Back in Time for Tea. What can be learnt by stepping into the past?
Sarah Allen • May 8, 2018
In the recent BBC series the Ellis family swapped their modern life to recreate the past. Starting in 1918 and moving forward throughout the century they experienced what it was like for an ordinary family, in the North of England to work, eat and relax.
I asked Lesley Ellis, star of Back in time for Tea, about plastic-free living, gender roles and the changing face of childhood.
The series starts before plastic was widely used, how did you find plastic-free living?
As a family in modern day, we try to limit our use of plastic but it’s just so difficult, as you’ll know. The great thing about the early eras was that there was no plastic packaging. Meat, dripping, butter etc. was wrapped in grease-proof paper, milk in recycled glass bottles and nothing was prepackaged. Even the rabbit came in its own fur covering!
There was very little food waste throughout.
How did you feel about the rigid gender roles?
I was prepared for it and largely unsurprised. Jon and I have fairly traditional roles in present day in that I do the cooking and he does DIY and puts the bins out. The rest we share according to who has the most time. My girls, however, found it extremely difficult to cope with the fact that Harvey didn’t have to help make tea, or do any household chores.
I think the most difficult time for me was the 1960’s. The role of a wife/mother didn't change whilst everyone else moved on so I found myself stuck at home constantly whilst Jon worked and socialised outside the home. Thankfully it became socially acceptable for young women, like my girls, to go out and have fun but it did mean that I had a lot less help around the house.
When you had more packaged/convenience food did you consider that a good or bad change to life?
For me personally it was definitely not progress. We rarely eat processed food in current day because we are conscious of health and nutrition. However negatively I view it, I was able to see, for the first time, just how empowering it must have felt for women not to be spending hours in the kitchen preparing food. Considering that most working class women worked, it must have been such a relief when technology meant you could pull something out of the freezer and throw it it in the oven.
What did you notice about childhood during the different eras?
During the early eras, the girls were expected to work both in full time jobs and around the house. All their money went towards food and rent. Consequently, their childhood was cut short. Conversely, Harvey at 13 had lots of freedom to play, more so than in current day. As there was very little to occupy him around the home, he spent all summer hanging around outside, paying marbles, football, go-carting, cycling etc.
Has being part of the series changed anything about your present day life? Are there any lessons we should be learning from the past?
Has being part of the series changed anything about your present day life? Are there any lessons we should be learning from the past?
Lessons to learn from the past are that nostalgia is lovely but not a clear and accurate record by which to compare current day. Life has improved in almost every way, regardless of what our flawed recollection tells us.
Secondly, we learned that we have a tendency to look at the political landscape and think that it’s scary and chaotic. However, it has always felt that way.
Thirdly, we were shocked at the size of the impact of social and political policy on the working classes. It could make or break a family.
Lesley Ellis set up The Happy Body Collective, a Facebook group to provide support and accountability for people making lifestyle changes for the benefit of health. It draws from Dr Rangan Chattergee’s book, The Four Pillars. Lesley loves being in nature and believes we are all responsible for making the world better through compassion and kindness towards ourselves, each other and the planet. She loves cooking and experimenting with food to create ethically sourced healthy meals from scratch. Lesley is a newly minted campervan owner and a member of the highest, all female, badass cycling club in England.
My shoulders ache; my body is tired. The smallest of tasks feel mammoth. My body craves rest but my mind has different ideas. It wants me to think, work out what to do, problem-solve and worry. I fight to quieten it but the truth is I haven't enough energy. I haven't even enough energy to put on a load of washing in the machine but my kids need clean school shirts. I haven't enough energy to make packed lunches but my kids need to eat. I check what homework they have got, lay the table for dinner, load the dishwasher, make sure the guinea-pigs are fed. My husband, thankfully, makes dinner otherwise I don't know how we would eat. The entire day is like walking through treacle. I cry in sheer exhaustion. The bare minimum is too much. Then I repeat this day after day, year after year. This is surviving, getting through each moment, each day, each year until many have passed and I can no longer remember how living truly feels. How it felt to have cancer-related fatigue and cancer-related PTSD. Thankfully, I don't have many days like this any more, though I can have a run of them during times of stress, when menstruating and after socialising (I'm still not used to it and find it very tiring). The cancer-related fatigue has gone but my energy levels are still a lot lower than they were before my cancer diagnosis and I'm impacted by PTSD on an, almost, daily basis. This has lessened and is becoming more manageable but is triggered by stress and tiredness. You can see the cycle I can get trapped in here. I'm sharing this during Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness of the long-term impacts of being someone who has had cancer. Also, please check your breasts /chest. It's tough living with the impacts, mostly mental and emotional now, of cancer but I'm, of course, very grateful to be here. Early detection of cancer means outcomes are likely to be better. I found my breast cancer by chance whilst washing . Don't leave it to chance, check today and make it a monthly routine.
In a world of car-dominating towns and cities, what happens if people, plants and animals are put first?
I'm eating it, crunching it between my teeth. It's on my coffee cup, it's in my hair and my eyes. My phone has a sprinkle of it's grittiness and so has my coat! It's covering the road and is continuing to swirl across from the beach, Coating my camper van, no doubt! The beach has been flattened. It looks smooth and new. Footprints covered as soon as they are made. A few brave walkers head into the wind, hoods up and heads bowed, Walking with determination. Nature is powerful and strong in all her wildness.
I'm going to share a little about my garden, in case you are interested and so you might be able to support me in rewilding it and making it more nature friendly. The back garden is mostly lawn. We need to keep it that way as half of it is used for the guinea-pig run, rotating it every few days. This half has currently got lots of lesser celandine, which are good for pollinators. The plant mostly dies off by the time its warm enough for the guinea-pigs to be outside. I have to pull up any remaining plants and anything else that is toxic for them to eat. The other half is wilder and left uncut. A greater variety of plants grow including daisies and ragwort. We keep it as lawn so a tent can be put up for the kids. I also like to put a blanket down and sit on it (once it's drier). Around the edges of the lawn is left fairly wild but we also grow strawberries. The strawberry patch was used by hedgehogs last year to forage for invertebrates, I should think because it was unweeded it provided a lot more for them. Though, I may have to weed it a bit this year to allow the strawberry plants to grow. The front garden was block paved by previous owners. I've got pots growing food and some with flowers. I'd like to increase the amount of food I grow in this area. I use the front garden for this as it has lots of sunshine. I'd also like to increase the plants for pollinators and have bees and butterflies constantly flying from flower to flower. That's me, how about you? What's your garden like? Extract from the Changemaker membership which I run from my Patreon page (there's also a private FB group). We are starting our new focus: Rewilding our gardens and incorporating rest as we move into the, often, busier seasons of spring and summer. It's a form of gentle activism within a supportive community and you're invited! Join for 7 days (it's free!), a month, all spring or more. Any questions? Just ask.
This was a pilgrimage I took last year at Imbolc. I found using the energy of the rising spring was the right time to think about the new year and to let go of some of the things that were no longer serving me.
