We are thrilled to announce the start of our new TV show which begins on Thursday August 18 at 9pm on Channel 5 – and runs for three weeks.

A Farm Through Time is three-part series that explores how farming practices have evolved since the Iron Age.

Historian Ruth Goodman and farming brothers Rob and Dave Nicholson relive what life was really like for farmers as they battled to keep Britain fed.

The first episode of A Farm Through Time is all about ‘Digging For Victory!’ and discovering what farming was like during wartime. At no time in history has farming been more important than during World War Two. When conflict broke out, Britain faced a potentially devastating food crisis as German U-boats sank hundreds of merchant ships carrying vital foodstuffs – and it was up to farmers to make sure Britain wouldn’t be starved into submission.

At the outbreak of war, farming practices were rather old-fashioned, with more than half of British farms entirely horse-powered. 

Ruth shows Rob and Dave Nicholson a game-changing piece of wartime machinery, the Fordson tractor, which helped farmers reach the government target of ploughing an extra two million acres of land in a year. Meanwhile, they also experience the hardship of rationing, spend a night in an air raid shelter and learn how the Women’s Land Army became a crucial part of the war effort.