The world was at the beginning of a new era, the era of machinery and scientific discovery. Values and conditions of life were changing everywhere. Even to simple country people the change was apparent . But side by side with these changes, the old country civilization lingered. Traditions and customs which had lasted for centuries did not die out in a moment.' - Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson. The Real Lark Rise to Candleford demonstrates how deeply the labouring classes in rural areas were affected in their ordinary lives by the great changes taking place around them. Pamela Horn provides an insight into what life was really like for the rural community in the Victorian era, for the real inhabitants of places like Lark Rise: small dwellings crowded with mouths that needed feeding; long working days and low earnings; the trials and tribulations facing the young, the sick and the elderly. But they had open space and this was the life they knew.
