Following the hugely successful Victorian Farm, archaeologists Alex Langlands
and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman return to experience life
on an Edwardian farm. Setting up home at Morwellham Quay, in Devon, the
intrepid trio have to get to grips with the trials and tribulations of life at
the turn of the 20th century. From investigating the impact of water-powered
machines and the world’s first tractor, the team engage in a whole host of
challenging activities, delving into Britain’s rural heritage once again to
unearth how Edwardian farmers recovered from the agricultural depression
leaner, fitter and more diverse than ever before.
分集介绍
【九月】September
In September they begin with the basics. They set up home in one of the
cottages, where the first task - after cleaning - is unblocking the chimney so
they can get the range working in order to cook. They prepare for the arrival
of their first livestock - a flock of sheep and a ram called Cyril, and Ruth
cheers up the cottage by making a rug out of rags. And she cooks her first
meal on the range - a sheep’s head stew. Alex builds a hay rick to store feed
for the animals over winter; while Peter heads to Bodmin moor to carve a stone
feeding trough. And they must plant crops. The high acidity of the soil makes
it infertile for growing crops, so the top priority is neutralising the acid
with fertilizer - and for this they must make deadly quicklime. They will need
literally tonnes of the stuff. It is a hazardous and gruelling - but essential
job.
【十月】October
In October, the Edwardian farmers branch out into new ventures like market
gardening, all-year-round egg production and beef cattle. After acquiring a
beef herd, the team bring in a bull. They also begin training the shire horses
for a year of work in the fields. And they take on a pair of goats who prove
to be more than a handful at milking time. Morwellham Quay’s market gardens
were once one of the nation’s largest producers of strawberries, until
abandoned half a century ago. Now the team attempt to bring them back to life.
Cider was a vital part of the Edwardian rural economy, so Alex and Peter
attempt to follow in this tradition by making it on an industrial scale -
using an Edwardian cider press and a ton of apples. Ruth preserves supplies
for the winter: she pickles apples, salts a ham and smokes bacon. Peter visits
a cooper and learns how to make a barrel, and Alex launches a chicken
enterprise. Finally they see in the winter with Halloween - Edwardian style.
【十一月】November
It’s November and to prosper as Edwardian farmers, Alex, Peter and Ruth need
to get to grips with the technologies of the age and use Edwardian science to
set up an exciting new venture on the farm. Alex and Peter want to grow oats,
essential as feed for their livestock, and potatoes, a reliable source of
income. But first they must plough the land. Most Edwardian farmers still
relied heavily on horse power, but new technology was on the horizon. A
travelling salesman makes a dramatic entrance bringing a piece of the sate-of-
the-art machinery from the Edwardian age - the world’s first tractor, the
Ivel. Ruth prepares for the arrival of the farm’s pigs by restoring the farm’s
pig sty privy - an ingenious construction combining a pig sty with a lavatory
so that pig waste and human waste could be composted in one place. After
introducing the pigs to their new home, Ruth grooms them. Peter embarks on
building a trout farm and populating it by using revolutionary fish-breeding
techniques that were new to Devon’s Edwardian farmers. And Alex wants to
maintain the farm’s hedgerows - but first he’ll need to learn how to forge a
Devon bill-hook using water-powered technology. After all their hard work,
Ruth cheers the team up by making sloe-gin and acquiring an Edwardian musical
novelty - a gramophone
【十二月】December
It’s December and, as winter sets in, Alex, Peter and Ruth face the challenge
of earning a living in one of the hardest months of the year. They’ll have to
profit from their livestock, leave the farm in search of part time work and
head to the coast to reap the ocean’s bounty. With poverty rife in the
countryside, Edwardian farmers often had to find additional work away from
their land. Alex and Peter follow in the footsteps of Tamar Valley farmers who
traditionally took advantage of living between the North and South Devon
coasts to profit from the county’s other great industry - sea fishing. Ruth
follows the growing number of Edwardian women who entered domestic service.
She goes to a grand Edwardian stately home, Lanhydrock House, where she
encounters luxurious novelties such as running water, electric lights and even
prototype vacuum cleaners. But when Alex and Peter have little luck on their
sea-faring, fishing expedition, Ruth has to prepare a poor man’s Christmas
lunch
【一月】January
Archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn go down a copper mine, just a few
hundred yards from their cottage, which was once the major source of
Morwhellam Quay’s wealth. In the 19th century the largest deposit of copper in
Europe was discovered in Devon. And the mining industry made Morwhellham the
busiest inland port in Britain. In the latter half of the century rising costs
and cheap foreign imports put the copper mining industry into decline. But
resourceful Devon farmers found other ways to extract income from copper -
such as ‘fossicking’ (literally scavenging by breaking up rocks overground)
and building precipitation tanks which extracted copper deposits from the
water which flowed out of the mines. Meanwhile historian Ruth Goodman learns
the art of lace-making, visiting the town of Honiton which became world famous
for its lace, renowned for its beauty, delicacy and intricacy. Once half the
inhabitants of East Devon were lace-makers. The boys also go tin mining in
Cornwall, an industry which survived until the end of the 20th century when
the last mine closed in 1998. But it’s a gruelling trade, full of risks. They
drill blast holes by hand and get to grips with tools such as the grimly nick-
named ’the widow-maker’.
【二月】February
It is February and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and historian
Ruth Goodman approach the half way point in their year on the Edwardian Farm.
To mark the occasion this episode explores one single day in a typical
Edwardian farmer’s life. Incorporating a remarkable cache of letters written
in the 1900s in a cottage at Morwhellham Quay, ‘A Day in the Life’ reveals the
hidden stories of how ordinary rural Edwardians got by. We see how Edwardians
prepared for the day when they got up in the morning - from struggling into a
corset and Edwardian hair-styling to shaving and what they used to brush their
teeth. Through the day we follow the team’s routine - managing the animals;
re-stocking the feed-store; tending the land; caring for an injured goose
that’s been attacked by a fox; going shopping; receiving a visit from an
eccentric travelling salesman; and a football match against the Plymouth
Argyle legends played under strict Edwardian rules - which means no off-side,
no red or yellow cards, and wearing very, very heavy boots. And in between, of
course, there’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and a visit to the local pub to
round-off the day
【三月】March
It is March and Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn greet the long-
awaited arrival of spring. It is time to bring in the daffodil harvest. During
it’s heyday in the early 20th century, the Tamar Valley was the largest
producer of early daffodils in Britain - the result of the region’s mild
climate combined with the arrival of a railway, which meant produce could be
delivered to towns and cities across Britain within hours of being picked. The
team takes their daffodil crop to the train station and gets to grips with the
workings of the Edwardian steam-powered railway system. Ruth’s daughter, Eve,
arrives on the train to spend Mothering Sunday on the farm - an important
occasion in the Edwardian calendar. For the many daughters who worked away in
service, it was the only time in the year when they could get time off to
return home. Alex and Peter fertilize the potato crop - which requires 10
tonnes of well-rotted horse dung. They also go up to Dartmoor for the annual
pony trek - a time when wild ponies on the moor were rounded up. They select a
new pony for the farmThe pony needs training before he’s fit for work and Mike
Branch, a specialist trainer from Tennessee, arrives. He’s following in the
footsteps of American farmer John Solomon Rarey, who in the 19th century found
fame and fortune in Britain with his revolutionary method of taming wild
horses. Instead of ‘breaking’ the horse physically, he used the technique now
known as ‘horse whispering’.. After a bumper daffodil harvest and having seen
all the ewes successfully give birth to their lambs, the team are in high
spirits for the celebration of Easter - which means feasting, a special church
service and surprise for Ruth
【四月】April
It is April and the fishing season has arrived - a time when Devon’s
‘fisherman-farmers’ went to sea. Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn go to sea in an
Edwardian trawler, hastily finishing repairs before setting sail. They master
the singing of sea shanties as well as steering a wind-powered vessel and
casting a net the old-fashioned way - but will they catch any fish? Women were
considered bad luck at sea, so Ruth Goodman stays ashore. She forages on the
sea shore and prepares potted shrimp. She also builds a smoke-house and smokes
some mackerel. Peter and Alex drive their herd of cattle along a dangerous
drove road to find new pasture and prepare for the birth of the herd’s first
calf. Alex makes a coracle that Peter tests out on the pond; and Ruth explores
one of the growing fashions of the Edwardian era by holding a séance.
【五月】May
It’s May and, with Empire Day approaching, a very special boat comes to the
Valley. The paddle steamer, Monarch, is arriving: one of only three in the
country that’s still operational. It’s the first time such a vessel has
arrived at Morwellham Quay in 80 years. Back in the Edwardian period thousands
of tourists began coming to the Tamar Valley by paddle steamer every summer.
The combination of reduced working hours and greater mobility encouraged a new
form of tourism - day-tripping. Workers from towns and cities like Plymouth
flocked to rural spots like Morwhellham Quay for festivities. Local farmers
cashed in on the visitors - selling them cream teas, fresh fruit, postcards
and anything else they could think of - and also used the steamers to send
their produce to market. So historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex
Langlands and Peter Ginn pull out all the stops to put on a party for the
tourists: they’ve got to milk a cow who has never been milked before; take
lessons in traditional clotted cream making from the instructors at a
’travelling dairy school’; and learn to make a special Devon accompaniment to
cream teas - the highly popular ‘cut round’ (a Devonshire version of a scone).
On top of that, they must harvest their strawberries to get them to market on
the paddle steamer They must also come up with more things to sell: drawings
of the Tamar Valley, bouquets of flowers, and ice cream - not easy to make
when you don’t have a freezer.
【六月】June
It’s June, and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and historian Ruth
Goodman head up to Dartmoor to discover the ways in which Edwardian farmers
took advantage of this unique and spectacular landscape to add to their
income. The team follows a flock of sheep up on to Dartmoor, where it was
traditional for many shepherds to take their flocks for summer grazing. Alex
and Peter get to grips with shearing, while Ruth takes the fleeces off to a
wool mill to find out how it was processed and manufactured. Dartmoor was
already becoming a popular tourist attraction, popularized by Edwardian
celebrities - such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who made it the setting for his
classic Sherlock Holmes crime thriller The Hound of The Baskervilles. There’s
a visit from Rupert Acton - the team’s land agent during their previous
Victorian Farm adventure - who arrives with his family in a vintage Rolls
Royce. The team have a picnic with them before exploring Dartmoor using
historic maps that enable them to follow an authentic Edwardian hiking trail.
【七月】July
It’s July and the team face their busiest month so far on the farm. It’s time
to bring in the cherry harvest with the help of their Dartmoor pony Laddy, and
enjoy a cherry feast to celebrate. Historian Ruth Goodman tries her hand at
salmon netting, while archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn take
drastic measures to save their potato crop from being destroyed by blight.
Alex goes to an Edwardian school room - complete with Edwardian discipline -
to recruit a traditional rural source of cheap labour: children. Ruth learns
how to make a bathing suit out of wool, and there is a rare opportunity for a
day away from the farm, as the team go on a church outing to the seaside.
【八月】August
August brings the climax of the farming year - and the end of 12 months on the
Edwardian Farm for archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and historian
Ruth Goodman. The team must harvest their oat crop, but everything depends on
the weather. Constant rain is making the job impossible. It is crucial to be
able to predict when a dry spell will come so that they can be prepared to
swing into action. They investigate ways of forecasting the weather and embark
on creating a weather vane. Peter tries his hand at the art of repousse to
make a copper cockerel for the vane, and the team heads for the woods to do a
traditional charcoal burn in order to smelt iron for the compass points. When
the rain finally clears, the team deploy the latest in Edwardian farming
technology for the oat harvest - including a tractor that was then state-of-
the art, the ‘Moghul’. And the event is captured by an Edwardian film crew -
tapping into the very latest in Edwardian fads: the cinema. To celebrate the
end of harvest, the whole town enjoys a grand fete sporting new innovations
such as the electric light bulb, the latest threshing machines, the petrol-
powered Lister engine and a genuine flying machine. The Edwardian era ended
with an event that changed the countryside forever - the First World War.
Michael Morpurgo, author of the play War Horse, comes to the farm to give
Alex, Ruth and Peter an insight into the consequences. Although the human cost
was dreadful, the growth of mechanization meant many rural areas had labour to
spare. But over a million horses were also drafted into service - and only
60,000 came back - paving the way for tractors to finally replace horse-power.
Farming would never be the same again.