(circa 1900)

At the moment our Victorian oufits are generic rather than period specific but are suitable for Victorian style fun fairs and Christmas events.

Mr Jones, the farmer, and Miss Gidney, the housekeeper and Methodist Sunday School Teacher. (Miss Gidney strongly believes children should be seen and not heard).

Mr Jones is a widower, his wife died of tuberculosis contracted from milking the cows, so he currently employs Miss Gidney to keep the house and dairy. Miss Gidney once had a sweetheart, who went to India to make his fortune with the East India Company but died of cholera. Both her parents have now died so she has to earn a living. The grim alternative is the workhouse but even that may be preferable to working for That Woman, whom Mr Jones is courting

After a hard days farm work, Mr Jones enjoys a beer in the local pub. Miss Gidney disapproves and promotes "the cup that cheers but does not inebriate".

Music is part of everyday life. Unaccompanied songs can help the day's chores go faster. In the evening, Mr Jones can also play the harmonium or the banjo, recently introduced from America. On winter's evenings he will also tell ghost stories to pass the time.

Industry is an integral aspect of even country life. The rural landscape of lower Weardale, in which we farm, also supports lead mines, stone quarriea, coal mines and iron works. Railway lines carry these products to cities and ports and also take us, and hte livestock, to market. Here we can buy mass produced goods, such as china and glass ware made in Sunderland or Tyneside.

The British Empire prospers and goods which were rare and expensive in our Grandparents' day, for example tea, sugar and cotton, are cheap and commonplace. The spiritual well being of those in our colonies is a conceern to Miss Gidney, whose Sunday School supports a Mission in Africa.

Christmas has become a very special time, since Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" about 60 years ago. We now have a Christmas tree, Christmas cards, new Christmas carols, Christmas crackers and Father Christmas. There are lots of toys to play with, that good Victorian children may have been given, and simple games to play.

Cooking for afternoon tea, Wallington Hall "Birthday for Prince Albert" event 2005.