John’s mother ran the village shop in Neatishead for over forty years, it was a meeting place for all the locals and farm workers. John was born in the room above the shop. Growing up above the shop My childhood was spent in Neatishead where my mother ran the village shop and my father had […]
Agriculture on the marshes
Changing times in farming (1930s-2018)
Henry is a Norfolk farmer whose ancestors came from Scotland to Norfolk. He talks about his working life and the changes which have occurred since his family arrived on the marshes. The early days: farmers move from Scotland to Norfolk How it started was predominantly my predecessors came to Norfolk and parts of Suffolk from […]
Cows, hens and holiday makers: a complete family farm (1970-2018)
David, Joanna and Margaret talk about their complete family farm, including cows, chickens and holiday lets at Wheatacre in Norfolk. David … I was born and bred at the Oaklands Farm in Aldeby; brought up on the family farm. It was a very mixed farm; we had cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys for the Christmas […]
Farmer, marshman – always animals (1960s-2017)
Marshman Paul was born on a marsh farm, where he and his twin brother were involved with the work from a very early age. He still works on the marshes. On the farm as a boy When I was boy, seven or eight years old, I used to go and help harrowing the seeds in […]
Farming the Marshes (1938-2018)
Richard comes from a family of farmers. He tells us about his life working on his farm on the marshes at Langley. I was born at Lower Farm, Carleton St Peter in 1938. I had one older and two younger sisters. My father started farming at Low Farm Ashby where he kept pigs and cattle, […]
Following the cow’s tale (1960-2018)
John was the herd manager at Billockby Farms and still works for the farm in a part-time capacity on Martham Island (Heigham Holmes) I was born in Wisbech in 1944. Father was a grocery shop manager; we lived on the edge of town, so we were town people as such. Then in 1951 father moved […]
Laughter brings life to the marshes (1930s-2017)
Bill lived and worked on the marshes in Norfolk all his life. He talks about all the jobs involved and the changes that took place during that time. I was born in Reedham in 1927 and started school at Burgh St Peter when I was about four or five, as my father worked on the […]
The doings of the Dewings – a farmer’s tale (1954-1997)
Richard has been a farmer most of his life. He moved from a small farm in Bressingham to South Walsham from where he retired in 1997. I finished university when I was twenty and then did my national service. I actually had a twenty-first birthday the week I joined. I did my two years […]
The Sugar Beet Story – from farm to factory (1944-1993)
Robert started his working life on a mixed farm in Freethorpe with arable crops (including sugar beet) and cattle. He then spent 19 years at Cantley Sugar Beet factory in a variety of roles. I was born in Halvergate and went to school from age five to 11 at Halvergate and then at Freethorpe until […]
Third generation marshland farmer with Scottish roots (1920s-2019)
Peter farms on marshland in Norfolk. Like many others, his grandfather came from Scotland in 1922 and farmed the marginally better land to be found in Norfolk. Unusually he is a commuting farmer, living in Norwich and going to his base in Norton Subcourse every day. From Scotland to Norfolk My grandfather came from Scotland, […]