Victorian Farm; BBC TV

rosieben

many many years ago I was given half a pigs head - a cheek I think its called? I didn't know what to do with it and I wouldn't eat brawn even if I'd known how to make it.
I boiled the thing up, took loads of fat off the top when it cooled which I threw out :eek: - silly me, apparently I could have used it in cooking. I couldn't stand the thought of the meat either, even though I was hard up, so in the end it just got chucked in the bin; the waste really grieves me now :rolleyes:

[Deleted User]

My late husband loved brawn ,but I can't stand the stuff .My ma-in-law used to make it for him, and it was disgusting.But then I have never liked that horrible tinned ham that used to be in all of the Xmas hampers once upon a time revolting pink stuff covered in jelly ugh
I like making my own boiled ham in the slow cooker, I skim the fat off the stock when its cooled and use it for frying and the stock I use in soups.

geordie_joe

voiceofreason wrote: »

Aye - and the Victorians would have handled the horse with some respect, and treated it properly.

They knew then - just as people in agricultural societies know today - that if a tool's not well looked after, it becomes unusable.

They would not have shot the horse - because it would never have got that far. They'd have respected the horse's value and rightly made sure it was properly looked after. Just as the horse today should have been.

I think you are looking at the Victorians through rose coloured spectacles.

Yes there were good people in those days, but there were also many cruel ones. Mostly they were people who didn't think many things were cruel. Forcing a child up a chimney was not seen as being cruel to them. Hanging a starving person for steal bread was not cruel to them, it was simply a way of deterring others from doing the same.

The first act of parliament to outlaw cruelty to animals was brought in by Victorian's. It only covered cattle, horses and sheep, but apart from farmers who else would be cruel to those animals. Also, it must have been a big problem in those days for them to pass an act against it.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed in Victorian times, it was Queen Victoria who gave it the "Royal" prefix. In those days it was only concerned about cruelty to cattle, horses and sheep. Many of it's members were hunters, and the society did not care about cruelty to wild animals.

Why would the Victorians do that if Victorian farmers knew how to treat their cattle, horses and sheep?

nannaC

Blairweech wrote: »

I love this programme - it really inspires me to actually DO things.
NannaC - What a lovely tale about your things being used on the programme - you should post a picture of your kitchen on the 'Where the OS magic happens' thread, I bet we would all be envious!

Hi all, will try to take a pic and see if I can put it on. Grumpy Grandad says do you want him to light the range for the photo [only so he can sit in front of it reading his paper]

rosieben

nannaC wrote: »

... Grumpy Grandad says do you want him to light the range for the photo [only so he can sit in front of it reading his paper]

in that case I think we have to say 'yes please'!

exlibris

Another nit-pick. Ruth seemed to have her bath in the bedroom. Surely it would have been in front of the range. I think the men would have been asked to go and see to the animals for half an hour.

Until being 14 I used to have a bath in front of the fire. My younger brother and sister went in first, then me then Mum and Dad. Not sure of the order of the last 2 as I was in bed by then. We were lucky that the water was heated in the washing machine so we could have top-ups of hot water between people. To increase my thankfulness for modern bathrooms the loo was at the back of the house. We had to go round next door to get to it. Others in thr row had to pass our house too!

Iguana

Primrose wrote: »

My grandmother made brawn and during the war I remember my mother making it too with the kitchen windows all steamed up for hours with condensation from the simmering pot. I never liked it much and the only way she could get us to eat it was by serving it with chips, which must have been difficult to produce as cooking fat was heavily rationed during the war. But I'm intrigued to know where the participants all really stayed while the filming took place. The inside cottage scenes all look too neat and tidy (and too small) for three people to be permanently living there, as well as accommodating the film crew.

My grandmother used to make brawn... and I didn't like it!! She used to make it for my Yorkshire grandfather. I don't remeber the eyeball or the brains; but I didn't like the taste of the brawn.

starjumper

What an absolutely belting series this is. Even non-MSE hubby was interested.

Loved the cheese making last night, would love to try that, but only have a dog and I don't think she's worth milking ;-)

mardatha

I loved the lanterns Ruth and her daughter had in the graveyard. I don't think the men are very good with livestock at all, he grabs that horse and yanks it instead of a quiet word first. Their lives seem very very different to our own, much harder work but at least it is productive, not sitting in traffic jams or running around mad collecting kids etc.

EssexHebridean

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

I've been enjoying this series but tonight I had to miss the end,it did upset me to see the lovely pig reduced to a smashed up mess lying on the kitchen table.

Sorry - I can't let this go. Maybe you're a veggie Mrstittlemouse in which case I understand your stance, but if you're a meat eater surely this is hypocrisy in the extreme? (Please note this is generally aimed at ALL those who have ventured similar opinions and is not a personalised go at you - it's just your post which has made me say something IYKWIM) It seems that more and more these days we have this rose-tinted view of meat - "where does meat come from Mummy?" "Sainsbury's, Darling" - but the fact is that the meat we eat has been running around (hopefully in a field or similar outdoor environment) not so long ago. Those cute fluffy little lambs or sweet little piglets aren't just bred for fun, they are what we will be eating a few months later. Anyone who eats meat should, in my view, be prepared to accept this, and not switch off scenes of an animal at the abbatoir (as some have reported doing on the Jamie Oliver thing) or be distressed by the site of an animal as a carcass prior to reaching sanitised comfy stage of being packaged up ready for cooking. To do this is, to me, the worst sign of disrespect to the animal concerned.

I too have been enjoying the series, but also commented on a little more training on animal handling being needed. When he was working with the grumpy horse he was at one stage pulling the bridle so that one blinker covered the animal's left eye, and he was also trying to pull the horse forwards whilst turning towards it.....never gonna work! I'd also spotted that the lameness problem with their own horse was joint-based rather than hoof-based long before they discovered that themselves!