Missing Month
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The Boy Tom – July 2011
Missing Month
A time you read this they should be a gettin near t’ the end o’harvest. I an’t a goin t’say any thing about this year’s harvest cos the young master from the Hall will b’a writin about that.
I ha bin a thinkin about the fust harvest I did ,that were about fifty five year ago, m’father wont ha me a warkin a’long a him so I got a harvest job with a little farmer up the road. Mother din’t mind me a goin there cos he were a ‘chapel’ man so I wont hear any swear wuds.
Although combines were a getitin about this farmer still used a binder. arter that started cutting a field you ha’a walk round a’pickin up the sheaves & shock um up. thas a standin the sheaves on their butt ends and little way apart and leanin the head ends agin each other so that looked like the letta V bottom way up. you put four pairs of sheaves t’gether so that looked like a tent with both ends open. that were so the wind could blow though & help dry the straw. Barley was the worst to shock up cause them old barley awns got every where and I mean every where, my hart that made you suffin scratch. When I got home at night arter shocking up barley I ha’a wash all over t’get rid on um, there wern’t no showerin in them days and the old tin bath only cum out on a Saturday night arter father had filled the copper w’water from the well & lit the fire underneath t’heat it.
Arter the barley ,oats & wheat had bin cut & shocked up the ha’a stand in the field t ripen, they recon they (the Sheaves) ha’a hear the chuch bells twice afor you could think about a cartin them t’the stack, cos if that rained they ha’a stay in the field until they dried out.
When we started a’cartin the sheaves t’the stack the farmer I were a warkin for had two harvest wagons, one were pulled by a little Allis Charmers tractor & the other by a hos, there were another boy a warkin there who were a year older than me so he driv the tractor & I got the hos. My job was to lead the hos twix the rows of shocks so the men could load the sheaves on t’the wagon, arter they had cleared the shocks each side o’the wagon and a’for I started leadin the old hos forad I ha’a shout ‘hold-gee’ that so the man on the load knew I were about t’move on, arter m’ fust day a doin that m’mother recon I kept a shoutin out hold-gee in m’sleep. When the wagon was full I ha’a lead the hos t’the stack and unload the wagon either direct on’t the stack or when that got higher on’t the elevator. You ha’a put the sheaf onta the elevator the right way round and at the right speed du the man on the stack who were a’feedin the man buildin the stack would soon start a’shoutin at yer.
Harvests ha cum a long way since then, In the 1980’s I were lucky enough to drive one o’the fust combines what cum inta the country that were fitted with a computa and were connected t’one of them saterlite things what whiss around in the sky. Harvest is a lot easier than that were fifty five year ago. Some folks say harvest ent like the good old days & we ort’a bring um back. Them folks what say that ha never had’t shock up barley all day or ha’a carry 18 stone (112kg) sacks o’wheat on their back.
I ha got t’go now cos the Missus asked me a’while ago t’get some spuds & carrots out’a the garden so she could cook um for dinner, If I don’t start a scrappin about thas likely I won’t get any dinner t’day.
Fare ye well t’gether & du you keep a’throshin.
Missing Month
By the time you read this the clocks will ha’ bin put back & that’ll be to dark to get out inta the old garden arter tea.
Duin September another day whot mean a lot t’farmers will ha’bin an gon, thas Michaelmas day.
This is the day is when farms changed hands, Harvest ha finished & most o’the land will be a lain falla so the new owner or tennent can take over & sow the next crops. When there were a lot o’smaller farms in the county that meant that arter harvest & afor Michaelmas day there were a’lot of farm sales when the live an dead stock(machinery) were sold orf. I used t’like a drawin along t’a farm auction, besides buyin suffin you met other farmers & werkers for a mardle, there used t’be a beer tent at most auctions, acors as farms ha got bigger there arn’t so not s’meny t’change hands now so there arn’t so meny auctions t’go to.
We’r lucky cos there’s an auction every week up at Watton sale yard, I draw up there most weeks t’have a look, If yer a lookin for suffin arter a while that ull tun up, I’m a lookin for suffin at the moment, I arn’t a goin t’tell you what that is,cos if I du, when that do tun up yu might be there & bid agin me.
They keep a sayin that we ha gotta recycle things more, well I recon farmers ha bin a’doin that f’years cos farm sales are a way of recyclin stuff, I remember on one farm I were a werkin on our master took over another farm & when we were a trimmin back a big hedge we found a set of harras & a rib roll what had bin put in the hedge t’stop up a gap so the cattle dint get out, we dragged the harras & roll out of the hedge und got um t’the blacksmith who tricolated them up so we could use um again on the land, now that were 45 year a’go so recyclin ent nothin new.
Durin the harvest they ha bin a cartin a lot of straw through the village, with them big bales that don’t take long t’clear a field. That used t’take a lot longer when we were a usin them little old bales, before there were machines hung on the back of balers t’drop the bales out in groups balin were a 2 man job. There were a man a drivin the tractor a pullin the baler & another bein towed on a sledge behind where the bales cum out. When I were a younun this were a job I used t’do. The sledge were several long planks o’wood bolted t’a head stock that were attached t’the baler by a chain. You ha’a stand on these planks & as the bales cum orf the back o’the baler you stacked them up & when they were 4 or 5 high you stuck a iron bar inta the ground between the planks & pushed the bales orf, you ha’a try & get the stacks o’bales in a’line acroos the field cos this made it easier when the men cum to load them onta trailers. That were a dusty old job a standin on the old sledge a tryin t’keep yar balance & movin the bales about with-out a fallin orf, acors Health & Safety wont allow that t’happin now.
Thas a good job the H & S men wern’t about when my father boss built a bale sledge t’go behind the combine. When combines fust cum about you could have a straw buncher on the back, as the threshed straw cum orf the back o’the combine that tied it inta bunches, rather than hev the bunches layin about all over the field Dad’s boss built a sledge to be towed behind the combine so a man could stack 50 -60 these bunches on the sledge, when yu ha got a full load instead of usin a metal pole t’push the bunches orf the sledge you ha’a pull a lever & the floor behind where you were a standin tipped up like a cart & the bunches slid orf & then swung back inta place so you could start a stakin the bunches again, now that were a filthy job cos you got all the dust, chaff & coulder that the combine were a chuckin out, that wernt s’bad if there were a cross wind a blowin. You ha’a look out cos if the front end of the combine got blocked cos the driver would stop & reverse the combine t’clear the blockage, you ha’a jump outa the way or the combinw would ha driv over yu.
Well I ha better be a gettin outside cos there are one or two jobs I ha got t’get dun before the old weather stop me. I like t’try & keep outside cos I can allus find suffin t’do, if that tun wet I draw inta my shud or the greenhouse cos I am a already thinkin about what I am agin t’plant next year. My old strawberries dint do to sharp this year so I am a goin t’build m’self a wooden trough on legs. I’m a goin t’fill this wi sum soil & compost & plant me strawberries in that and put um somewhere where they’l get more sun. Bein orf the ground ull make picken on um easier un all. I arnt a goin t’tell the Missus I am a goin t’build it cos she recon now I hant got any more room. I keep a tellin her there’s plenty o’room upwards.
Fare ye well t’gether & du you keep a troshin.
I don’t now what I were a runnin on about last month a talkin about them clock’s a changin at the end o’ September instead of October, The Missus recon thas du with me age, I recon age han’t got nothin t’du with it, I recon thas t’du with the weather we a gettin. Yu used t be able t’tell the time o’year by the weather yu were a gettin. Arter harvest the sun started t’lose its heat, leaves started a droppin orf the trees & nights a’started t’draw in and y’new where yu were. Derin the last few years the summer weather hant bin nothin like that, this year we had hotter weather at the end o’ September than we had durin July an August, no wunder I were a’gettin in a muck wash about the clocks a changin.
That were a job in the early 1970’s when thay put the clocks back two hours in the autumn, thay recon that wus t’make it safer for chrilden a comin home from school. Thay din’t think about them what were a workin early in the morning a trough feedin cattle in the field, I used t’go inta the field with a bag o’feed and a little old torch, as soon a the cattle heard the nuts a rattlin inta the trough they cum a runnin, I could a hear um a’commin but I could’t see um until they were a’top on me, I never got knocked over but cum clus a time or two.
Acors this is the time for Guy Fawkes, I know I ha got that right cos I asked the Missus. Cos we lived on a farm when I were a boy we din’t ha’a build a bonfire, when they were a hedge trimmin on the farm arter harvest they used t’burn the trimmins as they went but Dad used t’save one lot for us to burn on November 5th. In them days fireworks were only sold in October, my brother & I were given five shillins each (25p) t’buy our fireworks. We would bike three miles inta North Walsham and buy our fireworks, what we bought used t’ fill a shoe box, the box were a biggun cos we both had size 9 or 10 feet even then. On November 5th Dad would get the bonfire a goin with sum waste oil or derv. and we und the other children who lived at the farm would let orf our fire works, we all had a good time and no body got hurt or were a botherin about health & safety.
By the time yu read this the Missus and I should ha bin away wi’ our caravan agin, not over the water this time but down t’the other side o’London. Thas a job a’gettin there cos yu ha’a drive on them motorways, yu ha’a keep yar eyes on the road all the time cos if yu start a farming over the hedge thas likely yu’ll soon end up over the hedge an all. While we away, if we get sum decent weather, the Missus and I want t’visit some gardens t’ see the Autumn colours & t’get some ideas we can use in our garden, I know we han’t got a big garden here in Carbrooke but in the big gardens where they a usin a hundred plants yu can use five or seven in yars. Yu got t’remember that a garden is a livin thing & that were here afor we come along and that’ll be here arter we’r gone.
There’s allus plenty t’do in the garden puttin it t’bed for the winter although as I were a’sayin earlier thas a job t’now when winter will be a startin. I got on by a sivin out the leaf mould I put inta a big bag last Autumn, that ha made inta sum lovely stuff. I am a fillin the big bag agin wi this years leaves, I collect um w’me mower cos that chew um up a bit and thas easier than usin a rake and barrow. I ha given the hedges a little trim & shredded up the trimmins for mi compost heap & cleared the green house out ready the stow away the Missus tender shrubs, Durin the summer I allus try and take sum cuttins orf these in case some on um don’t make it through t’next spring.
The Missus were suffin savige t’other day, she buy her Christmas cards from one of them charities and so far they ,since August, ha sent har six Christmas cataloges, she ha rung them up and ha give them a piece o’her mind. They recon thay are a doin it so she don’t miss out on any new items. I’m suffin glad the Missus din’t get me out of a cataloge cos if she had she might a found a better model when a new cataloge come along .
Fare ye well t’gether and du yu keep a troshin
Well we have started a ploughin a furra across 2011. Durrin the year the old plough will tun up some things what we are pleased to see & there will things we will wish had stayed buried.
I had suffin tun up the other day what I din’t want, an old Rat got inta my green house. My hart that made a mess in there afor I got it out. I was allus told that God put every creature on this here earth for a purpus. When I get to meet the Almighty I am goin to have a wud with him about why he give us Rats, if I can I’ll let you know what he say.
Nearly every day I walk along the footpath twixt Caulde Springs & the Norridge Rood to get my peaper. One morning a’for Christmas I met a couple of Mawthers who had come out from Norridge and were a followin a footpath walk what had been printed in the EDP. I stopped & had a mardle along with um & they say t’me what a lovely village Carbrooke is, so quiet & peacefull & how good that is to see the footpath a’bein used. The Council trimmed it back last year but I wonder who will be a’doin it this year cos them at County Hall & Breckland recon they are short o’ money. If they arn’t a goin to keep the footpaths trimmed back is this suffin our Parish Council can take on?. I have read in this here New Penny News that they have got a shillin or two sittin in the bank.
Well I have finished my fourses now so I had better find suffin to do a’for the Missus see I am still a sttin here.
Fare ye well t’gether and do you keep a troshin.
The Boy Tom
Missing Month
Missing Month
Missing Month
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The Boy Tom – June 2011
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