Saturday 16 November 2013

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 17th July 1870

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby, until the end of January 1870 when he moved to Sandycroft Farm, Queensferry, Flintshire.

The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had rented three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...

The Bowman family

 A Farm Journal continues :~
 
6 - 1st 7 Mo[nth] Showery
 
7 - 2 Fine
 
1st D[itt]o lead 2/3rds of clover No 14
 
2 - 4th Fine set out the clov but dull & Cloudy
 
3 - 5 Fine day but Showery even[in]g Chester fair took 4 little pigs but did not sell - great drop - in pigs at least 10/- p[e]r h[ea]d poor show of beasts & of a  poor sort - horses - many - got a bit more hay
 
4 - 6 Fine - fin[ishe]d hay - S.A.Fisher left us
 
5 - 7 Fine hoing [sic] turnips SA & baby & self to H.Alletson's to tea looked round - & on to Spicers farm to look round crops fair - turnips up but want rain - folding sheep on Lints - rape & turnips drilled for feed[in]g on
 
6 - 8  Fine at turnips
 
7 - 9 Ditto Dull & Thundery but no rain
 
No entry for the 10th July 1870
 
2 - 11 Fine day wrote to W[illia]m all news up to this morn[in]g - no rain up to 2 - 18 cut[tin]g hedges fetched 2 p[ai]r stone gate posts set up - 1 ton Cotton 1 Lead cake & 1 ton Palm nut meal from Thornley
 
1st day 17 even[in]g drove to Ledsham St[atio]n & on by 9.20pm to L[iver]pool to Cattle Market lodg[e]d market for sheep begins at 6am & for cattle at 7am was up at 4 oClock saw them bringing the sheep & cattle in most Irish - a fine drove of Spanish bullocks there - home at 3 o'Clock 

8 comments:

  1. He seems to having dry weather in Wales , and he also has hedges to cut. He may find that animals can escape through a hedge much easier than a stone wall.Ann

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  2. It will be interesting to see how his journal reflects this. It would be so interesting to know the reason for this move ... and so far away too.

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  3. Considering typical Welsh weather is rain, and lots of it, he was experiencing a rather unusual spell of dry weather. Can you explain the phrase 'folding sheep on Lints' ?

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    1. I wondered what this meant too Mitch. Ann might know more than me but I wondered whether it might be a way of feeding the sheep in a moveable fence/compound on the lint (defined as "fibrous coat of thick hairs covering the seeds of the cotton plant"). I'm not sure though !

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  4. I think you are right Charlie about the folding,they would probably be hurdles made of hazel,it was used at OH farm college in 1960.Ann

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    1. Thank you Ann ~ I was trying to think of the word 'hurdle' !

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  5. For those who are interested there is some information [and photographs] relating to Ledsham Railway Station here ~ http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/ledsham/index.shtml ...

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  6. I just wonder why it matters if the sheep or cattle are Irish or Spanish or English or Swiss for that matter way back then. Who had the best rep in those days? I remember going to Cattlemen's Auctions in the 1960's and just knowing that all we wanted were Herefords. Even Angus crosses were shunned. Their backs weren't long enough.

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