Monty Halls’ Great Escape is all over? What will we do now?
So every Sunday night for a while now, we’ve been glued to BBC2 at 9pm for Monty Halls’ Great Escape. I’m not sure if you’ve seen it, but for us it’s been the best television we’ve seen in ages (and you know I’m not really one for watching the box). If you don’t know Monty Halls, he’s better known as a Marine Biologist and is usually seen in a mask and flippers at the bottom of the ocean somewhere filming huge sea creatures. This, then, was a bit of a departure from the norm.
Monty (and his incredibly loveable but stupid German Shepherd, Reuben) set himself a challenge to live as a crofter for six months on the west coast of Scotland in an old bothy. Basically, he started from scratch and with the help of the locals slowly renovated the place to make it liveable (installing a one-man wind turbine, amongst other things), planting his own crops, and rearing (and butchering) his own sheep, chickens and pigs, including ‘old bag’ Doris, who was spit roasted on the last programme. We were just glued to the screen the whole time. Not least because of his amazing encounters with a giant basking shark, local otters and a stunning Pine Marten amongst others, but I think maybe because in a much smaller way, this was what we intended to do when we moved to Cavan, and I still have a yearning for chickens and pigs, a slower pace of life and a yen towards self sufficiency.
After weeks of searching for the perfect old farmhouse to do up, with outbuildings for all our animals, we ended up in a new build with a scant acre and, well, you know the story from there. But still, one of these days I’d love to ‘do a Monty’ and go back to a simpler way of life. What about you? Would you escape from the rat race and ‘knit your own yoghurt’?
No, I’d cheerfully lead a life of subsistence farming, not sure the rest of my family would be overly keen to follow me down that route though.
We NEARLY went to Shetland, not to be self-sufficient but to live in a wild and beautiful place. Changed our minds, sometimes I have a BIG pang!
We do a lot of veg growing here in Kerry, and I have been considering hens, but no way could I do pigs – Poor Doris. No, not for me, I’m afraid,
Growup: I thought of you when it was on. I think you can watch reruns on the BBC2 website or somewhere. You should give it a go, it was fantastic.
Mary: Wow, living in Shetland sounds amazing – and wouldn’t you just love to live by the sea? I can understand the pang x
Hi Emer! Yes I think we missed the first episode too. I’m hoping and praying it comes out on DVD. I reckon Monty secretly enjoyed roasting Doris because she was always biting him!! And I’m working on Hubby re the hens. Let me know if you get any.
I want to spend my days being a dietitian and earning enough money to buy food and fuel rather than toiling on the land, which, to be frank I wouldn’t be very good at. But someone’s got to grow my food, so you go for it!
I’m a city chick from Holland that moved to the middle of nowhere in Wicklow (you think Wicklow IS the middle of nowhere? Wait till you see where I live) las year. Boyfriend is big into bein self-sufficient and organic. So we have a big veg garden and some chickens walking around the orchard. Never thought I’d live a life like this, but loving every minute of it.
Come up one day, when you’re in the area.
I don’t know if I could be totally cut off. For me also the central heating or lack thereof would be a big issue. Brrr.
Jenn: Oh yes, that definitely counts. I think I could cope if I had one of those lovely log burning stoves – and a warm greyhound, naturally
But have underfloor heating as well. Geothermal heating though. Of course! And a composting toilet. Maybe that’ll put you off, but even my city family and friends are used to it by now.
To DBM: There is nothing wrong with a composting toilet that a little constipation cannot cure! Besides, there was a little note that said “don’t look down”.
Wee One: I think you’d be an excellent yoghurt knitter. Oooh, but I’m with you on the shop thing…new M&S opening in Navan today…with a food section I hope….
DBM: I’m with you. I think the only way for you and I to live a more simple life would be to buy the lottery and get loads of gadgets – something wrong there!!!
Brighid: Ah, spoken like a true country girl! I think I could do it in a six month summer like Monty, but when it got chilly I’d want my radiators!!
A really inspiring self-sufficiency blog is Irish Sally Gardens based in Letrim, have you seen it?
http://www.sallygardens.typepad.com/
This couple run courses and have students and are into all aspects of self-sufficiency including making their own sausages. You could nip up the road and take a course – which, you would of course, blog about so we could live vicariously through you, OK?