hasn't produced any harvest laborers yet so it's all hands
44:03on deck
44:05great we need one more it's really important that we upend and stook all the wheat so that the wheat is
44:11up in the air where it can be dried if we left it down on the ground it would start to rot up like
44:16this it can dry out plenty of air around it and hopefully dry before any mold gets to it
44:22that was a badly stoop stoop wasn't it you'd make a good farmer you would
44:27it's now raining if this had happened before we couldn't have cut it i mean it's a miracle
44:32but not all the wheat is cut and stooked a small clump remains professor ronald hutton has returned
44:47to the farm to explain a strange victorian ritual late victorian scholars themselves thought that a
44:56spirit lived in the corn in which ancient peoples believed and of course as you cut more and more of
45:02the crop the spirit retreat since the last bit so that particular stand of crop is infused with
45:08this vital element that's actually quite dangerous and that's why you dare not approach too close
45:14you fling things from afar or you try and get it blindfold that's the mystical interpretation that
45:19sounds very victorian but professor hutton believes that there's a much simpler explanation for the
45:24ritual harvesting a crop as you've discovered is really difficult work and so everyone's really
45:30elated you get to the end of it and you want to make a big thing of it i'd like to be the first
45:34to volunteer ruth i hope you don't need your ankles in the future there we go now we're all just going
45:42to pop down the path and you let us know when you've finished turn ruth round a few times and give
45:50her the scythe and then take cover oh one oh it's like dancing this it's very nice it is very elegant
45:56three oh whoa whoa that's a stoop that was 12 o'clock you want six o'clock
46:05another stoop my old it's behind you okay behind it right
46:11oh hit hard yeah oh i'm so rubbish at this no you're not with the last of the wheat cut it's time
46:19to celebrate all over the british isles the last sheath is given a name uh the maiden the crone
46:28the baby the hair in shropshire is called the mayor don't know why that's its nickname and what
46:34you do is you shout i have her i have her i have her in a shropshire accent and we three guys shout
46:42what haste what haste what haste what haste and you shout a mare a mare a mare you want to try that
46:48okay so i have her i have her i have her what haste what haste what haste wonderful well done then have
46:58heard that to the neighboring farm who won't have finished their harvesting and you will feel great at
47:03having shown them up so what do i do with this now then in shropshire you probably wouldn't have
47:09made it into a corn dolly they do that elsewhere right so you stick it up in your house as a trophy
47:15you can platter it you can put ribbons in it you can put flowers in it you do what makes you feel
47:21good about having done so well it's your achievement the farmers must now wait three weeks for the sheaves
47:29of wheat to dry out before they can be brought in from the field if they're stored damp they'll rot
47:37there's no clever victorian machine to do this job so plenty of extra labor will be needed fingers
47:43crossed ruth's poster works
47:49while they wait it's time for peter ruth and alex to move out of the farm where they've lived as victorians
47:55for the past year
48:00it's truly a a life enhancing experience maybe even a life altering experience
48:07it's going to be very very hard to leave this place very hard indeed
48:11the final job on the victorian farm is to bring in the harvest
48:26in the wheat fields there's been an excellent response to ruth's poster and there's no shortage of help
48:32we've managed to enlist an army of victorian laborers to help us load our dray the only problem is peter
48:42and i've never done this before as with most things looks like the poster worked seem to want loads of
48:49people to give us a hand thank you
49:05how's it going peter it's going very well like many hands make light work thank you very much
49:11i think we might just get it all on we're just using the sort of time honored implement of the rural scene the uh pico or pitchfork as it's more popularly known
49:26and it's quite literally all it does is just pitches stuff up to us
49:32all right last a bit of sun hey ruth yeah eventually eventually eventually
49:37the way we're stacking this dry is we're putting it stalk side out because that means the head of
49:45the grain is in the middle of the drape so if you lose any it's still on your drape
49:50with all the stooks loaded it's time for gleaning collecting any stray stalks of wheat left in the field
49:58for very poor families this was deeply important to their yearly economy if you were good at gaining and
50:03you followed the fields from farm to farm you could get several months worth of bread corn for free
50:13the 19th century saw the birth of photography for the first time accurately illustrating everyday
50:20rural scenes like this today these images give us a window into a lost age
50:25photographer chris vile has come to the farm to take a picture of our harvest with a victorian plate
50:34camera hi chris thanks ever so much for coming along why would photographers be so interested then in
50:41harvesting this sort of everyday activity the majority of photographers were it was undoubtedly taking
50:46portraits and but two things had changed a the materials have become much cheaper and more mass-produced
50:52but i think also photographers in the early days saw themselves often as artists and they're in that
50:58sort of romantic tradition and maybe as a as a reaction to the sort of increasing industrialization of
51:04the countryside that we're seeing um they wanted to capture that rural life right stand still for a few
51:11seconds
51:22last september the team threshed wheat removing grain to be sold to make bread
51:30now they're leaving a wheat crop to be threshed by the next tenants of the farm
51:39on the way to the farmyard there's a steep hill to negotiate a real test for the repaired wheel
51:45as we're going down the brow of the hill we're attaching a slipper which is going to break the
51:52cart so the cart isn't going to run away with the horses
51:54where ever there be one oh i feel as safe as houses up here
52:08that's a big a farmer's boy
52:11and big a farmer's boy
52:13celebrating the end of harvest has been a custom across europe ever since history began
52:28It's a chance for the workers to be repaid with free-flowing beer and food, accompanied by folk musician John Kirkpatrick.
52:42For the poor, it's an opportunity to get decent food and beer.
52:47Mr Acton and his son Rupert have been the Victorian Farms landlords all year, and have come along to join in the celebrations.
53:04Mr Acton, Mr Acton, how lovely to come and join us.
53:08Well, as you can see, Mr Acton, a harvest.
53:11And here is the last sheath as well.
53:14It looks a healthy sample.
53:16It does, and there's a little bit of weed in here.
53:21Can we offer you a drink?
53:23I didn't mean to slur that.
53:26Now the moment of truth.
53:30Time to taste Peter's beer.
53:37Jolly nice.
53:38Be honest.
53:42Quite an acceptable flavour.
53:45Jolly good.
53:46Mmm, that is nice, Peter.
53:48All things considered, I think that's a damn good home brew, that.
53:52You drinking the same beer as I am.
53:54I think it's an opportunity as well to say a big thank you to everyone that helped us with the harvest today.
54:02Yes.
54:02So a big thanks to everyone.
54:04Cheers.
54:05Thank you very much.
54:06Cheers.
54:06Cheers.
54:07And I've got one last very sad duty to do.
54:10I've got to give you that back.
54:11That's very kind of a very sad moment for me.
54:13Into the cottage.
54:14Into the cottage.
54:15Well, I'm sure the cottage is in a lot better state now than it was when you arrived.
54:19You might have the key, but we've changed the locks.
54:20Yeah.
54:21I've got a man here.
54:22I've got a man here.
54:23I've got a man here.
54:24I've got a man here.
54:25Yes.
54:26Yes.
54:27Yes.
54:28Victorian harvest festivals were notoriously boozy and uproarious affairs.
54:58It's not long before the drinking games start.
55:05Over and over and over and over till your liquor's drunk up and your hat is turned over.
55:26Cheers.
55:27Cheers.
55:28Cheers.
55:29Cheers.
55:33I don't know what's more tiring, bringing in The Harvest.
56:03It's time to leave the Victorian farm and say goodbye to a way of life from an age gone
56:12by.
56:16We have poured our heart and soul into this project, and that's the reason why it's going
56:20to be so hard to leave.
56:22One thing that stood out has been bringing new life into the world.
56:27And out of all that new life, I think the pigs are those I've been closest to.
56:32These little Gloucester Oldspot piglets are now five days old.
56:40As a historian and archaeologist, I've spent an inordinate amount of time reading about
56:45the past and excavating the past, but this was an opportunity to do it for real and just
56:51to have the insights into day-to-day country life back in the 19th century.
56:56How am I doing then?
56:57You're doing very well.
56:58I suppose if I had to pick out one thing that I've thoroughly enjoyed from this year, it's
57:03going to have been working with the heavy horses.
57:05It's such a massive thrill to work with such graceful beasts and it's certainly something
57:12I'll be looking to do when I leave the farm.
57:13We've been really lucky too to have a chance to get involved in all the sort of crafts
57:19of the countryside, the things that you need to make and do to support life on a Victorian
57:24farm.
57:25I mean the basket making was just, it was a joy to behold.
57:28You do get a very real sense though of how in the kind of modern age we really have lost
57:36touch with the countryside, you know, just all the different types of wood and trees
57:41and plants and grasses that to Victorian farmers would have been second nature, but they're
57:47virtually alien to the kind of, the people of today.
57:52There's a huge weight of sadness about finishing doing all this, but then I'm also really excited
58:00because it's thrown up so many ideas.
58:03Well, this is the end of our Victorian adventure.
58:10I'm going to really miss this place.
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