CD2

(70 minutes)
 

2/1

KENDLE FARM / BIDDING AT AUCTION / EARLY STOCK / CARNIVOROUS SOW / LIVING CONDITIONS

Kendle Farm is at the top of Exton Hill, directly across the road. It is sheep and beef, mostly sheep, though beef seem to be increasing now. When he started farming he lambed about 140, 150 ewes, and kept 11 cows, on just that farm, and a few cattle. But now they lamb 800 ewes and keep 160 head of cattle. That's with increased land, and his son to help him do it. They farm 400 acres, but half of it is rented.

He bought it at an auction in Bridgetown village hall, and bid for it himself at the age of 23, and he was quite nervous. He might as well tell BJ, but in those days - they caught it about right really, before the price of land started rising fast - they bought the 120 acres with a run down farmhouse, no buildings really on it, except for one cowshed, for 5000, all of which he had to borrow. The auctioneer was Mr Clifford Phillips, there are no Phillips much left now, he was David Phillips' father. David Phillips is still auctioneering at Minehead, he sells antiques and stuff. They decided they would go to £5500, and he got it for £5000. And he can recall hearing the old farmers, sitting around the room, saying, 'The boy will have a millstone around his neck for the rest of his life.' But it wasn't many years before they had paid it off. He doesn't really know who else was bidding, he was so engrossed in what he was doing [laughs], that was it. He thinks there was a local farmer pushing him along a bit.

After he had been the final bid he had to go up to the counter and pay his deposit, which was £500, with his cheque book. He had had a cheque book for a few years before that. Although he'd only just started farming, that was the first farm he'd bought, he had kept a few sheep on different people's farms before, just a few to try and get a bit of stock together. And also a few pigs at his father-in-law's farm, where he used to keep a few sows. He'll tell BJ a story about the sows. When they went to Kendle first they had 2 sows. They used to fatten the young pigs and take them to auction. There was an auction in Minehead in those days, down by the station. He had a pickup truck that would take 6 pigs at a time. When they were ready they would take them into Minehead. That's where he used to sell lambs as well, in little lots at Minehead market.

He was still in the Young Farmers Club and still had his 3 ewes for the competition. One day one of the sows got out of her pen and the next thing he saw was her coming down over the field with one of his YFC lambs hanging out of her mouth. So he said, 'You and I my dear are going to part company.' [laughs] So he sold his sows up at Taunton market and he's never kept any pigs since, because he just didn't like that one bit. [BJ asks how usual was that?] As long as they were kept in the right place they were OK, but he thinks they could do that. His father persuaded him to sell them really. The year they did that his daughter had just been born - what if she'd tipped over the pram?

Kendle Farm was sold because the brother had died. The sister[Miss Lock] was still living there when they bought it. It was very run down. Her sister was living there [as well], with her husband. He supposed he was needed to do the work. There wasn't that much stock there, there was grass everywhere, they really hadn't farmed it because this old guy had died and that was it. They were very shy people. If they saw you coming first, you didn't see them. The old guy was there sitting in the hedge, when he went to see the farm before they bought it, they wanted to see the land, the boundary, what they were looking for. And he wouldn't show them. He said, 'It's up round there, and back round there, and that hedge over there and you can walk round yourself, because I've been round once already today.' He was sitting in the hedge, smoking his pipe. TT thinks he was a bit lazy really. He wasn't that old really.

Hilda's mother and Hilda, and her sister, went out quite a few days before they moved in and made it acceptable for them to live in. There was one tap in the house, with cold water, coming from the spring, which they still use. There was no hot water or inside toilet. There was a toilet down the bottom of the garden with not enough water running through it to flush it properly. There was an old pond out in the yard. So the first thing they did was to get themselves sorted and try and get round to putting in hot water and a bathroom. There was a stove to cook things on, but it wasn't connected up for hot water. So, it was pretty primitive.

They had already acquired a bit of furniture, with their cottage, so they gradually built it up. [Back to top]
 

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BECOMING A LANDOWNER / BUILDING UP FARM / DAIRY FARMING / PAYING OFF LOAN / BUYING FIRST TRACTOR / PRICE COMPARISONS NOW / SHEEP BREEDS / SHOWING TEXELS / CUPS / FARM PARTNERSHIP / CHILDREN / GRANDPARENTS' BUNGALOW / PARTNERSHIP WITH SON ROBERT

[BJ asks how it felt, at the age of 23, owning a farm] He really can't recall. You accept it. You are so excited about doing something new, you can put up with it. So it felt good. They had a few cows, which they'd already bought, and a few sheep, which needed looking after, and the sows. So they had things to do. And it just built up.

Yes, they both farmed. He had great help from Hilda. They used to keep quite a lot of chicken as well, and ducks and things, to try and make a bit more money. He'd made up his mind that when he went farming on his own, he wasn't going to be a dairy farmer. He'd learnt how to machine milk and had done dairy farming all the time he'd been working on Mr Norman's farm, and had made up his mind that dairy farming wasn't for him. Although he could have done it. He doesn't envy a dairy farmer having a tied situation twice a day, every day of the year. At least with beef and sheep you can feed them up and say, 'I'll be back later tonight,' if you've really got to have a little time off.

Yes, he paid off the loan within a few years. He can't remember how long it took, not long really. Then as time goes on you build up overdrafts again [laughs]. One thing that comes to mind, and he thinks this is the right way to look at how things are with farming. The first tractor he bought was a new one, only a very small David Brown, in 1967 he thinks it was. And it only cost him £770. It was only a small one, but it was new. And that same year he sold his lambs for £7.50. So he sold 100 lambs in 1967 for a tractor. And he'd like to know how many lambs he'd have to sell today to buy a new tractor. It wouldn't be 100, it would probably be 400. He supposes a new tractor like the one he bought, which is quite small, would cost £12,000, it might be £15,000, and the best quality lamb, this last year has been making £30 top whack all through the season. It's a bit dearer now [mid-January], because there are no lambs left to sell. [BJ asks if that was because of foot and mouth]. It wasn't only foot and mouth, but it was mainly foot and mouth.

But even before foot and mouth, you are talking a lot more produce from the farm to buy the machinery to run it. And when you are talking £15,000 for that small tractor, and if they [TT and BJ] are talking 500 lambs, at £3000 a hundred, instead of having to produce 100 he has to produce 500 now, to stand still. So get your violins out [laughs]. Anyway, he has never looked back. He has never regretted one moment of farming, he doesn't know what else he would have done. He's enjoyed it.

Yes, he shows sheep, at Christmas time. He's not been much into summer shows, not pedigree stock. They've done quite well of their Christmas showing of lambs for the butcher, and cattle. They've got into a Texel cross breed. When he started farming he had Exmoor Horns and Closewools. Then they crossed them with [breaks off]. Well, you couldn't get them too fat in those days, the '60s. They had Dorset Down rams, then they had Suffolk rams. Then these Texels became quite popular and they crossed their grey faced Suffolk cross, Closewools and Exmoor Horns with these Texels and they've been crossing them with Texels ever since. And it's those sheep that they've won the prizes with. He has a cup behind him that he's quite proud of, which he won outright at Taunton Show for the best lambs in the show, having won it 4 years. [BJ says he has 3 cups behind him]. Yes, the others are from Cutcombe Show. One other cup he has there, he can't remember the date now, it's on the cup. He won 4 different championships at Cutcombe Show once, and they gave him a special cup because they thought that was an achievement. He was quite proud of that. He enjoys it. It's his fun, really. Although he's hoping to retire, hopefully he shall still be able to carry on showing a few sheep with his sons.

[BJ asks who 'we' is, when he talks about farming] It is Hilda and he, really. And his elder son. They have 2 sons and 2 daughters. Robert, the elder son, is the one farming at Kendle Farm. Then his daughter lives at The Bungalow where he was born. She's Mrs Parfitt now, Shirley. Then his younger son, David, comes next. David has been a globe trotter. He sheers sheep all around the world. He's off to America again soon, he thinks. He helps at Kendle as well, but he likes his travelling. He's done a lot of it. He owns a little bungalow down in the village at Exton and is there with his girlfriend at the moment. And then there's Gillian, his younger daughter. She has just got married and is expecting their first baby, which will be another little grandchild. She married James Winzer, the son of Gerald Winzer, the postman from Exford [fellow contributor to the archive].

The Bungalow where Shirley lives has always stayed in his family. His grandmother bought it, in 1927, he thinks. It's been in the family ever since. Yes, Robert farms Kendle now. He has been in partners with TT now for a good many years. And he farms it in exactly the same way as TT did. He doesn't want to change anything. [Back to top]
 

2/3

YFC AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING / EVENING INSTITUTE DRAMA COURSE / PUTTING DRAMA ON HOLD / HILDA AND MUSIC / PREFERENCE FOR SINGING / EXTON VILLAGE MINSTRELS / LOCAL RECTOR / OTHER MEMBERS / DAVID LUMLEY / RANGE OF STYLES / BOOKINGS / OLDER AGE RANGE / DANCING BY YOURSELF

[BJ asks where social life fitted in] He has always been hankering to be on stage. He thinks the Young Farmers helped him, because it taught him how to get up and speak in public, how to make themselves heard and not be shy to say what they felt. At Cutcombe - he says Cutcombe, but it is Wheddon Cross really, Cutcombe parish, Wheddon Cross village - where he started on the stage, they used to have an evening institute run by the Minehead evening institute. And they had a drama course. They used to put on perhaps a 3 act play in the Spring, and another one act play later on in the year. And he enjoyed it. It was good fun. Then he and Hilda got married and bought Kendle Farm and things like that had to go on hold. No, Hilda has never been much to go on the stage. She plays the organ. She plays in 3 different churches at the moment, it might be 4. [BJ said she noticed they have a piano]. Hilda plays the piano, that's where she practices her hymns on a Sunday morning.

He's not good at an instrument, he can play a bit on an accordion, he can make a tune, but he likes singing. They have a little group called the Village Minstrels, which goes around a bit. They used to do quite a lot of it, most Saturday nights, but now it's on occasions. This is Exton Village Minstrels. There's 5 of them at the moment. They have a guitar, and an accordion, and a keyboard. And their local rector has just joined them with his drums. He's Terry Staples, who lives at Winsford and has the 4 parishes, Cutcombe, Luxborough, Exton and Winsford. TT understands he used to be in a rock bank in the '60s. He's just started playing along with them, when he has free time to do so, and is very good. He makes a lot of difference to their little band.

The members are 2 Slowleys, Ernest and Graham, that's a father and son, they play accordion and guitar. Then there's a chap called David Lumley, he can play virtually anything really. He plays a keyboard and also plays accordion. He's very talented. He's the backbone of their little group at the moment. All TT does is MC the dancing, and sing along and call a bit of square dancing and such like.

They play mostly for ballroom and old time dancing, square dancing. For square dancing they play Scottish melodies, and jigs and reels. And for the ballroom and old time dancing they would play the music they all used to dance to in the '50s and '60s. Yes, he would play for dancing, rather than to be listened to. [BJ says that when he says Minstrels, she was wondering how far back they went in the kind of music they played]. They don't go back that far, really. They play mostly 1950s onward music, which he used to sing as a teenager. [BJ asks what his favourite is] He doesn't know [laughs], he can't tell her what his favourite is, there's so many. Country and Western comes to mind. There's a lot of that in foxtrots and such like, nice slow music. It's a big mixture, let's face it. They play the Wurzels type of music. They play anything, up as far a rock and roll. They might play some rock and roll, but after that, they're out. No, he can't read music. He can a bit, he knows when they go up, and when they go down, and where the gaps are, but he couldn't look at a piece of music and sing from that. So when he plays the accordion, and the mouth organ, that's by ear.

They would be booked by little villages for an evening of old time dance, 8 till 12 on a Saturday night. They don't get much call for them at the moment. He doesn't know why. It is beginning to look a bit better though. They book through him, he's the guy they phone up. They've got a few now in the Spring; Brompton Ralph, Upton. They used to play at Brompton Regis, they haven't played there for a long time. Exford, they played for a dance in Winsford the other night.

The age that would book them would be 50s plus, quite honestly. Younger people don't really book them. They want a different sort of music. They want beat, whatever you call it. He's afraid he can't get into that kind of music. And as for dancing, he has always loved dancing, ballroom dancing, or square dancing, but he just does not see how you can stand in a group and dance by yourself like the youngsters do today. He needs to have a partner to dance with, or a set to dance with. He's sure they're missing something by not dancing with a partner. There's a great enjoyment of getting your steps together with a partner. As for standing around dancing in a group, it doesn't appeal to him. He can do it, and keep with the music, but he's soon bored. [Back to top]
 

2/4

BENEFICE CHOIR / BELLRINGING / EXTON CHURCH / VICARS / CHURCH WARDEN / KEEPING DIARIES

They've got a little choir in the benefice now. That's Exton, Winsford, Luxborough and Cutcombe. He's never sung in a choir before, he's just started in it. Yes, there's a church at Brompton Regis [where they live now], but at the moment he's still church warden at Exton. They do go to church in Brompton Regis, they've got a nice church down there. He rings the bells. He's captain of the bellringers down at Exton. They have some young people learning to ring at the moment, which he's quite pleased about. He's been invited to come and ring at Brompton, he goes down there, but not too often because he rings at Exton. But he does like ringing the bells.

[BJ asks whether, having worshipped at Exton church for 30 years, which isn't far away, he wants to continue there, or change to Brompton Regis] At the moment he feels he wants to be at Exton church. It has something about it, that is his church. He supposes they will gradually change over, but he thinks he will always [breaks off]. Although as young people they worshipped at Cutcombe church, but not in the same way as at Exton church. There's a lot of water been under the bridge at Exton church. He's been involved in lots of things there and really likes it.

Yes, they've been through quite a few vicars at Exton, well, that benefice. But now they feel they've fallen on their feet. They've got someone they can relate to and who enjoys being with them. [BJ asks how it affects the community if they are a lot of changes]. It's difficult to keep them together. As church warden you find this. It is difficult really. Although sometimes there is a big effort once you have to fill the gap, without a rector, you all pull together a bit. But there's nothing quite like having the rector who is helping the parish, and wanting to do the right thing.

[BJ asks about village politics over the years, with the benefice's rectors coming and going] He doesn't quite know how to answer that. If things aren't going well, it certainly rubs off in the village. You can see the numbers in the church go down. Because for some reason or other someone says they're not coming, then someone else says they're not coming. Although you are there to worship God, you aren't there to worship the priest in charge, as it were, he has to be the figurehead, and you have to enjoy being there, and agree with what he's doing. [BJ asks how divisive that can be, with some people supporting the rector and some people not] In his experience they've either been wrong or they've been right, right across the board. They haven't had too much division with one thinking he's the right man and another one thinking he's not.

[BJ asks whether he thinks there might have been occasions when an incumbent has actually suffered from people not wanting him there] There was one case where he might have felt that. And there's a couple of cases where they were never more pleased to be rid of. But yes, there is one case where he might have suffered. It would make it very difficult for him, as church warden. Because you know you want to support your priest, and you know that people aren't getting on, and you have got to pull out all your diplomacy you can muster to try and keep things right. He thinks that's the main criteria for being a church warden, to be very diplomatic.

A church warden, first and foremost, is supposed to see that the church is kept in good repair and that the priest is doing his job, as it were, and that people are happy with things. [BJ asks what made him want to become one] He thinks his arm was twisted in the first instance. It sort of grows on you afterwards. He thinks they were struggling, quite honestly, when they asked him to be church warden at Exton [laughs]. And he's still there. Rather too long, it's probably 30 years. He'd know the date if he looked at his book, at the record he's got. No, he doesn't keep a diary, really. Hilda does a bit. He's not very good at it. That's something he should have done. Going back to his working days, when he worked for Mr Norman, he [Mr Norman] was a staunch diary keeper. He wrote everything down that they did every day. The weather, what you had for dinner, what work you had to do that day, what function was on in the village. He doesn't know where they are now, but they must be so interesting to read. He would never go to bed until he had written his diary. TT wishes he had done that, but he hasn't. [Back to top]
 

2/5

FOSSETTS CIRCUS / 1947 SNOW / WALKING MILES WITH DAVID CLARBULL / WILDLIFE / BIRD NESTING / RIDING BIKE / BUILDING HUT IN WOOD / LEARNING ABOUT NATURE

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[TT says they've covered a lot of ground but there are a lot of early memories of Cutcombe he still hasn't spoken about]

He remembers that when he was at Victoria Cottage, between the ages of 5 and 10, they never had a circus at Wheddon Cross, but he can remember the circus going through the village, and he can see 2 elephants now, walking up the road and coming through Wheddon Cross, and they stopped down at their place and Mother brought out 6 buckets of water for the elephants to drink. And they stayed the night in the field in the Estcotts' South Wheddon field. He thinks they were going from Minehead to Dulverton. He spoke at the Cutcombe local history group the other day and he doesn't think they really believed him when he said elephants had walked through Wheddon Cross. The circus was Fossetts. He think there was some relationship with the Estcotts who lived at Wheddon Farm. That's why they stopped there and camped the night. They didn't put on a performance. There were horses pulling the carts with everything on, he supposes. That's all he can remember. But those elephants were so vivid, and his mother bringing out the buckets of water.

When he was living as a boy at Wheddon Cross, having moved up to The Bungalow, he used to ride a bicycle a lot. He and a friend of his, David Clarbull, who was a year younger than him, would do everything together, in their holiday time. 1947 was a very bad winter. It was worse than '63. He was in Minehead school at the time, and he thinks it was 11 weeks that the bus couldn't go to Minehead from Wheddon Cross. They boys had a whale of a time. He remembers David falling down a crevice in the snow on the way to Dunkery, on that narrow road, and he didn't think he was going to be able to get him out again. But he did. But it was that serious. It was as high as the telephone posts.

They used to walk miles. He's always been interested in wildlife, especially birds. He doesn't know who's to blame, he doesn't think the farmers are all to blame, but there's a great deterioration in the number and varieties of birds. He can remember, talking of the late '40s now, when he was 12, and walking. They used to cycle up to Dunkery Gate and walk a lot from there. And all out through towards Exford, Stone Down there, on the left from Dunkery Gate, he used to see black grouse. Now he's asked people, and there aren't any black grouse around now. Blackcock, they used to call them, black, with a big plumage tail. And they were out through the top of there particularly. And curlews. He doesn't think they are around [now], he doesn't hear them. And the plover was very very common. They used to call them pewits, because that's the sound they make. Lapwings, they're all the same bird. But they were so prevalent, when they were ploughing up at Brendon Hill Farm there were masses of them. He saw 3 the other day, but he hadn't seen any plovers for years. Now, why are they gone? He doesn't think it's the sprays and things from [us] farmers on the hills, because they don't use them in that way. It's not like the corn growing people, but they aren't there any more.

He would go walking to see wildlife really. Looking for birds' nests. He's always been so particular. He knows it's wrong, but he used to collect birds' eggs. If there weren't 5 in the nest he wouldn't take one. He doesn't think he was doing anything wrong then, and he was so particular about that. He'd never go back to a nest twice in case you frightened off the mother. But he just loved to see the different [tails off]. Two years before that snow, he must have been about 10 years old, in 1945, they built a hut in the wood down below Dunkery, on the right hand side of Dunkery Gate. You go down through the valley, and down into the wood which leads back to the Snowdrop Valley. It was David Clarbull and himself, it was always the two of them. They had one bicycle. TT owned it. David used to sit on the saddle and TT would stand up [on the pedals].

Anyway, they built this hut and he was so proud of this hut. It took days and days to do it. A bunch of bamboo canes grows done in the valley there. They made it all of bamboo canes, strapping them together, pushing them into the ground, and wove them the other way. Then they cut rushes and thatched it. They were only boys of 10 years old. And that stayed up for 2 years until that 1947 winter, they went down to see how it was faring and it was flat [laughs]. But he thought they did pretty good really. They used to take their sandwiches and have their lunch in the little hut. Now, he doesn't think that mothers would let children go off like that nowadays. Perhaps it's not safe anymore. He doesn't know. In holiday time, mother used to pack up their sandwiches and they would go off at 10 o'clock in the morning and wouldn't come back until it was getting dark. They would be walking, looking, catching trout with their hands in the rivers [laughs]. He was learning about nature, and he really still is. [Back to top]
 

2/6

WATCHING DEER / HUNTING / ATHLETICS / RUNNING RACES / FAVOURITE SPOT / LIFE AT KENDLE FARM / WHEDDON CROSS / EXTON & BRIDGETOWN / HOLIDAY HOMES

He also loved to watch the deer. He had some relations down from Birmingham to stay, at The Bungalow, when he was about 16 years old. He and his father took them out because they wanted to see some deer. And he always remembers it, because he saw this bunch of deer the other side from where he was, on the side of Dunkery, down below Dunkery in one of the fields down towards Snowdrop Valley. They were walking lower down, up through a path, and he said to Father, 'If I skirt up around the top of those deer I might be able to get them to run down through this path.' And he did, it worked. These deer came down and jumped across the path right in front of their visitors, who had their camera.. It was only luck that they went the right way. That was what he liked doing.

He's not opposed to hunting, if hounds come through Kendle Farm he goes out and watches what they're doing. But he's never ridden. He doesn't know what people who listen to this now will think of him, because he doesn't see any sense in running around in a car, hunting. If he was riding a horse he'd go along with it, he'd enjoy it, he's sure he would. But he always feels a little bit sorry for the stag, and if he can get away, all well and good. If they catch him, all well and good. But he doesn't see that the chap going on in his landrover or his motorbike saying, 'He's gone this way,' [breaks off]. He thinks it should be a thing between the hounds and the stag. If he's too clever for them, he's too clever for them. That's how he feels.

He always remembers once, some friends wanted to go hunting, so he drove them in the car. He got jammed in a narrow road and stayed there most of the day and didn't really see much in that. He has done a bit of hare hunting in his time, on foot, because he used to be quite athletic in his youth. And he's sure once you got into hunting on a horse it would be a wonderful thing, but he doesn't see the car, quite honestly.

Yes, he was athletic. He boasts about it a bit. He used to be quite good at a mile, in the schools and later on in the local village sports. A bit of cross country. Never professionally, but he enjoyed competing. He doesn't think many youngsters want to do that sort of thing any more. Ones who join athletic clubs, of course they do, but not widely. [BJ asks if he did it through a club] No, Cutcombe cricket club used to have their annual sports day, and that's what he used to aim for. And around at the different gymkhanas, if there was a running race he was in it. And in the schools. If there's athletics on the television he doesn't miss [watching] it.

He thinks Snowdrop Valley up to Dunkery Gate must be his favourite spot. Not particularly one area, but all up through that combe. He likes the quietness, the fauna. There is a lot of colourful rhododendrons down through there. He doesn't think there are so many now, whether people have collared them. But there were, and azaleas as well. He used to think in those childhood days that it was somewhere special that he knew about and nobody else did. But they obviously did.

Moving to Exton was all to do with farming. The Young Farmers Club kept going, and he kept on with that, but other entertainments, like the drama and such like, came to a bit of a stop. They were raising their 4 children, had the farm to tend to and no help to do it. All through the '60s it was farming, it was making home. They still go to Wheddon Cross a lot. Any function that is on in Wheddon Cross he feels he would like to be at.

Exton as a village is very small. Now there's no school, and no shop and no post office. And a very small village hall. That's Exton and Bridgetown together. It's very difficult to organise things really. They find themselves using Winsford village hall, or Cutcombe village hall for anything any size. Yes, Bridgetown have a very picturesque cricket ground. He's never played cricket at Bridgetown. He used to play for Cutcombe when he was a lad, until he married, and then farming took over.

There seems to be a bit of a division between Bridgetown and Exton, the top and bottom of the hill as it were. But they are working on it. Yes, people would consider them from one place or the other. It's Exton parish, and Bridgetown village. It's very much that. That's how it is. But Exton really, there are so many holiday homes there now that it spoils the village really. There isn't the community there. But they [we] keep things going. [Back to top]
 

2/7

CHILDREN'S EDUCATION / BRYMORE / DAVID / HOLIDAYS / RETIREMENT / RECREATION NOW / LOCAL ACCENTS / READING / EUROPEAN REGULATIONS

Robert, his eldest son, started at Exton school. The school was up at Exton, by the church. He only went there for a year and then that closed. Then he went to Winsford, TT thinks, then Dulverton, and ended up at Minehead. Shirley went to Winsford and then Dulverton, then Minehead. David went to Winsford, then Dulverton, then he went to Brymore. He's the one who travels round the world. TT thinks sending him away from home to boarding school was the start of his travels, quite honestly [laughs]. Brymore is an agriculturally based school at Cannington. It's not Cannington college, but Brymore school, just this side of Cannington. A boys' school for the agriculturally minded, where they do a bit of farming as well. TT always thought he could have taught him as much as he learnt at Brymore. He's learnt how to not do things [do things the wrong way] sometimes, he fancies.

TT thinks he wanted to go there. A couple of his friends went there. They decided it would be good for him. He doesn't know whether it was or no, quite honestly. He's a very talented lad, David. He can turn his hand to any job. TT wishes he'd done a bit more at woodwork, he's so good at woodwork. He probably will one day. He went off shearing around the world, and that's how he ended up. But he's seen the world, shearing in the Falkland Islands, and New Zealand, and America. Quite a lot of places.

He's never had any holidays. They haven't done much. They went to America a few years ago. That's the only time he's flown on an aeroplane. They stayed on a ranch where David had sheared the sheep. So that was very nice. They were shown round and went riding. He didn't, because he doesn't ride a horse. Apart from that, they've had a couple of holidays in Austria and France, and that's about it. They have vowed that they will try and travel a bit now they're getting round to retiring.

[BJ asks about retiring] They've been at Brompton Regis since May. But then he's not retired. He still goes back to the farm most days, except perhaps weekends, and work all day some days, some days until lunchtime, depending how busy they are. He's still in partners with his son, but hoping to wind that up fairly soon. He always decided that when he got to 65 he would retire from the business. And they looked around and saw where they live now and thought it would be easy for Hilda when she wanted to walk to the shop.

His son [Robert] kept the shop at Wheddon Cross for a while. He lived on the farm for a long time, then went to the shop. When they moved out [of the farm], his son moved in. It was surprising how easy moving out came to him, really. He thinks it had got to the time when they felt it was time someone else was on call for the cows calving and everything. They'll be there to help, of course, but not all the time.

[BJ asks about plans for the future] He doesn't know really. Hopefully to be able to go back to the farm and care for a few of his show animals. And hopefully travel a bit. He thinks they ought to. They had very few holidays when they were at Kendle Farm.

[BJ asks how he spends his evenings] He bell rings one night a week. Young Farmers once a fortnight. He's president of the Young Farmers Club, chairman of the Christmas fat stock show, but that's not very much. Then they have the Minstrels, perhaps of a Saturday night. Hilda wouldn't go to the Minstrels, she feels she's left sitting on the sideline, he thinks, while he's up there on the stage doing his thing. Hilda joined the table tennis club down there [Brompton Regis]. They've started going to the luncheon group every month. Then they've got the church. Sundays is pretty full [laughs].

Yes, he watches television, some of the time. He doesn't really have a favourite programme, only sport. Not football, he wasn't too much into football. Rugby's all right, but athletics. He listens to Devon Air on the radio (yes they get it at Brompton Regis), he really likes waking up to it in the mornings. They used to listen to Orchard Radio, from Taunton, or Bristol [?], but it didn't appeal to him. They seem to have people running that from other parts of the country, with a different accent. He's a great man for local accents. He really thinks that the Devon accent has got to stay, the Somerset accent has got to stay. If he was entertaining, he would want to do it in a real West Somerset accent - 'like this yere, Birdie, you know what 'tis all about'. Like the old guys used to talk many years ago. That's how he thinks it ought to be.

Yes, he thinks his accent has changed over the years. He thinks the accents have all changed, because of television and of going further away to schools. There's nothing wrong with it, of course, we should speak the Queen's English, and we should speak it right. But he doesn't like to think the accents are being lost, completely. His children don't have an accent like his. He doesn't know whether he has a strong accent. But he could have.

He reads the [West Somerset] Free Press, nothing else really. Farming books. He's not a great reader. Hilda reads a tremendous lot, and his son Robert reads every thing that comes through the post, and every book from A to Z. TT thinks it's a good thing, he's probably very with it regarding what's happening in the farming world. TT has got to the stage now, although he's only just at retiring age, why should he worry about the rules and regulations of Europe, really. Telling [us] farmers how to do it. He thinks he's lucky to have a son who can deal with it, and he's happy for him to do it. [Back to top]
 

2/8

IDENTIFYING WITH EXMOOR / LOVE OF SINGING / COMIC SONGS / CORNISH FLORAL DANCE / COUNTRY AND WESTERN / EXMOOR HUNT SONG / THE LOTTERY

If somebody asked him where he came from he would say West Somerset. He doesn't know what else he would say. He'd say he comes from the highest point in Somerset, under Dunkery. He walked up to Dunkery beacon the other day and it was so cold up there. You wouldn't think there was so much difference, from Brompton Regis.

[BJ asks how much being part of Exmoor has had to do with his sense of identity, or is it West Somerset] No, he thinks it's part of Exmoor, really. Yes, he thinks it would be a part of Exmoor. He wouldn't have wanted to retire anywhere else. He wouldn't have wanted to go down even into Minehead. He needs to be on the moor, up on top. Although they don't get the best of weathers. They do in the summer though, don't they?

If he wanted to cheer himself up, he would sing a song. Anything that comes into his head. Just a song that he would sing with the Minstrels, a country and western type song. Yes, it works. When he's tractoring, he's singing all the time, until his voice goes wrong. [BJ asks him to sing her one] He can't [laughs], he can't sing her a song. He used to entertain with singing comic songs. [sings 'I've come from the country, my name it is Giles'.]

I come from the country, me name it is Giles.
I've travelled a hundred and thirty odd miles.
A soft sort of varmer chap I have been took
But I'll  tell 'e I bain't such a vool as I look.
Ri tooral, ri tooral, ri toral, ri ta [pronounced 'tay']
To zee all the zights I've a'come a long way
And have cost I from one to two shillings a day
Ri tooral, ri tooral, ri toral, ri ta.

That's the sort of song. Or he could sing [pauses], he could sing any sort of song really. He sang the other night the Cornish Floral Dance, that sort of thing. He loves those country-type songs. [sings the Cornish Floral Dance - ' As I walked home of a summer's night etc']

Then he likes to sing Country and Western type stuff as well, but he's not too good on the words of that and needs to have a piece of paper in front of him. [BJ asks whether he know any local Exmoor songs] The Exmoor Hunt Song. [BJ asks him to sing that] He can't sing her another one [laughs]. He can't think how it starts. The Exmoor Hunt song is the only local one he can think of really, 'From Bratton to Porlock Bay'. It tells the story of the hunt that found the stag at Bratton Flemming, or there around, and takes it all through the area of Blackmoor Gate, back across to Challacombe Hill, back through the top of Porlock Hill, and drops down into the sea at Porlock. This guy follows it through. And that is just the Exmoor Hunt Song. Honestly, he can't think of the first line, but he can sing it when he gets going. [laughs] It's old age, that's what they call it.

[BJ asks if there is anything he thinks she hasn't asked him] No, he thinks they've been through quite a lot. He's enjoyed it.

[BJ asks whether he does the lottery] No. He has done it in as much as he won a prize last year, which was a lottery ticket every week for a year. And he won £10 one week. But he has never ever bought a ticket, so he thinks he's saved quite a lot of money. [Back to top]
 

2/9

EXMOOR HUNT SONG

[sings 'The Exmoor Hunt' song (without Challacombe verse)]

[END OF RECORDING] [Back to top]