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[Music]

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The great British

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countryside setting for one of the most

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pivotal battles of the Second World

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[Music]

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War. Churchill called it the front line

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of

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freedom. It was a battle fought by the

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farmers of Britain.

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[Music]

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With the Nazis attacking British

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shipping and attempting to cut off food

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imports, it fell to the farmers to save

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the country from

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starvation. They were tasked with

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doubling the amount of food grown in

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Britain's

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fields. If they failed, the nation could

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be starved into surrender.

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[Music]

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Now, historian Ruth

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Goodman and archaeologists Alex

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Langland's and Peter Gin are turning

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back the

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clock. Working Manora Farm in Hampshire

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as it would have been in the Second

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World

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War. It's not a glamorous business, this

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reserved occupation of farming.

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[Applause]

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Coming up, the team faced the conditions

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of 1941 when continental Europe had been

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virtually engulfed by the Nazis. Britain

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stood isolated against Germany with no

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prospect of victory in

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sight. The demands on the nation's

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farmers had never been so

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urgent. Some things go wrong with this

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machine, you can do more damage than by

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hand milking. The third year of the war

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saw government intervention stepped up

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and farmers felt the burden of constant

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surveillance. Uh kind of like the iron

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fist in the velvet

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glove. From here on in, there's no

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tolerance for

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failure on the wartime

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[Music]

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farm. Ruth's foraging for

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wood. With fuel in short supply, this

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was a crucial job in the early months of

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the year.

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Actually, finding woodland out like this

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during the

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war full of dead

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wood would be rather a

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windfall. Nowadays, nobody touches all

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this fallen stick. They haven't got any

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use for it. But during the war,

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everybody was desperately trying to heat

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their homes any way they could. With

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coal rationed and all other fuels under

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ration as well, any extra little bit of

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stick you could gather made a huge

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difference.

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Even when they're finished burning,

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they're still a really useful resource.

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The ash that's left after it's burnt

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contains a really large concentration of

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potassium, which makes a fantastic

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fertilizer. So, as soon as I finished

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burning the wood, I should be collecting

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all the ash from underneath the pot,

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spreading it on the garden.

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Fantastic free

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fertilizer. Right, that's that

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bundle. There we go.

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Oh god, what a beautiful

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day. For wartime farmers, day-to-day

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life wasn't just about their own

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survival. The nation's ability to feed

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itself rested on their shoulders. And in

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1941, the pressure of official was

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suddenly

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increased. Just before the outbreak of

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war, the government had passed an

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emergency law taking control of every

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aspect of

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farming. To administer it, every county

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had a war agricultural executive

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committee known as the war act. They

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would dictate the way the land was

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farmed. Now with Britain isolated and

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the nation's food supply in more peril

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than ever, the gloves came off.

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Look, look, look lively. Ruth historian

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Brian Short has studied the wars and the

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powers they had.

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Man from the ministry. Oh, hello. Good

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to see you. Hello. Good to see you.

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Hello. You come to keep an eye on us? I

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have. I have. In the battle to feed

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Britain, it was crucial to know exactly

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how much food was being produced. So in

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1941, the government launched the

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National Farm Survey, the most thorough

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survey of British farming ever

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undertaken. And it had a sting in the

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tail. One of the most contentious

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questions of all was how good was your

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farming. Okay? Um and this graded you as

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an A, B, or C farmer. And if you're

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grade C, watch out.

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Se-rated farmers could face the ultimate

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sanction by order of the war a they

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might well come in take over part of the

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farm without agreement they could force

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it. Oh absolutely no agreement necessary

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or they could actually ask the farmer to

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leave his farm

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altogether. Uh they could take over the

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farmhouse as well and the farmer farmer

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just didn't have a leg to stand on. I

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mean he was there uh for the purposes of

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winning the war. something like 2,700

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farmers are going to be turned off their

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farms during this war. Um, and something

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like 10,000 farms are going to be

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affected by bits of their farms being

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taken over by the war eggs.

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To avoid this fate, it was crucial for

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farmers to impress the war inspector.

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Well, we we have a field plowed. We're

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just desperate to put another crop in.

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Is there anything you suggest? Yes.

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Well, one of the things that uh I think

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would be really good um that that is

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needed a great deal I know is is flax

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during during this war. So that's for

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for textile production. It's for

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textiles. Yes.

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Flax was grown for its fibers which were

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used to make fabric such as parachute

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webbing. But Britain's farmers had

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little experience of growing it. Before

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the war, flax had been imported often

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from Russia. With these supplies cut

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off, British farmers were expected to

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make up the

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shortfall. And you'd be doing the nation

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a real favor by putting flax in this

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area. So, if we were to grow flax, we

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might get a little bit closer to that

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precious a grade. You'd be Yes. You You

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would please the ministry. Right. We

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should show you the rest of the farm.

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That would be a very good idea indeed.

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Well, it's just down a lane. We give you

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a cup of tea. No, no, no, no tea,

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please. I'm above corruption. Okay,

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Henry, come on.

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When it came to the farmyard, the

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warag's number one priority was milk

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production. For a population fed on

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rations, milk was a vital source of fat,

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protein, calcium, and vitamin C. It was

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known as nature's most complete food.

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Mana Farms dairy herd are expecting

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calves in a few weeks. Once they're

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born, the cows will start producing

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milk. Come and have a look after you.

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Thank you.

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So, it's only a small milking parlor,

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but we have got milking machine. Very

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good. So, with our cows about to calf,

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you'd be looking for us to get the

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maximum amount of milk out of their

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their mothers. Yes, absolutely. It's

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very very important. The war eggs like

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to portray themselves as the farmer's

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friend. Uh but it's uh kind of like the

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iron fist in the velvet glove.

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It might be a nice suit, but he's a hard

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man,

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right? We better crack on then.

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Brian will return in a few weeks to

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allocate the team an A, B, or C grade.

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Before then, they must get the milking

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parlor up and running and sew the

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flax. Alex wants to harness up-to-date

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technology to get the crop into the

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field. So far, the team have been using

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a

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Fordson, the most popular tractor of the

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war. But Fordsons are notoriously hard

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to

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start. There were other machines being

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developed in the 40s.

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Alex has come to meet Rolley Phillips,

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an expert in early tractors, who's got

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hold of an alternative. Morning, Alex.

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How are you? All right. How are you

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today? Okay. Yes, very well. And looking

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forward to uh seeing what the field

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marshall can do. Yes. Far easier to

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start the field marshall and the Ford

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stand that you love so much that your

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shoulder doesn't.

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The field marshall was more economical

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to run and more powerful than some

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earlier tractors.

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But best of all, there was a shortcut to

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starting it. The other way that you

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should start this Marshalls is a a

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shotgun cartridge. Right. Okay. Show me

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then. Show me how this works. So I can

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get I can get rid of this handle then. I

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have no need for I could actually throw

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this in the river. Could I? I won't be

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very too happy if you do throw out in

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the river.

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There's no shot in the cartridge, but

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there is black powder to cause an

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explosion that will start the engine.

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Ah, I see. Yeah. And there's your firing

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pin there. And there's your firing pin

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there. We're not going to use that yet.

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Okay. Then here we need to put a wick.

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So the wick is very similar to blotting

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paper. You need to roll it up.

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And because blotting paper doesn't burn

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very rapidly, it just smolders. Right.

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Okay. So this is effectively providing

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the ignition for the fuel. Whilst this

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is providing the momentum, the push of

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the actual piston down.

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As you can see, it's not burning very

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fast. So that goes into the hole at the

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front.

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And now all you've got to do now is with

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the hammer hit the firing pin. Okay. All

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down to you. All down to me.

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So this is my basically this is my

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ignition key. Correct. Yes. Okay. Here

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we go then.

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Well, we got another cartridge we can

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use.

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You said this starts first time. It does

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other times, but this time it doesn't.

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Okay.

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Right. Okay. Here we go.

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That's brilliant. It's going to save me

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my shoulder. Definitely will. Let's take

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it for a spin.

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[Music]

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The new tractor should make sewing the

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flax much more

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straightforward. But meeting the war

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act's other requirement, milk

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production, is proving more of a

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challenge. So this is Sarah, is it?

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Yeah, this is the one who's been giving

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us the problems.

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Peter and stockwoman Debbie Underwood

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are keeping a close eye on the cows. You

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look at the end of that te. Can you see

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she's missing the bottom half of it?

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Yeah, I can. Now, what what we think has

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happened is one of the other cows have

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trotten on the teeth and have literally

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just cut through the end of it, which is

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extremely painful. You can see it's not

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very nice at all. And we've got a

274
00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,320
problem with the other teeth as well.

275
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,720
The tip of it has gone black. So, she's

276
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,360
got an infection in there.

277
00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,839
Despite the best modern medical care,

278
00:12:01,839 --> 00:12:04,560
Sarah's injury will not heal. The only

279
00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,560
option is to keep her comfortable and

280
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,519
wait for her calf to be born.

281
00:12:09,519 --> 00:12:10,720
Obviously, she's going to have to be

282
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,560
cold because we can't use her for

283
00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,399
milking anymore. Yeah. But I suppose

284
00:12:14,399 --> 00:12:16,399
it's a fact of life. And it is. If

285
00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:17,760
you've got livestock, you got dead

286
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,839
stock, haven't you? It's it's a a very

287
00:12:19,839 --> 00:12:21,920
true saying that one. Very, very true.

288
00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:23,920
Yeah. But a nice big baby in there

289
00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,480
somewhere.

290
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:28,240
With the nation in desperate need of

291
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,880
milk, losing a good dairy cow would have

292
00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,200
been a disaster for any wartime

293
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,959
farmer. The team's remaining cows will

294
00:12:36,959 --> 00:12:38,800
now have to provide enough milk to meet

295
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:40,600
the war eggs's

296
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,160
expectations. Come in. But their level

297
00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,320
of production will be dependent on the

298
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:51,920
quality and quantity of food they eat.

299
00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:53,600
This should be interesting. Peter, I'm

300
00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,000
looking forward to seeing what's

301
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,760
happened here. Well, it was a complete

302
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,000
experiment, isn't it?

303
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,760
Feed for dairy cows was in very short

304
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,200
supply. Before the war, they ate

305
00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,720
imported feed and also grazed on

306
00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:10,480
fields. But with imports cut off and

307
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,800
fields being plowed up to grow crops for

308
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,720
humans, farmers had to find

309
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,000
alternatives. The government urged them

310
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,720
to make silage. And a few months ago,

311
00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,760
Alex and Peter did just

312
00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,200
that. The moments come to see if their

313
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,680
efforts have paid off. Peter and I are

314
00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:29,760
both very, very nervous about this

315
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,399
because we've never made silage before.

316
00:13:32,399 --> 00:13:34,560
And in fact, actually, during the war,

317
00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:36,720
many farmers had never even entertained

318
00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,360
the idea of making

319
00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,360
silage. Silage is a method of preserving

320
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,079
green crops at their most nutritious, a

321
00:13:44,079 --> 00:13:46,000
bit like pickling.

322
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,839
It's usually made with grass, but

323
00:13:47,839 --> 00:13:50,440
wartime farmers had to be

324
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,000
imaginative. Well, it's going to be

325
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,839
interesting cuz this isn't your

326
00:13:53,839 --> 00:13:55,600
traditional silage. This isn't just

327
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,279
straight grass, is it? Oh, no. No. This

328
00:13:57,279 --> 00:14:01,920
is a real cocktail of nettles, grasses.

329
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,920
In a wartime situation, if this hadn't

330
00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:05,920
have worked and we'd have uh put all of

331
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,160
our eggs in one basket, so to speak,

332
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,240
could spell disaster for a farm that's

333
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,760
trying to rear a dairy herd, to bring a

334
00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:15,519
dairy herd on.

335
00:14:15,519 --> 00:14:18,800
The boys made the container or silo from

336
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,440
scraps of metal found on the farm. Alex,

337
00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,320
someone during construction Yeah. and it

338
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,639
may well have been me. Yeah. Has

339
00:14:28,639 --> 00:14:33,680
actually put that nut facing in. Oh no.

340
00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,440
We managed to have locked ourselves out

341
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,720
of our own silo here. Look.

342
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,639
Hopefully this the silage will hold.

343
00:14:40,639 --> 00:14:42,959
Hopefully the the silage can just hold

344
00:14:42,959 --> 00:14:45,920
the nut tight enough on the other side.

345
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:47,839
This doesn't bode well, Peter. Really,

346
00:14:47,839 --> 00:14:51,519
does it? Oh, it's coming. Oh, it is.

347
00:14:51,519 --> 00:14:55,639
Brilliant. Well done, Peter. Right.

348
00:14:55,639 --> 00:14:58,160
Okay. There was plenty of information to

349
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,199
help farmers spot silage problems early.

350
00:15:01,199 --> 00:15:03,120
Look, see, this is the the test here,

351
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,440
Peter. It's called silage. How to make

352
00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,160
and feed it. Okay. Okay, on the back of

353
00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:09,839
this, we've got a fault correction

354
00:15:09,839 --> 00:15:11,279
table. And I'm not saying we've got a

355
00:15:11,279 --> 00:15:15,199
fault yet, but it says here, "Evil

356
00:15:15,199 --> 00:15:17,040
smelling silage throughout." Now, do you

357
00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,720
know what an evil smell is? I'm all too

358
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,040
familiar with an evil smell, Alexis.

359
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,880
Give it a sniff. Tell me if you think

360
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:26,720
it's evil.

361
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,040
No, I I would not I would not say that

362
00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,040
was evil. I would say that smells of

363
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,720
grass. I think it's good. We'll see. I

364
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,240
mean to be honest, if the cows tuck into

365
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,320
it with great relish, then we'll know

366
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:39,920
actually it's not it's not done so

367
00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,750
badly.

368
00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:50,079
[Music]

369
00:15:50,079 --> 00:15:51,440
Right. You got the tools. I got the

370
00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,720
tools. You got the power.

371
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,880
Gloves up, girls. Oh, what is this? What

372
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,759
is that? Go on. Have a experimental

373
00:16:01,759 --> 00:16:05,800
silage. She's interested. She

374
00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:08,079
is. This bows well. Right, let's get it

375
00:16:08,079 --> 00:16:10,959
in the trough. Oh,

376
00:16:10,959 --> 00:16:13,360
there we go. Look at that, Peter. Look

377
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,759
at that wonder silage. There it goes.

378
00:16:17,759 --> 00:16:21,639
You can't have it all. You two cows

379
00:16:21,639 --> 00:16:24,320
here. It's plenty to go around. That's

380
00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,360
it, Peter. You get it in

381
00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,720
there. That's a no nonsense bit of

382
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:30,560
troughing. That is, isn't it? Look at

383
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:35,040
that. Save some room for later, darling.

384
00:16:35,839 --> 00:16:38,800
I think we could very proudly go back to

385
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,279
the war egg and say, you know, we did

386
00:16:41,279 --> 00:16:43,959
our job. We tried silage

387
00:16:43,959 --> 00:16:47,759
and we've made it work. Yeah. Go spread

388
00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:52,140
the word. Brilliant.

389
00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:55,510
[Music]

390
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,279
Farmers hoping to impress the warag made

391
00:17:01,279 --> 00:17:02,880
sure they kept up with the latest

392
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,160
government

393
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,000
advice. A popular way of doing so was to

394
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:10,880
watch government films.

395
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:12,720
I think dig in. Yeah. Grab some

396
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,359
sandwiches. And one such production is

397
00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,079
showing at the village hall. Mobile

398
00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:19,679
cinemas were sent up and down the

399
00:17:19,679 --> 00:17:22,240
country screening films that showcased

400
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,760
how farming was helping the

401
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:31,120
fight. Spring Offensive was made in 1940

402
00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,679
by the Ministry of Information. The

403
00:17:33,679 --> 00:17:36,080
English

404
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,200
countryside, its most important crop,

405
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,600
English

406
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,039
countrymen. Now, what will war mean to

407
00:17:43,039 --> 00:17:45,440
the countrymen?

408
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,380
What will war mean to the land?

409
00:17:48,380 --> 00:17:51,440
[Music]

410
00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,160
Historian John Martin specializes in

411
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:56,720
farming on the home front. John, the

412
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,799
Ministry for Information was set up what

413
00:17:58,799 --> 00:18:01,120
at the beginning of the war to inform

414
00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:03,679
people to to instruct people to stress

415
00:18:03,679 --> 00:18:06,000
the success of the wartime food

416
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,559
production campaign and also really to

417
00:18:08,559 --> 00:18:10,799
raise people's morale. Not only farms

418
00:18:10,799 --> 00:18:13,520
well, he pulls his weight in all sorts

419
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,440
of ways. Well, mother is the new

420
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,919
visitor. The main character in Spring

421
00:18:17,919 --> 00:18:20,799
Offensive is a member of the Warag. Well

422
00:18:20,799 --> 00:18:23,200
done. What can you give me? Say 20

423
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,080
acres. Yes, 20 and five or six in

424
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,360
another field which I might be able to

425
00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,799
break up later on. That's an easy start.

426
00:18:30,799 --> 00:18:32,480
Give some a human face. It won't be all

427
00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,480
lost. You'll get the government grant.

428
00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,000
64.

429
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,360
I'll give you 64 quid to mind your own

430
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:43,200
business and clear off.

431
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,360
The plot stressed the importance of

432
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:48,080
cooperating with the warag

433
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,160
and the consequences of defying them.

434
00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,080
But there's one that baits me that's

435
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,760
hopeless and that is a grow

436
00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:02,500
[Music]

437
00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,190
farm. Could use some music.

438
00:19:06,190 --> 00:19:07,360
[Music]

439
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:10,240
Ominous. The only way is to take the

440
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,000
farm over. Oh.

441
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,480
More than 2,000 films were produced

442
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,160
under the guidance of the Ministry of

443
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,360
Information during the

444
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,120
war. And there we have it. Harvest in

445
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:26,640
has turned us. So they've turned that

446
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:27,980
farm around.

447
00:19:27,980 --> 00:19:30,160
[Music]

448
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:31,919
crucial element really in a film like

449
00:19:31,919 --> 00:19:33,600
this is actually it's all about the

450
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,760
mindset and keeping everyone positive

451
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,520
and keeping everyone sort of moving in

452
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,760
the same direction and in that sense it

453
00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,160
achieved the objective ensuring that

454
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,559
everyone's committed to the war effort.

455
00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:46,000
Well, it's certainly done that for me.

456
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,919
It certainly raised my morale but at the

457
00:19:47,919 --> 00:19:49,440
same time it stressed to me that I've

458
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,280
got to get out there and get the kind of

459
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,679
yields that these people are. In

460
00:19:53,679 --> 00:19:54,919
September

461
00:19:54,919 --> 00:19:58,080
1939, you ask the countryside to provide

462
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,880
you with a safe refuge for your children

463
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,160
and security against

464
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,000
famine. And both these things it has

465
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:07,160
given

466
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,400
you. Now the countryside asks you to do

467
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,039
something in

468
00:20:12,039 --> 00:20:15,600
return. When peace comes, don't forget

469
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:20,199
the land and its people again.

470
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,000
Well, hopefully we won't get a bad grade

471
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,000
for our farm.

472
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,080
Yeah. Well, we've seen how it's supposed

473
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,160
to be done.

474
00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:53,300
[Music]

475
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,000
Back on the farm, the team must get

476
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,679
ready for the upcoming war egg

477
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,480
inspection. They have the field marshal

478
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:06,080
tractor lined up for sewing the

479
00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:09,200
flags and for milking. They'll also be

480
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:13,600
using a new piece of kit.

481
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,720
Here we go, Peter. Okay. This is what

482
00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:20,559
runs the milking machine, is it? Yes, it

483
00:21:20,559 --> 00:21:23,760
is, Peter. It's another engine. I can

484
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,000
see a crank handle. Yeah, and it's got

485
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,720
your name on it,

486
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,600
Peter. It's a fairly simple piece of

487
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:40,640
kit.

488
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,480
What we do is we create a vacuum that

489
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,480
runs up through a rubber pump pipe up

490
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,120
the back. It then goes in to the milking

491
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,919
parlor here. Okay? And then across the

492
00:21:49,919 --> 00:21:52,640
top and off of that pipe, you can then

493
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,080
tap in however many milking machines you

494
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,880
may need. The demands of wartime

495
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,880
production increased the use of milking

496
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,559
machines. Before the conflict, only one

497
00:22:04,559 --> 00:22:07,360
in five farmers were using them. But the

498
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,520
wartime shortage of manpower meant

499
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,840
labors saving devices were essential.

500
00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,120
And by 1945, over half of Britain's cows

501
00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:18,320
were being milked by

502
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,640
machine. The farm's cows still haven't

503
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,840
carved, so the machine can't be used

504
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,520
yet. But there's some sad news about

505
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,919
Sarah, the cow who was ill.

506
00:22:33,919 --> 00:22:37,360
You always knew that Sarah um was going

507
00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:38,559
to have to be put down, but you were

508
00:22:38,559 --> 00:22:40,080
hoping to get a calf from her, weren't

509
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,320
you? Yes, that's right. Even though we

510
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,640
knew her injury was what you would call

511
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,799
terminal. Yeah. What we were hoping for

512
00:22:46,799 --> 00:22:48,880
is that at least we could rescue the

513
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,440
calf. Tragically, we came in one morning

514
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,600
and found that the calf had been still

515
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,000
born, which is, you know, which is very

516
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,080
sad. She was a very good milker, wasn't

517
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,000
she? She was doing well last year she

518
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,840
was averaging about 50 pints of milk a

519
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,679
day. Wow. And she's only you know she

520
00:23:03,679 --> 00:23:05,200
was only a little girl so that was a lot

521
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,679
of milk for her. That really was. But

522
00:23:07,679 --> 00:23:09,200
there still is a herd. We still have

523
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,159
cows on this farm. Yeah. Our other cows

524
00:23:12,159 --> 00:23:14,960
are looking really good. So hopefully

525
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,120
within a very short time we should have

526
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,760
at least a few calves on the ground and

527
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,559
we'll be able to start milking again.

528
00:23:22,559 --> 00:23:25,360
The warag would look unfavorably on any

529
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:28,919
farmer who lost their livestock like

530
00:23:28,919 --> 00:23:31,440
this. And farmers who consistently

531
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,760
failed to meet government expectations

532
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,960
could face the ultimate

533
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,960
penalty as local farmer John Curtis

534
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,960
witnessed.

535
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,960
John, I've been reading some of the um

536
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,520
newspapers here from the 1940s, and

537
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,679
there's a case of a farmer here uh in

538
00:23:51,679 --> 00:23:55,120
Hampshire shot in an 18-hour farm siege.

539
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:57,919
Yes. He's um he was our neighbor during

540
00:23:57,919 --> 00:23:59,679
the war. There's a chap called George

541
00:23:59,679 --> 00:24:02,400
Ray Walden. Yes. Commonly known as Ray.

542
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,240
And did you know him personally? Yes, I

543
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,640
did. Although I was quite young at the

544
00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,120
time, my father used to do his

545
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:11,120
harvesting for him. I was a little bit

546
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:14,000
afraid of Ray. Yeah. Because he was very

547
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,240
formidable really. As I understand it

548
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:19,200
from these articles, what happened is uh

549
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,840
Ray Walden was required to plow up

550
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,679
roughly half of his farm. That is

551
00:24:23,679 --> 00:24:26,000
correct. As part of the war effort to

552
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,559
grow more wheat. Um but he refused to do

553
00:24:28,559 --> 00:24:30,400
so. Some of the land he couldn't have

554
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:32,799
plowed up anyway because it was too wet

555
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:35,520
and damp. Right. But they still said he

556
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,039
had to plow it up. And then that was the

557
00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:40,000
war egg at the time. The warag tried to

558
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,000
evict Ray Walden, but he holed himself

559
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,840
up in his farmhouse with a shotgun and

560
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,799
fired at police, wounding two, and sort

561
00:24:46,799 --> 00:24:49,039
of things spiraled out of control and it

562
00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:52,320
ended up with an 18-hour siege of his

563
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,000
house. And he ended up actually getting

564
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,880
shot by a police officer. Yes. And um

565
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:58,640
then of course eventually he was taken

566
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,440
to hospital and it was there that he

567
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,200
died. And this must have then sent shock

568
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,679
waves through the farming community. Oh,

569
00:25:07,679 --> 00:25:09,679
it did. It was in all the press, you

570
00:25:09,679 --> 00:25:11,840
know, and the farmers union papers, the

571
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,240
magazines that came out, the story was

572
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,080
there and mostly they were condemning it

573
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,240
because it shouldn't ever have happened.

574
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:21,760
You think it shouldn't have happened? I

575
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,640
don't think it should at all. I mean,

576
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,200
when I read this story, it it does fill

577
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:28,960
me with sadness, but at the same time,

578
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,279
there's part of me that thinks there was

579
00:25:31,279 --> 00:25:33,440
a kind of greater good here. Really, if

580
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,559
we were going to avoid starvation on

581
00:25:36,559 --> 00:25:39,600
these islands, we, you know, we had to

582
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,279
do this. We had to sort of plow up.

583
00:25:41,279 --> 00:25:43,279
Well, yes. But it still needn't have

584
00:25:43,279 --> 00:25:47,559
gone that far. Yeah.

585
00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:49,919
It really It's been very interesting.

586
00:25:49,919 --> 00:25:52,240
It's made me think a lot more about the

587
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:53,679
um the war egg and what they were doing

588
00:25:53,679 --> 00:25:55,480
here.

589
00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:07,520
[Music]

590
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,540
[Laughter]

591
00:26:17,679 --> 00:26:20,960
Throughout 1941, imports declined,

592
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,760
making everyday item

593
00:26:35,039 --> 00:26:37,679
of soap is fat. Any sort of fat, but

594
00:26:37,679 --> 00:26:39,679
particularly the edible fats. And

595
00:26:39,679 --> 00:26:42,400
Britain with all the business going on

596
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,400
with Ubot out in the Atlantic was

597
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,679
really, really short of edible fats. So

598
00:26:47,679 --> 00:26:49,600
any soap you could save meant there was

599
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,840
more fat for people to eat.

600
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,080
The fat shortage became so severe that

601
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,360
in 1942 soap would be rationed, but even

602
00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:00,480
a year earlier, it was hard to come by.

603
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,559
There were some thrifty ways to make it

604
00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:05,840
go further. This is a tip I got from a

605
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,720
newspaper of the 1940s. Basically, you

606
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,400
use a flannel and then all these sort of

607
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:11,840
little bits of soap that are getting too

608
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:13,279
small to be useful, all the sort of

609
00:27:13,279 --> 00:27:15,120
little chippy bits or the little tiny

610
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,679
soft slivers left at the end of a bar,

611
00:27:17,679 --> 00:27:19,960
you bung them all into your

612
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,600
flannel and you just squeeze it up and

613
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,880
pop it in some hot water and basically

614
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,120
the soap melts enough to all sort of gel

615
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:30,720
together and become a sort of

616
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:34,120
multicolored made out of many bits solid

617
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:36,640
bar. Let's see. Now, even in that few

618
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:38,679
seconds there, if I give it a good

619
00:27:38,679 --> 00:27:42,080
squeeze, you'll see it's reformed. There

620
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:43,720
we are.

621
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,240
Look, it's all sort of molded into one

622
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,640
lump. And that's so much easier to use

623
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,760
than all the little bits and bobs.

624
00:27:53,039 --> 00:27:56,640
In the garden, those in the know could

625
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,799
find another way to deal with the soap

626
00:27:58,799 --> 00:28:01,679
shortage.

627
00:28:01,679 --> 00:28:05,679
This is soap W. So you can sort of see

628
00:28:05,679 --> 00:28:07,760
why it's nice pretty pink flower on it.

629
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:09,919
And just like the name implies, soap

630
00:28:09,919 --> 00:28:11,679
wart, it's useful as soap. It's a sort

631
00:28:11,679 --> 00:28:14,240
of soap substitute really. The um

632
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:15,919
strongest part, the sapinin is in the

633
00:28:15,919 --> 00:28:17,520
root, but you can get it in the leaf and

634
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,159
the stem as well. Eeking out your soap

635
00:28:20,159 --> 00:28:22,000
ration with soap work, however, it's

636
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,720
probably not very mainstream. Really

637
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,880
restricted to eccentrics like me who

638
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,480
happen to know the older ways of doing

639
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,399
things.

640
00:28:30,399 --> 00:28:33,110
The next stage is processing the plant.

641
00:28:33,110 --> 00:28:36,559
[Music]

642
00:28:36,559 --> 00:28:39,880
So, I've washed and cut up all my soap

643
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,279
work, nice hot

644
00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:45,159
water, and start bruising

645
00:28:45,159 --> 00:28:48,720
it. What I'm trying to do is release the

646
00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,240
uh juices in the soap w in particular,

647
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,720
the one called sapanin. That's the thing

648
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,360
that does the

649
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:02,240
cleaning. Oh, yeah. Look, it's starting

650
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,120
to go a little bit

651
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,080
bubbly. It's supposed to be one of the

652
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,720
gentlest of all the cleaning agents.

653
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,320
Indeed, conservators use it when they're

654
00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,799
dealing with really ancient textiles

655
00:29:14,799 --> 00:29:17,120
where soap would be too harsh. They use

656
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,320
a solution of soap wart or sapanin to

657
00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,159
gently soften and lift dirt and grease

658
00:29:24,159 --> 00:29:25,919
out of things like ancient tapestries

659
00:29:25,919 --> 00:29:27,840
and so forth. So, if it's good enough

660
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,439
for that, it's good enough for my

661
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,880
hair. This is the greenest shampoo I

662
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:36,520
think I've ever

663
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,840
made.

664
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,740
[Music]

665
00:29:46,919 --> 00:29:50,640
Right. It smells very sappy. It's quite

666
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,840
a nice fresh smell, actually.

667
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,679
I mean, it doesn't lather up like modern

668
00:30:01,679 --> 00:30:05,080
shampoos do, but it mostly feels

669
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,120
just cool and cleanish, I suppose. I

670
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,440
don't know. Right, think I'm ready to

671
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:15,080
rinse it all off.

672
00:30:17,730 --> 00:30:19,600
[Music]

673
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,159
Peter also has a scheme to make the most

674
00:30:22,159 --> 00:30:25,360
of meager scraps and impress the warag

675
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,919
at the same time. Though feed for

676
00:30:27,919 --> 00:30:30,159
livestock was in short supply, there was

677
00:30:30,159 --> 00:30:33,010
one animal that thrived in conditions of

678
00:30:33,010 --> 00:30:35,080
[Music]

679
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,760
scarcity. Rabbits were an excellent

680
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,159
quick growing source of meat and rabbit

681
00:30:40,159 --> 00:30:42,340
farming was officially

682
00:30:42,340 --> 00:30:45,080
[Music]

683
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,919
encouraged. Peter plans to start a small

684
00:30:47,919 --> 00:30:49,760
concern.

685
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,240
with the help of animal behaviorist Anne

686
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,240
McBride.

687
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,880
Rabbits are extremely good converters of

688
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,720
food. They are the best um of the male

689
00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,200
mammals that we keep to produce meat.

690
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,919
They they've evolved to live on

691
00:31:08,919 --> 00:31:11,279
lowquality dried food stuffs. They

692
00:31:11,279 --> 00:31:13,600
evolved in southern Spanish peninsula.

693
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,039
If you think about going to Spain in the

694
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:17,760
summertime, it's dry, it's coarse, it's

695
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:19,840
very low quality food. And that's what

696
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,640
the rabbits are designed to survive on.

697
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,399
So in terms of food in, meat out,

698
00:31:26,399 --> 00:31:29,600
they're extremely good rapid converters.

699
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,600
Wow.

700
00:31:35,250 --> 00:31:37,360
[Music]

701
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,279
Selecting rabbits for breeding is a

702
00:31:39,279 --> 00:31:41,440
delicate process that begins with

703
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,679
sexing. These are our rabbits. And the

704
00:31:43,679 --> 00:31:45,919
first thing we need to know is which

705
00:31:45,919 --> 00:31:47,279
ones are the boys and which ones are the

706
00:31:47,279 --> 00:31:50,799
girls. Ah.

707
00:31:50,799 --> 00:31:53,279
Okay. There we go. Let's get you up.

708
00:31:53,279 --> 00:31:55,919
There we go. Little man. Sorry. He's not

709
00:31:55,919 --> 00:31:58,240
happy, is he? Or girl. Oh, no. This is a

710
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,080
boy. He's got a very nice pair of

711
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,960
testicles here. Very large. So, we have

712
00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,840
here a very nice young

713
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,320
man back. Oops. You only need one boy,

714
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,720
but you do need more than one girl.

715
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,200
Quite wriggly, huh? Yeah, another boy. A

716
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,840
little boy.

717
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:21,360
Well, rabbit number three. Hopefully,

718
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,640
this isn't a boy. Okay. Not a testicle

719
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,919
in sight. No.

720
00:32:27,919 --> 00:32:29,919
There are two more female rabbits to

721
00:32:29,919 --> 00:32:32,320
choose from.

722
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,320
Oops.

723
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,960
Now, of the two, just based on size,

724
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,960
I'll be going for this one anyway. If

725
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:42,320
you're going to breed large with large,

726
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:44,000
you're more likely to get larger

727
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,320
offspring and a bigger litter. And as

728
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,399
the ultimate aim of this is to provide

729
00:32:48,399 --> 00:32:51,600
as much meat as possible. Yeah. Um then

730
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,200
obviously you're going for that, not for

731
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,260
looks ordeed. Or pretty features.

732
00:32:56,260 --> 00:33:01,019
[Music]

733
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,600
at the cottage. Ruth's got a visitor.

734
00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,159
Karen, nice to see you. Nice to see you.

735
00:33:12,159 --> 00:33:13,360
Laundry day today. You haven't come to

736
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:14,640
help do the laundry, have you? I've got

737
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:16,960
a surprise for you. Come with me. Hang

738
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,880
on.

739
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,919
Hang on. Hang on. Historian Karen Sey

740
00:33:21,919 --> 00:33:25,360
studies 1940s household technology and

741
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,200
has brought Ruth a revolutionary gadget.

742
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,640
Oh, I'm so excited about this. A washing

743
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,240
machine. Finally, a washing machine.

744
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,120
Just like an effort.

745
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:40,960
With huge numbers of women working

746
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,640
full-time for the war effort,

747
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,320
laborsaving devices at home were

748
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,600
invaluable. Washing machines were hard

749
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:50,080
to come by with many factories converted

750
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,720
to make munitions. But Karen's found a

751
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,360
pre-war machine for Ruth to use. But

752
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:56,960
it's still not a powered washing

753
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,480
machine, is it? It's woman power. It is

754
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,080
actually manual turning the handle

755
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,919
labor. Yeah. Where you're fortunate is

756
00:34:05,919 --> 00:34:07,200
in connection with the heating of the

757
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,079
water. This machine was designed to heat

758
00:34:10,079 --> 00:34:12,639
water using gas power. I think the gas

759
00:34:12,639 --> 00:34:14,399
inlet is down there. You could get

760
00:34:14,399 --> 00:34:17,040
electrically heated machines as well.

761
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:18,480
But it is all about the heating of the

762
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:22,159
water because it's saving so much work.

763
00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:23,679
But the farm doesn't have a gas

764
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:26,079
connection. So, the water must be heated

765
00:34:26,079 --> 00:34:27,679
separately and then brought to the

766
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,079
machine.

767
00:34:30,079 --> 00:34:31,679
Here we go. Pop it in. Don't need very

768
00:34:31,679 --> 00:34:34,079
much.

769
00:34:34,079 --> 00:34:35,079
My

770
00:34:35,079 --> 00:34:37,239
blouse. Got some

771
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,520
shirts and my apron. Look at the state

772
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,239
of that. It's such a mess. Let's see if

773
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:43,679
this washing machine's tough enough to

774
00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:46,079
actually handle it. We can give it a

775
00:34:46,079 --> 00:34:50,280
whirl. See if it really works.

776
00:34:51,359 --> 00:34:55,359
So, moment of truth, I think. Don't you

777
00:34:55,359 --> 00:34:59,200
Right. Go. Agitate. Agitate. Agitate.

778
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,280
Agitate.

779
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,920
I read that advert. It said 3 minutes to

780
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,400
do your weekly wash. Three. Yes. As if.

781
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:07,920
I mean, it didn't take me 3 minutes to

782
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,680
do me weekly wash. Now,

783
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:13,280
although washing machines were first

784
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,920
marketed in the late 18th century, it

785
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,320
would be the 1960s before they became

786
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:22,200
common in British homes.

787
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:24,000
Well, I suppose the next development on

788
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,119
from this would have been the twin tur,

789
00:35:25,119 --> 00:35:26,720
wouldn't it? Which um would have been a

790
00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:28,720
powered agitator, but that wasn't to

791
00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:33,319
happen for a long time.

792
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:35,680
We must have done another 3 minutes.

793
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:36,880
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's have a

794
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:38,400
look. Okay. Let's have a look. Right.

795
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,760
So, pull it up, don't we?

796
00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,920
Okay. Well, it smells good and doesn't

797
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:50,280
it? It does. Smells very wholesome.

798
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:52,480
Is that your apron? That's my apron.

799
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:54,160
That's looking a lot better. It is,

800
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:55,760
isn't it? It is. You see what you need?

801
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,880
Yeah, that's shifted it. There we go.

802
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,160
Squeezy, squeezy,

803
00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:05,260
squeezy. Quite like this bit.

804
00:36:05,260 --> 00:36:08,549
[Music]

805
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:11,839
I love washing machines. I think of them

806
00:36:11,839 --> 00:36:15,040
as a as a implement of women's lib. I

807
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,440
think white.

808
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,119
Where are you planning to put it? Down

809
00:36:21,119 --> 00:36:23,839
here. Peter and Anne are ready to start

810
00:36:23,839 --> 00:36:26,720
breeding their rabbits.

811
00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:28,160
I suppose the first thing we need them

812
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,839
to do is actually

813
00:36:31,839 --> 00:36:36,079
do the business. Yes, exactly.

814
00:36:36,079 --> 00:36:39,280
The sun's come out for you. The buck is

815
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,359
put in first so that he can establish

816
00:36:41,359 --> 00:36:44,240
the run as his territory. I think he's

817
00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:46,400
rather enjoying himself at the moment.

818
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,800
Now, if if they don't mate at this

819
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,800
attempt, does that mean that it's never

820
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,599
going to happen? Um, no. It could mean

821
00:36:53,599 --> 00:36:55,440
that she's just not ready yet, cuz they

822
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,839
do have a cycle. Um, he might spray her

823
00:36:57,839 --> 00:36:59,280
with urine, which in rabbit language

824
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:02,480
means that he fancies her. Um, don't try

825
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:06,079
it at home. And we'll just see how they

826
00:37:06,079 --> 00:37:08,160
get

827
00:37:09,079 --> 00:37:11,680
on. Now, there you go. That was pretty

828
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,680
fast. That was pretty quick for that.

829
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:15,119
Clearly, we've got her at the right

830
00:37:15,119 --> 00:37:16,960
time. Yeah, they're certainly living up

831
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,320
to the stereotype, aren't they? They

832
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,640
are.

833
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:22,720
And that's it. Over and done with. The

834
00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:25,040
whole thing is quite fast.

835
00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:26,480
Now we've got some nice grooming

836
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,640
behavior. Look him uh showing some

837
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,280
affection. Some affection. Excellent.

838
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:36,800
Looks really hopeful for baby rabbits.

839
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:38,880
And not to put a damper on it, but how

840
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,680
long until those babies well are ready

841
00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:44,000
to be butchered? really at the weight

842
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,000
you want them. I guess you know three to

843
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:47,280
four months you can have an animal

844
00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,560
that's a goodly sized.

845
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:52,960
Peter hopes his frugal new enterprise

846
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,480
will please the war a

847
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,240
inspector but his main concern will be

848
00:37:58,240 --> 00:37:59,760
how well the team have done with the

849
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:01,760
flax they've been ordered to grow to

850
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:06,200
produce textiles for the war effort.

851
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:08,720
Alex is getting ready to sew the field,

852
00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:10,839
but he's worried about pest

853
00:38:10,839 --> 00:38:13,760
control. Any resulting loss of crops

854
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,280
would invite the displeasure of the

855
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:19,680
warag hides and the rooks and the crows

856
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,200
got to do something about them. And I

857
00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:23,680
know they don't particularly savor flax

858
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:25,920
seed, but at the same time, what I don't

859
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,520
want to find is we get the little shoot

860
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:29,200
coming out and it's like a beacon to the

861
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:30,640
crows and the rooks. They'll see that

862
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,079
shootute and they'll know that at the

863
00:38:32,079 --> 00:38:34,160
bottom of that chute is a nice sweet

864
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,400
little seed. And I don't want to lose

865
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,560
any of this flax crop. I want to keep

866
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:40,800
the Ministry for Agriculture as happy as

867
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,000
I can. So, I'm gonna find some kind of

868
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:45,920
way of scaring the birds out of this

869
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,520
field. And I'm not going to go for the

870
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,830
oldfashioned scarecrow this

871
00:38:49,830 --> 00:38:56,159
[Music]

872
00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,760
time. At the start of the war, 1 million

873
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,320
tons of food were being lost to pests

874
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,520
every year. Eliminating the problem was

875
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,000
seen as a patriotic duty if Britain was

876
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,240
going to feed itself. It's almost like a

877
00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:12,079
war on pest as much as a war on anything

878
00:39:12,079 --> 00:39:13,760
else when you're so desperate for every

879
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:15,839
last little bit coming out the fields.

880
00:39:15,839 --> 00:39:19,359
Yeah. You can't afford to let half of it

881
00:39:19,359 --> 00:39:21,200
be token. You know, if we're going to go

882
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,520
for that a category, then we should at

883
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,079
least be seen to be doing something, I

884
00:39:26,079 --> 00:39:28,590
think, about the bird problem.

885
00:39:28,590 --> 00:39:32,000
[Music]

886
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,280
Alex has taken inspiration from a 1940s

887
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,680
product.

888
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:41,160
You see in this

889
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,000
little advertisement,

890
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,160
right? Bang. And then and looks like a

891
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,400
firecracker going up the center. Yeah.

892
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:49,839
So it goes bang and pushes the

893
00:39:49,839 --> 00:39:51,680
corrugated iron up and it flaps about

894
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,359
and that's what happens. Look, rabbits

895
00:39:53,359 --> 00:39:56,320
flee in terror.

896
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,200
Noisy enough. Come on. It's not bad, is

897
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,880
it? Let it go from there, don't we?

898
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,520
Alex has ordered in explosives identical

899
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:07,920
to the wartime ones.

900
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:09,520
That's gunpowder, isn't it? Wrapped up

901
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:11,520
in paper stuck into a bit of string.

902
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:13,079
Now, we've just got to

903
00:40:13,079 --> 00:40:15,440
hope that there's enough power in each

904
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,920
one of these. Blow it open. To blow it

905
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,240
open. Yeah.

906
00:40:21,359 --> 00:40:25,440
Head for the spade, Ruth. Oh, yeah.

907
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,680
The bird scarer will be tested in a

908
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:28,330
nearby

909
00:40:28,330 --> 00:40:31,400
[Music]

910
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,240
field. The thing is, is it going to be

911
00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:37,479
deep enough?

912
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,219
[Music]

913
00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:45,800
So, moment of truth, Bruce.

914
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:48,889
[Music]

915
00:40:49,359 --> 00:40:51,200
Well, I reckon a charge has got one of

916
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:52,560
those whole things that's got to last a

917
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:53,839
day.

918
00:40:53,839 --> 00:40:55,599
Yeah. So, it's going to be quite some

919
00:40:55,599 --> 00:40:58,800
time, I should think, before we

920
00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:05,439
get Oh,

921
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:12,119
smoke. Oh, it's a good

922
00:41:12,119 --> 00:41:15,200
bag. It didn't flat, though. It scarcely

923
00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,200
moved.

924
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,560
The fuse is lit. It is. Presumably,

925
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,520
it'll work its way up and bang again.

926
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:24,960
It'd be nice if they did flap around a

927
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:29,680
bit more, but it scared me.

928
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,760
The Second World War saw farmers all

929
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,680
over Britain battling to reduce

930
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,520
pests. The bird scarer should help the

931
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:39,040
team make a good impression on the

932
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:42,040
warag.

933
00:41:47,839 --> 00:41:51,040
In June 1941, the course of the war was

934
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:53,040
transformed when Germany invaded the

935
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,520
Soviet

936
00:41:57,319 --> 00:41:59,839
Union. But the resulting conflict on the

937
00:41:59,839 --> 00:42:03,640
Russian front was bad news for British

938
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,000
farmers. The government diverted

939
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,280
shipping to send munitions to the Soviet

940
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,640
Union, leaving even fewer vessels

941
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:14,920
available to bring food to Britain.

942
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,880
The warags now ordered farmers to

943
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,880
redouble their efforts to increase the

944
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:22,780
nation's homegrown food

945
00:42:22,780 --> 00:42:26,189
[Music]

946
00:42:26,839 --> 00:42:29,680
production. Milk remained a vital part

947
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:31,960
of this

948
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,040
campaign. The farm's cows have at last

949
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:37,680
had their calves and the team can begin

950
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:40,079
milking.

951
00:42:40,079 --> 00:42:42,319
The wartime need to get maximum yields

952
00:42:42,319 --> 00:42:44,480
and keep the herd healthy greatly

953
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:48,720
increased the role of vets on farms.

954
00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:51,280
Veterinarian Abigail Woods has come to

955
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,319
advise Alex and Peter.

956
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:01,839
In the 1930s, farmers had no money. Um,

957
00:43:01,839 --> 00:43:03,760
they would only call vets as an absolute

958
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,520
last resort. You know, something was on

959
00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:08,560
its last legs and it was about to die.

960
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:13,359
Come on. Now, um 1940s vets are on farms

961
00:43:13,359 --> 00:43:16,160
essentially to deal with those sorts of

962
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:18,240
diseases that weren't thought a big deal

963
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:21,119
of before because they didn't kill cows.

964
00:43:21,119 --> 00:43:24,079
So, diseases like mastitis,

965
00:43:24,079 --> 00:43:25,400
um

966
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:27,440
infertility. They're not dramatic

967
00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,000
diseases, but they have a major impact

968
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,119
on milk production, right? And you know,

969
00:43:34,119 --> 00:43:36,880
1941, this nation needs all the milk he

970
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,000
can possibly get.

971
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,880
Mastitis, an infection of the udder, is

972
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:44,880
easily caused by using the milking

973
00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:47,520
machine incorrectly.

974
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:49,000
That's

975
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,160
great. Before we start milking proper,

976
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:53,760
the next thing is just to get a little

977
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:56,240
squirt of milk out of each te out of

978
00:43:56,240 --> 00:43:58,079
each one. Out of each one. Just a little

979
00:43:58,079 --> 00:44:00,560
bit. Don't get it all over the floor.

980
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:02,720
Make sure it goes into that mug. So the

981
00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:04,560
reason we're doing this is that from the

982
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:06,720
appearance of that milk, you can pick up

983
00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:09,680
the early signs of mastitis. So any

984
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:11,920
nasty little clots or flexcks in the

985
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,200
milk or smells a bit funny.

986
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:18,800
I mean that that's fine. That's fine. So

987
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:21,520
turn it on. There we go. So you can hear

988
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:23,359
that's coming through now. So if you put

989
00:44:23,359 --> 00:44:24,319
your thumb on that, you should be able

990
00:44:24,319 --> 00:44:26,400
to feel the vacuum.

991
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,400
And that's just sort of pulsating.

992
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:29,760
That's right. You just put a straight

993
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:31,520
vacuum on that and it didn't pulse. It

994
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:33,440
will damage the teeth. Right. Okay. The

995
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,520
pulsing gives it a chance to recover.

996
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,760
Attaching the vacuum cups is a tricky

997
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,760
task.

998
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,599
Put your thumb over the end first.

999
00:44:43,599 --> 00:44:46,960
That's it. No, it's not. That's it. Oh,

1000
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:50,400
there we go. Back in there. There we go.

1001
00:44:50,400 --> 00:44:52,720
Two.

1002
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:54,079
It looks like you're winning the battle

1003
00:44:54,079 --> 00:44:58,400
there, but perhaps not war.

1004
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,240
There we go. Brilliant. And will that

1005
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:01,599
just will that just hold itself on?

1006
00:45:01,599 --> 00:45:02,960
Yeah, that will. Yeah. So I don't have

1007
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:04,640
to stay here. No, you can stand up about

1008
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:07,680
3 or 4 minutes now.

1009
00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:09,280
But you got to do everything just right

1010
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:10,880
because if something's goes wrong with

1011
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:12,720
this machine, you can do more damage

1012
00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:14,880
that way than by hand milking. Do you

1013
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:17,040
know how much it's it's sucking out a

1014
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:18,960
ratio rate? Sort of. It's quite quick,

1015
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:21,599
is it? Yeah. Um it's about 40 to 60

1016
00:45:21,599 --> 00:45:24,079
pulses a minute. That is the frequency

1017
00:45:24,079 --> 00:45:26,880
which a calf sucks, right? It's also the

1018
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,440
frequency that a cow's heart beats. So,

1019
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,000
it's a sort of Okay, there's some logic

1020
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:33,440
behind it. There's a bit of rhythm here.

1021
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:36,720
Natural rhythm. Yeah.

1022
00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:38,480
Okay. So, she looks like she's done.

1023
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:40,800
Right. Farmers were under pressure to

1024
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:42,319
send the milk they produced into the

1025
00:45:42,319 --> 00:45:44,560
rationing system, keeping only a small

1026
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:46,960
amount for themselves.

1027
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,040
There we go. Fresh out the cow. That is

1028
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,599
fairly full. Most were prohibited from

1029
00:45:51,599 --> 00:45:53,599
turning it into butter or cheese at

1030
00:45:53,599 --> 00:45:56,319
home. These foods were now produced in

1031
00:45:56,319 --> 00:45:58,319
centralized factories so the government

1032
00:45:58,319 --> 00:46:01,800
could keep a close eye on what was being

1033
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,640
made. But if any milk went sour before

1034
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,880
it left the farm, farmers could get

1035
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,640
special dispensation to use

1036
00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:11,880
it. Me's

1037
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:13,960
turned. It's

1038
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,000
off. But luckily not a

1039
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:20,160
disaster. Cheese, after all, is just off

1040
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,240
milk. That's all it is. All you've got

1041
00:46:22,240 --> 00:46:24,160
to do is separate the curds from the

1042
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:29,240
whey. And all I'm going to do is strain

1043
00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:32,560
it. Agricultural workers really felt the

1044
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:35,040
need for cheese. They'd always been big

1045
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:36,560
cheese eaters. You know, taking a lump

1046
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:38,079
of bread and cheese out into the field

1047
00:46:38,079 --> 00:46:40,319
is the easiest way of dealing with lunch

1048
00:46:40,319 --> 00:46:44,279
miles away from the farmhouse.

1049
00:46:46,890 --> 00:46:49,900
[Music]

1050
00:46:52,319 --> 00:46:55,079
It's only going to need a sprinkle of

1051
00:46:55,079 --> 00:46:58,160
salt and a dusting of chives. And I've

1052
00:46:58,160 --> 00:46:59,760
got cottage cheese that we can have on

1053
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,920
the sandwiches.

1054
00:47:07,599 --> 00:47:09,920
With the war a inspector due to revisit

1055
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,319
the farm soon, the boys must now get on

1056
00:47:12,319 --> 00:47:14,319
with sewing the flax. The flax isn't

1057
00:47:14,319 --> 00:47:16,880
going to be right. No, it's not nearly

1058
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:18,560
there, though. Certainly got the weather

1059
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:22,200
for it as well, haven't we?

1060
00:47:26,800 --> 00:47:28,960
Alex and Peter have enlisted help from

1061
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,319
one of the few remaining flax farmers in

1062
00:47:31,319 --> 00:47:34,720
Britain, Simon Cooper. So, um, what I've

1063
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:36,160
done, I've brought along a bit of flax

1064
00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:38,240
just to show you what we're hoping

1065
00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:39,760
you're going to achieve for us. The end

1066
00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:41,440
product. Yes. What's so special about

1067
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:44,640
it? Behind the bark. Yeah. You'll see

1068
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,760
the fibers. Oh, wow. the flax fibers for

1069
00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:51,520
making ropes, canvas, tenting, uh fire

1070
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,800
hoses. It's got a whole load of uses. We

1071
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:57,520
have brought you two flags of flax. You

1072
00:47:57,520 --> 00:47:59,920
do have a sea drill. Yes. Yeah. And we

1073
00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:02,560
have a field, we need to say. Good. Flax

1074
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:04,599
was such a rarely grown crop in

1075
00:48:04,599 --> 00:48:07,119
pre-1940s Britain that virtually no

1076
00:48:07,119 --> 00:48:09,280
machinery was set up to deal with it.

1077
00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:13,119
Peas, oats, barley, wheat.

1078
00:48:13,119 --> 00:48:16,800
No flax. No flax. No flax. No.

1079
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:20,240
Uh, we'll go there and see how it goes.

1080
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:22,240
Going to try and lift up, are we? There

1081
00:48:22,240 --> 00:48:25,479
we are.

1082
00:48:26,079 --> 00:48:28,400
This seed drill needs to be calibrated

1083
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:30,160
so the correct amount of seed will be

1084
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:32,720
sewn in the soil. You want to spin the

1085
00:48:32,720 --> 00:48:35,359
wheel 10 times, 10 complete revolutions.

1086
00:48:35,359 --> 00:48:38,359
Yeah.

1087
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:47,359
[Music]

1088
00:48:47,359 --> 00:48:52,200
9 and 3/4 10.

1089
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:56,400
That's almost perfectly on just under 8

1090
00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:59,920
oz. 8 oz. Yeah. So, it's probably a

1091
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:01,680
little bit high. If we we we just go

1092
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:03,200
down a setting be pretty close with

1093
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:04,800
that. We want to get this right. You

1094
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:07,040
really want to get a good good good even

1095
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,000
crop. Uh so, it competes with itself.

1096
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:12,400
makes yourself grow tall and straight.

1097
00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:14,160
Hopefully keeps the weeds down. Let's

1098
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:15,520
take the time then, Peter, and get this

1099
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:17,359
right. Remember, we're looking for that

1100
00:49:17,359 --> 00:49:20,680
A rating.

1101
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,359
After hanging for just an hour, the sour

1102
00:49:23,359 --> 00:49:25,839
milk is transformed into cheese that's

1103
00:49:25,839 --> 00:49:27,839
ready to eat.

1104
00:49:27,839 --> 00:49:31,319
There we go.

1105
00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:47,960
That's quite nice.

1106
00:49:48,559 --> 00:49:50,160
Do your hand starting it. Yes, please.

1107
00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:52,880
Peter,

1108
00:49:52,880 --> 00:49:56,960
this is the ignition key.

1109
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:58,079
Well, you certainly won't lose that,

1110
00:49:58,079 --> 00:50:00,480
will you? You started this before,

1111
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:03,119
haven't you? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah.

1112
00:50:03,119 --> 00:50:08,079
experience. No. So, naked flame diesel

1113
00:50:08,079 --> 00:50:11,559
shotgun cartridge.

1114
00:50:12,079 --> 00:50:14,839
Okay, let's get that tightened

1115
00:50:14,839 --> 00:50:17,160
up. Okay, here we

1116
00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:20,399
go. Don't

1117
00:50:23,340 --> 00:50:26,429
[Music]

1118
00:50:26,839 --> 00:50:30,839
miss that.

1119
00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:40,800
The acreage of flax grown in Britain

1120
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,160
increased from 1,000 acres to 60,000

1121
00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:46,800
over the course of the war. Specially

1122
00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:48,720
built factories across the country

1123
00:50:48,720 --> 00:50:50,880
turned the crop into textiles that were

1124
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:53,430
vitally important for the war effort.

1125
00:50:53,430 --> 00:50:55,500
[Music]

1126
00:50:55,500 --> 00:50:58,659
[Applause]

1127
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:00,640
So, how long is this going to take? When

1128
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:02,319
will we harvest it? Well, it's it's

1129
00:51:02,319 --> 00:51:05,200
around about 100 days from planting till

1130
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,599
harvest. That is very very quickly

1131
00:51:07,599 --> 00:51:09,090
growing

1132
00:51:09,090 --> 00:51:17,000
[Music]

1133
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:18,680
from

1134
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:22,680
Sies. Hello.

1135
00:51:23,359 --> 00:51:26,319
Oh, thank you very much. me own. What's

1136
00:51:26,319 --> 00:51:28,319
this? It's me cottage cheese. Oh, you're

1137
00:51:28,319 --> 00:51:30,240
a lifesaver.

1138
00:51:30,240 --> 00:51:32,480
It's all right.

1139
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:36,440
Better than wasting it.

1140
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:38,400
You going to get it done today, you

1141
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:40,800
think? Yeah. We're going to get this in

1142
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:45,119
today. Good. Right. Save that for later.

1143
00:51:45,119 --> 00:51:47,200
Let's get this baby started up again.

1144
00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,920
Ready?

1145
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:51,760
To make sure they get all the field work

1146
00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:53,839
done, the farmers have enlisted some

1147
00:51:53,839 --> 00:51:55,770
extra help.

1148
00:51:55,770 --> 00:51:57,160
[Applause]

1149
00:51:57,160 --> 00:52:01,480
Hello. Come on through.

1150
00:52:02,580 --> 00:52:04,340
[Music]

1151
00:52:04,340 --> 00:52:07,520
[Applause]

1152
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:09,760
Local farmer Robert Samson has brought

1153
00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:12,160
his horses to harrow the ground,

1154
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:14,400
breaking up and leveling out the soil to

1155
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:17,599
embed the seeds. Whoa. I didn't ask

1156
00:52:17,599 --> 00:52:20,319
anybody to move.

1157
00:52:20,319 --> 00:52:23,200
Come here. Come here. Those are good

1158
00:52:23,200 --> 00:52:25,119
looking beasts. Good little man. They're

1159
00:52:25,119 --> 00:52:26,559
not shy as though. So what are they?

1160
00:52:26,559 --> 00:52:28,960
These are British Persians. Yeah. A a

1161
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:31,440
compact, powerful horse, capable of all

1162
00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:33,440
the farm work, and you could trot them

1163
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,200
to town if you wanted. Come on, keep

1164
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,559
going. I might be talking, but I'm not

1165
00:52:38,559 --> 00:52:40,230
talking to you. Come on.

1166
00:52:40,230 --> 00:52:41,680
[Music]

1167
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:44,319
Perserons originally came from France

1168
00:52:44,319 --> 00:52:46,400
but began to appear on British farms in

1169
00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:49,200
the early 20th century. Just after the

1170
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:50,960
First World War, the British army were

1171
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:54,160
looking for a heavy artillery horse that

1172
00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:58,240
was capable of fast movement. Of course,

1173
00:52:58,240 --> 00:53:00,000
war was mechanized and they were never

1174
00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:01,839
needed. But they went on to the farms

1175
00:53:01,839 --> 00:53:04,480
cuz the farms were came from. And of

1176
00:53:04,480 --> 00:53:06,400
course, a site like this with with a

1177
00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:08,480
tractor and horses working in the same

1178
00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:11,280
field at the same time is really typical

1179
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,359
site of World War II, isn't it? Yes. Oh,

1180
00:53:13,359 --> 00:53:14,680
definitely.

1181
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:21,118
[Music]

1182
00:53:21,599 --> 00:53:24,319
Despite the influx of tractors, working

1183
00:53:24,319 --> 00:53:26,559
horses made a huge contribution to

1184
00:53:26,559 --> 00:53:28,640
wartime farming.

1185
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:31,680
Their numbers had declined in the 1930s,

1186
00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:33,760
but the Second World War revived them.

1187
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:36,640
And by 1945, there were almost half a

1188
00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:39,280
million working horses on British farms,

1189
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:41,839
twice the number of tractors. Nice to

1190
00:53:41,839 --> 00:53:45,480
see a horse today working. It

1191
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:50,160
is. I am an absolute bag of bones. I

1192
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:52,119
give my teeth to

1193
00:53:52,119 --> 00:53:56,940
be behind those two horses.

1194
00:53:56,940 --> 00:54:00,079
[Music]

1195
00:54:00,079 --> 00:54:02,960
After a long day's work, the flax is

1196
00:54:02,960 --> 00:54:06,760
safely in the ground.

1197
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:09,520
Looking good.

1198
00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:13,520
Oh, my head. That's so noisy. You were

1199
00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:14,839
right there.

1200
00:54:14,839 --> 00:54:19,040
Oh, good lord.

1201
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,520
My machine. Well, I think we've all

1202
00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:23,960
earned ourselves a

1203
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:26,839
beer

1204
00:54:26,839 --> 00:54:29,200
back. It's not the most ergonomically

1205
00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:30,800
designed seat, is it? Do you know the

1206
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:33,280
best thing about electric? What? I can't

1207
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:36,559
hear you complaining.

1208
00:54:36,599 --> 00:54:41,440
Sorry. Back, please. Back, please.

1209
00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:42,559
There we go. All right. Well, I think

1210
00:54:42,559 --> 00:54:44,240
we'll get these down us and then I'll

1211
00:54:44,240 --> 00:54:46,160
get back to the yard and get that bird

1212
00:54:46,160 --> 00:54:48,400
scarer and get it out here as soon as

1213
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:50,240
possible because I don't want to lose

1214
00:54:50,240 --> 00:54:52,079
any of this crop. I want to keep the man

1215
00:54:52,079 --> 00:54:53,839
from the ministry happy. He'll be

1216
00:54:53,839 --> 00:54:55,359
pleased. He'll be pleased, I'm sure.

1217
00:54:55,359 --> 00:54:58,160
Cheers. Cheers. Thanks ever so much.

1218
00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:02,040
Here's to a flax crop.

1219
00:55:02,700 --> 00:55:06,000
[Music]

1220
00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:09,440
The Warag Inspector is about to return

1221
00:55:09,440 --> 00:55:11,359
to judge how well the team have carried

1222
00:55:11,359 --> 00:55:13,559
out his

1223
00:55:13,559 --> 00:55:16,160
instructions. Just in time, the rabbits

1224
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:18,240
have started nesting, meaning their

1225
00:55:18,240 --> 00:55:20,830
babies should be born soon.

1226
00:55:20,830 --> 00:55:24,029
[Music]

1227
00:55:26,240 --> 00:55:28,000
And the farmers are keeping careful

1228
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,400
records of their milk yields to make

1229
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:32,340
sure they have all the information to

1230
00:55:32,340 --> 00:55:36,570
[Music]

1231
00:55:40,170 --> 00:55:43,400
[Music]

1232
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:46,160
hand. With everything in place, they're

1233
00:55:46,160 --> 00:55:48,720
ready for the longanticipated return of

1234
00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:51,890
war expert Brian Short.

1235
00:55:51,890 --> 00:55:56,100
[Music]

1236
00:55:56,319 --> 00:55:58,559
And that was the bird scare. Yes. Very

1237
00:55:58,559 --> 00:56:00,480
effective. Yeah. Well, I'd like to think

1238
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:02,960
so, but um flax was one of the crops

1239
00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:04,960
that you said would put us in the

1240
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:07,119
Ministry of Agricultures Good Books.

1241
00:56:07,119 --> 00:56:08,960
Yes. Absolutely right. All the all the

1242
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:11,440
time I got my eye on that that grade A

1243
00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:13,760
hopeful. Yes. Meanwhile, the cows have

1244
00:56:13,760 --> 00:56:15,359
come to milk and we're getting about two

1245
00:56:15,359 --> 00:56:17,280
gallons a day off each one. Yeah, that

1246
00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:19,280
would have been very good. We have uh

1247
00:56:19,280 --> 00:56:23,040
branched out into a rabbit concern. Um,

1248
00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:25,680
we've started off with two, but they are

1249
00:56:25,680 --> 00:56:29,280
multiplying as we speak and it's amazing

1250
00:56:29,280 --> 00:56:31,760
at how fast that process happens. Well,

1251
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:34,319
that's good. That's good. Um, any any

1252
00:56:34,319 --> 00:56:37,359
meat for the pot helps. So, Brian, we

1253
00:56:37,359 --> 00:56:39,920
now get to the burning issue of the uh

1254
00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:42,319
grade, the category that you would like

1255
00:56:42,319 --> 00:56:45,599
to assign to our farm. Yes. Well, of

1256
00:56:45,599 --> 00:56:48,000
course, it's not just this field. It's

1257
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:49,520
that one has to take account of the

1258
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,240
whole farming operations but I would

1259
00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:55,280
have thought that given what you've done

1260
00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:58,000
you are working to at least 60% of

1261
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,799
productivity on a farm like this. Okay.

1262
00:57:00,799 --> 00:57:06,839
So that's a B. Okay. Right. Okay.

1263
00:57:06,960 --> 00:57:08,640
There are some there are some war eggs

1264
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:11,920
who actually used B es and B minuses. I

1265
00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:14,000
think you might be edging towards a B 

1266
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:16,000
there. Really?

1267
00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:19,680
B . I can live with that. I think so.

1268
00:57:19,680 --> 00:57:20,880
Right. Well, come on. Let's have a cup

1269
00:57:20,880 --> 00:57:22,640
of tea before we get any wetter. Are you

1270
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:26,960
allowed a cup of tea after you? Yeah.

1271
00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:28,480
You'd have got you'd have got a biscuit

1272
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:32,680
with it as well if you give me an eye.

1273
00:57:33,760 --> 00:57:36,000
The war a's central role in British

1274
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:38,160
agriculture continued throughout the

1275
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:40,319
Second World War, becoming more and more

1276
00:57:40,319 --> 00:57:42,480
demanding.

1277
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:44,880
It was a grueling challenge, but one

1278
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:46,799
from which the nation's farmers would

1279
00:57:46,799 --> 00:57:47,620
not

1280
00:57:47,620 --> 00:57:52,040
[Music]

1281
00:57:52,040 --> 00:57:56,000
flinch. Next time, the team set up an

1282
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:57,960
emergency feeding

1283
00:57:57,960 --> 00:58:00,720
center. Ruth helps out at the women's

1284
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:03,480
timber core.

1285
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:04,960
[Applause]

1286
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,920
And they convert a van to run without

1287
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:10,160
petrol. It's not the fastest ride in

1288
00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:12,240
wartime Britain, but it's certainly one

1289
00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:15,359
of the most exciting.

1290
00:58:15,359 --> 00:58:17,599
Find out how Britain fed itself during

1291
00:58:17,599 --> 00:58:20,000
the Second World War with the Open

1292
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,079
University's free booklet and online

1293
00:58:22,079 --> 00:58:26,079
interactive challenges. Call

1294
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:30,440
0845360257 or go to

1295
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:32,160
bbc.co.uk/warttimefarm and follow the

1296
00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:35,160
links.

1297
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:38,480
Staff from the Royal Mail in Bristol are

1298
00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:40,160
in fine voice when Gareth Malone

1299
00:58:40,160 --> 00:58:42,000
arrives. The choir sing while you work

1300
00:58:42,000 --> 00:58:44,160
is next here on BBC 2. Then at 10,

1301
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:45,760
there's comedy. Milton Jones and Josh

1302
00:58:45,760 --> 00:58:47,760
Whitikham join the regulars ready to

1303
00:58:47,760 --> 00:58:51,240
mock the week.

1304
00:58:53,580 --> 00:59:05,540
[Music]