1975: "Crank Peasant" JOHN SEYMOUR on SELF-SUFFICIENCY | Living on the Land | BBC Archive

Author John Seymour, a self-professed “crank peasant”, has been self-sufficient since the mid-1950s. It wasn’t deliberate - he just bought a cow, and things snowballed. But he’s still seen as a trailblazer for the self-reliance movement.
With a bit of everything on his farm - crops, pigs, hens, ponies, a horse, a herd of cows and a batch of home-made beer - he reflects on the ups and downs of his simple, if demanding, life.
Clip taken from Living on the Land: Self-Sufficiency at Fachongle Isaf, originally broadcast on BBC One, Friday 5 September, 1975.
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[@fidelcatsro6948]

Wow the man lived another 29 yrs after this interview, died at age 90!

[@andydixon2980]

I was going to guess they lived long lives. Plenty of fresh air, beer, and exercise.

[@JohnDoe-yr4wc]

Seems a good life to me.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Closest you can get to Utopia!

[@hoilst265]

His books are glorious. Helpful, but with a loving dose of romance and some fantastic illustrations.

[@jq8974]

Will check them out - thanks!

[@Jack_Warner]

I've only got one book but it is a gold mine of information.

[@xanmontes8715]

My mom gifted me her signed copy :)

[@pauldurkee4764]

Dogs looks up to you, cat's looks down at you, and pig's treat you as equals.

[@Jack_Warner]

I've got John's book Self Sufficiency. He got me into brewing my own beer and wine. Although, I don't do it now as it turned me into a professional alcoholic. Another edit: Cloudy beer is good for your digestive system. I know it's frowned upon but it will clean your guts out better than any laxative.

[@jq8974]

Wonderful. Love that they broke into a gospel song over their beer 🍺!

[@lifeafterdev]

Amazing. BBC used to be a great source of quality.

[@hoboheathen8926]

used to be , past tense.Before they wore their loyalties or lack of so blatantly.

[@griersson]

The dog's smile at the end!

[@unwaw]

Amazing 😊

[@xanmontes8715]

My great grandparents were very self-sufficient! I wish it was feasible to go back to that life.

[@patrickcleburneuczjsxpmp9558]

Why isn't it feasible? Isn't Seymour proof of the extent to which it is possible?

[@xanmontes8715]

@@patrickcleburneuczjsxpmp9558 perhaps it is, but it is costly to start where I live. Farm life is becoming a very unappealing prospect in my region, everyone wants to live in the city.

[@patrickcleburneuczjsxpmp9558]

@@xanmontes8715 Yeah, but historically people have commonly had to move to more affordable areas (e.g. moving west across America) to be able to afford land, too, and I'd guess Seymour moved to the property in this video from another area for the same reason. That's especially true when, like you say, large percentages of the population have congregated around a limited number of large cities.

[@xanmontes8715]

@@patrickcleburneuczjsxpmp9558 I suppose I could move into the farm house my great grandparents lived in but it is 250 years old and the winters are not kins.

[@ComplexMotivations]

That dog really hated that song

[@TinLeadHammer]

Small fields? I don't know what would be a large field then.

[@xanmontes8715]

Around 2 achres. According to his book :)

[@Jack_Warner]

I wonder if this film was inspired by the BBC series Survivors, which was first shown in 1975? My favourite series of all time.

[@rjjcms1]

I was a little spooked by the early episods of the first series of that as a 10-year-old then. I was thinking at first Mr Seymour was going to be Tom Good,then for a moment he reminded me of the farmer in Shaun the Sheep!

[@ekurisona663]

the wicker man was a documentary

[@NoosaHeads]

1914-2004. Born into a well-to-do family.

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

Says a mouth-beathing, burger-chomping see you enn tee.

[@anonanon7497]

@@heraldeventsandfilms5970 Why the aggression? Is it not possible you have mistaken his comment for something it isn't? I had read it as a compliment on pursuing a simple life when a much more luxurious life would have been available, rather than a class division.

[@stevenmcdermott6565]

@@anonanon7497think it was a nod to the comedy “the good life” 🤔 🤷‍♂️

[@mid-walesrover681]

We can't all be peasant farmers (there is not enough land to go round) but we could all live a simpler life, grow some veg in our gardens, waste less, fly less, make do and mend, which I think was Seymour's message.

[@patrickcleburneuczjsxpmp9558]

And there aren't enough resources for everyone to live the modern American/British life either. But for every youngish person in the US/UK/etc. that has had an experience of the lifestyle Seymour lived enough to spark a desire to live that lifestyle and has a philosophical commitment to back it up and isn't physically handicapped and isn't already a debt slave and isn't already married to someone unwilling to make the move with him, there is land for a small homestead for every such person.

[@theautumnalcyclist7629]

So this documentary should have been called Sally Seymour on Self-sufficiency

[@anonanon7497]

It may well have been, if she had written the book. Making a to-do out of nothing...

[@andydixon2980]

Would trade places with this man any day.

[@bid84]

He’s dead so probably not a fair trade

[@johncarter2741]

I like the idea. I think in 2023 in uk too much red tape

[@Vinesy68]

The dog had the right idea. Nah mate not for me that beer or singing 😅

[@b_ks]

Pooch is not a fan.

[@ObeseCaligula]

🐖

[@DaraM73]

So this film should’ve been about the wife.

[@nickhendy4301]

It says so, listen better! I reckon if she had written the book he would have been pleased, sounds more open minded and foresightful than men back then. Perhaps she was the obedient wife you imply or perhaps just happy and content. Basically the man is a talis(person) for a simpler life many people want. Very glad the short film clearly puts Sally at the heart, indirectly highlighting that even simplicity costs money to start.

[@anonanon7497]

Neither would have managed without eachother, such is the reality of the world and I'm sure they would have both said so. The modern, political, division between the two sexes is unhelpful, unnatural and only to the benefit of those at the top.

[@OlafProt]

Now it’s a lifestyle choice for hipsters that like to pretend they’ve no money, and (still) wear 2nd hand fishing smocks, whilst earning £150k a year in some niche tech job working from home 🙄 and push up the price of local housing by moving to the country from London. Sorry went down a bit of a rabbit hole there. But you get my drift.

[@swaneknoctic9555]

Couldn't have said it better, unbelievably fake people. Then if all that fails they have their posh rich parents to fall back on, but continuing (as you said) to act poor.

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

Yes. Just the usual vile bigotry seen on here, peddled by mouth-breathing r.soles.