John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series were generally very well done, and very entertaining. This is certainly one of the strangest of them. some of the reviewers were skeptical about some of the details. One wondered how a "thatch roof" could last 40 years without maintenance. Well, the cottage shown in the film of course was probably not the real one, and in any event the one shown has a SLATE roof, which could easily last 40 years without repairs. What some people take for thatch only covers an irregular part of the roof and is probably really leaves which have accumulated over time. As far as plumbing and electricity, it is likely that the cottage had no electricity,since it hadn't been changed since 1901, and MANY people in 1901(and much later) still relied on gas. Being England, plumbing was probably minimal, especially in a rural area. Very likely an outhouse instead of a toilet. As far as "how she paid for the food"all those years, it is likely that when people realized the condition she was in, she received it via charity, probably from the parish. Of course Nesbitt didn't want to bog down the story by going into all of these details. But he is definite in stating that it was basic on actual case records, so apparently it is a true story.