Granny Spear

Granny Spear was born in a small cottage in Devon, Southern England in 1925. Married to farm labourer Ernest, she raised her family in the heart of the countryside without any of the amenities we rely on today. Using skills passed down from her mother, who had learned those same skills from her mother, she not only survived but positively thrived living a self-sufficient, off grid lifestyle. Outliving her husband, one of her children and two of her grandchildren she stayed in the cottage until 2003 when a serious fall saw her hospitalized. She now lives with her daughter just four miles from her old home. For her 89th birthday her grandchildren and great grandchildren brought her an iPad, which she instantly rejected until they showed her Angry Birds...After much persuasion she has agreed to share some of her knowledge with us about what she calls the 'old days'

It was always made in a heavy metal pan with a close fitting lid, a portion of the last batch would be the starter for the next. I would heat the pan by standing it at the back of the range, not letting it get too hot, so I could still pick it up without a cloth on my hands. #ReadyNutrition

Making Fermented Milk…You Might Call it Yoghurt

It was always made in a heavy metal pan with a close fitting lid, a portion of the last batch would be the starter for the next. I would heat the pan by standing it at the back of the range, not letting it get too hot, so I could still pick it up without a cloth on my hands.

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Knowle Cottage

When they were tiny it was easier, they would all get dumped in, washed and dried in the parlour in front of the range. When they got older and developed sensibilities they bathed in the scullery.

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