Most of us in the UK today live in towns and cities, but you wouldn’t have to go back through too many generations to find a time when some, if not all of your family, enjoyed a more rural way of life.
It may have been as recently as the 1950s. Although they were fast disappearing, in the years following the Second World War, there were still many country folk who lived similar lives to their grandparents and great-grandparents.
Now with social media, Deliveroo, convenience foods, Airbnb and the like being part of normal life, not many of us can say that today.
We’ve had to learn new skills, such as how to use an iPad or mobile phone, but at the same time many of the old ways are being lost. Some still continue under different guises though. While smallholdings are rare, there are waiting lists for allotments and skills that provided a livelihood before mechanisation are being revived as country crafts.
Contents
Superstitions
Many country superstitions are still with us today, such as a horseshoe being nailed over a doorway to bring good luck, although horseshoes are a lot harder to come by than they once were.
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Other superstitious beliefs are less well remembered, but would have at one time offered some sort of explanation or reason as to why a particular event occurred, or a means to prevent it happening.
Most superstitions are related to wealth or health, marriage or death. Turning the coins in your pocket over on hearing the first cuckoo of the spring, would ensure prosperity for the rest of the year, and hammering a coin into the trunk of an old living tree was said to be the best way to bring luck into your home.
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Selling a hive of bees was considered bad luck. Instead your hive had to be swapped for something else, so no money changed hands. A wart could be removed by sticking a pin into it and then sticking the same pin in an ash tree while reciting a rhyme.
Walking by a graveyard? Remember to hold your breath in case you suck in a wandering spirit looking to share your physical form.
Herbal Remedies
Herbal remedies are back in vogue, but there was a time when they were the only option available. There was no calling in at your local branch of Boots, so home cultivated or wild flowers and plants were the base ingredient of widely used medicines.
Some are still common in one form or another. White mould poultices made from bread and yeast were an early variation of penicillin and a willow tree extract which was widely used to treat fever is more commonly recognised today as aspirin.
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Dill tea is said to be good for hiccups and dill is a regular ingredient in gripe water, still used to treat colic in babies. Marigolds were once commonly used to remedy skin problems. A dried marigold flower rubbed against an insect sting or bite reduces both the pain and the swelling.
Cuts and Wounds
Elder flowers have both antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties and mixed with water don’t just make a very refreshing drink. They’ve been used to relieve symptoms of a whole range of ailments from arthritis to a cold.
The flowers of hardy herbaceous perennial lady’s mantle have astringent properties which are effective on cuts and wounds. As the name suggests, it was most often used as a treatment for women.
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The nettle has long been known for it’s health benefits. The flower makes a natural anti-histamine for the relief of allergies. Apple tree bark was used to treat both fever and diarrhoea, while stewed apples have laxative effects.
As this is a dish mostly eaten today by the very young or the elderly, it seems strange that this seems to have been pretty much forgotten. Today vitamin and mineral supplements are big business, but back in the day country folk used herbs for the same purpose.
Parsley, chervil and sorrel are rich in vitamin C, and made a very welcome addition to the diet at the end of a long winter, when after surviving on preserved foods, people could begin to show scurvy like symptoms.
Growing Your Own
Whether your country dwelling was a two up two down cottage, a more spacious farmhouse or even a manor house, the garden was an important feature and would have been highly productive.
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A wide variety of fruit and vegetables were grown, with nothing going to waste. Excess produce would be turned into jams, preserves, chutneys and pickles, to provide a well stocked larder that with good household management, would last right through the winter.
Chickens were kept for eggs and would eventually end up in the pot themselves and a single pig or sometimes two was a common sight. These would be fed and fattened on kitchen scraps and vegetable waste until the time came when they had to return the favour.
Many households also had a source of honey and made drinks such as beer and cider. Garden produce wasn’t just for eating though, it was transformed into items for use in the home, such as candles, polish and soap.
Fridges
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Money was tight and if there was no local shop, there was nowhere to spend it anyway. As a consequence country folk had to be able to make what they needed themselves or simply go without.
With no fridges and freezers, perishables had to stored in a pantry or walk-in larder. This would be built into the oldest corner of the house, with a grille to allow cold air to circulate. Flies had to be kept off food, so meat was kept in a meat safe, with a mesh so fine that it stopped them getting in.
Fine mesh covers were also put over cooked food and leftovers, while cheese was stored in a covered dish, and milk and cream in jugs covered in muslin which was weighted down.
If a home had an Aga or solid fuel cooker, it meant that in the days before central heating there was at least one room which would always be warm.
On a wet day, laundry could be dried in front of it, or on a wooden rack that was suspended from the kitchen ceiling and moved up and down by ropes and pulleys.
As the Aga was never allowed to go out, it was perfect for baking and meals which needed a long cooking time, such as stews.
Daybreak and nightfall dictated working hours for many who laboured on the land and they’d be hungry when they got home, so a helping of the stew could be served straight from the pot and instantly put down on the table.
Country Crafts
Today’s country crafts are yesterday’s essential life skills. Items had to be made as there was either nowhere to buy them, or the small household budget just wouldn’t stretch.
Everything a craftsman needed he’d make. Even the lathes used to turn wood were put together from materials that could be found in the wild. The way of life meant that walking sticks weren’t just an aid for the elderly and infirm.
Countrymen used them to clear a path through nettles or brambles or to relieve some of the strain on their knees when going up or downhill.
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The demand meant there were artisans who made and sold walking sticks for a living, bending handles using damp heat. A drum of wet sand was heated and the end of a straight stick pushed into it until malleable.
Often thought of today as witch’s broomsticks, Besom brooms were also commonly made with a birch head and hazel shaft. Still available from specialist outlets now, the only thing that has changed over the years is that the head is held together with wire rather than hazel or bramble.
Picking
Baskets were an important part of everyday life, being the carrier bags and storage boxes of the time. They were used for shopping, fruit picking and transportation, and the same basketry techniques produced bird cages and eel traps.
Traditionally constructed from willow, the basket makers used long thin strips with the bark peeled off and willow trees in many areas were specifically grown for this purpose. The willow was cut during the winter months, traditionally with a sickle to trim off a handful at a time.
These long straight thin stems were known as withies and after being tied together in bundles, they were taken to a collection point where the bark was stripped off each stem individually and stored until needed. When that time did come, the dried willow had to be soaked before use to restore some flexibility.
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Wattle Hurdles
Coppiced trees produce poles of various thickness, many of which have traditionally been used for making hurdles which are lightweight fencing panels.
Wattle hurdles were mainly used for penning sheep when grazing, being dipped, sheared, or to offer protection from the elements at lambing time. They have now been replaced for these purposes by sheds and electric fences, but are still made for use as garden screens.
Gate hurdles had longer spiked poles at both ends and could be pushed into the ground – useful if a hedge was breached to stop animals escaping. They were mainly used though for temporary sheep enclosures.
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Known as folds, these enclosures were used on unfenced fields or where sheep needed to be restricted to one area of grazing. Gate hurdles were also sometimes used for penning pigs and even young bullocks at markets.
They were lightweight so that that several could be carried over the shoulder, but had to be strong enough to withstand rough treatment. They would be knocked into the ground with heavy blows and used over and over.
Better or Worse
Traditional country living meant there was always something to do, clothes needing to be washed and mended, children and animals requiring attention, tasks that could only be completed at a certain time of year and so on.
They were very different times to today, but were the old forgotten ways better or worse than the way we live now? – They’re so far apart, it’s probably impossible to say.
