Cut! Actors should learn how to scythe safely
SIR – The film of Far from the Madding Crowd, shown recently on BBC Two, was a great delight, but I shudder every time I see an actor trying to use a scythe.
The blade should slide along the ground, and never lifted in the air in a “chopping” motion, which is dangerous and does not produce the desired result of an even swath.
There are many other aspects of haymaking and harvesting-byhand that my very 19th-century farm upbringing taught me, some of which date back to medieval times. I’m sure there must be authorities – or even very old men like myself – who could put film-makers right, to the greater enjoyment of all.
Brian Slater
Ellesmere, Shropshire