Scenes from a village 23 - Milking the cows.(HD)

The lowing of a cow can be heard at various times throughout the day and when it's heard at one house a corresponding reply echos across the valley from one of the few remaining households where a cow is still maintained. It has a melancholic ring as if the animal itself is lamenting the decline in the number of livestock in the village.

It can still be remembered how every house would keep a cow and how it would be taken out to graze. These days, however, the cow remains in the barn and several times a day feed is brought to the animal instead. But Bara can still remember some of the songs she would sing as a child as she led the cattle to pasture, it is a style of singing that is rarely heard today.

At our end of the village there remain just four cows. And whether one is watching Bara, or Angelka or Marica at work the technique of milking has remained unchanged for centuries and it is particularly satisfying to hear the sound of warm milk splashing into a pail.

Quantities of milk vary but a few litres daily is usually sufficient for a family's needs for drinking or for making into cheese.

But one does wonder for how long the cow will be a feature in the village. Where mechanisation made the bullock redundant it is economics again that will soon make milking, like the production of wool before, a thing of the past, and with it the life of the small-scale farmer will be further eroded with the loss of yet another traditional skill.

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[MultiVerseUniVerse]

I can only imagine the taste of milk and cheese made from a hand-milked cow. It must be a treat. A pleasure to watch.

[andrewnorris2]

@MultiVerseUniVerse It is a pleasure to eat too, we buy it each week. We are planning an experiment with the apple cider that turned to vinegar, so maybe we shall have apple flavoured cheese in future.

[PassionateMistress]

Look at that frothy milk! Bara was adorable singing while milking : ) Fascinating watching the cheese being made, it really only took one day until ready to eat?

[andrewnorris2]

@PassionateMistress Absolutely, and we ate Marica's cheese the next day! Bara has become quite a personality. We were picking sweetcorn together at the weekend in her field and singing, much to the amusement of the houses around!

[ranamuhammadatif]

This is perhaps the best milking scene in hd I can find on youtube. Thanks

[ranamuhammadatif]

Love it! Can you place the complete documentary as one file for direct download or make a torrent?

[pnm1941]

AWesome again!!

[xyzllii]

Lovely evocative video

[eaglecrowowl]

I am so glad we got to see the cheese at the end, I wanted to see that! Your work brings up very mixed feelings in me, I love getting to see these things I am not privy too, yet it also evokes a deep uncomfortable longing as I am so separated from the natural world. I miss living this way. But your work is wonderful. Thank you for sharing these treasures. All life is change and transition and the best we can do is to bear witness to that which we are part.

[andrewnorris2]

@ronpolla You'd better hurry, the brandy is going fast!

[ronpolla]

@andrewnorris2 looking forward to it as long as I can get some of that brandy....and a little cheese if you insist....thank you, Andrew...wonderful film!!