Cattle driven through the village in former times.
Richard Fonge writes:
So far a mild winter with only the occasional frost. Long gone are those November days of thick fogs. Because of the cleaner air, particularly from the industrial midlands, farmers and growers are now having to add sulphur in their fertiliser applications to aid plant health, which was once plentiful in the atmosphere.
Oilseed rape has always been attacked by the flea beetle in its early growth stages, and with limited chemical means of controlling the pest many farmers have ceased growing the crop. However it has been found that by planting buck wheat alongside the rape seed, the beetle can’t find its host, and the buck wheat which is frost susceptible dies out over the winter leaving a healthy oilseed plant. A really positive solution to a valuable and vital crop in the arable rotation.
With the death of Roger Cherry, Sulgrave sees the last of those that had working farms within the village. There was once some ten farms/small holdings in Sulgrave, with livestock being driven through the village, milk being collected daily from Wemyss farm off Park Lane road and Kiln farm and all the associated smells coming from the farmyards, that wouldn’t be tolerated today if you lived adjacent. Times have changed so much in the character of the rural villages, especially over the past forty years. As agriculture became more mechanised and less dependant on labour, so the cottages were bought by people seeking a rural lifestyle, but without its muck and magic. New residents re vitalised and in general changed the character of our villages for the better. But farming is still the industry that is carried out around us, shaping the countryside, through its respect for nature and its field sports whilst still growing food for the nation. Hence these notes are an attempt to inform all who live here of what is happening in our Parish on the land and if by these notes I can enlighten and inform, I will take satisfaction.
Richard Fonge.
To Mr. Richard Fonge
Thank you so much for your monthly “…On the Farm” submissions.
I love reading them and wallowing in the nostalgia of English country life… even though I have lived in California now for nearly 60 years, still a village girl at heart!