0:00:02 > 0:00:04The Great British Countryside...
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Setting for one of the most pivotal battles of the Second World War.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Churchill called it "The frontline of freedom",
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and it was fought by the farmers of Britain.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25Timber!
0:00:28 > 0:00:32When war broke out, the Nazis attacked British shipping,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35attempting to cut off food imports.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40The Government turned to farmers to double home-grown food production.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43If they failed, Britain could have been starved into surrender.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Now, historian Ruth Goodman...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53..and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn
0:00:53 > 0:00:56are working Manor Farm in Hampshire as it would have been
0:00:56 > 0:00:58in the Second World War.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59Oh!
0:01:00 > 0:01:02CHEERING
0:01:07 > 0:01:10It's summer and the team must bring in the wheat harvest -
0:01:10 > 0:01:11the climax of their farming year.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15But they face the conditions of 1945,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20when, despite Allied victories, the Nazis were hitting back,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24creating growing uncertainty about when the war would end.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Food production came under greater pressure than ever before.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31We've got to put some heart back into the land
0:01:31 > 0:01:33and this is the machine that's going to enable us to do it.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36After six years of conflict, Britain's fields were exhausted
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and output was falling.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43So the team must restore fertility to their land
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and ensure that every last scrap of wheat is brought home.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51It is the battle for food and this is the final push to get this in.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53As a new food crisis looms...
0:01:56 > 0:01:57..on the Wartime Farm.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18The team are hoping that in a few weeks, all their work on the farm
0:02:18 > 0:02:22will pay off when they bring in the wheat harvest.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24- HE SIGHS - Joys of summer, Peter.
0:02:24 > 0:02:29- It's good to see the sun on the wheat.- Yeah.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31For the first time this year, basically.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36It's been the wettest summer for a century
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and their flax crop has already failed.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Everything now depends on the success of the wheat.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48- Still pretty green, is it? - Still pretty green.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- See that's really wet.- Yeah.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53That's a long way off.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Well, then, we've got what, another few weeks on this?
0:02:57 > 0:02:58I would have said so.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00So what are we going to harvest this with?
0:03:00 > 0:03:05Well, I think we should go for one of the new fangled
0:03:05 > 0:03:07machines of the day - the combined harvester.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Something that not only cuts it, it threshes it in the field.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15It will combine cutting and threshing.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Using a combined harvester will be crucial to getting every last
0:03:23 > 0:03:24scrap of wheat from the field.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29A job that in 1945 was more important than ever.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34All through the war, wheat yields had been rising,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39but now they started to fall.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43After five years of record crops, the fertility of Britain's fields
0:03:43 > 0:03:44was in decline.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48To compensate, imports would have to increase.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51But there was a new threat to shipping.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Early in the war, U-boats like this destroyed shipping.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03But in 1945, the Nazis launched a high-speed version,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05posing a major new threat to imports.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Braced for a crisis,
0:04:11 > 0:04:14the Government ordered farmers to restore fertility to their fields.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22- There she is.- All right.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Well, well.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Hi, Ruth.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- RUTH CHUCKLES - The team are using a muck spreader.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31We've got to put some heart back in the land
0:04:31 > 0:04:33and this machine will enable us to do it.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Right, we'll load you up and then we'll send you off.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Marvellous.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47Muck, or animal dung, is a crucial source of nutrition for the soil.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49It improves soil structure
0:04:49 > 0:04:52and adds organic substances to help plants grow.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56HE COUGHS
0:04:56 > 0:04:59It's the winds, you're downwind, what can I do?
0:05:01 > 0:05:02Mitigate against it!
0:05:02 > 0:05:04HE CHUCKLES
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Vicious, isn't it?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18It's giving a good even dressing, isn't it?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20It is, it's really chopping it up.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Although it was desperately needed, the amount of manure
0:05:31 > 0:05:35available to farmers declined sharply during the war.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Early on in the conflict, the Government had brought in a policy
0:05:41 > 0:05:44of slaughtering livestock that could not be fed.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46Millions were culled
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and the knock-on effects were now being felt.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Towards the end of the war, many farmers were beginning to ask
0:05:53 > 0:05:58whether it had been wise to lose so many animals from British farming.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01We'd seen so many sheep and so many beef cattle lost in agriculture
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and as a consequence, we'd lost their manure, we'd lost their dung
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and that for years, for centuries,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09had been used to put heart back into the land.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14With the land exhausted and crop yields in danger,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16the Government knew that record food production
0:06:16 > 0:06:20couldn't be sustained through another year of war.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Then, in the spring of 1945, the Russians broke through into Berlin
0:06:32 > 0:06:37and it seemed likely the Nazi regime would soon fall.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46On the 7th of May
0:06:46 > 0:06:49came the news Britain had been fighting for for so long.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54Germany surrendered.
0:07:09 > 0:07:10BIG BEN BONGS
0:07:10 > 0:07:12'This is the BBC Home Service.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17'We are interrupting programmes to make the following announcement -
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'It is understood, that in accordance with arrangements
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'between the three great powers, tomorrow, Tuesday,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'will be treated as Victory in Europe Day
0:07:26 > 0:07:28'and will be regarded as a holiday.'
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Well, beginning of the end.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Hmm.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Hard to think, really, of the relief people must have felt.
0:07:38 > 0:07:45I mean, to be told officially that victory was about to happen.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46The V-word.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49That sort of cessation of danger.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51- Yeah, the killing has stopped. - The killing has stopped.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53In Europe.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54Only in Europe, yeah.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56It must have been strange for them.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Living in this world where you go outside at night
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and there's not a single pinprick coming from any house.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03There's never been any fireworks,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07there's been relatively few parties, then all of a sudden...
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- The next couple of days, it must have just erupted.- Yeah.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13- As you say, the sheer relief.- Yeah.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Maybe we should have some sort of celebration, but perhaps try
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and bring in people who do have some memory of Victory in Europe.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Yeah, that'd be nice.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27- And really see how they remember it, see what they think.- Yeah.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- That'd be nice. - That's a very nice idea.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32- You might need to scrub up though.- I know, I know.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33And I need a new collar.
0:08:33 > 0:08:34Here's to Victory in Europe.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36BOTH: To victory in Europe.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Though Britain was still at war with Japan,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52the end of the conflict with Germany
0:08:52 > 0:08:55meant the end of the threat of bombing at home.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Blackout precautions could come down.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I imagine one of the first things you must have done
0:09:01 > 0:09:03is just take this tape off.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Let the sunlight back into your house.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12But in other areas of life, restrictions were still in place.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18In May 1945, there was no immediate change to rationing,
0:09:18 > 0:09:21so anyone preparing to throw a party had to be ingenious.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28I've got a copy of the Home And Country magazine -
0:09:28 > 0:09:30which is the WI magazine.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33And there's some really interesting recipes in here,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37particularly a series of pastries...
0:09:37 > 0:09:38that use next to no fat.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Got a wonderful one here for baked potato pudding
0:09:41 > 0:09:44which sounds really economical.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47Fat was heavily rationed,
0:09:47 > 0:09:52so this pastry uses just one third of the amount normally required.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Just that much fat for all that flour.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Wow.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02And then, instead of water, I'm to put in golden syrup.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07NEVER made pastry like this before.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14The wheat crop is still a few weeks away from being ready to harvest,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18so Alex is working on restoring fertility to another of his fields.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23This time using the cows themselves.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29There was a product that wartime farmers could call on
0:10:29 > 0:10:31to make this simple.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Well, this is the field, Philip.
0:10:34 > 0:10:35Looks nice pasture land in there.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40Philip Thornton-Evison is an expert in historic technology
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and has come to help Alex set up his very first electric fence.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Electric fences were first officially recommended
0:10:49 > 0:10:52by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1939.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58In the battle to restore fertility they were an important weapon,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01allowing farmers to divide their fields into strips.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- I do like nice straight lines on a farm.- Yes.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09This meant cows could be placed in one section at a time,
0:11:09 > 0:11:14ensuring an even spread of manure across the whole field.
0:11:14 > 0:11:15I mean, you know...
0:11:15 > 0:11:18if I wanted to do this prior to this technology...
0:11:18 > 0:11:20would I lay a hedge?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Takes six years to grow.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26- Dry stone walling in a county which doesn't have any stone available. - Exactly.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Build a fence? I need a lot of timber.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31- And manpower as well. - Of course, manpower.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Of course, manpower was something that after the war was lacking.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36It was indeed.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38So... It really is...
0:11:38 > 0:11:39This is opening my eyes.
0:11:41 > 0:11:42That'll do you.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45A world without it is probably hard to imagine for farmers today.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51With the stakes in the ground, it's time to string up the wire.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Keeping that tension on there all the time.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Before connecting it to the fencer unit, which will provide the power.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01That's all that needs to be done. That'll hang there quite happily.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02What does it say?
0:12:02 > 0:12:05"Warning, battery operated only."
0:12:05 > 0:12:06- Six volts.- Six volts, OK.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11The electric fence was invented in the 19th century...
0:12:12 > 0:12:16..but portable battery-powered units were relatively new.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Earlier designs had been powered by unwieldy sources like steam engines.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24The new technology was accessible to all.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And we've got a ticking sound.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28That's right, the ticking sound is the unit operating.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32- Tick, tick, it's sending pulses of high voltage along the fence.- Right.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34When you or the animal touches the wire,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37you make the circuit between here and ground so you get the shock.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38I'm with you.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41How do I know that's working?
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Well, the countryside way of doing it is with a blade of grass.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47- So all you need is a nice blade of grass.- Yep.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52So just rest the grass on the wire so you are now completing the circuit.
0:12:52 > 0:12:53Is that going to...?
0:12:53 > 0:12:54Ooh, yeah!
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- That's nasty!- It is. - That's a nasty little nip, that is.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01I don't think it would take many shocks for a cow to...
0:13:01 > 0:13:02No, it wouldn't, it wouldn't.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05That's great, that really is fantastic.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- We'll be able to muck evenly the field.- Exactly.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11And that's what wartime Britain desperately needed -
0:13:11 > 0:13:14it needed that fertility back in the soil.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Preparations for the VE Day party are underway
0:13:21 > 0:13:25and Ruth's putting the finishing touches to her baked potato pie.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28The odd thing about this recipe is that it calls
0:13:28 > 0:13:31for orange juice and orange zest.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33I don't know where I'd get an orange, living in the countryside
0:13:33 > 0:13:36during the war. However, I've had a bit of a scout around
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and I've come up with a recipe for mock orange juice,
0:13:39 > 0:13:40which I think will do the trick.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It's swede really that you peel and slice
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and then sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of sugar over
0:13:45 > 0:13:47and leave it overnight.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50The juice of the swede comes out.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And that is supposed to taste slightly orangey.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Smells like swede.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01But there is a certain orangeyness about it.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02It's quite amazing, actually.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06I'm just going to put a splash in, I think.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Right, I'm to spread jam.
0:14:15 > 0:14:16And then my mixture on top.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Hopefully people will like it.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30With the fence up, it's time to bring in the cows.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32- It's not easy.- Come on. Up, up, up.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34There's better grass in the field.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38There they go.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41- Oh, look, straight to the fence. - Did she get a shock?
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- I don't know. Steering clear of the fence though, aren't they? - They are.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47- Remarkable, thanks a lot. - Yeah, thanks a lot, Philip.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02The VE Day celebrations have begun.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05That's the one!
0:15:06 > 0:15:0825!
0:15:08 > 0:15:11CONVERSATION INAUDIBLE
0:15:11 > 0:15:12What is that?
0:15:12 > 0:15:13Baked potato pie.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- Are you sure?- I am.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Do you two want a bit?
0:15:18 > 0:15:19- CHILD:- Yeah, went in your face.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22I can't work out if that's good or not.
0:15:22 > 0:15:23SHE LAUGHS
0:15:28 > 0:15:31OK, everyone.
0:15:31 > 0:15:32Come and gather round.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Up and down the country people joined together
0:15:34 > 0:15:38to pay tribute to Britain's war leader - Winston Churchill.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39BIG BEN CHIMES
0:15:39 > 0:15:41RADIO: 'And now, oh, what wonderful luck!
0:15:41 > 0:15:43'At this moment...
0:15:43 > 0:15:44'At this moment...
0:15:44 > 0:15:48'How wonderful, Mr Churchill has come out onto the Ministry of Health balcony.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51'He stands now in the floodlight and he's giving the victory sign
0:15:51 > 0:15:53'for all his might from the floodlit balcony.'
0:15:53 > 0:15:57- CHURCHILL:- 'This is your victory.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59'A victory...
0:15:59 > 0:16:01of the cause of freedom.'
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Well, I think Winston Churchill deserves a rabble-rousing chorus
0:16:11 > 0:16:13of For He's A Jolly Good Fellow.
0:16:13 > 0:16:14- Yeah. - So - one, two, three.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16- ALL SING: - # For he's a jolly good fellow
0:16:16 > 0:16:19# For he's a jolly good fellow
0:16:19 > 0:16:22# For he's a jolly good fellow
0:16:22 > 0:16:25# And so say all of us. #
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Hooray!
0:16:31 > 0:16:36The team have invited along guests with firsthand memories of VE day -
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Mary Davey, Anne Stamper and John Curtis.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44What was it like in the countryside, VE day?
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Because I've only ever seen it
0:16:46 > 0:16:48from the perspective of Trafalgar Square, London.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Oh, it was quite good fun in the country.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56All the little villages and towns had their celebrations in the streets
0:16:56 > 0:17:00and things and dancing went on for ages at night.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02And everybody was chuffed to bits.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06There was a big party. It was on the recreation ground.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08With a firework party...
0:17:08 > 0:17:13- and there was a set piece with fireworks going off.- Oh, right, OK.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15So yeah, that was really....
0:17:15 > 0:17:17First time I'd ever seen anything like that.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19And the thing I really remember about it
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- was that one of these set pieces was an elephant.- Right.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27And when it went off, the trunk moved and I think the tail moved
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and I can remember everybody laughing and clapping.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34I'd never seen anything like it and I just thought that was wonderful -
0:17:34 > 0:17:35very clear memory still.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Many people on VE day were looking forward to loved ones coming home.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44But for those with relatives fighting in the Far East,
0:17:44 > 0:17:45the end was not yet in sight.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Mary Davey's father had been sent to Malaya.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53On VE day, her mother had no idea where he was.
0:17:54 > 0:18:00She actually put an advert in a local paper talking about my dad.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02And she said, "If anyone lately returned from Malaya
0:18:02 > 0:18:05"can give any information, I will be most grateful."
0:18:05 > 0:18:08With a photograph of my dad.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11- A heartfelt plea, isn't it?- Yes.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15And from that came a letter from a Captain Pearce
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and the bit that's really...
0:18:18 > 0:18:21He says "I was, for a time, at the camp in Thailand."
0:18:21 > 0:18:26He died on the 21st September 1943.
0:18:26 > 0:18:32- This was 1946 by the time my mum had this information.- Gosh.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- So, she was a long time not knowing.- Waiting.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Is this you at the time?
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Yes, this my brother, Jimmy and I, and herself.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44So on VE day then, her husband's missing,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46she hasn't got a clue what's going on.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49She's looking after two small children and yet somehow,
0:18:49 > 0:18:50in the midst of all that,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53she manages to find reasons to be cheerful.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57She was helping to put on the street party,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59but for her it wasn't over.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02There's a certain strength there, isn't there?
0:19:06 > 0:19:10For farmers too, the battle was far from finished.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16I've found this lovely bit of editorial here from Farmer's Weekly.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20It's 1945, May 11th - so it's the first edition after VE Day
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and of course the headline is "Victory".
0:19:22 > 0:19:25But the key message in here is about the fact
0:19:25 > 0:19:28that the struggle still goes on and then it says here,
0:19:28 > 0:19:33"The soldier returns from battle - the farmer's battle goes on.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36"It will be a very long time indeed before his unending fight
0:19:36 > 0:19:38"can see its own kind of victory
0:19:38 > 0:19:41"in a healthy, strong, well-fed population
0:19:41 > 0:19:43"throughout the countries of the world.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46"Tomorrow we must face a future exacting and difficult
0:19:46 > 0:19:49"as anything we have known in the last five years.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52"We know that and we do not propose to evade it."
0:19:58 > 0:20:02After VE day, a new food crisis began.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Across Europe, farmland and infrastructure had been destroyed,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and many war-torn nations could no longer grow their own food.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Mass starvation loomed.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Britain's farmers were called upon to intensify their efforts,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28as the nation suddenly had to send thousands of tonnes of food abroad,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31including, as an occupying force, to Germany.
0:20:33 > 0:20:38The wheat crop of 1945 now became even more critical.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Manor Farm's wheat is almost ready to harvest.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50Alex and Peter are making plans for the arrival of the combine.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53I carry my measuring stick with me, Peter. Just in case we need
0:20:53 > 0:20:57to size up any problems that we are confronted with.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59So, over 12 feet long.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Which means we should be able to get it in here.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05Might just have to pin back some of this shrubbery.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09But before they get the machine in the field,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11there's another problem to address.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Until the invention of the combine,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17harvesting machinery simply cut the wheat
0:21:17 > 0:21:19and left it to dry in the field.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Only after drying would it be threshed.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Now the combine would cut and thresh in one go
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and the drying stage would be missed out.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34This meant the grain could be too wet to store away.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36Farmers had to find a solution.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Well, we should be able to make quite an easy makeshift grain dryer.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Something quite simple.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Yeah, I think it would be a good idea.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48If we did bring the grain in moist
0:21:48 > 0:21:50and we hadn't made a grain dryer,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54the Ministry of Agriculture would be breathing down our necks, asking us why we hadn't.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Making a grain dryer will require some ingenuity.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07After VE day, a huge rebuilding programme got underway
0:22:07 > 0:22:09in Britain's bomb-damaged cities.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Conventional building materials had been rationed throughout the war
0:22:14 > 0:22:16and were now even harder to come by.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20- Hi, Pete.- Hi, Colin, how are you?
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Conservation officer Colin Richards has come to help the team improvise.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Well, these are the bits and pieces which should hopefully
0:22:29 > 0:22:31make the grain dryer.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34I notice they're all irregular in shape and size.
0:22:34 > 0:22:35Yes, sorry about that.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37So, we're going to have to scratch our heads
0:22:37 > 0:22:42as to how we can make this old gate our platform to dry the grain on.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43Right, OK.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46We've got to create a platform with a fire underneath,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- drive off the moisture and that's our grain dryer.- Right.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55The first job is to dig a hole for the fire to sit in.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01But before long...
0:23:01 > 0:23:02the rain arrives.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07This is why we need the grain dryer.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Almost there.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12All year we've been battling with the weather.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Had so much rain this year.
0:23:14 > 0:23:15It has not been fun.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17This is a nightmare.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21It's been the worst year on record for weather.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24It really has and I can only hope that those...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27heroes of wartime farming
0:23:27 > 0:23:29are looking down on us now, Peter...
0:23:30 > 0:23:32- And laughing.- Yeah.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37Last turf.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49The base of the grain-drying platform
0:23:49 > 0:23:53will be a layer of scrap iron, but it needs to be flattened.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58- That's it.- I'll give you a rhythm, come on.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02You know to lyrics to Camptown Races?
0:24:02 > 0:24:04# Oh, do da de
0:24:04 > 0:24:06# Oh, do da de
0:24:06 > 0:24:07Perfect.
0:24:07 > 0:24:08Look at that.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10- Is it flat enough for you? - Brilliant, Peter.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14In 1945, with the threat of German invasion gone,
0:24:14 > 0:24:19land defences were broken up, leaving behind handy debris.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21That's perfect, isn't it?
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Yeah. This is the type of material that was around in 1945.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28When they started to dismantle the road blocks and the checkpoints.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Oh, right, yeah.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32It was a sort of ready source of material.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33- It's recycling at its best.- Good.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36- Right, well, we'll have some more of this, I think, then Peter.- OK.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44The platform will be supported by pillars.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Takes me back to my scrum half days.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Number Eight. Huh!
0:25:08 > 0:25:11What we're doing is we're separating the fire from the grain.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15And the bricks acts as a radiator, radiating that heat
0:25:15 > 0:25:17through the grain, drying it
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and allowing you to store it without it going mouldy.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30The drying surface must be perfectly level
0:25:30 > 0:25:31to ensure the crop is dried evenly.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36- You know he's cock-eyed, don't you? - Right.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43We first started out with a whole bunch of scrap metal,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48blocks of concrete, an old gate...
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and we're actually attempting to do a very technical thing
0:25:51 > 0:25:53in reducing the moisture level in grain.
0:25:53 > 0:25:54And I was really sceptical
0:25:54 > 0:25:58but now looking at this, I'm feeling a little bit more confident
0:25:58 > 0:26:00about getting this grain
0:26:00 > 0:26:04to the right standard for the Ministry of Agriculture.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08When the grain dryer's finished,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10the team will be prepared to harvest the wheat.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19By 1945, farming had been controlled
0:26:19 > 0:26:23by the Government's War Agricultural Executive for six years.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28They dictated almost every aspect of farming,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31from where to grow crops to what to feed chickens.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Then, in July, just a few weeks after VE day,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38farmers were given the chance to shape future food production
0:26:38 > 0:26:41when a General Election was held.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44- Hello. - Hello, you must be Nick.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Nice to meet you, come on in.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- I think we've got the kettle on. - Excellent.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Historian Nick Mansfield has studied the election.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55- Peter, Nick.- How do you do? - Pleased to meet you.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57- Cup of tea?- Do sit down, do sit down.- Please.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Wartime Britain was governed by a coalition
0:27:00 > 0:27:04led by the Conservative Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Agriculture was central for both main parties
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and farmers were faced with a stark choice.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13So we've got Mr Churchill's Declaration to the electors.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17- The Tory one.- So that's the Tory Party?- The Tory one.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22The emphasis is on the Empire which will bring in food and so forth.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26They've then went on to say, "the wartime directions and controls
0:27:26 > 0:27:30"will be progressively reduced as our food situation improves."
0:27:30 > 0:27:33So the Tories, then, are proposing
0:27:33 > 0:27:36to be very hands off and leave it all to market forces?
0:27:36 > 0:27:38That's right.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Whereas Labour are saying,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44"in wartime the County War Executive Committees
0:27:44 > 0:27:47"have organised production in that way."
0:27:47 > 0:27:50As you know, they brought in mechanisation on a huge scale,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53fertilisation and so forth.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Now "the Labour Party intends that
0:27:55 > 0:27:59"their work shall continue in peace time."
0:27:59 > 0:28:02So bearing in mind that we've got the Tory Party
0:28:02 > 0:28:05suggesting we should go entirely with market forces in the countryside.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07And then the Labour Party's
0:28:07 > 0:28:12suggesting that we should hang onto the government procedures
0:28:12 > 0:28:13that have been in place during the war.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I mean...
0:28:15 > 0:28:17What do you think, in 1945 what would you have gone for?
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- It's a very tough question. - It is, isn't it?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Because I can see benefits of getting rid of the war rules,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25but equally I can see
0:28:25 > 0:28:28how keeping the status quo was definitely working.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30The Government has put up a framework
0:28:30 > 0:28:33upon which farming can operate.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36So maybe you're thinking "Actually, this is working".
0:28:36 > 0:28:41Well, the first line of the Labour Party manifesto is,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44"Agriculture is not only a job for the farmers,
0:28:44 > 0:28:47"it is also a way of feeding the people."
0:28:47 > 0:28:48It's still calling
0:28:48 > 0:28:52on that whole wartime "we're all in it together" sort of a spirit.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53Yes.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57The Labour party emerged victorious,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00with one of the biggest landslides in election history.
0:29:00 > 0:29:03The party won more purely rural seats
0:29:03 > 0:29:07than it ever has before or since.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10The idea of government control over farming in peacetime
0:29:10 > 0:29:12would now be enshrined in law.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Nothing was ever the same again.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20When the Conservatives returned to power in 1951 again,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23they accepted the Agricultural Bill entirely.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25And the rest is history.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31It's the basis of post-war prosperity for British agriculture.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35Many aspects of the 1940s legislation
0:29:35 > 0:29:37are still in force today.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46The grain dryer is built and the wheat is almost ready to bring in.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50But before they begin cutting,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53the team have one last job they want to tackle -
0:29:53 > 0:29:56setting up a party to celebrate the harvest.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59There's a wartime scheme they're using for inspiration.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04"Holidays at Home" was a government initiative
0:30:04 > 0:30:07to counter extreme wartime working conditions.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10With many factories operating 24 hours a day,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14employees often worked seven days a week.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19Ministers knew people would become exhausted without regular breaks
0:30:19 > 0:30:21but they didn't want to encourage travel,
0:30:21 > 0:30:24as the roads were needed for troops and freight.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27The answer was "Holidays at Home".
0:30:27 > 0:30:29- KNOCKS AT DOOR - Anyone home?
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Local volunteers were asked to put on festivities.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37- You might have seen these around? - Oh, yes, Holidays at Home.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- Dog show, we can definitely enter the dog show.- Right.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42You're in for that, there's no problem.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49Holidays at Home will be the perfect way to round off the harvest
0:30:49 > 0:30:52and Alex wants the party to go with a bang
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Hello, Steve.
0:30:55 > 0:30:56Ah, Alex.
0:30:56 > 0:30:57Thanks for coming along.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01He's enlisted the help of pyrotechnics expert Steve Allison
0:31:01 > 0:31:04to put together a wartime fireworks display,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07in the shape of an elephant.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10I've heard about elephants being used for exactly these purposes.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14So I'm really intrigued to see how the whole thing works.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Yes, it's quite a popular lancework, the elephant.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19- You say lancework.- Lancework, yes.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24- Lancework is...pictures in fire.- OK.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28You've got to bear in mind
0:31:28 > 0:31:30that fireworks weren't quite as spectacular
0:31:30 > 0:31:33and this was the way of getting a sort of moving picture.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Right, OK, so it's got moving parts?
0:31:35 > 0:31:38It has. Hopefully the trunk is going to be moving there at the end there.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Wonderful, great.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44So you're working from a template that you've sketched out here?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47We have, and then the fireworks will be placed on the outline.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48And then, when they're lit,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51you'll see the pinpoints of light and the picture outlined.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53So, the ears.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Now we're going for African elephant here or Indian?
0:31:55 > 0:31:57I think that ear size is just perfect.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59The African elephant, I think.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01African elephant. OK, that's fine by me.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03- You happy?- Yeah, that's good.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Fireworks were banned at the start of the war
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and all existing supplies had to be handed over to police.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Factories that made them were converted to produce munitions.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Now, the business end of this structure - the fireworks.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26You've got some here on display.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29- Are these the ones we're going to be attaching?- No, I don't think so.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32The ones we're attaching are much plainer. These were pre-war.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35They would have been in the shops, rather like a selection box.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38So these are the sort of things that had actually been banned
0:32:38 > 0:32:39by the time we get to 1939/1940?
0:32:39 > 0:32:42- Absolutely.- "War in the Air."
0:32:42 > 0:32:44The shape of things to come, unfortunately.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46- Yeah, it's rather prophetic actually.- Very much so.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49- What's this one? This is the Jumping Jack.- That's the Jumping Jack.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52- You light that and it would chase you round the garden.- Wow.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55But we're not going to use these fireworks here to attach...?
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Eh, no, we're not. We're going to go for a plain white.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- Right, OK.- That's your lance. Rather like a cigarette.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02But I wouldn't smoke it.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06The lances will be fastened to the trellis
0:33:06 > 0:33:11with double-pointed nails and linked together with quick match -
0:33:11 > 0:33:14cotton covered with gunpowder mixture, covered in paper.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18This is all incredibly technical
0:33:18 > 0:33:21because your worst case scenario is you light one corner of this thing,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24it gets halfway up the leg and then just goes out.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Absolutely. You certainly wouldn't see an elephant.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Bit of a disaster, really.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32It'll take several hours
0:33:32 > 0:33:36and 180 lances to complete the firework elephant.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47For three months after VE day,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Britain remained at war in the Far East.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Then, on August 6th,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58a terrifying new weapon was unleashes over Japan -
0:33:58 > 0:33:59the atomic bomb.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Japan soon surrendered...
0:34:05 > 0:34:08..marking the end of the Second World War.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Wild celebrations erupted in the USA...
0:34:22 > 0:34:25..but in Britain, a new set of challenges emerged.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30Since 1941, the government had been dependent
0:34:30 > 0:34:32on financial support from America
0:34:32 > 0:34:35and this was soon cut off.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39Britain was essentially bankrupt and unable to afford imported food.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43So the nation's farms, exhausted from the conflict,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47were called on to step up production to even greater heights.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59At the farm, the crop is ready to cut.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03A wartime combined harvester has arrived.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08It's going to be tight!
0:35:13 > 0:35:15Look at that.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Oh-ho-ho.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20We are talking about half an inch there.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22- Half an inch but we're in. - You are through.
0:35:22 > 0:35:28- My word.- The Allis Chalmers All-Crop 60 was manufactured throughout the 1940s.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Its owner is local farmer Lew Hazel.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Right.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36So this is the combined harvester?
0:35:36 > 0:35:39This is the thing that is combining, not only the cutting,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41- but the threshing of the crop. - Correct.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45- Now you're going to show me how this works, yeah?- Right, quite simple.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51The knife there goes backwards and forwards - cuts the grain.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55- The reel goes round and round. - Knocking it into the blade, yeah?
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Then as soon as it's cut, it falls back onto the canvas,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02which conveys it up to the top and it goes into the cylinder,
0:36:02 > 0:36:03the threshing cylinder.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07The threshing cylinder removes the grain from the ears of wheat.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09That cylinder goes round.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10Oh, I'm with you.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14It contains iron bars coated with rubber.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17The rubber covering there gives the seed a gentle thrash.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22So it's not making aggressive action to it to crack the kernel.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24It doesn't bruise or break the seed.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25- Correct, yeah.- OK.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29Once the grain has been knocked out, it's separated from the straw
0:36:29 > 0:36:33by slatted conveyors moving towards the other side of the combine.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Finally, the grain encounters a series of sieves,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40which get rid of any remaining straw.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44All of those processes that had once all been done back at the barn,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46back in the threshing barn,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49- are all being done here on the back of the harvester.- Correct.
0:36:49 > 0:36:57- Does it work, is the question? - Oh, yes. Well, they claim it will thresh over 100 different crops.- OK.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01So it's got about 100 different plants out there
0:37:01 > 0:37:03to thresh through with all the weeds.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05But let's hope we get some grain in the bags.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08- Absolutely.- All right. Well, let's see it started.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Modern combine harvesters are self-propelled,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14but this one is pulled by a tractor,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17which means there are two engines to start.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20ENGINE FAILS TO START
0:37:20 > 0:37:21Close.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24If I never see another crank handle as long as I live, Lew,
0:37:24 > 0:37:25I'll die a happy man.
0:37:28 > 0:37:29ENGINE STARTS
0:37:31 > 0:37:34Two or three minutes for the engine to warm up.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35And then we can start cutting?
0:37:35 > 0:37:37Right.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- Do you put it on that one?- Yeah.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45As is always the case with these things -
0:37:45 > 0:37:47incredibly tense for Peter and myself.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51This is our whole year building up to this harvest
0:37:51 > 0:37:53and the thing is you're working with kit and equipment
0:37:53 > 0:37:55which is over 70 years old.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59But here we go.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14The combine is off to a good start.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16We're making progress,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18but there's so much green material in the bottom there.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24But the weeds in the crop could cause trouble.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Something's burning.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32- Something is burning, isn't it? - That belt.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35That belt is burning.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Damp grass is all jammed in under the reel.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44We've had a jam and the problem is there's so much filth,
0:38:44 > 0:38:46so much weed in the base of this crop
0:38:46 > 0:38:50that the cutter's struggling to get through it
0:38:50 > 0:38:52Wet grass, losing traction...
0:38:52 > 0:38:54- not going well.- No.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Weed-ridden wheat was a symptom of the wartime directive
0:39:00 > 0:39:04to plough up land that had never been used to grow crops before.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10I mean this is the type of land you wouldn't dream
0:39:10 > 0:39:13- of putting a crop in, would you, outside of wartime conditions?- No.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18I mean it is the battle for food. This is final push to get this in.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21And it's going to take a Herculean and heroic effort to get it in.
0:39:21 > 0:39:22Yes.
0:39:24 > 0:39:25How's it looking?
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Terrible.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30- "Terrible", that's not the word we were hoping to hear. - At least he's honest.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34If they can't get the combine working,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38the team will have to harvest the field by hand -
0:39:38 > 0:39:42taking around four days to cut and two to thresh.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45The combine is capable of doing both jobs in less than one day.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02Ruth's setting up the harvest celebration -
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Holidays at Home.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11The Government issued guidelines
0:40:11 > 0:40:13on how to get the most out of time off.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Have you seen this menu leaflet suggested for Holidays at Home?
0:40:19 > 0:40:23It's quite incredible, I like this bit -
0:40:23 > 0:40:27"What about mother? Too often she has to spend long hours in a hot kitchen
0:40:27 > 0:40:30"trying to cope with the tremendous appetites of the rest of the family.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31"This is all wrong.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33"Mother needs a change from the kitchen
0:40:33 > 0:40:36"just as much as father needs one from the office
0:40:36 > 0:40:37"or the children from school."
0:40:37 > 0:40:39But then, you see, "how can this be managed?
0:40:39 > 0:40:41"By careful menu planning."
0:40:41 > 0:40:44- Basically you've got to spend the week before your holiday...- Indeed.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47- Doing extra work.- Doing extra work. Hmmm.
0:40:47 > 0:40:48Some holiday!
0:40:48 > 0:40:53I thought we'd have a go at Monday's sandwiches suggestion.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Sandwiches made with pilchard and cabbage spread.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59- Oh, delicious(!) - That sounds horrible.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02The recipe calls for pilchard, cabbage...
0:41:04 > 0:41:07vinegar, salt and mustard.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Hmm, now that looks less appetising, doesn't it?
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- ALL:- Yeah.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16- I shall be brave and taste a little bit.- Yeah, let's go.- OK.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18Here goes.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22Actually, it's all right.
0:41:22 > 0:41:23THEY LAUGH
0:41:23 > 0:41:26Genuinely, that's all right.
0:41:26 > 0:41:27It is, actually, it's very good.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- Do you know, I might try making that.- What a surprise!
0:41:32 > 0:41:34LEN: Are we ready to go, or what?
0:41:35 > 0:41:38An hour of adjustments have unclogged the combine
0:41:38 > 0:41:40and the harvest can continue.
0:42:00 > 0:42:01This is our...
0:42:02 > 0:42:04- our first bag!- This is it!
0:42:07 > 0:42:09If you just put your hand in here, though...
0:42:09 > 0:42:11- You can feel the moisture. - It feels damp.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13We'll have to get this...
0:42:13 > 0:42:15We'll have to get this dried pretty smartish
0:42:15 > 0:42:17But having said that,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20this was beyond our wildest expectations about a month ago.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22It really is, this is fantastic.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26One, two, three. Blimey.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28To the grain dryer.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Colin's on hand to get the grain dryer up to temperature.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44I like this, Alex. Is this you?
0:42:44 > 0:42:49Yeah, little message there, thought it was quite pertinent.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52The fire needs to die down before the grain can be dried.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55RUTH: Blinking heck!
0:42:55 > 0:42:57When you said a grain-drying kiln,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00it's not quite what I had in mind, I must admit.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02No, it's incredibly makeshift.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04Ruth's brought along a batch of the pilchard sandwiches.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06I'm starving, wow.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09This is definitely one of those recipes
0:43:09 > 0:43:12that I was really worried about but it seems to have come out all right.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14- Unusual.- Delicious.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16They're good, aren't they? I know.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18- Taste of the sea. Yeah. - It is, actually.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22So we're going to have a lovely Holidays At Home, are we?
0:43:22 > 0:43:24- I think we will.- Jolly good. - If the weather holds.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26We've got fireworks as well.
0:43:26 > 0:43:27Oh, good stuff.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29But we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32- They didn't last long, did they? - That was delicious.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41The fire's under control and the drying surface hot,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43but before the team can dry any grain,
0:43:43 > 0:43:46there's one final calculation they must make.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49The wartime target was to store grain
0:43:49 > 0:43:52with a moisture content of around 14%.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Any more than that and there was a risk it would go mouldy over winter.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59- Can you manage? - Right.- You got it?- Yeah.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02The team need to know how wet the crop is to start with.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08Historian John Martin has come to help with this crucial stage.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11- Hi, Alex.- Hello, John, how are you, all right?
0:44:11 > 0:44:13- Yeah, not too bad.- Good to see you again.- Hi, John.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15It's not the prettiest grain you'll ever see.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Well, that's very typical of a lot of the grains
0:44:17 > 0:44:20which were cut in the war. Weeds were really quite common.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22So as a wartime crop, it's not looking too bad?
0:44:22 > 0:44:24- No, it looks reasonably good.- OK.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28John's plan is to measure out three pounds of the grain...
0:44:28 > 0:44:30That's better.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33..dry it, and then re-weigh it.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37The amount of weight that's been lost will be the amount of moisture
0:44:37 > 0:44:39that was in the original grain.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41We've just got a set of scales here
0:44:41 > 0:44:43and we're doing a very arbitrary test
0:44:43 > 0:44:46but surely the Ministry would have had more high-tech equipment?
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Well, they would but it wouldn't have...
0:44:48 > 0:44:49Because it was in short supply,
0:44:49 > 0:44:51it wouldn't have been available for all farmers.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55They've got to, kind of, in the war, improvise as best they can.
0:45:02 > 0:45:03You can feel the heat in that.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05That is really drying quite quickly.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07The grain is beginning to feel different.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09Can you feel it?
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Yeah.
0:45:13 > 0:45:14Shall we scoop this up?
0:45:18 > 0:45:20The team are about to find out
0:45:20 > 0:45:23how much moisture is in their precious crop.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27We have got here two pounds and four ounces.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31The grain has lost around a quarter of its original weight,
0:45:31 > 0:45:35meaning it had a moisture content of 25%.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38This would've been too high for the Ministry of Agriculture,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40who were looking for it to be around 14%.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44OK, so we know what we've got to do now in terms of drying on here.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47We know the thickness of the bed of grain we need,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49we know how long we need to cook it on here
0:45:49 > 0:45:52- and what type of heat we need to keep up.- Yeah.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Thing is, we've got a lot of sacks to get through
0:45:54 > 0:45:56so I think we should start by getting on with it.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03With the makeshift dryer working, the farmers are on course
0:46:03 > 0:46:07to bring in the crop at a standard the Ministry would have accepted.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09Back in the day when men were men, Peter.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12You all right, Peter?
0:46:12 > 0:46:16Hold fast, man. On it goes.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18That's good, that's good.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22We're getting there. OK.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24There's another dozen of them sacks.
0:46:24 > 0:46:25SHE LAUGHS
0:46:28 > 0:46:30How are you feeling about this then, Colin?
0:46:30 > 0:46:33If we do this for half an hour, an hour
0:46:33 > 0:46:35then I think we'll actually dry this batch.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37That's good news. Let's get drying.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40You know what this calls for?
0:46:40 > 0:46:42- Go on.- A beer.- A beer?- A beer.
0:46:42 > 0:46:43Oh, my word!
0:46:51 > 0:46:54- Gee.- Thank you.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57The success of the food production campaign
0:46:57 > 0:47:01went far beyond officials' pre-war plans.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Never before had output increased so rapidly
0:47:04 > 0:47:06in such a short period of time.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10John Martin is one of the country's leading authorities
0:47:10 > 0:47:12on wartime farming.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Let's get this straight.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17If we were to try to and rank the battle for food
0:47:17 > 0:47:20and the battle for harvest, as you call it,
0:47:20 > 0:47:23up against things like the Battle for Britain, Dunkirk or D-Day,
0:47:23 > 0:47:27we can see it as a success, a victory won.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29I think it was a clear victory.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34We... It saved us from malnutrition and really starvation.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37It's a crowning achievement because Britain entered the war
0:47:37 > 0:47:40with two-thirds of its population being fed on imported food.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44As much as it must have been hard, it must have given people a purpose?
0:47:44 > 0:47:46I think that's very true.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49It's a neglected story that people committed themselves
0:47:49 > 0:47:53to a war effort and the countryside committed itself to winning the war.
0:47:53 > 0:47:54- Yeah.- Hmm.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Well, I think we are sitting on the brink of our own victory.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Everything seems to be going to plan.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02- So, cheers.- Fingers crossed.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06- Here's to the heroes of wartime farming.- All of them.- Yeah.
0:48:11 > 0:48:17By the end of the war, the fields of Britain were producing double what they had in the 1930s.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21It was an unprecedented accomplishment.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25But it created a legacy which has never left the countryside.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35Tractors enabled six and half million acres of grassland
0:48:35 > 0:48:39to be ploughed up in areas often now protected by law.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45The use of chemical fertilizers nearly tripled.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49They've remained part of agriculture ever since
0:48:49 > 0:48:52but despite increasing yields, some people feel the chemicals
0:48:52 > 0:48:56have caused irreparable damage to the farming landscape.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01These are all implements that actually do allow you
0:49:01 > 0:49:03to grow crops in areas
0:49:03 > 0:49:05that you probably wouldn't normally have grown crops.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10It's almost as if you become absolute master over that landscape
0:49:10 > 0:49:12and that's frightening.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18The policy of slaughtering animals that couldn't be fed
0:49:18 > 0:49:20caused livestock numbers to plummet.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Many livestock, now classified as rare breeds,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28became rare because of the wartime cull.
0:49:28 > 0:49:33The focus has been not upon the farmyard and the farm stock
0:49:33 > 0:49:35but out in the fields.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37That's felt quite different.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42A yard that's empty of animals, empty of that routine,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45a very quiet farmyard in some ways.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50The war forged a link between government and farmers
0:49:50 > 0:49:53that was closer than ever been before.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01Governmental control at this level was a necessity
0:50:01 > 0:50:04and to be brutally honest, it worked.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07What it did ensure is that we did have enough food
0:50:07 > 0:50:10to feed every single person on this island.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15As a result of the wartime agricultural revolution,
0:50:15 > 0:50:19farmers in Britain found themselves on a technological treadmill,
0:50:19 > 0:50:23constantly seeking to maximise output.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29Eventually, the revolution became the basis
0:50:29 > 0:50:31of agriculture as we know it today.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42With the combine making quick work of the field
0:50:42 > 0:50:44and the grain-drying going well,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47the team's work on the farm is coming to an end.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07The harvest celebration is under way...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09at Holidays at Home.
0:51:10 > 0:51:13- Wow.- Wow, look at this.
0:51:13 > 0:51:14That's quite a sight, isn't it?
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Weather like this, I'd have a holiday at home.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Decent location for our fireworks.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27What have we got, though, for fireworks?
0:51:27 > 0:51:29You'll have to wait and see, won't you, Peter?
0:51:29 > 0:51:33- I'll have to wait and see. - It's a surprise.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43The Holidays at Home harvest celebration is under way.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48Do we all know how to do the Hokey Cokey?
0:51:48 > 0:51:50CROWD CHEERS
0:51:50 > 0:51:51- Fabulous.- Excellent.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54The Hokey Cokey was a smash hit of the 1940s.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58# You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around
0:51:58 > 0:52:00# That's what it's all about!
0:52:00 > 0:52:05Everybody! # Oh, the Hokey Cokey
0:52:05 > 0:52:09# Oh, the Hokey Cokey
0:52:09 > 0:52:12# Oh, the Hokey Cokey
0:52:12 > 0:52:16# Knees bend, arms stretch, ra, ra, ra. #
0:52:16 > 0:52:18CROWD APPLAUDS
0:52:20 > 0:52:22As well as transforming agriculture,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26the war caused social upheaval across Britain.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29That summer saw the first wave of people released from war work.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34Among them were some of the two million women who'd been mobilized,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37often into jobs traditionally done by men.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Women's lives were so turned upside down during the war.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I know immediately after the war things seemed for
0:52:44 > 0:52:47a while to go back to exactly the same way they had.
0:52:47 > 0:52:48But they didn't really.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Because inside people's heads something had changed.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53And it could never completely go back.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05But there was no letup in shortages of everyday items.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12Food rationing would continue until 1954.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17Other commodities, like clothes, also went on being rationed.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21The wartime mentality would have to endure long after the conflict was over.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27I think the thing I've enjoyed most about the year
0:53:27 > 0:53:31- is the resourcefulness. There's no doubt about it.- Come on, winners.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34- Come on over here and get your prizes.- There just didn't exist
0:53:34 > 0:53:37a concept of throwing things away, and that for me
0:53:37 > 0:53:41is probably the biggest lesson that I can take away from that period.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00- Have your dogs go down.- Down. Good boy.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04I hope he's not giving marks for handler's appearance.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08And the winner is...Henry.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16We've forgotten the austere measures that people had to take during this period.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20They had to sacrifice things, they had to make do and mend.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22And it's not just a mindset of the individual,
0:54:22 > 0:54:25it was a mindset of the nation.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30There was a collective "Let's just do it."
0:54:44 > 0:54:48As night falls, it's time to reveal the firework elephant.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53Are we ready?
0:55:00 > 0:55:04CROWD APPLAUDS AND CHEERS
0:55:17 > 0:55:18It is brilliant.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21What a fantastic way to end our year.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26After six years of war, to see something so magical!
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Bravo!
0:55:39 > 0:55:43You can read about the Second World War in books.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45But to actually come out here,
0:55:45 > 0:55:50to actually try and walk even for a few footsteps in their shoes.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53To really understand what it must have been like to be in this
0:55:53 > 0:55:56country, to be up against it.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58It does change you.
0:56:02 > 0:56:07RUTH: It feels like being de-mobbed, back into civvy street.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12I should have worn my spare pair of clothes, shouldn't I?
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- Look a bit smart, finally.- Yeah.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24I think the thing that has had the biggest impact on me this year has been that talking,
0:56:24 > 0:56:26that connecting with people who were really there.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34I don't think I'd ever really, truly done that.
0:56:34 > 0:56:39I just feel a sense of connection with that generation that
0:56:39 > 0:56:41I never thought I would.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47It's been a great year.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50- Mmm.- Enjoyed yourself?
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Yeah, I'm going to be sad to go.
0:56:52 > 0:56:58- Of course, it's a countryside that will never be the same again. - Changed for ever.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03It's so basic, isn't it, food? It underpins everything.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12- Is that it? - Yup, that looks like our ride.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22I've really found myself admiring the feats of the people
0:57:22 > 0:57:24that worked on the land.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30The farmers, the War Ag, the Land Girls, everyone who contributed.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36I lift my hat to those people. They really did win the battle for food.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44Ding ding!
0:57:50 > 0:57:52Where to next?
0:57:52 > 0:57:56- I think the seaside. - I like the seaside.- Seaside, Ruth? - That would be good.
0:58:27 > 0:58:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media