For a year, five historians and archaeologists ran a Welsh farm using 17th Century methods and learned a few lessons from our ancestors about the countryside:
The BBC series Tales from the Green Valley follows historians and archaeologists as they recreate farm life from the age of the Stuarts. They wear the clothes, eat the food and use the tools, skills and technology of the 1620s.
I found Lesson 7 interesting: Dress for practicalities.
Today fashion and social convention dictate our wardrobes. While polar fleeces and high-performance tramping boots may be all the rage when going rural, the wardrobe of 400 years ago proved more comfortable. “While the crew shivered in their modern garb, we never felt the cold in just two layers — a linen shirt and woollen doublet,” says archaeologist Alex Langlands. Breeches meant no wet and muddy trouser legs, and staying covered up — rather than stripping off in the heat — prevented bites, stings, sunburn and scratches.