victorian farm

[old tree man]

Mmmmmm offal, well when we were kids my mum used to cook us roast hearts, kidneys, liver and tripe and i loved it all , and i'm with you Anne i love haggis mmmmmmmmmm especially followed by a really good malt
Russ

[Graye]

I'm enjoying it. But where did they live/eat/cook once the series began and before they got the cottage ready?

[old tree man]

I think they mentioned briefly in the first episode that they stayed at the "BIG" house, wich was a bit of a cheat but thats telly for you, still i would love a go myself.
Russ

[Annpan]

They are also not doing 'wash day' every week - and if they did they would be a damned site more careful about ink spills and less fussy about whiteness...lol

They are not staying at the house - I don't think people in these shows ever do, but now (cause of the whole honesty thing from the BBC) they are mentioning it.

I still think it is a good and interesting show though - I like all the background things.... like the grater she used to grate the nutmeg in the christmas pud. and the lime mortar used to build the pig-sty walls.... hmmmmm *Ann puts on thinking cap *

[MuddyWitch]

Thing is, I did most of these things in my youth & i'm only (!) 47. The farm where I grew up used heavy horses, (one was a Shire, the other a Suffolk Punch), for most jobs. We were often without electricity so I knew what hard work dolly tubs were. Many of the houses in the village still had a range, so all us kids knew how to cook on 'em. No part of an animal was wasted if it was even vaguely edible and when a pig was killed it was muggins that caught & whipped the blood for black puddings, many of the

T'is like a trip down memory lane.

MW

[Annpan]

I grew up in the 80's/90's and my mum still reminisces of when she was a 'helper' at a school trip to the tenement house At the time I was living in a victorian tenement with open fire places, a scullery, a pantry, servants bells (and servants quarters), bacolite light-switches, we used the pulley and the carpet beater and the washboard regularly (though we didn't have a mangle) I walked around this museum saying 'we have one of them, we have one of them'

Similar comparison I guess, but I was in the city.






BTW... We didn't have the servants in the servants quarters unfortunetly..... just lots of kids.

[Millymollymandy]

That's an interesting article Ann, I didn't really know what a tenement was. Was yours the one that you renovated?

[old tree man]

I agree MMM facinating that era is just wonderful, up our way we also have Beamish a wonderful working museum from victorian times to post war, we also visited the ironbridge museum which is very similar both well worth a day out.
Russ

[Annpan]

That's an interesting article Ann, I didn't really know what a tenement was. Was yours the one that you renovated?

WARNING -LONG POST - I got started and kept going...lol...

Nope, most of the crappy tenements were knocked down to make way for new buildings - up until 1978 (just before I was born) my family lived in a tenement with 1 bedroom(where my 3 sisters slept), and bed recesses in the Kitchen (my brother slept) and Livingroom(where Mum, Dad and infant brother slept) - the toilet was shared out on the landing, and was shared by the either 2 or 4 flats) That was one of the ones that got knocked down. My mum had lived in it since she was born, in the 40's. It hadn't been altered since it was built - except to take out the range,put in electric lighting, and electric fires infront of the open fires (I think)

Where I grew up had been built as young professional homes, or perhaps city flats for people who had country houses too - it would have had a single man or a young couple living there, and space for 2 maids and a butler . It had a Morning room, Dining room, Lounge, and 2 bedrooms and an internal bathroom, the servants area (down a long corridor) had the big Kitchen (with pantry and scullery) Maids room (with big windows and it's own fireplace) and Boxroom (which was like a cell, and we assumed a butler might sleep there)It had been built with electricity and had working servants bells and bacolite light switches and wall sockets.

The flat had had bomb damage during the Clydebank blitz in the second wold war - the bomb had actually landed at the corner of the road, about 50 yards from the house but the front of the front bedroom was lost and we assumed that was when it was taken over by the council. (when we lived there it was social housing) Mum bought it in the 'right to buy' scheme in the 80's and put in gas central heating.


The house came back up for sale in a few years ago and we went to see it (very cheeky but I would have bought it if I had quarter of a million...lol) The lady had hardly touched it - except to redecorate and clean up the marble fireplaces - which were thick with paint when we lived there. The whole place needed rewired and it still had single glazing in the original windows, the floorboards were all wobbly and the wall in the kitchen was still bumpy from where we had put papier-mache over it to hide the holes in the original plaster.

I really should spend some more time and get this written out properly and contribute it to some website - whenever I tell anyone (even the self proclaimed experts at NTS properties) I lived in such a big tenement they don't believe me, most people think they were are small and no-one would ever believe electric servants bells. Oh and my mum is always telling me off for calling them flats, they were always called tenement houses.... not flats.

[red]

watched the first episode last night

the lime plastering was a little annoying as they left out that you have to let each layer dry off with careful use of damp hessian etc.. it would have taken weeks to replaster those rooms....

[The Prehistorian]

I'm enjoying the series, also enjoyed the Green Valley.
So much better than all the other recent historical-fly on the wall progs where they just do bigbrother but with mud and animals.

And I now have a claim to fame......spent a few weeks with Alex and Fonzie (Peter) digging (well, drinking mostly) a few years back. They don't half come over all adult on TV

[Brod]

I'm enjoying it. But where did they live/eat/cook once the series began and before they got the cottage ready?

An article in the "Radio Times" published at the start of the series mentioned that they lived in a self contained flat in the manor house refurbished using victorian furniture and fittings. (I suspect because the cottage they used probably reverted to agricultural buliding status over the years and to live in it permentantly would require "change of use" planning permission, never ever ever ever get planning officals involved they found that out the hard way over at the Green Valley)

[briluki]

With reference to the food ..... waste not, want not seemed to be the moto in those days as opposed to our 'modern' throw away society nowdays. I never kill what I don't eat when out shooting and I don't believe in wasting good food when so many of this world are going hungry. I even keep and cure my rabit skins tho I'm not sure about eating the pigs eye.
There was mention of a book called 'Family Save All'. A very interesing read as it's full of old recipes and hints and tips...... very good for using up leftovers. There is a digital copy available with two other 1900's books at www.lukiebooks.com

[Annpan]

re. coal dust in episode 4.... she put the soot on her roses.... I was told that coal ash, dust and soot were too full of chemicals to use on the garden, unless making paths Anyone help me with that?

Oh, the brawn made me wretch - mush it all up and make it into sausages, just don't tell me it is eyeballs and brain

[MuddyWitch]

Fresh soot is too acidic and sulphurous, but pile it somewhere out of the wind and too much rain for a year & you could use it as described.

The ash however, is too toxic for most plants but makes excellant paths because it kills the weeds. Just top it off with slabs, gravel or summat similar.

MW