Z1205/139

Male. Farmer. b. 05.09.1949 SIDE A (00 mins)Raised on a farm in Everton, east Beds. Both parent's from farming families. Farm had milking cows, corn and market gardening. Chapel-going family. Strict sabbatarian outlook - no work or play on Sundays (except milking). (05 mins)Father's family got together - 12 children - on Sundays. Present dislike of town dwellers coming to live in villages and through the local councils, changing these villages. Maternal grandfather lived to nearly 100. (10 mins)Maternal grandfather's farm. What his five younger brothers do for a living. Tasks as a child on the farm. (15 mins)Reflections on changes in farming over his life. Produces only cereal crops now. (20 mins)Crop rotation. Fears regarding the farmers of Poland and Russia producing cheaper corn and flooding the market here. (25 mins)Dislike of government / European Union policy on set-aside, leaving fields bare when half the world is starving. Village Farm now surrounded by the village. Now goes away on holiday now. When he was young it was all work. Perhaps he will get out of farming when he is 60 and do something else. (30 mins)The joys of farming - seeing crops grow and the changes in the countryside throughout the seasons. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Reflections on "Mother Nature". Pride in being British during Queen's Jubilee celebrations. (05 mins)Opinions on Forest of Marston Vale project. Hopes it will continue to be managed properly and not allowed to grow wild. (08 mins)End of Side B END OF INTERVIEW. Original Interview 40 mins

6 June 2002

From: 1945 To: 2002

item

farmer, dairy, market gardener, Methodist chapels, CHILDREN, village halls, markets, jubilees, trees, Marston Vale Trust, EVERTON, Poland, Russia