Do you have an Ag Lab in your tree? TV programme

[Billy Anderson]

The program will find it,s way to Australia next year, hopefully.
My 3x Great grandfather was a Farm Servent when he married in 1862 .
Billy

[Abiam2]

Very interesting especially if like me the majority of your ancestors were Agricultural Labourers.  I noticed there were no children included maybe there will be during the series.

 My Grandfather was a plough boy aged 12 surely that couldn't have meant he was actually using the plough?  That was in 1870 and he escaped into the army in 1875 and then off to the Zulu war.  I don't imagine either to have been much of a life!
Abiam

[kerryb]

The soil on the ploughed field on the programme was described as quite crumbly.  My OH and I compared that to the thick claggy clay we get in Sussex and imagined 11 miles a day walking up and down a field of that! 

Apart from the fact that by the time you have finished you would be about 3 feet taller from all the clay stuck to your boots imagine how hard that must have been on the legs even for a fit person, and I don't imagine they were that fit in those days.  Horrible!

Kerry

[mike175]

Three horse land they used to call it, since it was so tough you needed 3 to pull a plough instead of the usual 2.

Can't imagine drilling crops in the rain on our Essex clay, either . . . the whole outfit would have been one huge ball of clay in minutes.

The people were certainly a good deal fitter than most of us today . . . but I think many more were worn out, bent and crippled in later years 

Mike.

[nanny jan]

One of my Suffolk Ag Labs died at 83............of "old age"    All that fresh air, exercise and home produced food 

Nanny Jan

[kerryb]

Well that side of it does sound quite good but it was the arthritis, sprained muscles, bad backs  and all the rest of it that doesn't sound quite so good.

Mind you when I looked at my city v rural ancestors without fail the rural ones lived longer than those living in the city.

Kerry

[Roobarb]

I missed it so will make a point of watching it tomorrow, sounds good. 

[royd]

Caught it tonight.  Compulsive viewing for those of us with Ag.Labs all over the place! What a hard life!
It's now a 'must watch' in this house.

[Roobarb]

I made a point of watching it tonight too. Excellent! Entertaining and educational at the same time. I didn't know about the troubles when they introduced threshing machines, I suppose we've just got used to people being laid off due to auutomation.