How We Used To Live

For a taste of life over a hundred years ago, Pat Coulter travels to a living museum in Devon.

WE’RE trotting off to deepest Devon to turn the clock back. Along the way we’ll be saying hello to a VIP – that’s a Very Important Pony – and his super-sized equine pal.

The duo featured in the BBC’s hugely popular living history series “Edwardian Farm”, set in and around Morwellham Quay, alongside the scenic River Tamar.

Programme makers chose Morwellham for its authenticity, providing the ideal location for their sequel to “Victorian Farm”.

It’s where the now-familiar trio of historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn intrepidly spent an entire year, faithfully re-enacting the ingenuity, perseverance and self-sufficiency required to live off the land, subsisting as many of our forebears would once have done.

Millions of us enjoyed following their exploits. From our cosy living-rooms we watched them enduring hardships and overcoming the challenge of coping without the modern-day comforts we take for granted.

Running water didn’t come conveniently from a tap and electricity was unheard of in these remote rural communities, even in Edwardian times.

Only the gentry were beginning to benefit from the light-bulb moment.

The fascinating living history visitor attraction at Morwellham has much to offer. It’s home to a historic port, a characterful village, with all the old trades and crafts associated with its smooth running, and a copper mine that educationally transports all comers back to a bygone era.

So significant was Morwellham in its day, it has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It means this secluded stretch of the Tamar Valley with its historic buildings is now considered as important as the Taj Mahal and Grand Canyon.