From Corncrake to Combine Memoirs of a Cheshire Farmer

by Wright, G. Walter; Symes, Ruth A.; Bell, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780752446530
• ISBN10: 0752446533
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Tempus

Summary

This is an utterly charming history of life at Yew Tree Farm, North Cheshire, over the last eighty years. Beginning in the era when shire horses pulled the plough and country news passed from mouth to mouth at the blacksmith's forge, it explores a world and a way of life that has now vanished. Many readers will know Walter as a family man, farmer, councillor (and often counsellor), but this witty, shrewd and honest account shows a new side - a country writer in the same league as Cobbett, White and Herriot.

Author Biography

Walter Wright lives in Cheshire and farmed the land at Yew Tree for more than sixty years. One-time mayor of Macclesfield and borough councillor, he is also a member of Knutsford Young Farmers, and is actively involved in the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. Ruth Symes is a writer and editor whose previous work includes The Governess: An Anthology. She lectures at various institutions, including the University of York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. 7
Preface	p. 9
Earliest Memories	p. 11
Childhood at Yew Tree Farm	p. 25
The War Years	p. 37
Local Life After the War	p. 49
The Young Farmer	p. 65
Characters From Home and Abroad	p. 79
The Centre of the Universe - Chelford Market	p. 91
The 1950s - Changes On and Around the Farm	p. 101
Crops and Animals	p. 109
More Country Characters: Farmers, Tramps and Vicars	p. 119
The Retirement of Uncle Frank and of the Claas Combine	p. 131
Vermin and Vacci Tankers: The Darker Side of Life on the Farm	p. 139
Farmer in Court and the Rise of a New Generation	p. 147
Postscript	p. 159
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