Thursday 21 February 2019

The Tudor Monastery Farm.


                          Image result for tudor monastery farm

I don't know how I missed this series when it first came to TV; I must have been busy. We had a cold rainy period a few weeks back, and rather than watch dreary TV, I reverted to YouTube.

I've always been interested in medieval times; the architecture, the farming practices, and daily life. It was an era of hardship for most peasant farmers, but it had its moments.

The first thing one learns in Episode 3 of TTMF, is that the average peasant ate 2 lbs of bread a day, and drank 3 pints of ale. To provide for this, one person's diet required about 6 acres of wheat/barley per annum. If the crop was to fail (which was likely every few years), starvation followed. Life was tentative.

If you are interested in such things, I have given the YouTube link below. Personally I found this particular episode fascinating. Milling, brewing, baking, candle-making, pig-breeding, bee-keeping; all is there. It's about an hour's worth, but filled with interest.

If you have the time; enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLyw6w-UH6U



26 comments:

  1. Just tried the link, sadly blocked in my country on copyright grounds.

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    1. Oh. Go direct to YouTube (if you're interested).

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  2. I must have been busy too. Thank God.

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    1. I'll take that as 'not interested'.

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    2. It will stir the lovers like a red rag to a bull

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  3. A fascinating series. I think I saw that episode first time round.

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    1. I've only just recently seen it. I found it fascinating, but the presenters a bit annoying at times.

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  4. I have the book of the series. Compared to the earlier series (16C and Victorian) this was not so good but better than The wartime Farm which was dire.

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    1. I had a look at the wartime one too. I agree, it contained a lot of in-fill rubbish that was of little interest.

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  5. I have loved each era in this series, Ruth Goodman is so interesting. Have you found the back in time series, it's more recent history, we have just finished watching back in time for school, which we loved.

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    1. I don't know that one. I particularly like the medieval one because of the objects and methods of the day. Also the architecture is superb.

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  6. 6 acres a year for one person? Really? I remember learning about medieval strip farming. they must have been very long strips.

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    1. I was a bit surprised myself. For a family of four that's already 24 acres, before you've even grown any 'newly discovered' spuds.

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  7. I can't really say that I'm not interested but, to be honest, I'm not interested enough to allocate time to watching it.

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    1. It needs a wet, stay-indoors, cup of Tea, day.

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  8. I like anything historical but this is going the extra mile .... a little bit boring after a while ! XXXX

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    1. Not everyone's cup of tea, but certain bits appealed to me. I love old flour mills, etc.

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  9. It's an interesting way to look at history.. bringing it alive by re-enacting..

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    1. Even if some of it is slightly fanciful. However, the control of life by the monasteries was fascinating.

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  10. Well I've seen them all and I enjoyed this one particularly. I don't think most people today realise how precarious life was until fairly recent times. In my family tree I have both prosperous farmers and a very poor country widow, scraping by in the days before pensions. She didn't have any acres.

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    1. And these days, so many farmers don't know what to do with all their acres. EU agricultural policy has made farming uneconomic. Bizarre.

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  11. I believe it's fair to say life was this precarious until after WWII, and that's for "first" world countries. Third world is doomed forever.

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    1. And with global warming, it can only get worse.

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    2. No this is not so. Human beings adapt to conditions very quickly.

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  12. That's a rather poor diet by our present day standards, which is one reason I suppose that people did not live to be very old.

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    1. I presume their chickens and pigs, and wild game, were not just 'decorative'. The programme did try to paint a poor view of peasant life, but I think country folk have always looked after themselves quite well.

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