Photograph by Tony Keatley.

Note from Colin Wootton:

During my time as editor of the Village Website I have photographed and reported upon many Vintage Ploughing Matches taking place in the village. (Links to some of these can be seen at the end of this item). Unfortunately family commitments precluded me from attending the recent event and I am therefore grateful to Tony Keatley for the excellent photographs on the following page.

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Pre-publication copies of the reprinted Chronicles can be obtained at the special price of £15.00 – a 25% saving on the normal price of £20.

See the October 2024 edition of the Sulgrave Newsletter for a detachable order form or download the form for printing  by clicking here.

Despite dire warnings of downpours it felt like the last day of summer! Volunteers old and new turned up with numbers of visitors to celebrate the community shop’s 20 wonderful years at the heart of the village. Despite some initial scepticism, the shop traded successfully from the very beginning owing to the hard work of the volunteers at the counter, the dedication of the management committee behind the scenes and not forgetting a number of paid professional shop managers.

Sadly a number of those who worked so hard to establish the business in the early days are no longer with us or are now unable to continue to serve owing to advancing years or ill health. At the end of the 20th birthday photographs on the next page are a number of links to previous happenings at the shop, where many of these pioneering volunteers can be seen in their heyday.

See more pictures on the next page.

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Harvesting maize near Stuchbury
Photograph: Colin Wootton

Richard Fonge writes:

The harvest is nearly over with the late sown linseed on the Moreton Road being the last crop to be combined along with the barley up the concrete road. Harvests are much earlier now than fifty plus years ago. Then spring corn, wheat, barley and oats made up the majority of the harvest, with wheat the only corn sown in the winter. The old adage was in this area, “Have the sowing done by Banbury Fair”. which is always the second week of October.

The reason we now have much earlier harvests are threefold mainly. Firstly the plant breeders produced varieties of barley and oats in particular, that could be planted with winter hardiness, and as machinery modernised better seedbeds could be made in the autumn to plant into. Secondly in the mid ninety seventies oil seed rape became part of the arable rotation and this was a crop that came to harvest in mid to late July depending on the weather. Thirdly from the late ninety sixties agriculture became more specialised, and so those farmers who went out of livestock farming and concentrated on arable farming led the way in corn production.

The weather still plays a major part in dictating sowing through to harvesting, so it’s an industry very climate dependant.

The celebration of the end of harvest was once one of the major calendar events, with a service in the Village Church, which was decorated with the produce of the land and hedgerow, often followed by a supper and auction of that said produce. But sadly over the years as our connection with the land has become more distant this event has in many villages gradually lost its significance, but the food is still produced to nourish us.

Sulgrave lies in an area of peaceful South Northants countryside, not spectacular in anyway but scenic, so the gruesome monstrosity that is HS2 is leaving a great scar across that landscape for many years to come until such time it has been landscaped after the line has been built. What is distressing to see along the new road to the B4525 and in other areas is the land taken but not used for any purpose, now a mass of dead thistles, ragwort and  other weeds. The seeds of which will be airborne on to neighbouring farms, where they will have to be controlled in pastures and arable crops.

As summer draws to an end, we look forward to autumn, which sees the swallows departing for Africa from the lines on the Moreton Rd. Hundreds of them there, but where have they been all summer?

Finally. A man asked me the way to Jeopardy other day. I replied there wasn’t such a place. But he said “I saw a headline in a newspaper – Over a hundred jobs going in Jeopardy”!

Richard Fonge

Appropriately on the first official day of Autumn 2024, the Village Produce Show took place at the Village Hall, attracting the usual varieties of beautifully arranged flowers and quality vegetables.

More pictures on the next page.

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Common Ragwort (Photo: Colin Wootton)

Richard Fonge writes:

August a holiday month for most, but perhaps the busiest for the farmer. Not only getting the harvest in, but starting to prepare the fields for next years harvest. Oil seed rape needs to be sown ideally before the last week of the month so that it is well established before winter and able to achieve optimum yield. Some of this years harvest will be later because of the late planting in the spring. The barley up the concrete road a good example.

Last month I drew attention to the amount of ragwort everywhere, on our roadsides and wasteland. It is totally out of hand and whilst it may look colourful it poses a risk to livestock as I mentioned last month. When in a dried form as in a hay bale it is deadly, and I have heard of two cases recently of it being found in pasture being mown for hay. In both occasions the ragwort plant had to be pulled before mowing. Necessitating in many dismounts from the tractor.

The canary plant as I write is a golden colour and looks ready for harvesting, and have you noticed the large heap of a black substance on the right on Magpie road. This is sludge from a sewage works which will be spread and then incorporated into the soil straight away. It has been tested for any metals and the field soil has been also tested for its nutrient levels. A good source of organic material. When first applied some thirty years ago, I had some from Severn Trent, injected into the soil very successfully, with many tomato plants appearing before ploughing!

Vintage ploughing matches are very popular in the area, and the Sulgrave ploughing match will take place next month I believe in the field near the Windmill. Please look out for the advertising and go along to see the skill of ploughing as it was and the many vintage tractors taking part. These implements have often been lovingly restored by their operators, to whom we owe a great deal of gratitude for reminding us of times past.

Finally a sign of impending autumn with the gathering of swallows on the lines. It won’t be till around the end of the first week of September before they fly, but they are already coming to their collecting point on the Moreton rd. The seasons roll on, each bringing its own unique moments to be treasured.

Richard Fonge.