Secrets of the Castle with Ruth, Peter & Tom - BBC2
Discussion
I've just finished watching the first episode, not something I'd usually even consider watching if I'm honest, but I couldn't find the remote and after five minutes I was hooked!
A 25 year project in France to build a Medieval Castle using only the natural resources and tools available at the time.
The engineering is phenomenal. Some puts modern technology to shame. The skills of the craftsmen are amazing. I can not explain how impressed I was.
A very simply put together documentary that covers every day life from the Stone Masons to the women 'at home'.
In the space of ten minutes I learnt how the term 'Pot Hole' came about - literally digging the clay from the roadside to make a pot, leaving behind a hole in which cart wheels would become stuck. 'The Daily Grind' - a few hours a
day it took to grind the Grain. 'Perfect Pitch' - the noise the stone makes when being cut to the correct pitch/angle.
Ruth, Peter and Tom will be living and working on this project for the next six months. They're brilliant! Ruth's exuberance and excitement was abound. And the teasing between Peter and Tom is mildly humorous at times.
Definitely worth a watch for the impressive craft and engineering skills - the woodworker cutting perfect planks without a saw was beautiful.
I've recorded this for my kids to watch. An absolutely fantastic all round educational tool in my opinion.
A 25 year project in France to build a Medieval Castle using only the natural resources and tools available at the time.
The engineering is phenomenal. Some puts modern technology to shame. The skills of the craftsmen are amazing. I can not explain how impressed I was.
A very simply put together documentary that covers every day life from the Stone Masons to the women 'at home'.
In the space of ten minutes I learnt how the term 'Pot Hole' came about - literally digging the clay from the roadside to make a pot, leaving behind a hole in which cart wheels would become stuck. 'The Daily Grind' - a few hours a
day it took to grind the Grain. 'Perfect Pitch' - the noise the stone makes when being cut to the correct pitch/angle.
Ruth, Peter and Tom will be living and working on this project for the next six months. They're brilliant! Ruth's exuberance and excitement was abound. And the teasing between Peter and Tom is mildly humorous at times.
Definitely worth a watch for the impressive craft and engineering skills - the woodworker cutting perfect planks without a saw was beautiful.
I've recorded this for my kids to watch. An absolutely fantastic all round educational tool in my opinion.
Edited by Gretchen on Tuesday 18th November 22:22
Eric Mc said:
I ended up watching this unexpectedly as well. Fascinating stuff - how to build a major structure with no architectural plans and basic but effective geometry and engineering skills.
Great stuff.
...that have lasted 800 years! Great stuff.
Wiki link http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guédelon_Castl...
And the project home page http://www.guedelon.fr/en/
Taped it. Castles are superb and if that sounds simplistic, I spend a lot of time crawling over them when I get the chance. What they stood for [apart from hundreds of years etc etc) is a whole subject in itself. And how do you take a castle? Pretend to be carpenters, sod the full blown siege (Conwy Castle).
Looking forward to this series.
Looking forward to this series.
snuffy said:
How come they were using modern slings ?
And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
When they raised the lintel? I paused that and was trying to fathom out if it was modern or woven cloth. And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
I believe Barry Took to be expecting some strongly worded inked parchment soon.
Watched this. Anticipated a good program and it delivered.
In a slightly different way than before - scope of project far greater than has been done before and out of their control.
I was scared for them using lime without any PPE. I know, I know safety elf and all that but one splash in the eye can be very nasty. When I've even got a splash on my skin I've had trouble!
regards,
Jet
In a slightly different way than before - scope of project far greater than has been done before and out of their control.
I was scared for them using lime without any PPE. I know, I know safety elf and all that but one splash in the eye can be very nasty. When I've even got a splash on my skin I've had trouble!
regards,
Jet
Gretchen said:
snuffy said:
How come they were using modern slings ?
And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
When they raised the lintel? I paused that and was trying to fathom out if it was modern or woven cloth. And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
I believe Barry Took to be expecting some strongly worded inked parchment soon.
The trowels also looked modern to me as well.
And I think the spoons they were using at the end were plastic, but I can't be sure.
Barry Took might has some trouble with a parchment since he's been dead for 12 years !
snuffy said:
How come they were using modern slings ?
And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
I think they were using modern gear where it didn't compromise the 'mediaeviality' of it. That lintel probably weighed a few hundred kilos. I noticed what looked like safety shoes as well at one point.And also the narrator said they were marking out a circle using a compass. Wrong, they were using a pair of compasses.
Good programme.
Halmyre said:
I think they were using modern gear where it didn't compromise the 'mediaeviality' of it. That lintel probably weighed a few hundred kilos. I noticed what looked like safety shoes as well at one point.
Good programme.
I thought they had safety shoes on as well.Good programme.
If the idea is to build it like it was done in 1300s (I think that's the period) then it should be exactly that. They should not be picking and choosing, otherwise it's half-arsed. Do it properly or not at all.
snuffy said:
Halmyre said:
I think they were using modern gear where it didn't compromise the 'mediaeviality' of it. That lintel probably weighed a few hundred kilos. I noticed what looked like safety shoes as well at one point.
Good programme.
I thought they had safety shoes on as well.Good programme.
If the idea is to build it like it was done in 1300s (I think that's the period) then it should be exactly that. They should not be picking and choosing, otherwise it's half-arsed. Do it properly or not at all.
On another note, the grading of stone as 'piff, paff and poof' was highly entertaining. The presenters seemed to take great delight in pointing out the 'poof' in particular.
It just shows how well developed engineering had become 1,000 years ago. The main difference between then and today was the massive reliance on stone, sand and wood. Metals were of course being used but they were expensive and, in many cases, not as robust or as hard wearing as stone etc.
In some respects, it was still in effect a "Stone Age".
I was impressed with what I was seeing.
In some respects, it was still in effect a "Stone Age".
I was impressed with what I was seeing.
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