Z1205/201

Male. Farmer. Marston Moretaine b. 27.08.1934 SIDE A (00 mins)Born at Beancroft Farm, Marstone. Father was tenant there from 1926 and bought the farm in 1945. He moved out in 1963 and the interviewee and family moved in. His paternal grandfather came from Warwickshire in 1890 to become Headmaster of Kempston School (Upend School) until 1934. His wife came from farming stock and their three sons became farmers and two daughters married farmers. His maternal grandfather was a farmer (or "land aggravator", as he said) at Shelton Farm. (05 mins)Local slaughterhouse at farm. He had two brothers and no sisters. (10 mins)Remembers family Christmases at his maternal grandparents' house. (15 mins)His two sons do the farming now. There used to be 7 farm workers in addition to the family. He cant he remember the first tractor in 1938, a Standard Fordson. When he was a boy, there were only about 6 cars in the village: the farmers, the parson, the baker. He remembers cattle food being delivered on old platform lorries. His father was a magistrate and councillor, Ampthill Rural District and Bedfordshire County Council, He was 0on 27 committees at one time and Chairmen of most of them. He and his brother were able to run the farm early on because of their father's outside commitments. Father died in 1982. (20 mins)After school his father gave him responsibility for the cows on the farm. He expanded from 26 to 160. He took down old buildings and built new ones. Former ownership of the farm in the early twentieth century. (25 mins)Mother managed the bookkeeping and had more of the business sense than father. The boys went to Bedford Modern School. Stepbrother served in Second World War in the Far East. Interviewee did two years National Service, by choice. (30 mins)Had lots of laughs in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Played rugby. (32 mins)End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Served at RAF Cardington. He was only living away for 13 months; he was able to live at home and travel in daily for the rest of the time. That way he could do work on the farm. He married and had two children. They had an upstairs flat at the farm. His brother moved to a farm in Suffolk. From 1987 he could do what he liked on the farm. (05 mins)He loved dairy farming. He had 160+ milking cows and 100 young cattle, through breeding. The average milk yield was 1500 gallons (per year?). His brother didn't like them having cows. They disagreed and his father sided with his brother. They got rid of the cows, which was disastrous for the farm income but the coming to he bypass save them through the money they made on the sale of land. (10 mins)Disease through poisoned food actually led to the loss of the cows. He became very depressed at this time. The cows went in 1980. The farm became totally arable, growing wheat, rape, barley and beans. (15 mins)Sees farming as a part-time job in the future, requiring another source of income to make a living. Supports foxhunting. Lives in moated farmhouse. Black mulberry tree. Recently cleared out moat and stocked with fish. (20 mins)In 1987, following the spread of Dutch elm disease, he planted 300 trees and his sons planted 1200 trees in 2002. During the anti-brickworks campaign in the 1970s, the Ministry of Agriculture approached him to some tests over a two-year period on his grassland and the silage made for the winter. Chemical tests showed that there was no trouble from fluorosis, as suspected. (25 mins)He felt that all the former clay pits should have been flooded, rather than filling them with landfill waste. The biggest change in his life has been in agriculture, from labour-intensive to mechanised. The biggest change in Marston Vale is the demise of the brick industry: 32 million bricks a week production down to 2 million. He didn't think they would ever build a new factory. He misses the old characters in the village, that there used to be. (30 mins)"To some members of the public, every farmer is a millionaire. They want to come and have a go, because it is very difficult to earn a living." (32 mins) End of Side B. Original Interview 60 mins.

7 February 2003

From: 1930 To: 2003

item

London Brick Company,
Hanson Brick Limited

farmer, tenancy, Kempston state schools, slaughterhouses, Christmas, magistrate, chairman, cattle, book keeper, Bedford Modern School, World War Two, RAF, animals, corn, fox hunting, pollution, trees, landfill, Marston Moretaine Beancroft Farm, MARSTON MORETAINE, Warwickshire, CARDINGTON