Industrial Revolution Childhood My Story

This story belongs to Lucy

and her Granny Cath.

-This is fun, isn't it?

-Yeah.

It's a tiny tale about how children like you

lived in the olden days, over 200 years ago.

-My boat's flying! This is really fun!

-It is, isn't it?

GRANNY LAUGHS Wa-hey.

Now, it's time for Lucy and Granny Cath to go on a journey of discovery.

They're going to find out what life was like all those years ago.

-Ooh, what are you doing there?

-I'm playing with cars.

-Can I play?

-Yes.

Ooh, I've got a big truck, here. Where are you going with your car?

-I'm going to the shops.

-That's right.

The big truck is going to the shop and it's taking food to the shop.

Oh, good! I need some shopping!

-Good. Do you know, 200 years ago, they didn't use trucks?

-Why?

-Because they hadn't been invented.

-But how would they get food, though?

Well, they used to use a horse and cart.

But horses and carts wouldn't take very much,

so then they used boats,

special sorts of boats, called narrow boats,

-to take goods around the country.

-Wow!

I know a story about a little girl

called Alice who lived on one of these boats with her family.

It was a very special boat and it was a very special time.

This old film shows what life was like for Alice and her family,

long ago, when people made everything by hand.

Then some clever people invented machines to do those jobs quicker.

Making things by machine is called industrial

and this special time was called the Industrial Revolution.

The machines were huge

and had to be built in special buildings called factories.

The factories were built near rivers,

so that water could be used to make the machines work.

It was SO long ago that electricity hadn't been discovered.

It was a really busy time,

when many things were being invented and built.

The Industrial Revolution lasted for a really long time.

What was it like, long ago?

-Would you like to find out?

-Yes, please.

-Shall we dress up like Alice and her family?

-That would be amazing!

-I like your hat.

-It's a boatwoman's bonnet.

It keeps the sun and the rain off my head.

I like the buttons on them and I like this part of the cape,

and I like my bonnet.

It's very smart, isn't it?

Our clothes are very different!

-Shall we do a twirl?

-I think that's a good idea!

Wow! Just look at Lucy and Granny Cath,

dressed up in the same clothes people wore all those years ago.

Now, they're ready for a big adventure, but where will they go?

Granny Cath has brought Lucy to the National Waterway museum.

Are we going to see big, long boats?

-Yes, and we're going to go on a boat trip as well!

-Yippee!

Long ago, some clever people built special rivers called canals.

The canals made it easy for the boats to travel on

and it meant the boats could get from one place to another quicker.

The canalboats were called narrow boats

because they were long and narrow.

They carried things to factories,

like wool to make clothes and clay to make pots.

Things carried on narrow boats are called cargo.

-Isn't this a big, long boat, Lucy?

-Yep.

-It's a narrow boat and, do you know, it's over 100 years old?

-Wow.

-But it's just the same as boats that we used 200 years ago.

-Cool.

Isn't it? Isn't it long?

Where do you think the family sleep?

Erm...in that part?

That's right, they slept in that part, in the back cabin.

There's also a little cabin at the other end

that two children could sleep in as well.

So, quite a big family had this boat for their home.

Now this part of the boat, from there to the front,

that's all covered up with the black cloth...

-Yeah.

-..that's called the cargo hold.

That's why the cabin is so tiny

because they wanted so much space for the cargo.

-Shall we go inside and have a look?

-Yes, please.

Come on, in you come. That's it. In you go.

This is the sort of cabin that Alice would have lived in 200 years ago.

-Oh!

-Would you like to live in here?

-Yes.

It looks really pretty.

-What would be the best things in it, do you think?

-Erm...maybe the oven?

-Yep. That would be nice. Keep you nice and warm, wouldn't it?

-Yep.

-Do you like the paintings? Beautiful, aren't they?

-Really lovely.

In the back, there, there's a little cupboard.

That little cupboard is where they keep the food

that needs to be kept cold.

So, that's like your fridge, at home.

-What do you think this is?

-A table!

-That's right, it's a table cupboard.

So, in there, we've got the cups and the teapots and jugs and things.

-What do you think that is?

-A potty!

A potty, that's right. That's the toilet, cos there's no bathroom,

so that's what you'd use for a toilet.

Now, where we're sitting, here, this is where Alice would have slept.

Oh, yes, you've got a nice pillow there, haven't you?

-That's right. Do you think you would find that comfy?

-Yep.

It's a bit narrower than your bed, isn't it?

-Especially if you have to share it with a brother or sister!

-Mh-hm.

Boat children like Alice didn't often go to school,

as they were travelling,

so they had to learn lots of things from their parents.

-Now, shall we do some school work?

-Yes.

If I've got ten sacks of flour on the boat...

-Yeah.

-..and we deliver six to the factory,

-how many do you think we've got left on the boat?

-Four.

Well done, that's right.

Now, I'm going to show you something else.

-We've got a rug, like this, in the cabin.

-Yeah.

Now we need a new one, so I'm going to show you how to make it.

Mm-hm.

What we do, it doesn't cost us anything,

-because we've got lots of sacks, haven't we?

-Mhm.

So, we use the sack, and we use little bits of material

-from clothes that you've worn out.

-Mhm.

We cut the clothes up in pieces, and make strips, like that.

First thing is make your hole. You put this under two threads,

-like that.

-Yeah.

-Make a nice, big hole for the material to go through.

-Mhm.

That's it, well done.

Now, pull it out, and push that through the hole you've made.

Whoops! Missed.

There we are. And then pull the material through.

There you are!

-You've put on a brown bit. OK?

-Yep.

Ah. Well done.

-Good, isn't it?

-Yeah.

We can make a whole rug, like that,

-out of old bits of material and a sack.

-Yep.

Boat children didn't have many toy, but here are some that children

would have played with, 200 years ago.

These are skittles, a game they used to play in the olden days.

-Shall we use these balls to knock them down?

-Yes.

-They're made of wood, aren't they?

-Yes. I'm going first.

Oh, bad luck, Lucy! That was close!

See if I can do it.

-Oh! Yours was better than mine, wasn't it?

-Mhm.

-Oh, wa-hey!

-Well done, Granny Cath!

You've knocked them all over.

-BOTH: Wa-hey!

-Great shot, Lucy!

Only two left standing!

This is another wooden game. We've got to get the ball in the cup.

Oops.

It's much more difficult, this one.

That looks tricky! Do you think YOU would be able to do it?

Yay! Got it in!

Well done, Lucy.

These old games look a lot of fun.

This is Sue, Granny Cath's friend.

Sue's horse Toby is going to pull the narrow boat along the canal

because the first narrow boats didn't have engines.

-Toby's doing well, isn't he?

-Yes!

Sue doesn't even need to be here driving him, does she?

-He knows his own way home.

-Yeah.

Toby is a really cute horse.

The narrow boat is taking sacks of wool to the factory,

so they can turn it into cloth to make clothes.

Toby the horse is doing a great job of pulling the narrow boat.

Granny Cath is really good at steering the boat.

What a great way to travel!

When people built the canals,

they had to work out how the boats would get up and down hills.

They built special things called "locks".

Granny Cath and Lucy are about to open a lock.

-You can do it all by yourself, can't you?

-Yeah.

That's it, well done.

Well done.

Lucy is pushing the lock gate open,

so the boat can come into the lock.

Here it comes!

Once the boat is in, Lucy has to close the gate.

Oh, well done!

Now, Granny Cath is turning the key to let out the water,

just like pulling the plug in the bath.

Look, the boat is starting to go down.

Can you see the water emptying out? The boat's going down.

Lucy is watching the boat go down to the bottom of the lock.

And when it stops going down, we'll open the gate.

It's time now to open the gate and let the boat out.

It was the women and children's job to do the locks in the olden days,

just like Granny Cath and Lucy are doing now.

Now they can take the boat, and its cargo, to the factory.

Now, isn't it clever?

The boat's come from up here, the top of the hill,

-all the way down to the bottom, down there.

-Yes.

-Isn't that good?

-Yes!

Granny, I've had a lovely time finding out about Alice.

Can you remember all the things we've done?

We got dressed up, just like boat people,

and I looked like Alice would have done.

I loved our bonnets!

It is very smart, isn't it?

We went to the Waterway museum.

We looked round the narrow boat,

which is a really old boat.

We made a rug using rags,

just like the olden days.

You showed me games that children would have played long ago.

-Yeah!

-Wa-hey!

Toby the horse pulled the boat along the canal,

while you steered the boat.

It was great fun.

I helped you open and close the lock,

so the boat could go downhill.

And what was your favourite thing?

Going on the canalboat. And what was your favourite thing?

I enjoyed spending so much time with you!

Shall we go and change back into our normal clothes?

Yes, but first, I'm going to feed Toby the horse.

And I'm going to have a BIG cuddle!

What a fabulous heap of fun!

That was Lucy and Granny Cath's tiny tale

about being a child during the Industrial Revolution,

200 years ago.

Now Granny Cath has shared this story with Lucy,

it's time for Lucy to start her very own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?