The Farm 1954 to 1997
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Brian feeding cattle in the loose housing
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Carting pre-cut grass for silage,
Brian on his tractor with his neighbour farmer John Fox of Stodday Grange Farm, helping one another out,, a neighbourly act.
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The standard of farming, as reported in the local press, continued in the excellent manner of previous generations, but in Brian’s time, he changed the milk production method, in line with modern thinking, in an endeavour to make farming more viable.
He established a milking parlour, with cows loose housed but coming to the parlour for milking and feeding at self-feeding silage pit, from hay racks, which in-turn were filled from the hay storage in the loft over the cows. Muck clearance was carried out by a tractor and squeegee into a storage pit.
The milk was piped to the dairy where it is cooled and stored in a refrigerated tank. The milk wagon came to the dairy each morning, and the milk was pumped on board.
All this meant that one man could manage the cattle milking and feeding on his own, that one man being Brian, with the assistance of a part-time helper, to give some relief and allow some time away from the farm. Bear in mind that farming was/is a 7 day week job, with milking twice a day at the least.
By the time Brian became farmer, the owner of Ashton Hall Estate Mr W J Pye, had passed on, and so building development and maintenance had come to an end. Any expense had to come directly from farm income, or from asset striping, In addition, Brian had to find money to buy all the equipment and to purchase the farm as a sitting tenant.
All this happening at the time when the Milk Marketing Board came to an end, and milk production quotas came into being. On top of this, there was the development of supermarkets with their control of milk purchasing. Conditions for the small farmer and, in particular, milk production, was very difficult, and not financially viable for a reasonable standard of living for the family.
In Brian's case he used Ann Wright's outbuildings as a means to finance his alterations.
During Brian’s stewardship of Waterside Farm, Margaret, his wife, had the misfortune of having to have her right leg amputated, which she seemed to accept very well, but it meant that she was handicapped and mobility was a problem. In consequence, it was decided to convert Waterside House into ground and first floor flats, and an additional bedroom. This allowed Andrew, when he married Mildred Greenwood, to occupy the first floor flat.
Eventually, Brian had to have both hips replaced, presumably as a direct result of hard physical work, and on top of all this he had Parkinson's Disease.
After Brian’s passing, Margaret continued to live on the ground floor, until she required full-time care at a nursing home in Lancaster.
He established a milking parlour, with cows loose housed but coming to the parlour for milking and feeding at self-feeding silage pit, from hay racks, which in-turn were filled from the hay storage in the loft over the cows. Muck clearance was carried out by a tractor and squeegee into a storage pit.
The milk was piped to the dairy where it is cooled and stored in a refrigerated tank. The milk wagon came to the dairy each morning, and the milk was pumped on board.
All this meant that one man could manage the cattle milking and feeding on his own, that one man being Brian, with the assistance of a part-time helper, to give some relief and allow some time away from the farm. Bear in mind that farming was/is a 7 day week job, with milking twice a day at the least.
By the time Brian became farmer, the owner of Ashton Hall Estate Mr W J Pye, had passed on, and so building development and maintenance had come to an end. Any expense had to come directly from farm income, or from asset striping, In addition, Brian had to find money to buy all the equipment and to purchase the farm as a sitting tenant.
All this happening at the time when the Milk Marketing Board came to an end, and milk production quotas came into being. On top of this, there was the development of supermarkets with their control of milk purchasing. Conditions for the small farmer and, in particular, milk production, was very difficult, and not financially viable for a reasonable standard of living for the family.
In Brian's case he used Ann Wright's outbuildings as a means to finance his alterations.
During Brian’s stewardship of Waterside Farm, Margaret, his wife, had the misfortune of having to have her right leg amputated, which she seemed to accept very well, but it meant that she was handicapped and mobility was a problem. In consequence, it was decided to convert Waterside House into ground and first floor flats, and an additional bedroom. This allowed Andrew, when he married Mildred Greenwood, to occupy the first floor flat.
Eventually, Brian had to have both hips replaced, presumably as a direct result of hard physical work, and on top of all this he had Parkinson's Disease.
After Brian’s passing, Margaret continued to live on the ground floor, until she required full-time care at a nursing home in Lancaster.
