Moisture starved barley in a field off the Moreton Road

Photograph: Colin Wootton

Richard Fonge writes:

June has begun with much needed rain. All the grassland fields are looking very sparse and the corn whether sown in the winter or spring is desperate for rain. The forecasters have often said during this long dry sunny spring that growers and gardeners need some rain. That is true, but it is to all our benefit that we have enough rain to grow good crops. The farmer for his business and the consumer for the plentiful supply of food at reasonable cost. It can be seen how short the crops are in length, and they have come to flowering or into ear much earlier, by a good two weeks at least.

There are two types of barley with many varieties within each type. The barley seen up the Moreton rd and along the concrete road is feed type, used in the feeding of livestock mainly. The other type is malting barley for the brewing trade, more suited to the lighter, brashier soils of the Cotswolds for example. It needs slightly different management to reach the standards of the brewer. Minimum protein of 9.5% to 12%. for one.

Wheat can also be divided into three types. Off Park lane there is a small field of wheat which is being grown for animal feed, therefore a feed wheat. Milling wheat is another type, like the malting barley requiring different management to reach the bakers criteria. Milling wheat commands a higher price, but has higher inputs and yields less than feed wheat. As a grower getting a contract with Warburtons is a premium for example. The third wheat is durum mainly grown in Italy for the making of Pasta and macaroni, with semolina as a by product.

Agricultural shows start throughout the country in May and go on till September.

Whilst farming is at the heart of the show, with livestock and agricultural machinery to the fore, there are many other attractions, with stalls and entertainment. A great day out for all and an opportunity to get to know how the countryside works balancing the demands of farming, conservation, public access and sport.

Finally a Warwickshire farmer I knew was called Birchley Saunders. His three brothers were called: Ashley, Elmly and Oakley.  Do you think there was another branch to the family?

Richard Fonge.

Hook Norton Brass Band at Sulgrave V.E. Day Celebrations

Richard Fonge writes:

This month we remembered V.E. day and after reading Colin Wootton’s excellent account on the website of life in war time Sulgrave, it has brought home to me how country life of that time is so distant from today. Because Sulgrave has only had internal development, mostly in old farmyards, there has been no outside development, meaning the fields around are as they were back then, with some a lot larger after hedge removal. A consequence of Government policy in the 1960’s to encourage food production as the modernisation of agriculture gathered a pace and people left the land to work in other industries and occupations.

It is the fields up the concrete road that have been enlarged for arable production mainly. The positioning of the water troughs give you an idea of where old boundaries once were.

However since those immediate post war days when steam trains were seen from Sulgrave, we now have a disused railway line which is a wildlife corridor with an abundance of wildlife and flora, dominated by the whitethorn in full bloom (The May blossom). Also three woodlands have been planted on Sulgrave farm, the most noticeable on the path to Barrow hill, with wild flower meadows below it and trees were planted some thirty plus years ago on the side of Magpie and Moreton roads. All adding to the diversity of our Parish whilst traditional farming of livestock and grain continues.

Two old established spinneys one at the bottom of the great green ( field off Little street ) and the other opposite the junction of the Weston rd and Moreton rd both have rookerys. Rooks need pasture to live off. Dung beetles etc. So you only have rookerys near pasture and I think their chatter in the trees this time of year is one of the most evocative sounds of spring.

Another great sight is to see hares boxing in the spring. 

Writing about these changes, makes it even harder to witness the destruction of our countryside over the road by HS2. 

Perhaps the greatest loss to our villages are those true countrymen who understood the way of the countryside, respected its values and customs and lived alongside nature through their work. 

A good maxim from one such countryman when asked why he hadn’t got a particular item.  Loosely translated.   (You only have what you can afford)

Richard Fonge.

LET’S TWIST AGAIN

It’s the 60’s Dance Party this Saturday evening, 24^th May, 7.30 pm, at The Star.

Relive the classic music of the 1960s dance craze era and “twist and shout” the night away with our own resident DJ, music loving, Clive Nicholls.

Why not dress (if you wish) in the fashions of that period over 60 years ago.

It’s sure to be a great evening whether you want to dance or not, so ‘Don’t be Square – just be There’

Seven years old and finally re-united with my dad in 1945

At this time of celebrating the 80^th anniversary of V.E. Day, which marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, I thought there might be some interest in my memories of growing up in Sulgrave during the war years 1939 to 1945.

The notes on the next page are extracts from an account prepared for my two daughters, five grandsons and three great-grandsons. I have very few photos from that era but I have included those that seemed relevant.

Colin Wootton

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On Sunday afternoon, 3rd May, village families enjoying their picnics in the sunshine at the Pocket Park were entertained by the excellent Hook Norton Brass Band. For those of us old enough to remember, the music caused a wave of nostalgia, featuring Vera Lynn classics such as “We’ll Meet Again” and “The White Cliffs of Dover” and many Glenn Miller “swing” hits from the era.

There will be a Service of Remembrance for the blessings of V.E. Day in the village church on Saturday 10th May at 11.00 am.

Photographs of the Pocket Park event can be seen on the next page.

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Postscript: During the war years, 1939 to 1945, my father was away, firstly building airfields and then in the army. My mother and I lived with her mother (Grannie Branson) at 11 Spinners Cottages. In 1945 I was seven years old and attending Sulgrave School with friends amongst the many children evacuated from London during the “blitz”. In the safety of the countryside, well fed on allotment and garden vegetables supplemented by rabbits and pigeons, we led an idyllic rural lifestyle. With no traffic through the village other than the occasional convoy of army trucks we could play safely in the village streets. V.E. Day celebrations were held in the courtyard of the large house now known as “The Old Farmhouse” at that time the residence of J.P. Brown. I remember the day vividly because my mum fixed strings of flags to my tricycle so tightly that I was unable to steer it safely down the Spinners Cottages path to the party! On the day that Germany’s surrender was announced on the “wireless” my mum came excitedly to the door calling “We’ve won, we’ve won”! I was with an older boy who told me later that I had said “Who were we playing?” So much for the war in Sulgrave, as far as a youngster was concerned!

Colin Wootton

Sheep have lambs! (Photograph: Colin Wootton)

Richard Fonge writes:

Firstly I must apologise in that I made two assumptions last month which were proved wrong. The winter beans up the concrete road were cultivated out and re planted with barley, and the land on the Stuchbury footpath and across to the Helmdon Rd was sprayed out with round up.

Why? There is an expression in business that “the first loss is the best loss”. and this was the case with the beans. They had struggled to germinate and were not looking good, hence the decision, I suspect. Also with the good weather it was a chance to establish a new crop, and how quickly has that happened. Like the barley up the Moreton Rd the seeds were sown into a good tilth of soil and rolled down straight away to preserve the moisture. Already a healthy looking crop but, like everything else, in dire need of rain.

A conservation grass mixture could still be sown on the other fields now the predominant black grass has been killed off. Black grass is the most destructive weed grass, dominating the crop it’s growing in, and restricting the yield massively of that crop and producing abundant seeds. It’s in these circumstances that the option of a conservation grass mixture with its grant aid is more viable than growing corn. There are many government schemes encouraging farmers to diversify into environmentally friendly practices and the uptake over the last twenty five years or so has been good, combining food production with nature conservation.

Communicating with people about an industry I am proud of has been part of my farming life, whether having school children to watch cows being milked, sheep lambing, or going into schools to talk about the farming life and doing show commentaries. So it gets my “goat” when I hear T.V. presenters, who are doing an excellent job otherwise, refer to a sheep having its babies. Humans have babies!, Cows have calves, sheep lambs, pigs piglets etc. Always remember that these offspring are born and reared for food.

When you are bought up on a farm the rich cycle of life is ever present and that includes the facts of life. When aged six my class was asked to write what we had done or seen over the Easter holiday. I wrote. Daddy let Mary the cow loose in the yard and the bull went for a ride.

Richard Fonge.