Victorian Farm Christmas Edition

by Goodman, Ruth

• ISBN13: 9781862058712
• ISBN10: 1862058717
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-01
• Publisher: Pavilion

Summary

No electricity, no gas, no flushing toiletand no tractor! Could you survive a year on a Victorian farm? In this fascinating time-traveling experiment Lion Television, with the BBC, follow a team of historians who will spend a year recreating farm life in 1885. Accompanying the series, this book follows the team as they try to run a farm using only materials and resources that would have been available to them in the Victorian era. This was a crucial period in the history of Britainrapid industrialization had radically changed life in the cites but rural communities used a mixture of centuries-old and pioneering modern practices. Packed with informative text and photographs from the farm year, this book reveals exactly what the Victorians, ate, wore, how they managed their animals, farmed the land, and organized their lives. In-depth features describe revolutionary advances in more detail, including new inventions, new breeding methods, and advances in agricultural science. Practical projects allow you to join the historians in rediscovering Victorian crafts, cooking, and homecare. Providing a real insight into life on a Victorian farm, this series is also a fascinating reminder of how history comes full circle. The organic diet of 1885, use of natural products for cleaning and healthcare, and interests in crafts and gardening are of increasing relevance today as we look for a more responsible way of living more than 120 years later.

Author Biography

Alex Langlands - archaeologist and historian - has had a fascination with the British landscape since his early childhood. In particular, his passion for farming, from the prehistoric period through to the recent past, has driven him to excavate numerous rural archaeological sites in a bid to understand agricultural practices from various periods of our island's history. With Peter and Ruth he spent a year on a Tudor farm.
Peter Ginn spent time avoiding a real job at University College London studying archaeology. Subsequently, he has been a digger, supervisor, teacher and, more importantly, a pretty decent cook on archaeological sites. He has been involved in a great deal of experimental archaeology, and Victorian Farm represents the second time he has dropped everything to become a farmer for a year - the first being with Alex and Ruth in Tales from the Green Valley, a Lion TV series on Tudor farming for BBC2.
Ruth Goodman describes herself as an independent scholar and historian. She enjoys working with an exciting and stimulating range of museums - such as the Weald & Downland, and the V&A - academic institutions, historic houses, theatre and other media. Specializing in social and domestic history, and its interpretation to the public, Ruth spent ten years as a historical advisor to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Globe Theatre, and a year on a Tudor farm.