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What was the work like?

Video clips © BBC

A bugle would sound at 7am to call the pickers to work on the hop field.

Do you think people enjoyed the work? Would you like to do it?

Pickers would work from 7am to 5pm picking hops. They stopped for lunch and sometimes the children were sent to the local shops to get provisions. Other than that they spent 10 hours a day picking hops.

There were different jobs in the hop garden that needed different levels of skill.

Pickers surrounded by bines

Tallying up

What do you think these jobs involved? Which job do you think needed the most skill?

hop man on stilts The tally man

Which job would you like to do in the hop garden? Why? Imagine you are that worker. Write a diary entry describing your day.

A pocket of hops and hop dryers

Bin Man

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