0:00:02 > 0:00:04Here in Shropshire is a farm frozen in time,
0:00:04 > 0:00:07lost in Victorian rural England.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn
0:00:12 > 0:00:19have returned to Acton Scott estate to celebrate a Victorian Christmas on a grand scale.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23I would like you to recreate a Victorian Christmas at Acton Scott.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27- Right.- What, for the whole estate? - Yes.- Oh, my giddy aunt!
0:00:27 > 0:00:32So far, they've brought in the hay crop to feed the livestock through the winter
0:00:33 > 0:00:36and begun the festive preparations.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39This should make wonderful mince pies for Christmas.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Now as Christmas approaches, thoughts turn to presents...
0:00:44 > 0:00:48treats and staving off the cold.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50But work on the farm never stops.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54They need to make 10,000 bricks by hand.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57It's tough. It is so tough.
0:00:57 > 0:01:03And the blacksmith's forge must be restored and ready for business in time for Christmas.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05So here's to hardworking Victorian farmers.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08- Hardworking Victorian farmers! - Cheers!
0:01:28 > 0:01:34Peter and Alex are about to get their first taste of the donkey work involved
0:01:34 > 0:01:37in preparing for a Victorian Christmas.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40We use shire horses for most of the big jobs on the farm,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42and they are the equivalent of a modern-day tractor.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46When you've got two of them out in the fields ploughing, that's your tractor.
0:01:46 > 0:01:52Just one on its own is more like a sort of four-wheel drive, a Land Rover-type thing, OK?
0:01:52 > 0:01:57But every farmer needs a nice little run-around on a farm, a quad bike,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00and what we have is Dusty, the donkey.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03No Victorian farm would be without its donkey.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06The thing we've got to get to grips with
0:02:06 > 0:02:08is just how to tack him up. Right.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12- OK.- Just like a normal horse - ever so small!- Everything's in miniature.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19You know, I've never seen an animal that looks quite so miserable all of the time.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20Dusty!
0:02:22 > 0:02:24- Saddle.- Here's the cart saddle.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26There we are. That's on there.
0:02:26 > 0:02:32Yeah. That's tight enough. So we got everything we need.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37Let's go, then. Try and get him in the cart and see how he fares.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41The boys are in search of a centrepiece for their Victorian Christmas celebration -
0:02:41 > 0:02:43the yule log.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47I think it's over just past that oak.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Lovely big oak tree, though, isn't it, that?
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Well, there's something over there that's fallen down.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58What about the beauty over there?
0:02:58 > 0:03:00That looks nice, doesn't it?
0:03:00 > 0:03:02That is a tasty bit of wood.
0:03:02 > 0:03:10Traditionally, the yule log would have been large enough to burn for several days throughout Christmas.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15- You won't be able to get up and put some more logs on the fire.- No.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Hopefully, I'll be drinking all 12 days of Christmas!
0:03:18 > 0:03:21But we need a bit of wood that's going to burn in the hearth.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- OK. You can pull. - I'm pulling? I'm pulling.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29To cut the log, they're using a genuine Victorian cross-cut saw
0:03:29 > 0:03:31borrowed from Mr Acton.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36This won't be ready in 12 years, let alone 12 days!
0:03:36 > 0:03:39You're a man that hates Christmas.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41I'm hating it even more, Peter.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47- Ugh!- Oh!
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Oh, my word!
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Actually, it is normally me that breaks everything,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03so it's nice to see someone else on the Victorian farm breaking something.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Oh, dear. It's typical, absolutely typical.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15At the cottage, Ruth's growing food for the winter.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20I'm starting off our mushroom bed. It's such a Victorian thing to do.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25Almost all the books you read have instructions on how to grow mushrooms,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30and it does make a really good crop that you can be harvesting right through the winter.
0:04:31 > 0:04:38So the first thing you have to do is to make a really deep bed of well-rotted horse manure.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Trample it down!
0:04:40 > 0:04:43By having a big, deep, fat layer
0:04:43 > 0:04:45it will sort of warm from underneath, and hopefully
0:04:45 > 0:04:48they should fruit and fruit and fruit and fruit!
0:04:48 > 0:04:54I've got spores to go in here - sort of the fungi equivalent of seeds.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58So I'm just going to sprinkle me spores on.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01# La, la, la la, la, la, la. #
0:05:02 > 0:05:04And lightly fork it.
0:05:04 > 0:05:10Mushrooms like to grow somewhere damp and dark,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15so leaving the heap just exposed to the air, the top would dry out, and they wouldn't like that at all.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21So this is to keep the damp in and to keep the worst of the sunlight off it.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26It would be rather nice at Christmas dinner to be able to offer mushrooms home-grown with everything else.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34The saw breaking turns out to be a blessing in disguise.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36You bungled, didn't you?
0:05:36 > 0:05:44Well no, actually, you didn't see the good favour of breaking the saw just before we cut through THIS log here,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47which in fact has a conservation order on it,
0:05:47 > 0:05:53and it would have meant that this yule log would have cost us an absolute fortune.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55- Thousands of pounds. - They have conservation orders because
0:05:55 > 0:06:01they are allowed - they're left here to rot in the field, and all of the insects that then take to the tree -
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and you can see all the little worm holes here then encourage all sorts of different wildlife.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09In particular, woodpeckers would be bouncing up and down this log
0:06:09 > 0:06:11seeking out lovely little tasty grubs,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15so it's really, really good for the environment to have logs like this lying around
0:06:15 > 0:06:18and not burning in the hearth at the hall as a yule log.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22However, thankfully, we have got a piece of ash that fell down in this field
0:06:22 > 0:06:26that's been down for about three years. It's well seasoned. We've chopped off the end.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28It's going to make a lovely yule log.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Ooh! Your end on.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Oh! Perfect fit.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- Stand!- Down there, Dusty - to the hall.- To the hall!
0:06:52 > 0:06:53Good lad.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59Get this bark stripped off it, a few more months' seasoning,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- and this will be absolutely perfect, wouldn't it?- Yeah.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04This should burn really well.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Need to put a bit of oil on these wheels, don't we?
0:07:12 > 0:07:16With Christmas approaching, Ruth's come to the nearby Blists Hill Victorian village in Shropshire
0:07:16 > 0:07:20to buy some material for making presents.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- Ah, good afternoon.- Good afternoon. - Can I help you?
0:07:25 > 0:07:30Well, I was thinking of some flannel, actually.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35- I've got some very good Welsh flannel. Would that be interesting?- Yes.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Welsh flannel is a really nice warm fabric, not fancy, but really quite hard-wearing,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and very insulative, really good against the cold.
0:07:43 > 0:07:50Such woollen fabrics were believed to help wick all the sweat and things away from the body
0:07:50 > 0:07:52to leave you with a really healthy skin. Right.
0:07:52 > 0:07:59- What did you want to make?- I want to make two pairs of gentlemen's drawers and two gentlemen's vests.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00It's for a Christmas present.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- Right. There we are. Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Back at Acton Scott, Alex and Peter have an appointment
0:08:12 > 0:08:17with their land agent, Rupert Acton in a neglected corner of the estate.
0:08:20 > 0:08:27This is a project which I'd like you to come have a look at to see if you can perhaps get it working again.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- Let's give it our best shot. It's a bit overgrown here. - It certainly is.
0:08:30 > 0:08:37This tumble-down cottage was once a blacksmith's forge, the industrial heart of Acton Scott.
0:08:37 > 0:08:43- How long has it been derelict?- This has been unused for about 40 years.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47- It would have been in its heyday in the Victorian period. - It certainly would.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52I mean, this forge is actually geographically at the centre of the parish,
0:08:52 > 0:08:58- it's equidistant for all the people within that parish, very important. - Dead centre in the village?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01And it would have been a hive of activity and a hive of gossip.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Come on in, then.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The forge was especially important during winter.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08So this is the old forge.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11This is when maintenance jobs on the estate were done.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12- Fantastic!- Wow!
0:09:12 > 0:09:20All manner of iron work was needed as well as the more day-to-day tasks, like shoeing horses.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24- What do you think?- That's amazing.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27This is just...
0:09:27 > 0:09:30They're not horseshoes, are they, where they have been put up hot?
0:09:30 > 0:09:35They look like they have been put up there hot, don't they? You can see the scorch marks on the rafters.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- Yeah, yeah.- And it looks like that the anvil has been placed here on this ring of stone.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44- Round stone there. - This is where the fire would have been in the hearth behind you.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45Right.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51- What are you looking at up there, then, Peter?- Well, I'm trying to find the chimney.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54There seems to be a distinct lack of one.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Yeah, I'm afraid that the chimney's been blocked up, so that's going to be one of the many tasks.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02To help get the forge up and running before Christmas,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05the team have called in stonemason, Paul Arrowsmith.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Paul, on this, we'd be very grateful.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10- Certainly.- This is our forge.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16The first job is to assess the chimney.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Blimey. It's higher than it looks.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27The question is, where's the blockage?
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- I found the bottom of the blockage. - OK. So you want to pull it up and measure it.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41One, two, three...
0:10:41 > 0:10:45- Three.- ..four, five yards.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Five to the end of the stone, so five yards down is where exactly?
0:10:49 > 0:10:55- Five yards would be roughly the top of the lintel in the bedroom. - Right.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59So we've got quite a lot of work on our hands here trying to unblock this.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13- I love my job. I think I've just about gone through now.- All the way through?- Yeah.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16- Excellent.- Daylight.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20- Daylight?- Daylight.- That's great.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24So what's the next stage, then, now we've got this chimney cleared?
0:11:25 > 0:11:31The next step is re-establish the masonry back into here
0:11:31 > 0:11:36to form a hood to take the smoke up into the chimney.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39What sort of materials are we going to need to build this?
0:11:39 > 0:11:40- Well, brick would be good.- Right.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Contemporary with the time.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45So we're going to need quite a few bricks for this?
0:11:45 > 0:11:49We will, yes. We'll need quite a few bricks to rebuild this up again.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51OK. Your favourite job - sewing.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Oh, brilliant(!)
0:11:54 > 0:11:55I know you love it so much.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58So much fun(!)
0:11:58 > 0:12:04For the Victorian farmer, staving off the cold of winter was a major challenge,
0:12:04 > 0:12:11so Ruth and her daughter, Eve, are making useful Christmas presents for Alex and Peter - warm underwear.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18So ordinary working people were still making their own flannel underwear at home
0:12:18 > 0:12:20and really quite simple shapes.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Everything I read said that in this Victorian period,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28men wore full-length drawers right down to the ankle.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34So the best thing I thought was really what we want is a really simple trouser pattern, isn't it?
0:12:34 > 0:12:35Just straight.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41Rural poverty in the 19th century made sewing and mending an essential skill.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Girls would start as young as five-years-old.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50It was one of the most important parts of any young woman's education, sewing.
0:12:50 > 0:12:56I mean, where compulsory education comes in, they're all taught at school.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00So that is his back waist, and then that's his front waist.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05See? That was only that much - halfway around,
0:13:05 > 0:13:10doubled - that's a waist that big. That's not particularly big. Then that's going to be pleated slightly.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Now it looks like he's got a REALLY small waist and a really big bum!
0:13:18 > 0:13:22I mean, I really like sort of real clothing - ordinary people's clothing.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26If you go in most museums, what you see is the really posh stuff, isn't it?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29You see all the really beautiful - it's all beautifully displayed.
0:13:29 > 0:13:37You see ball gowns and the - you know - what you don't see is the ordinary work-a-day stuff.
0:13:37 > 0:13:38Because they trashed it. OK.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40That's one pair of trousers.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50The cold of winter made it a prime time for jobs that could be done regardless of the elements.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59Tasked with restoring the forge before Christmas,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Peter's come to the estate's brick maker, Colin Richards.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06..compressed, and the air go into it. It will take a few minutes to go through.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12The clay has been mined locally.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17It will be processed using a pug mill, powered by the estate's shire horse, Clumper.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23Well, the pug mill is like a food mixer almost to actually get air into the clay.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26It makes it into a material which is pliable.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28You can make the bricks more easy.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34Constant restoration work is needed on the 1,200-acre estate,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39so Colin's making 10,000 bricks
0:14:39 > 0:14:44identical to those used to build the distinctive red brick Acton Scott Hall.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Well, we got to get Colin in because I think it's getting a little bit too much for Clumper,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53and he's doing a sterling job there.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- Do you want some more water in there? - Yeah, just a bit.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58It's getting a bit sticky.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Got Alistair outside pushing the gin,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09and I've resorted to using my hand because it's so hard to shovel the clay.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14It's all going wrong...
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Except...
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Ooh, it is just teetering on the edge.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28It's tantalisingly close.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33It is. And there it goes.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36We now have milled clay.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Once the clay's processed, it's ready to mould the bricks with help from expert, Alistair Compton.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Basically, a two-part mould.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47We get some kiln-dried sharp sand.
0:15:47 > 0:15:53We use this as a releasing agent because it's easy getting the clay into the mould, but...
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- Not so easy getting it out. - Sometimes it can be problematic.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00All right? Forming a clod, straight into the mould.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Then you get the bow, just take the top off.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12That stops it sticking to the board.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Bring her out.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18This is where you need long thumbs.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20And that there is a brick.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21- That is a brick.- Right.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26From here, it's got to be dried.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30About two weeks later, we'll be able to put it into the kiln, go through the firing process,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33and you'll get your quality bricks coming out.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37- Brilliant.- So we've only got another 999,999 to do.
0:16:37 > 0:16:44Probably nowhere near as speedy as a professional brick maker by any stretch of the imagination!
0:16:48 > 0:16:50I missed - again.
0:16:50 > 0:16:56In Victorian times, a group of eight to ten people
0:16:56 > 0:17:01could produce around about ten to 12,000 a day, so basically, I mean,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05you've got enough bricks there for a large cottage.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08- Yeah?- But all I can tell you - it's hard work.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14Yeah, it... And, I suppose, quite monotonous as well, quite repetitive.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Well... Therapeutic to a degree.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20That's what my psychiatrist keeps telling me.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40Ruth and Eve are using the nights to work on the Christmas presents.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Winter evenings are so long, what are you going to do?
0:17:43 > 0:17:47You can't be gardening or doing very much with the animals.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50You can't be doing very much outside at all once it's dark.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52It's useful to catch up on these sorts of jobs,
0:17:52 > 0:17:59which at other times of the year there is no time for, no time whatsoever.
0:18:08 > 0:18:14The onset of winter means shortening days and falling temperatures on the Victorian farm.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22Ruth's finishing off Peter and Alex's warm underwear.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24They've come out quite nice.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26They certainly look warm.
0:18:31 > 0:18:38And 10,000 bricks have been moulded to restore the blacksmith's forge before Christmas.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Two weeks have passed, and the bricks have dried out.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00Now they must be baked to make them rock hard using a kiln.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13So how many bricks does this kiln hold?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Well, about 7,000, depending on what size bricks we make.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Crikey! That's a lot of bricks.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Yeah, that's enough to make a small cottage.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25- Right.- So every time we fire it, you could effectively build a house.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29I've got some of the bricks I've inscribed. I got one for Alex.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Right. Where do you want that one?
0:19:31 > 0:19:38- Probably at the bottom.- Right!- Near the fire or it's going to break! One for Ruth. One for me.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46The kiln must be sealed, and Colin has a tried and tested method.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47A piece of clay - right!
0:19:53 > 0:19:58- It's a very effective way of sealing it all up.- It's the most fun way of doing it as well!
0:19:58 > 0:20:04And with it being soft, it gets in all those little crevices and makes quite a strong wall, really.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08It's really good fun, actually!
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Thanks. So far, Colin has resisted the urge to throw the clay at me.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22It's only matter of time!
0:20:25 > 0:20:31These eight kiln fires need tending around the clock for five days.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Are you quietly confident this is going to go well?
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Well, whenever we light a kiln, it's an unknown quantity, really, and it is a bit nerve-racking.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Once you've started, that's it now.
0:20:44 > 0:20:50The kiln fires 7,000 bricks, but Colin needs 10,000.
0:20:50 > 0:20:58So he's also attempting a more primitive, old-fashioned method of firing bricks using a clamp.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Here, bricks are simply stacked on a slow-burning fire.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08- They were used for cities, weren't they?- That's right.
0:21:08 > 0:21:14This was a way of bringing the firing process right to the site where the houses were being built.
0:21:14 > 0:21:20Often, you use the clay that was dug from the foundations and cellars to make the bricks to build the house.
0:21:20 > 0:21:27Stacks were so long that as the fire moved through the stack,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32they would actually be unloading at one end, while fire was moving through,
0:21:32 > 0:21:37so it was a continual process, and, you know, they were sometimes 40 feet high.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So I'm glad we're not going up 40 feet!
0:21:50 > 0:21:56But it gives you an insight as to the amount of work involved in making a clamp -
0:21:56 > 0:21:58very labour intensive.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11With a clamp, you don't know what's happening inside.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15It's very much when you open this, you know, there's an element of surprise.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20You hope it's going to work, but until you crack it open, you just don't know.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Ruth's discovered a novel Victorian way to keep warm in winter.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38I came across quite an interesting thing in this lovely little book called Common-Sense Clothing.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43It was written in 1869. And it's got this piece - and it absolutely intrigued me when I read this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:51"The Charletine blankets, now so much used are made of paper with cotton cool between."
0:22:51 > 0:22:54Well, I'd never heard of such a thing - a Charletine blanket.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59I suppose being made out of paper and cotton waste,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03they haven't survived - they are the sort of thing that would last a couple of years,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05get in a state, you put it in the fire and burn.
0:23:05 > 0:23:11And like many things, those at the sort of cheap working end don't get recorded in the same way,
0:23:11 > 0:23:17so I thought it would be really good to have a go at making a paper blanket - "cheap and warm", it says.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19I haven't really got a clue.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24I'm having to sort of make it up because nobody's ever heard of a Charletine blanket.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Right!
0:23:26 > 0:23:28That's me pieces of paper.
0:23:28 > 0:23:35Now I want my cotton wool, and I'm going to have to sort of just loosely glue it to the surface.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I think I'll start in one corner and move me way down.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43Cotton wool has been around in Britain for over 400 years.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47The next layer of paper.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Not quite sure how this is going to work.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56We'll find out.
0:23:56 > 0:24:03The only thing Common-Sense Clothing says about paper being a problem on the bed
0:24:03 > 0:24:04is it doesn't breathe,
0:24:04 > 0:24:08and the Victorians are very worried about
0:24:08 > 0:24:11not allowing the body to breathe.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14There had been new work done on the pores of the skin.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18And they also worried about putting something on the bed that didn't breathe.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22And it is surprisingly hard to get the needle through.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34It's been three days and nights since the kiln was lit.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Peter and the brick team have been continually stoking the fires.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Alex is joining them for the final night of the kiln vigil.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49- OK. Grub's up, guys.- Hi, Alex. What do you mean "Grub's up"? They're raw potatoes.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51They are indeed, mate. But you're the one with the oven.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56- Shall I take that cider?- Yeah, take that cider. That's the most important thing!
0:24:56 > 0:24:58What's the idea with the potatoes?
0:24:58 > 0:25:03- Slam it in.- See, this is the sort of thing that over 150 years ago
0:25:03 > 0:25:05Victorian brick makers would have done.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Oh, that's right, because this is a big oven, really. You've got your fire.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13You've got your shovels, and you've got all your embers, so you use that to cook your meal.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15- So that's your brick.- I'm liking it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22Just stick it in, and I just fold it over.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27- Wow! It's like a potato-brick pasty! - Yeah.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31- Amazing.- The thickness of a brick is just perfect.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34It leaves the skins intact and a lovely tasting potato.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39There we go.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42Stoking the fires day in, day out
0:25:42 > 0:25:47has raised the temperature of the kiln to around 1,000 degrees.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57- That's very hot - like you wouldn't believe, really.- It is incredibly hot, isn't it?
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Blimey. That is just crazy.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09That just demonstrates how hot this thing is.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15It also emphasises that we're not playing at this. These are real forces that we're dealing with -
0:26:15 > 0:26:22with the fire and the earth and the clay, and we have to be mindful of what's happening all around us.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- Job done? - Yeah, that's the last one in.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29- Right.- And I'm...- Pooped?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I'm knackered. And I've only put eight potatoes in there.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- But what do you reckon, an hour, then?- An hour, almost to the minute.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37I'll have to lose this jacket.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41- I'm roasting.- Until you walk away from the kiln and then you are freezing.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Having prepared for the cold of winter,
0:26:48 > 0:26:54Ruth turns her attention to the long, dark nights leading up to Christmas.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Now that the nights have really begun drawing in,
0:27:01 > 0:27:07this has become a weekly task - cleaning, maintaining all the oil lamps,
0:27:07 > 0:27:12and the candles too, all the artificial light.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16The glass on the mantles gets really, really dirty, and of course,
0:27:16 > 0:27:22if I don't clean it, then obviously the light can't come out, and we get dimmer and dimmer and dingier
0:27:22 > 0:27:28dingier and dingier. I always find a little bit of vinegar on the cloth helps when I'm doing this.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30You also have to trim the wicks.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35If you don't get off all the sort of old wick,
0:27:35 > 0:27:41it doesn't burn very bright, so I use my lovely little trimmers here
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and just take off anything that's a bit old and burnt.
0:27:45 > 0:27:52This was the way most rural homes were it will until the 1930s when the creation of the National Grid
0:27:52 > 0:27:56brought electricity to most corners of Britain.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05The managing of light - such a central thing.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12Oil lamps are a good deal brighter than a candle lamp, and it doesn't blow out.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16So you find that there are quite a lot of things that you can get on with,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21nothing that needs really close looking at, but you can read by oil lamp.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24You can sew by oil lamp, but not maybe the finest of stuff.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31For fine sewing and lace work, the Victorians had an ingenious solution,
0:28:31 > 0:28:37a blown glass bowl filled with water acted as a lens to focus the candlelight on the work.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Ooh, ooh! I can see up my arm!
0:28:39 > 0:28:43It's a bit like playing with mirrors when you're a child and flashing the light around the room.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Huh! How many more hours is it going to take?
0:28:54 > 0:28:59While the potatoes cook in the kiln, Alex and Peter check on the brick clamp.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03This has to be one of the most bizarre sights I have seen.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06It's just like one enormous brick on fire.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10We say "enormous" - this is small.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14With this clamp, whilst it's maybe cheaper to set up,
0:29:14 > 0:29:18- it's not something you can tend. - You've got no control over this. - Yeah.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22That is really gone up the back of my throat now.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26HE COUGHS
0:29:26 > 0:29:32- Oh, blimey!- Imagine being in London in the 1850s, 1860s.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36The only way that Britain was going to build these vast expanding industrial centres
0:29:36 > 0:29:43is if it could find a cheap and economic way to build the homes for all the labourers and the workers.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46- Imagine a lifetime of this. - It would have been pretty short.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49- I know.- You wouldn't have lasted very long, would you?- No.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56Life expectancy in Britain's cities was just 40 years.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00The whole of the city would constantly be covered in this smog.
0:30:02 > 0:30:08You get that real sort of, you know, Sherlock Holmes, Jack the Ripper-y type of feel from this, don't you?
0:30:08 > 0:30:15- Yeah.- You could imagine these kilns burning on the suburbs and outskirts of these growing industrial cities.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Smoke pouring down the streets and...
0:30:17 > 0:30:20This is tiny compared to what they were building.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25When theirs were half a mile long, 40 feet high, they must have produced some smoke!
0:30:25 > 0:30:29- They must have done. - Why are we whispering?
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Wouldn't want to wake Mr Acton up!
0:30:37 > 0:30:39- Let's have these potatoes out, then. - Right.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42An hour has passed since the potatoes went in the kiln.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46- Looking good! There we go. - That's red hot.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50It's red hot I feel like a surgeon.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Oh, oh, oh, you beauty!
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Look at that. Ready to receive the butter.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01- Butter made on the farm, no less, Peter?- Yes, butter made on the farm.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04It doesn't get better than this, chaps, does it?
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Colin, this one yours?
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Got your name on it.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Right.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14There's your fork.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17- How does that taste, then? - It's great, yeah.
0:31:17 > 0:31:23The... I think the clay around the edge sort of adds something to it, really. It's really nice!
0:31:23 > 0:31:26That's a stone!
0:31:27 > 0:31:30So it's got a nice texture, then, has it?
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Tell you what, Alex - this will taste a darn sight better once you've done some work.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44I'm looking forward to it. But you should have some of that.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46But how are the bricks doing?
0:31:46 > 0:31:53If we look in the fire hole, you can see they're sort of going from sort of yellow to white.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Yeah, I'm with you. Those ones right in the middle.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57And that's where we want to be at this stage.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01It's taken us four days and four nights to get to this point.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03But we've got to hold that temperature for about 12 hours
0:32:03 > 0:32:07to ensure that it soaks through the kiln.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12To miss this stage of it would mean that all that work and effort has gone to waste.
0:32:12 > 0:32:19The team work to maintain the intense temperature of the brick kiln until dawn.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27If they fail, their plans to have the forge in use by Christmas will be scuppered.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Away from the kiln, temperatures are dropping.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Ruth heads off to bed.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54It's such a cheap solution to keeping warm, this.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58It's quite a surprising thing once made up. It feels, um,
0:32:58 > 0:33:02well, it feels like one of those padded envelopes that you send through the post,
0:33:02 > 0:33:07and actually, thinking about it, some of the older ones are actually full of cotton, aren't they?
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Mind you, I bet the bubble wrap ones would be warm. too.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13I'm sleeping in an envelope!
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Oh, I certainly feel nice and warm at the moment.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24I hope it stays like that all night.
0:33:33 > 0:33:40For the last few nights, Peter's had nothing but the brick kiln and cider to keep him warm.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Now it's over.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51We've done it. We've done the kiln.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Four nights, five days, all over.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01Too little sleep, too much heat, too much work.
0:34:01 > 0:34:07This is the closest I'll ever get to working as a Victorian,
0:34:07 > 0:34:10and it's tough. It is so tough!
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Whoa!
0:34:14 > 0:34:19The team must wait a week for the kiln to cool before opening it.
0:34:19 > 0:34:25Only then will they know if their efforts have been successful.
0:34:26 > 0:34:34Working outside all hours in all weathers took a toll on the Victorian farmer.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39Pneumonia, rheumatism and asthma were all exacerbated by the cold,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43and in the countryside, although better off than in the cities,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46you couldn't expect to live much beyond 50.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52But the Victorians had concoctions to combat common winter ailments.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57This one's a gargle for a sore throat, and you start with sage.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Sage is an important medicinal herb.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Its Latin name, Salvia, means "to heal".
0:35:05 > 0:35:10It's great stuff, sage. It turns up in loads of different remedies, things like rubbing
0:35:10 > 0:35:14on the joints for arthritis to try to take down the swelling, lots of cough
0:35:14 > 0:35:20and cold things, anything to do with, well, anything to do with something that's swollen and sore.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26So the recipe says a pint of boiling water, but I haven't got very much
0:35:26 > 0:35:30sage here, so I'm just going to do about a cup, I think.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Homemade remedies were sort of, for many Victorians,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35pretty much the only way they could get hold of medicine,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39although there were an increasing range of medicines available to buy.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41That's the point. They were "to buy".
0:35:41 > 0:35:45But for the ordinary little lumps and bumps of life,
0:35:46 > 0:35:51it made a great deal more sense to make your own home remedies, if you possibly could.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Right. Now, that's supposed to stand for half an hour,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58and you can see already that the water is slightly coloured by the sage.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05Once that has cooled down, then the only thing that's got to go in it
0:36:05 > 0:36:09is vinegar, not too much, just a tiny bit.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14And I suppose the warmth of the water helps it to sort of evaporate.
0:36:14 > 0:36:20And then the other thing supposed to be in is honey, and the recipe just says, "to taste",
0:36:20 > 0:36:22so it's to make it palatable.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29But it's also supposed to help soothe the insides of the throat lining.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32You're supposed to gargle with it.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Let's just try a little bit.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Excuse me if I'm disgusting and gargle and spit it out.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Ooh, that's quite nice, actually.
0:36:54 > 0:36:59After a good night's sleep, the boys catch up with stonemason Paul Arrowsmith at the forge.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04This is the lintel that would've carried the masonry above. That would not work as a flue.
0:37:04 > 0:37:10They've unblocked the chimney, but they still have to wait for the bricks to cool before rebuilding it.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15The floor will also need relaying.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18And Paul's spotted another vital component that's missing.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21So you'd have bellows...
0:37:21 > 0:37:24on the outside of this wall.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28- That's another sore point, actually, for us.- Bellows?- Yeah.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32To work iron, they'll need bellows to blow air through the fire,
0:37:32 > 0:37:36raising the temperature to over 1,500 degrees.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43If they're to complete the forge before celebrating Christmas, there isn't a second to lose.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50I don't think I've ever had so much fun, it has to be said.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53But there's no telling how deep these holes are.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Have we taken on too much?
0:37:57 > 0:37:59- Still, we can't let the Actons down. - No.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04The search for bellows takes them to the far reaches of the Acton Scott estate.
0:38:04 > 0:38:11- I can't feel below my navel.- It's not like the old Vorsprung Durch Technik, is it? Go on, giddy-up.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Not what we need.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23This is what we're looking for. Let's get that under there.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27Without this kit, our forge is - well, it's not a forge, is it?
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Well, it's a fire, basically.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Think you can move that on your own?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- Probably.- My back is paining me.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35It always is, Alex.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38One, two, three.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41OK. I'm up. I'm up.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43You see, in the modern age, you wouldn't have been allowed to lift
0:38:43 > 0:38:49these sorts of weights, but because we're in Victoriana, obviously, we'd be expected to do it.
0:38:56 > 0:38:57Perfect. Right.
0:39:10 > 0:39:11Good boy, Dusty.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Come on.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18Working in exposed areas at the mercy of the elements gave rise
0:39:18 > 0:39:23to another common winter ailment for the Victorian farmer, chilblains -
0:39:23 > 0:39:28painful, itchy, sores on fingers and toes.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34Ruth's found a recipe that should prevent them.
0:39:34 > 0:39:41Chilblains are something that farmers were particularly prone to because you're out and about in all weathers
0:39:41 > 0:39:45and in and out of cold water all the time. So that's my egg...
0:39:45 > 0:39:50broken up, and that's going to be whisked and beaten really strongly
0:39:50 > 0:39:55with a mixture of oil, and I'm going to whisk it up into a...
0:39:55 > 0:40:01a bit like an emulsion. It's almost like making mayonnaise, this bit.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03It has to be really quite thoroughly mixed.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07Not as thoroughly as mayonnaise, but nonetheless, somewhere along those lines.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11And now I can start dripping in my other ingredients.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13This is the turpentine.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17So just a tiny spot to start,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20and then some vinegar.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23The next thing is spirits of wine.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28That's just distilled wine, otherwise known as brandy.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34And then, finally, perhaps the oddest ingredient, camphor.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Well, I wasn't going to go to the shop and buy camphor especially,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40so I'm going to use small mothballs. Whoops!
0:40:40 > 0:40:47As well as repelling moths, camphor has a cooling and anesthetising effect on the skin.
0:40:49 > 0:40:57Now, once I've mixed this, I'm supposed to put it into a little air-tight bottle
0:40:57 > 0:41:01and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake
0:41:01 > 0:41:03and shake and shake and shake and shake.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06So inside the bottle, hopefully, it's turning into
0:41:06 > 0:41:11something that's going to be a little bit closer in texture to mayonnaise,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15and that's good because it makes it easy to rub on your
0:41:15 > 0:41:18chilblains, or the areas where you might get chilblains.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21I feel a bit like I'm shaking a cocktail, frankly.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28Not so glamorous, though, is it - chilblain preventative?
0:41:29 > 0:41:30This thing?
0:41:30 > 0:41:32That's it. Give it a smell.
0:41:32 > 0:41:33Make sure it's the right one.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37Ruth's found a guinea pig for her latest concoction.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41That's mothballs, maybe, with a touch of brandy.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43It has got mothballs in it.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46It looks a bit like silver polish.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48It stinks.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50But probably not as much as me.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02With the preparations for winter nearly complete, the countdown to Christmas can begin in earnest.
0:42:02 > 0:42:10Alex is trying his hand at decorating wrapping paper using a favourite technique of the era.
0:42:11 > 0:42:18Often, Victorian books were bound with marbled end papers, and he's attempting to reproduce the effect.
0:42:21 > 0:42:28OK. So I've prepared now the solution within which we're going to drop in our inks.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30This is carrageen moss, OK?
0:42:30 > 0:42:36So it's like a seaweed, and what this helps to do is just to sort of thicken up the water.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39So now for the pigments. These are made up with pigment powders
0:42:39 > 0:42:43and linseed oil, and it's critical to have an oil-based paint
0:42:43 > 0:42:46because the oil will sit on top of the water.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51When we apply the paper, that oil-based paint is going to stick to it.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56I'm just trying to get a nice even distribution of each colour.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59This has really sort of demonstrated for me
0:42:59 > 0:43:01what the Victorian Christmas was all about.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03This sort of level of preparation,
0:43:03 > 0:43:08because the Victorians really threw everything into Christmas. They really did.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12And on that goes.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14On that goes. We can see...
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Tap that down a bit.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18Tap that down a bit.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21I can use these first dummy ones to wrap Peter's present in.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27While Alex's wrapping paper dries,
0:43:27 > 0:43:33Ruth calls on food historian Ivan Day to make a special treat for the Christmas banquet.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38So, sweeties. What sort of sweeties are we making?
0:43:38 > 0:43:41We're going to actually make some lozenges out of sugar paste,
0:43:41 > 0:43:46which is flavoured with things like ginger and peppermint oil and rose water.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50So you get a variety of flavours and colourings.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53- And we've got powdered sugar. - Powdered sugar, yup.
0:43:53 > 0:43:58And we're going to put into it about half an ounce of what is called gum dragon.
0:43:58 > 0:44:03Gum dragon, derived from prickly Middle Eastern shrubs,
0:44:03 > 0:44:06swells in water, forming a stiff gel.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13- Lovely!- Yeah. Once the gum starts to sort of dissolve into the sugar,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16it should turn into something that looks a bit like chewing gum.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22What we have got, which is really great, are these.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26You rotate it and cut,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28rotate it and cut...
0:44:28 > 0:44:32- And you can make a stack all at once! - And it's so brilliantly designed...
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Yeah, because it's a cone, they're not going to stick.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37You'll get your little...
0:44:37 > 0:44:38Isn't that clever?
0:44:41 > 0:44:46But as ever, when it came to Christmas, the Victorians added a fun-loving twist.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54We're going to actually make some motto sweeties with these wonderful little mid-19th century prints.
0:44:54 > 0:44:59You've got questions like, "Can you like me?"
0:44:59 > 0:45:02- And on there it might say... - "I do not."
0:45:02 > 0:45:05"I do not." And I'm not quite sure how it was used.
0:45:05 > 0:45:11- "I do."- But the are precursors are those little Love Heart sweets. - Oh, yeah, I know.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15So what we're actually making are Victorian Love Hearts, if you like.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18And then it's a case, really, of...
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Just press in.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22Peel them off...
0:45:22 > 0:45:27and you've got your perfect little Victorian Love Hearts.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30These would be perfect for Christmas crackers
0:45:30 > 0:45:35because they're part of that fortune cookie type of tradition.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39- It's fun and games, really. - Yes, absolutely.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53At last, the brick maker's moment of truth has arrived.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03After a gruelling firing,
0:46:03 > 0:46:08we've left this for a week to cool down because the bricks inside will have been red hot,
0:46:08 > 0:46:13and now it's time to crack open our brick kiln and see how we've done.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18So as a veteran of these kilns, how are you feeling about this one?
0:46:18 > 0:46:25Well, each firing is different, and it depends on the conditions, the temperature, you know,
0:46:25 > 0:46:30around when we actually fired it, and at the beginning of the firing, we had some pretty bad weather.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35We had a lot of wind, a lot of rain. Until we open the door, we just don't know.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Despite the bad weather, the majority of the kiln bricks seem to have fired well.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50That's a nice brick.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59Uh, that's the one we wanted to work, "Peter".
0:47:07 > 0:47:11- Whoa!- You all right, Alex?- Yeah. How are these bricks looking, then? - Really, really good.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17There's nothing like a good hand made brick, is there?
0:47:17 > 0:47:21And it'll give our forge as well some proper Victorian character.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Next, the clamp.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Here, the bricks were simply stacked on coal and left to burn.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32But how do they compare to the kiln bricks?
0:47:33 > 0:47:36They're pretty hot, these ones.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41They sound good. That means they're cooked.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45My gloves must be thicker than yours.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47They are very hot.
0:47:47 > 0:47:53One of the things that makes handmade bricks and hand-fired bricks so interesting
0:47:53 > 0:47:57is the variety of colours you get depending on where they are in the clamp.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01That's slightly more irregular, and you get the risk of having
0:48:01 > 0:48:05a lot more that are perhaps over-fired and nearer the fuel source.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08What would I do with an over-fired brick in the building process?
0:48:08 > 0:48:13They'd be seconds, and so, if you were building a sort of prestigious house,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17you know, you'd perhaps use those in partitions or where they wouldn't be seen.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22But if it was a humble cottage and you'd be buying them cheaply from the brick maker, you'd use them.
0:48:22 > 0:48:29It's clear there are far fewer properly fired bricks produced by a clamp than a kiln.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33- They'll come apart.- But this is offset by a huge advantage.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38It's far for economical because, as you saw, we only had
0:48:38 > 0:48:42a bed of coal four inches deep to fire all of these bricks.
0:48:42 > 0:48:48The clamp uses less than a 10th of the fuel of the kiln per brick.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50So how are you feeling about this clamp?
0:48:50 > 0:48:52I'm really pleased, yeah.
0:48:52 > 0:48:58It's now at the end of the firing, to actually get bricks out which you can use
0:48:58 > 0:49:03straightaway and a nice colour and a nice shape and they're very durable. I'm dead chuffed.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07I think you should be very proud, although we're dirty again.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Thank you. Yeah.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14By the end of the Victorian age, the simple clamp had gone out of favour,
0:49:14 > 0:49:19replaced by the less fuel-efficient, but more reliable brick kiln.
0:49:23 > 0:49:28Finally, the team have the bricks they need to rebuild the forge chimney.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35Ruth's continuing her Christmas preparations.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40The sweets have hardened, and historian Peter Kimpton
0:49:40 > 0:49:44is going to help her ensure the festivities go with a bang.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Hello! Oh, hello! You must be Peter, the Christmas cracker chap.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55- Yes, hello. Pleased to meet you. - Hello. Well, come on in. - Thanks very much.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Shall I move some of these lovely, sweeties out of the way?
0:49:58 > 0:50:04So we've got these pieces of crepe paper here. You need to put the longer piece on the inside.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06Why do I need two bits?
0:50:06 > 0:50:09- That's the way the Victorians used to do it.- It's always two layers?
0:50:09 > 0:50:13Yes, and the inner layer they tended to call the petticoat,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17just as a lady's petticoat goes under her dress.
0:50:17 > 0:50:24Crackers were dreamt up in 1847 by an entrepreneurial confectioner called Tom Smith.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29Taking the shape of a French bon-bon, he placed sweets inside
0:50:29 > 0:50:34cardboard tubes and wrapped them as a festive surprise.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38- Okey-doke. Now is it rolling-up time? - Right.
0:50:38 > 0:50:43But his first designs failed to make an impression.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47What he needed was a spark of inspiration.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52The traditional story is he was sitting in front of the fire one day
0:50:52 > 0:50:56and one of the logs gave off a pop,
0:50:56 > 0:51:02and it was the eureka moment. He thought, "Ah, if I could have a pop in my crackers..."
0:51:02 > 0:51:03- Everybody would buy them!- Exactly.
0:51:03 > 0:51:10And there are a number of people along the way who claimed to have invented what we call "the snap".
0:51:10 > 0:51:15These snaps were actually known about, believe it or not, in 1813.
0:51:15 > 0:51:20Adding the snap perfected the Christmas cracker.
0:51:20 > 0:51:27In about 1861, he launched it on the market and he called it Bangs Of Expectation.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29Bangs Of Expectation!
0:51:31 > 0:51:34I mean, if you look in his 1891 catalogue...
0:51:34 > 0:51:40Look at that giant cracker there. "An immense cracker, two feet, three inches long."
0:51:40 > 0:51:43- It's a very, very commercial thing, this, isn't it?- Yes.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Bought decorations, bought sweets, bought crackers.
0:51:47 > 0:51:54They were very good at responding to what was going on at a given time.
0:51:54 > 0:51:58I tell you what was a good one they used to do. They used to do crackers for spinsters,
0:51:58 > 0:52:03crackers for bachelors and crackers for married couples.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07And in the spinsters', they used to have things like faded flowers...
0:52:07 > 0:52:09Oh, no!
0:52:09 > 0:52:12- False teeth.- Oh, that's really mean.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16- A wedding ring.- Oh, how horrid.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18That's really mean, that is.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21That's horrid, horrid, horrid, horrid.
0:52:22 > 0:52:29The Christmas celebrations are fast approaching, and time's running out to complete the forge.
0:52:30 > 0:52:36So armed with their Victorian bricks the team crack on with the chimney.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42- Do you want to lay the first brick? - Into this corner here?
0:52:42 > 0:52:48- Yeah, and square with the board. - First brick laid.- Second brick laid.
0:52:48 > 0:52:49They're going up quickly.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55Yes, a lot quicker than they did, than it was to make them.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00This takes me back to my childhood, this does.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03- Was your father a blacksmith? - No, no. I used to play with Lego.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06It was lots of bricks.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07I was good.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13- Oh, fantastic. - Yeah, do you want to come in?
0:53:13 > 0:53:18- Yeah, let's have a look.- Four days later, the chimney's complete.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20It's such a simple building material.
0:53:20 > 0:53:25- I didn't realise how much effort went into making bricks. - It's really lovely and smooth.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27It really is.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29That's a cracking job.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34Hopefully, this will just draw all the smoke up and...and, um,
0:53:34 > 0:53:36yeah, we'll have a working forge.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38Yeah, I'm really impressed, mate.
0:53:38 > 0:53:44- They've got a fireplace, but to work iron, they'll need the bellows. - What do you think, Peter?
0:53:44 > 0:53:47Spin it here.
0:53:47 > 0:53:48Pop it down.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51Right. There we are. That's good.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00- Shall we give it the candle test? - Yeah, give it the candle test.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04- Let's see if it blows it out. - Have a pump.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07Look at that!
0:54:07 > 0:54:11Time to add the finishing touches.
0:54:14 > 0:54:20Blacksmiths' forges had solid clay rather than stone floors.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25Clay deadened the sound of beating metal and it wouldn't be damaged by dropped tools.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30- Brilliant.- A bucket of lime next, a bucket of lime.
0:54:30 > 0:54:36Gravel and lime added to the clay's resilience,
0:54:36 > 0:54:40and the Victorians congealed it with a special ingredient -
0:54:40 > 0:54:42bull's blood.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53It just mixes nicely.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56Probably the same way they crush grapes for bull's blood wine or...
0:54:58 > 0:55:02Taurus Diablo or something.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04- What are you going on about? - I have no idea.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12Just make sure I don't fall over.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14That wouldn't be nice.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24All right, Peter? How's it going?
0:55:24 > 0:55:27It's going well, but it's hard work.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29Looks like a mug's game to me.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34- I think we should show him how it's done.- I think so. I think we have a cunning plan here.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36They involve clogs,
0:55:36 > 0:55:41- dancing and some ale.- Yeah. - Get your clogs on, then, Peter.
0:55:41 > 0:55:47Clog dancing was a common Victorian method to beat down clay floors.
0:55:48 > 0:55:53Wooden-soled clogs were the steel toe-capped boots of the age.
0:55:53 > 0:55:59Mill workers would stamp their clogs to the rhythm of the weaving machines to keep warm.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01Clog dancing was born.
0:56:03 > 0:56:04Stomp it down!
0:56:10 > 0:56:14Phil Howard is an expert in the history of clog dancing.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18So have you ever come across clogs being used to stamp down a floor?
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Oh, it's a variation on a theme because every single
0:56:21 > 0:56:25canal around the country was done with tamped clay.
0:56:25 > 0:56:31They used to sort of walk up and down and stamp it down and use a spade and such like.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34And then Capability Brown actually used a herd of cows,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38which is pretty much similar, and, of course, this is too small.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41So I think this is pretty similar to a herd of cows...
0:56:41 > 0:56:43I think some of our dancing is a bit like a herd of cows.
0:56:46 > 0:56:47Come on! Hurry up, Peter!
0:56:47 > 0:56:50- Into the middle in fours!- Oh!
0:57:06 > 0:57:11- Oh, can we...? Would anybody like a drink, something to eat? - ALL: Yes, please! Yes, please!
0:57:11 > 0:57:14I've got some bread, cheese and butter.
0:57:14 > 0:57:20- There's your name up there, and yours.- Oh, Peter!- Isn't that nice!
0:57:20 > 0:57:25- I'm glad you put my name first. - Well...
0:57:25 > 0:57:29Well, here's a toast to the forge and all who helped build it.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32- Thank you very much.- ALL: Cheers!
0:57:32 > 0:57:36After six weeks of back-breaking work,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40the forge is restored to its Victorian glory.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45Next time on Victorian Farm,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48it's Christmas with gifts,
0:57:48 > 0:57:54trees, Christmas cards and last-minute shopping.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57This is real nose-pressed-against-the-glass thing.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00But first, they must learn the skills of the blacksmith...
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Slaving over a very, very hot fire.
0:58:03 > 0:58:08..before putting on a feast for the entire estate.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17Inject some Victorian magic into your Christmas
0:58:17 > 0:58:21as Alex, Peter and Ruth show you how to make gifts, food, decorations
0:58:21 > 0:58:25and more. Go to -
0:58:40 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:44 > 0:58:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk