Z1205/189

Male. Specialist native tree nurseryman. Lifelong resident in Houghton Conquest. b. 02.03.1940 SIDE A (00 mins)Has lived in Houghton Conquest all his life. Father's family has lived there since early 1800s. Mother's family moved there in 1925. Father farmed Bury Farm until mid-1940s and then moved Mill House Nursery. Maternal grandparents. (05 mins)Paternal grandparents. Grandfather was a blacksmith, wheelwright and undertaker. Move to smallholding. Grew vegetables and kept poultry. (10 mins)Remains of a windmill. After going to university, he started getting involved in the market garden. A large glasshouse was erected but gave way to plastic tunnels, because of falling maintenance. With fall in markets - no small shops, increasing supermarket control of large suppliers - horticulture needed to change and adapt. (15 mins)Got interested in trees, growing native plants from seed which he collected and treated and grew on. Bedfordshire County Council planted them on their sites. Then the Community Forest came along and some went there. Beds. C.C. tree officers started collecting seeds from old and well-established woods in the county -acorns, hawthorns. (20 mins)Seeds need various treatments; some need a warm treatment (using cabinets), others a cold treatment (using fridges), mimicking nature, to assist germination. Oak doesn't need any special treatment - you just plant them and they grow. Forestry Commission techniques. (25 mins)Overarching influence of supermarkets on the profitability of horticulture and agricultural businesses. Few see a future in farming. Contract farming and ranch farming may be the future. Wild flower re-colonisation such as bluebells. (30 mins)Primroses are hard to gather from seed. Bluebells take 4 - 5 years before they flower fully. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00mins)Volunteer contribution to the Forest of Marston Vale is outstanding. Greatly reduces the cost of planting projects. Seed collection is now an annual activity. Problems with hybridisation with foreign plants. Trees are wind pollinated and you can get intermixing. Hawthorn is insect pollinated by the beacon fly so it's not quite as widespread a problem. (05 mins)Changes in village life. Pubs used to be small and publicans had another occupation., e.g. The Royal Oak had a news agency there. Wives used to sell the mid-day beer. Agriculture much more labour-intensive with more hand work, need lots of labourers. Now few village people work in agriculture, probably a dozen. Commuting has led to villages becoming dormitory settlements. London Brick Co. and Vauxhalls used to be the other main employers for the area. Village still has a primary school. (10 mins)Village shop still. Used to be a butchers, two grocery shops, three filling stations. The church has been a shared benefice with Wilstead for 30 years. The non-conformist chapel closed in December 2002. Difficulty in maintaining ancient parish churches. Biggest change in his lifetime: more intensive and mechanised agriculture and commuting long distances. European agricultural policy will dictate what happens to agriculture in the future. (15 mins)Involved in two national projects with Conservation Foundation in London. Millenium New Project took cuttings from trees which were 2,000 years old (from time of Christ) and distributed them to over 10,000 parishes in England and Wales. Gravenhurst in Beds. had one. (20 mins)To redress impact of Dutch Elm disease which killed most elms in Britain during 1970s. a scheme enables people to buy plants which are resistant to the disease. (25 mins)A few thousands of these elms have been planted over England. (30 mins)End of Side B Original Interview 60 mins.

14 January 2003

From: 1935 To: 2003

item

London Brick Company,
Vauxhall

nursery, trees, Bury Farm Houghton Conquest, blacksmith, funerals, University, horticulture, Bedfordshire County Council, woods, seedsman, forestry worker, farms, AGRICULTURE, flowers, volunteers, Marston Vale Trust, , Houghton Conquest Royal Oak, general churches, Millennium, Dutch, windmills, HOUGHTON CONQUEST