Victorian Farm BBC series set on the Acton Scott estate

[Wren]

Fantastic programme, and the good news is you can watch again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00gn2bl

"Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year. Wearing period clothes and using only the materials that would have been available in 1885, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are going back in time to relive the day-to-day life of the Victorian farmer. The project is based on the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire - a world frozen in time, lost in Victorian rural England. Its buildings and grounds are cluttered with antique tools and machinery collected by the Acton family who have lived on the estate since the 12th century."
"The team move into a Victorian smallholding on the Acton Scott estate that has not been used in nearly half a century. Their first task is the restoration of the cottage. "

Pictures of the beautiful cottage interior:

http://www.actonscott.com/henleycottage.php

"Henley Cottage is an authentic Victorian farm labourer’s dwelling, which has been carefully restored to retain its original 19th century vernacular - as featured in a BBC2 television series, Victorian Farm, on air in 2009."

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Hmmmm.
I'll leaving the majority of the task of picking holes in the "authenticity" of the programme, and the details of how to lime plaster, to others, but will just say:
rickets, cholera, typhoid, eviction, the workhouse.
"Oooh, we've found a shoe up the chimney!" - yes, but why?
OK, it's not as bad as Lark Rise, but it's not a lot better.

 

[Gervase]

I'm afraid I watched it with mounting rage, as I've already remarked on Another Place. Patronising, prettified tripe.

 

[Penners]

I missed it, sort of intentionally, because I feared what Gervase has described.

However, I made the mistake of watching "It's not easy being green", which I found equally trite, and shot full of cannonball-sized holes, in terms of its true "green-ness". To describe it as shallow is to invest it with considerably more substance than was the case.

 

[DaveBrigg]

To be fair, the two male volunteers seemd to have little background in the skills they were attempting, which may account for some of the errors. I was glad I watched, since we have an absolutely identical 'copper' which I have never seen used before. Making a wooden lid for it is now on the list of summer projects. I didn't know about putting a layer of wine bottles under the cement floor for insulation either.

 

[plumbers mate]

Having trouble with Victorian lime mortar - here's me thinking it was older than that and still exists! :shock: Grief.
(Can't find an irony emoticon)

Bet there's more than one or two on this forum who wish they could get a house cleaned out, replastered, brand new range ordered and fitted (and paid for) all in a couple of weeks.
The TV folk don't even live in it but "elsewhere on the Estate".

Victorian farmers and housewives had two/three generations in the same house or working on the land so they learned from early childhood what to do - these people are isolated from that.

And why does a flock of sheep running round or pigs disobeying orders have to be accompanied by Irish music?

I won't be watching any more.

 

[chippy]

Does it really matter if the lime plastering was not done properly or they don't actually live in the house, its just a bit of entertainment, its pleasant, non violent easy to watch and educational, even if it doesnt come up to some peoples expectations it still beats the hell out of most of the rubbish on the box!

 

[Penners]

Having trouble with Victorian lime mortar - here's me thinking it was older than that and still exists

Poor deluded soul - next thing, you'll be imagining that the Romans used it. :roll:

it still beats the hell out of most of the rubbish on the box!

But shouldn't TV programmes be aiming to be The Best, instead of just the Least Bad?

 

[Moo]

But shouldn't TV programmes be aiming to be The Best, instead of just the Least Bad?

Be charitable, Penners. Perhaps they were aiming to be The Best, but just didn't quite get there.

 

[Gervase]

With television there's artifice and there's artifice. For example, Ruth Goodman was only able to spend 11 days 'on set' during the filming, yet we are led to believe that they all lived hugger-mugger together in the house.
As Penners says, television should aim high, and not set the bar for the lowest common denominator. I suppose I harrumphed particularly over this series because it had such great potential and yet squandered it. That said, the lighting cameraman has done a lovely job. Just a shame the content doesn't match the technical presentation.

 

[chippy]

I think the BBC were probably just trying to produce something that allows people to glimpse a more wholesome and simple way of life for an our a week, not a short course on building conservation for the masses.

 

[biffvernon]

However, I made the mistake of watching "It's not easy being green", which I found equally trite, and shot full of cannonball-sized holes, in terms of its true "green-ness". To describe it as shallow is to invest it with considerably more substance than was the case.

Funny thing, television. At least Brigit Strawbridge has now moved the It's not easy being green internet forum away from the BBC to a new, independant, home at Newhouse Farm, where discussion can be as deep as folk make it.

 

[Penners]

But shouldn't TV programmes be aiming to be The Best, instead of just the Least Bad?

Be charitable, Penners. Perhaps they were aiming to be The Best, but just didn't quite get there.

Well yes... a metaphor for that might be George Bush dropping a bomb on Norwich City Hall. He was aiming for Baghdad, but just didn't quite get there.

As for charitable - at my age?! Harrumph (to quote the erudite Gervase).

 

[DaveBrigg]

Ruth Goodman was only able to spend 11 days 'on set' during the filming,

That somewhat contradicts the press release quoted at the start of this thread which suggests that they are 'a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year'. I got the impression from the first programme that she spent 11 days just doing the laundry.
Although there was a lack of detail about building work, there were no such omissions when it came to the mating habits of sheep. I have taped the programme to show to my 5 and 8yr olds, who are keen on farming and show some interest in old buildings, but am not sure whether this is the time to explain why one particularly energetic sheep wanted to play piggy back every time he appeared on screen.

 

[Flyfisher]

'Sheepy-back' surely?

 

[plumbers mate]

Probably the piggies turn to "play" next week..... except I think they are just to be fattened for other easons which the more sqeamish may want not to hear .
(food)

That they aren't telling the truth about the people living thete for a year raises doubts about previous programmes of this ilk - didn't they do one some years ago where the people were in an iron age settlement?
Does this apply to Big Brother and Co as well?

I suspect the big problem some of us have with this show is that we know something about the subjest. If we were complete "didn't know you got milk like that, thought it came all pink and frothy in a McDonaald's carton," types, we might enjoy it.

 

[Penners]

Do you know the wonderful Noel Coward story (that may or may not be apocryphal)?

He and his young nephew were driving through country lanes when they saw a male and a female cow mating.

"What are those cows doing, Uncle Noel?" asked the lad.

"Well, you see, dear boy," said Noel, "the one at the front is blind and the one at the back is showing her the way to Ashby-de-la-Zouche."

 

[yamin]

Not read all the other posts (too busy making futile attempts to get pink and frothy milk out of next doors cow!!), but did want to chip in and say that whilst it doesn't surprise me at all that liberties are taken with the real truth of living the victorian life, surely this is a necessary edit to make it entertainlment. It may be frustrating to those with more expert knowledge, but you only have to look at shows like Casualty, and any deteciveshow - I mean, if they showed what it was really like in a casualty dept then it would be truly boring to watch, and likewise with real detective work. I do feel that if this program encourages people to look further into 'traditional' practices and living, then either they'll get put off and give up, or they'll discover a love of the real nuts and bolts of it like we do - surely either is acceptable? I love this series for its interesting nuggets of info but take it on face value, i.e. with a big pinch of salt and knowing its there to entertain and interest, not educate.

 

[skier-hughes]

That's exactly how I'm taking it Yamin, nail on head springs to mind.

Graham

 

[Penners]

making futile attempts to get pink and frothy milk out of next doors cow

Mastitis? Or has the cow been eating raspberries? :shock:

nail on head springs to mind

Now Graham, I've warned you about the health & safety implications of that before.