In the time that the story of The Seal Children is set life would have been very different to the life we now live. In many ways the world was much quieter.

There were no cars, no aeroplanes. Journeys took a long time.

There was no electricity and a working day would begin when the sun came up and end when it sank down into the sea.

Most of the people worked the land or fished, mended nets and made lobster pots by weaving willow.

Most people kept a few hens for eggs and meat and grew vegetables. They would have had pigs, you can still see where he walls of small animal pens remain, and these would have been fed on household waste and been killed and shared among the people. The shops were a long way away and money was scarce.

Families were often big, with several children sharing the same bed. The doctor was a long way away and expensive, and children often died young.

There were schools, but it would have been unlikely that these poor people would have sent their children to school, although there were teachers who moved from village to village and children would walk to where the teachers were. Few could write, but in Wales there has always been a strong tradition of poetry and song and storytelling.

 

 

 

 

 

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