Episode 6

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.

Working for a full calendar year, Ruth, Alex and Peter are rediscovering a lost world of skills, crafts and knowledge, assisted by an ever-dwindling band of experts who keep Victorian rural practices alive. Each month and season brings pressing priorities, from tending to livestock and repairing buildings to raising crops, preparing food and crafting furniture and tools. Can they make a success of farming the Victorian way?

The team's year on the farm is coming to an end, but first they have to bring in the wheat harvest, the most crucial part of the Victorian Farm calendar. Alex and Peter must get to grips with a contraption that was state-of-the-art technology in Victorian times, the reaper binder. Ruth explores the craft of straw plaiting and discovers the art of printing. The boys try their hand at a home brew. The team bring in the wheat harvest with the help of some extra labour, and celebrate with a raucous harvest festival.