Edwardian Farm

June 1 Season 10 Episode

It's June, and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and historian Ruth Goodman head to Dartmoor to discover the ways in which Edwardian farmers took advantage of this unique and spectacular landscape to add to their income. The team follows a flock of sheep up on to Dartmoor, a traditional location for summer grazing. Alex and Peter get to grips with shearing, while Ruth takes the fleeces off to a wool mill to find out how it was processed and manufactured. Dartmoor was already becoming a tourist attraction, popularized by Edwardian celebrities such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who made it the setting for his Sherlock Holmes crime thriller The Hound of the Baskervilles. There's a visit from Rupert Acton - the team's land agent during their previous Victorian Farm adventure - who arrives with his family in a vintage Rolls Royce. The team have a picnic with them before exploring using historic maps that enable them to follow an authentic Edwardian hiking trail.