Blimey! Imagine if the main barn whent up…
I would love to get some photos of those crazy bundling machines too. Especially Big Bertha! I’ve tried explaining her by drawing sketches before but having photos would be awesome.
This is a good Summer Photo Mission
Harvesting Reed to thatch roofs.
I used to do this, every summer from the ages of 14 to 18.
Appart from some nutcase bringing a blank firing pistol to work and one guy bringing 3 year old fireworks it was good fun.
Infact the fire works were fun as well because they just blew holes in the floor.
Anyway this was probably one of my favorite farming jobs, 12 hour shifts (sometimes), hardly any work in the rain, free food, cider and some of the best views in Devon.
Nige worked with me back then as well which made it all the more fun. Also there was a team of polish lads that taught me how to swear like a champ in Polish. They spoke better English than most of the contankerous old farmers driving the tractors.
On one occasion, at the dinner table, the land owners wife had cooked a huge lasagna for all of the staff working that day. A couple of the old boys refused to eat anything ‘foreign’. They drove into town to get fish and chips, embarrassing the lovely lady who had cooked the vast spread.
Apart from that, i learned how to drive some awesome state of the art tractors (and some old shitty ones)
My boss was a keen inventor as well, he created these huge metal cages that allowed us to tie the reed into bundles rather than transport them on the back of a lorry, meaning many would fall off (if i was driving).
I’ll see if i can get some photos of his farming contraptions this year.
Also, it would be awesome to catch up with Mark and Conrad, two of the polish guys (one of which wanted to be a games designer and the other taught English to kids.)
Although i just found THIS ARTICLE involving the farmer i worked for. Shit.
I'm cycling from Lands End to John o'Groats fundraising for Cancer Research.
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