Victorian Farm picspam

[birdienl]

I'm a big fan of this instructive, enjoyable, funny real-life history show, broadcast by the BBC in 2009
and decided it needed some exposure on LJ!

In Victorian Farm, three 21th century historians take up the challenge to live and work on a
farm for a full calendaryear like their ancesters did in approximately 1880. No electricity,
no gas, no flushing toilet and no tractors, and still they have to grow crops,
raise animals, keep their farmbuildings in good condition and tackle domestic chores!
Will they succeed for a year as Victorian farmers?

The team consists of:

Ruth Goodman: historian of the social and domestic life of Britain.


Alex Langlands: archeologist


Peter Ginn: archeologist


And, a honourable mention for the sheepfarmer Richard Spencer.
Because he regularly helped the team with their sheep and because
he spoke the immortal words: 'Sheep are the only animals
in Gods creation who are always looking for the quickest way to die'


And what would a farm be without animals? All Victorian breeds ofcourse!
The flock of Shropshire sheep which more than doubled during the year,
Princess the sow, the two Tamworth pigs and the farm's tractor, the Shire horse Clumper.
And ofcourse loads of young animals arrived during the spring!


During the year, Ruth managed the everyday tasks around the cottage.
This involved washing, cleaning, sowing, taking care of the smaller livestock,
the garden and cooking, lots and lots of cooking, everything from pig's head jelly to curry!


Alex and Peter took care of the crops and the larger animals.
The men tried to raise a wheat and a hay harvest. They also build a brand new pigsty on the farm yard
 and occasionally squandered some time by trying to brew their own beer...


Ofcourse, now and then there was some time to relax
with traditional celebrations such as Christmas, Mayday festival, the birthdays of the team
and a harvest feast at the end of the year.


During the late Victorian period, the use of factory made machines and steam technology revolutionized farming.
The team takes the opportunity to use the most up-to-date farming methods
of the period and gets aquainted with things like a reaper-binder and a steam powered threshing machine

Unfortunatley, after six lovely episodes the team said goodbye to their cottage and farm and went back to modern times!
Thank you BBC,  Alex, Peter and Ruth and I hope to see you soon in Edwardian farm!

Comments

[sparklyglampire.livejournal.com]

YYAAAAYYY :D Love it! Also lol at your honorary mention of Richard Spencer, the sheep guy. I loved him!

[moxielegal.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't mind getting 'Victorian' with Peter, I must confess..

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Richard Spencer was brilliant! Reminded me of my sheep-farming uncle a bit.

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Personally, I prefer Alex, so your suggestion is oke with me ;-)

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Checking in a little late, but I had never heard of that mini-series, and it looks like something my mother and I would both enjoy immensely. We love farm history! I'll have to start looking for it (and a time when we actually have time to watch it). Thanks for highlighting it!

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Oh! You're in for such a treat if you like farm history! Maybe you already know because you've done some research, but from the same producers there's also Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm (WWII) and Tudor Monastery Farm. All of them very entertaining and the same high quality. Wartime Farm and Tudor Monastery Farm are on YouTube in their entirety. The others unfortunately not. I do hope you get to watch them!

[mattiescottage.livejournal.com]

Mom would especially enjoy the WWII farm. (She was a little girl on a U.S. farm at that time.) Great to hear that it is accessible. "Victorian Farm" is not in the collection at our local public library, so I'll have to watch for an affordable copy.