Page 28 - Life in Langham 1914-1919

Life on a Small Farm

In 1915, the Walker family arrived in Langham having taken a lease,

from the Gainsborough Estate, on a small farm.

Ernest Walker, then aged about seven years, recalled: the farm was run

down, the garden overgrown, and the boundary hedges run wild, but no doubt my

parents saw the possibilities and accepted the challenge involved.

I remember vividly the excitement that was

caused in Langham on that day in January 1915

when our furniture and effects arrived in a

steam-driven furniture removal van and trailer.

Most local household moves, of all but the

wealthy folk, were done by horses and wagons.

Ernest’s father’s expertise was in

gardening and fruit growing not in farming but he obtained scores of books.

He had in mind to purchase four cows which would be milked, and the result sold.

Two pigs, one to be a sow from which he would breed, and the other to be grown on,

fattened and sold. A few hens were purchased to act as foster mothers to a pedigree batch

of chicks which he had chosen as suitable for his requirements (White Leghorns and

Buff Orpingtons).

The first shock must have been when he purchased two suitable cows from a reliable

source, the cost was just over £30.00 each. (He had hoped to purchase four cows for £20

each) and so the four cow target had to be trimmed to three, and likewise the two pig

start, to one sow. Many other items had likewise to be pruned, and it was not therefore

surprising to find that within one year it was found that the income from an under-

stocked farm was not sufficient to keep a growing family of five, and so my father had to

seek part time gardening work at some of the large houses in the vicinity to augment the

small income from the farm.

So far as I was concerned, this meant that at the rather tender age of eight, or slightly

less, I was allocated certain daily chores, like cleaning out the cattle stalls, and feeding

the poultry.

Following the purchase of the original two cows, these were mated as soon as possible,

and produced two lovely calves. Indeed, this initial breed turned out so good both in

health and milk production that their offspring continued for a number of generations in

the small Walker herd.