A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes (23 page)

This is not to say that an actual ‘summer’ is always guaranteed, but it is always welcome, particularly by those at Downton Abbey. When you live, as they do, in Yorkshire – a county not noted for its warm weather at any time of year – you learn to get your thrills without relying on the sunshine.

The Crawleys and families like them did not take trips in the way that we do today. Visits to relations across Europe would happen at any time of the year and the summer was often something to be enjoyed at home. Places that we think of now as fashionable summer resorts, such as the Riviera or Capri, were actually winter destinations; it was not until 1931 that the hotels in Cannes, for example, were persuaded to stay open in the summer months. Instead, the month of July meant pleasure on one’s own estate, playing gentle sports – croquet, tennis, cricket … There might be picnics, although Violet finds it rather extraordinary that a lady of her position is expected to attend such events – in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries these were the sort of occasions that were considered the pastime of a shepherd or farm labourer – but they had begun to be fashionable in the 1920s. If members of the upper class did have picnics, they were still prepared by the cook and served by a footman. An aristocratic unmarried man and woman would not have a jolly picnic together in the park.

All the year round, the servants lived a simple life of mainly work and little play. Reflecting this, their one private space, their bedroom, may have had one or two personal touches, but would otherwise have been as it was found when they first arrived – a bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, perhaps a marble washstand with a jug and basin. There might have been one or two pictures hanging on the walls, usually of a religious or nature scene. In the 1920s, perhaps one or two of the younger maids would have pulled out pictures from the new Hollywood magazines.

Harold Levinson and Madeleine Allsopp

These remote, bare rooms at the top of vast houses were a world away from the small, busy cottages that most of the servants would have grown up in. They tended to come from farming families, where there were normally several siblings and a mother who was always cooking in the kitchen and trying to keep her children in order. Coming from such homes, with their low ceilings and cramped furniture, and the family squeezed into just two or three rooms, a young person entering service and moving to a house like Downton Abbey would often have felt quite a culture shock. But they would, at least, have been used to the long hours and hard work expected of them. Servants generally got an afternoon off a week and a week’s holiday each year. Their day was not relentless from dawn to dusk – there were proper breaks for each meal – but there was little room for private occupations or interests. At least in the summer, Carson is more inclined – even if only slightly more – to give the staff a break when the fair comes to town.

For special occasions, the servants travel to Ripon to kit themselves out with a new item or two – Mrs Patmore treats herself to a new shirt from Mrs Curley’s dress shop when the grocer asks her to Thirsk fair. The fairs are a joy to watch in the show, with their merry-go-rounds and tug-of-war competitions. Fairs would have been set up by travelling companies, much as they are now, arriving at the same time each year.

Mrs Patmore and the villagers enjoy a day out at the fair.

LEMON BARLEY WATER

This was always on offer for the women after dinner and it also makes a wonderfully refreshing beverage for the summer months.

Anna and Baxter in a light-hearted moment.

Summer for the servants would have meant long hours in the fields when they were growing up; their work in the house may have been easier on the back, but there would have been a pang from one or two of them for the nostalgic pleasure of chewing a stalk of grass as they lay on the top of a hay bale as the sun set. These warmer months, too, heralded a holiday for some – a few days’ leave to allow them to get back home to see their families.

But even for the servants not going home, the summer months brought a break to their routine, as the estate got involved in traditional events, from flower shows to church bazaars and garden fêtes. There may even have been an outing or two in the offing, whether to the travelling fair when it came to the village or even the seaside.

Mixed reactions to the sack race from Cora and Carson

Local village events, such as flower shows, cricket matches and church bazaars, would often fall under the jurisdiction of the big house – partly because to have the local nobility hand out the prizes was seen as lending glamour and credence to any occasion and partly because they were able to host some of the events on their estate. The garden at Downton Abbey is considerably larger than the village green.

Hosting an event also means that Cora and Robert are unofficially elected to preside over the squabbling factions every village had. Despite her complaints, when called to organise a garden fête or church bazaar, Cora appears to enjoy the task in hand – they are a reminder of the war years, which she would never say publicly were happy years, but they were certainly a time when she had purpose, feeling both useful and busy.