Iron Age reality show proved family's mettle

Well, Lindsay Ainsworth became a yoga teacher. But she finds her experiences living in a mud hut in 300BC are still a talking point.

In 1977 the Ainsworth family from Ashley, near Market Drayton, took part in a television experiment in which 12 adults and the three Ainsworth children lived for a year as people from the Iron Age.

In what was arguably the world's first television reality show, they were cut off from the outside world in their recreated Iron Age settlement at a secret location on the Dorset/Wiltshire border. The programme was called Living In The Past and was broadcast the following year on BBC2.

"It's strange how people do remember it, even people I don't know," says Lindsay, who lives these days in Nantwich and is now 73.

"It was an unusual thing to do. I was really interested in it because of the children. I thought it would be good for the children at the time."

And was it?

"It may have been a double-edged sword. I think it was very good for them having that sort of freedom, living like that and getting away from just thinking about acquiring things, material things.

"They weren't allowed any toys or books or anything even on the training year before. We weren't allowed 20th century things. On the training year the youngest child was very young and we weren't allowed nappies or toothpaste."

In the event the Ainsworths – Peter and Lindsay, and children Peter junior, then aged seven, five-year-old Nicholas, and Robin, three – had to rejoin the 20th century after nine months because Nicholas became ill.

While the Ainsworths left in December 1977, the others continued for the full year run. Soon after the end of filming the camp was deliberately burned down by the producer to stop it becoming an offbeat tourist attraction.

Lindsay was to feature in some of the most memorable episodes, such as the one when the pig was killed, which was tough on vegetarian Lindsay, although she was to remain a steadfast vegetarian throughout.

For another of the Iron Age couples, Peter Little and Jill Grainger, who at the time of the show had been living above a fish and chip shop in Stourbridge, the lifestyle clearly rubbed off on them to some extent, as they later moved to rural Shropshire, rearing and slaughtering their own animals at their smallholding at Buildwas.

Those taking part were chosen from over 1,000 volunteers and the results of the experiment were shown in a series of programmes broadcast from February 1978.

Using tools and techniques of the Iron Age they had to build the settlement themselves, make their own clothes, grow crops, and so on. Naturally there were no mod cons like running water or electricity.

In bad weather their settlement became a mudbath. After leaving their 300BC lifestyle at the end of the show some of the volunteers commented wryly that the greatest invention of the 20th century was the wellington boot.

Lindsay runs yoga classes at the Festival Drayton Centre in Market Drayton, although obviously not at the moment because of the coronavirus pandemic.

She is divorced from Peter, who has lived in the Caribbean for some years – he now lives in Montserrat.

Eldest son Peter junior, who lives in the Stoke area, married in the last year.

"He is interested in music and had a studio with some friends. He is currently working on a project making a record with a friend or couple of friends."

Nicholas – Nick – studied art and graphic design and lives in Market Drayton as does Robin, who went to Hull University and is a landscape gardener.

The couple had a daughter, Vanessa, who was born after the Iron Age experiment.

"She went to Manchester University, and studied criminology at university. She was a deputy service manager for substance abuse for Stoke-on-Trent. She is now Vanessa Kelly, and lives in Market Drayton. She has three young children."

There have been one or two "where are they now?" follow-up shows since the 1970s series catching up on the Iron Age volunteers, in one of which they returned to the site to look around, and tried unsuccessfully to find a fertility symbol which they had buried there at the end of the experiment.

"I did go back once just with my family, having a walk around. There was not much left there, of course," said Lindsay.

It is years since she has been in touch with any of the other Iron Age volunteers.

Exactly where was the site of their settlement?

After all these years Lindsay cannot pinpoint it, although Tollard Royal rings a bell as a place that was nearby.

"It was on the estate of Pitt-Rivers, who was very well known."

At the time of the show the Ainsworths lived at The Dale, Ashley.

"Then we moved to Norbury, between Whitchurch and Nantwich, and then we moved to Tyrley, near Market Drayton. We had a generator, no mains electricity, no mains water. We kept up a sort of 'good life' for quite a while."

Lindsay, who is originally from Dundee, remarried in 2003, but sadly she was widowed after her new husband died suddenly within six or seven months.

She says people still bring up the show today.

"I can't get away from it. I did do a lot of talks on it as well, to various groups, like Round Tables and so on, you name them."

She has no regrets about her Iron Age experience.

"Hopefully it's made us more resilient."