Richard Fonge writes:
All very quiet in the countryside this month. The cattle have been housed for the winter from the Manor field and the Moreton Rd. Their ration now is silage, made from the fields on the left hand side as you go up the Moreton road last June and put into bags to ferment. This will be supplemented with a balanced feed in the form of a nut. These cattle or steers more accurately will be finished for prime beef by the winter’s end.
The ewes of different ownership in the pastures around the village, are all now pregnant, with lambing dates from February to April depending obviously when the rams were introduced.
Christmas brings back fond memories of Christmas Day on the farm, along with some difficult ones. Snow and hard frosts are not what you need, when there are cows to milk, cattle to feed before breakfast, and a family waiting excitedly to open their presents. Milk used to be put in ten gallon churns, to be transported to the local dairy, so when in the sixties they were replaced by a refrigerated vat and collected by tanker it made life easier with less lifting to be done, and then when the pressure washer came in and the milking parlour could be a washed down thoroughly and quicker, we thought this was the best thing since sliced bread!
But whatever the weather the Christmas dinner and the day was always very special in the farmhouse and being part of a large family those days will be always cherished.
A Happy Christmas to all.
Richard Fonge