Interesting video about a subject most people would never have thought about. I was brought up on a farm in South Northants where the field barns were built of of stone quarried in the field which left a great big hole in the ground. The buildings were pretty robust until the slates on the roof were stolen. The fields were eventually bought by people wealthy enough to restore the buildings, prior to converting them to a house. Other smaller barns were not so lucky and fell down many decades ago when they no longer had any agricultural use.
I was brought up in Rutland just east of the area that you come from. My father was a agricultural feedstuffs rep during the 1960's & almost certainly visited many of the farms that you describe. My mother was an artist who loved to draw farms & barns, & she drew many of these isolated barns as she waited in the car, while my father did business with the farmers in villages like Hallaton, Medbourne, Tugby etc. She was very distressed to see the state that these barns were falling into. Perhaps it is fortunate that she died two decades ago. Her love of landscape & barns has come down to me, as have many of her drawings & watercolours. Many of the farms were small, & often the land on a single farm was divided up between the two or three sons of the farm tenant. Each would bring up his own tiny flock of sheep & cows, typically 20 to 30 sheep & six cows). This used to greatly annoy my father, as he would have to take tiny orders from each of these sons. Deliveries of feedstuffs were made in paper sacks, perhaps 10 to 20 sacks. Most of these small farmers had surplus railway container wagons, with each son having his own container wagon to keep his feed in. During the 1960's I used to go out in my fathers car on his rounds. I visited lots of these barns & farmyards just before they fell out of use. One of the last was at Horninghold, & the sons (then in their 60's) were still out every day trudging around the yard going to their own animals. One was called "bucket" behind his back. I forget the other ones nickname.
You know you can be looking at a RUclips video of some parts of England that there is nothing but despair especially in city’s then you watch this, l know which one I’d prefer to view, very well done Oli.
Excellent video, Oli. It’s a part of the country I’m yet to visit, but after seeing this I’ll certainly make sure I pencil a trip in to the Leicestershire Vales.
Brilliant stuff Oli. My introduction to relatively modern farming was through the organisation Woof, of which I am sure you have heard. With one very honorable exception (Pencoed growers in south wales) hosts tended to exhibit the general refusal to accept the bleedin' obvious truth that 'Rich people playing gardening games' is NOT farming. However I do think Woof is a good idea none the less. If you and other farmers are serious about improving general access to the mainstream agricultural life of this country, perhaps we should try to encourage Woof to widen their name to Willing workers on Original farms. I doubt it would actually help your crops business much in a directly financial way and I bet the HSE would do everything they could to be effing awkward, but I do believe there are lots of us out there who would really be interested in involving ourselves in the reality of modern farming. It might help with widening your income sources as well. It might even give you a use for your field barns.
Old barns and farm buildings are so beautiful, I really like that yours are red brick, we have a few red brick building here in Somerset but were I live we have 2 different types of stone, a lovely yellow stone (can’t remember the name, we call it Cary stone) and Blue Lias. Most of our building are built out of them two and when they use the yellow one, at about 5 o’clock on a bright spring of autumn evening the building glows with the sun, it’s beautiful. A small point about barns, is that there is a correlation between the dilapidation of barns and the decline of barn owls, it’s very sad but you can see how the more we lose the less space there is for them to nest. If you have an old barn that is saveable then I urge you to save it!! Really enjoyed the video and I might be one of those people who comes back every time to have a say but I never call you an idiot, you certainly are not one even if you are wrong sometimes about us environmentalists ;). Great video and I’m looking forward to more!!
The neglected sheds could be used to revitalise country crafts such as ; scouring, carding, spinning wool. Small abattoirs with leather curing and leather craft work. Knitting, weaving and embroidery. Wood working and wood processing of small scale woodland projects. Used to breathe life back into rural communities. Farm shops and farm markets. Interesting video seeing how nature is reclaiming old buildings.
Interesting, sometimes I wonder why local government didnt ask the farmer with non working shearing shed or old town hall if they could be preserved n turn into rest stops along roads, mini museums just like huts in the high country allowing bush walkers camp over night. Nearly 30 years ago i used to see last of swagman walking up down in inland Australia, there very few car stops let lone water holes to keep cool. Today's generation could learn thing or two what it was like in 1800 to post WW2.
Interesting video congratulations on getting over 10k subs here in Ni most of the old barns like ours are built of stones gathered off the fields after ploughing PS like the Massey 👍
I was at college in Leicester in the mid-80s and spent my free time cycling around east of the city and into Rutland. Two things struck me was the quality of the brick-built farm buildings with their intricate ventilation holes and corbelling,but also the large number of derelict isolated cottages at the roadside in the middle of nowhere...I thought at the time it would be good to buy one and do it up...what has happened in the intervening 40 years? Have they been demolished,left to rot or have they been done up as living accomodation or second homes?
The unique character that the countryside has is all going to be lost when Labour build identical, modern looking houses all over our picturesque fields. I think what makes villages and towns in rural areas so magical is the fact no two buildings look alike, they aren't meticulously maintained, there are sometimes weeds growing in the stones, ivy growing up the walls, trees and bushes dotted around which haven't been impeccably tended. All of this vanishes with new houses: pale, ugly red bricks, identical doors, and uniform window frames. They have no personality.
Often the difference is whether or not the farm was owned by an estate - if 18th century farmers were building their own house they tended to build huge ones, whereas if the landlord was building the house they tend to be a lot more modest
@ hmm that seems quite the opposite from what ive seen and thought🤨. Some estates like where my family used to farm in elford, staffordshire, the farm houses were huge but part of an estate. there were a few farmhouses 8-9 bedrooms there. When i asked my dad why they were big his response was the estate owner was building farmhouses bigger as a display of wealth and/or to house workers.
Most farm houses had three generations living in them, & often several household servants as well. My childhood house was a farm house, & you could still get into the attics which had been home to servants. Many of the workers at harvest time were travelling men, & they also slept in the attics for the harvest period.
If you don't think land can be held and used by all, take a look at Sweden. It's a much larger nation with a much smaller population, yes, but that's what democracy's there for. Besides, we have to change land use and over fishing etc or literally humans might go extinct
Your English countryside is certainly more beautiful than our American rural areas but it looks like it can be like living in a museum?? Just an observation
As always, the history of farms and rural Britain that you talk about is fascinating and fantastic! Thanks!
Very astute and informative Oli,thank you.
Interesting video about a subject most people would never have thought about.
I was brought up on a farm in South Northants where the field barns were built of of stone quarried in the field which left a great big hole in the ground. The buildings were pretty robust until the slates on the roof were stolen. The fields were eventually bought by people wealthy enough to restore the buildings, prior to converting them to a house. Other smaller barns were not so lucky and fell down many decades ago when they no longer had any agricultural use.
Thank you Oli. I'm thoroughly engoying the channel. Happy Christmas
Landscaping, countryside, farmming...again. tanks.
I was brought up in Rutland just east of the area that you come from. My father was a agricultural feedstuffs rep during the 1960's & almost certainly visited many of the farms that you describe. My mother was an artist who loved to draw farms & barns, & she drew many of these isolated barns as she waited in the car, while my father did business with the farmers in villages like Hallaton, Medbourne, Tugby etc.
She was very distressed to see the state that these barns were falling into. Perhaps it is fortunate that she died two decades ago.
Her love of landscape & barns has come down to me, as have many of her drawings & watercolours.
Many of the farms were small, & often the land on a single farm was divided up between the two or three sons of the farm tenant. Each would bring up his own tiny flock of sheep & cows, typically 20 to 30 sheep & six cows). This used to greatly annoy my father, as he would have to take tiny orders from each of these sons.
Deliveries of feedstuffs were made in paper sacks, perhaps 10 to 20 sacks. Most of these small farmers had surplus railway container wagons, with each son having his own container wagon to keep his feed in.
During the 1960's I used to go out in my fathers car on his rounds. I visited lots of these barns & farmyards just before they fell out of use. One of the last was at Horninghold, & the sons (then in their 60's) were still out every day trudging around the yard going to their own animals. One was called "bucket" behind his back. I forget the other ones nickname.
j'y comprends rien mais c'est super ... j'adore cette chaîne !
nous en france on a que des tocards
You know you can be looking at a RUclips video of some parts of England that there is nothing but despair especially in city’s then you watch this, l know which one I’d prefer to view, very well done Oli.
Excellent video, Oli. It’s a part of the country I’m yet to visit, but after seeing this I’ll certainly make sure I pencil a trip in to the Leicestershire Vales.
Brilliant stuff Oli. My introduction to relatively modern farming was through the organisation Woof, of which I am sure you have heard. With one very honorable exception (Pencoed growers in south wales) hosts tended to exhibit the general refusal to accept the bleedin' obvious truth that 'Rich people playing gardening games' is NOT farming. However I do think Woof is a good idea none the less. If you and other farmers are serious about improving general access to the mainstream agricultural life of this country, perhaps we should try to encourage Woof to widen their name to Willing workers on Original farms. I doubt it would actually help your crops business much in a directly financial way and I bet the HSE would do everything they could to be effing awkward, but I do believe there are lots of us out there who would really be interested in involving ourselves in the reality of modern farming. It might help with widening your income sources as well. It might even give you a use for your field barns.
Old barns and farm buildings are so beautiful, I really like that yours are red brick, we have a few red brick building here in Somerset but were I live we have 2 different types of stone, a lovely yellow stone (can’t remember the name, we call it Cary stone) and Blue Lias. Most of our building are built out of them two and when they use the yellow one, at about 5 o’clock on a bright spring of autumn evening the building glows with the sun, it’s beautiful.
A small point about barns, is that there is a correlation between the dilapidation of barns and the decline of barn owls, it’s very sad but you can see how the more we lose the less space there is for them to nest. If you have an old barn that is saveable then I urge you to save it!!
Really enjoyed the video and I might be one of those people who comes back every time to have a say but I never call you an idiot, you certainly are not one even if you are wrong sometimes about us environmentalists ;). Great video and I’m looking forward to more!!
Congrats on the subscribers. Merry Christmas and good luck for next year plans
All the best Oli.
Merry Christmas
The neglected sheds could be used to revitalise country crafts such as ; scouring, carding, spinning wool. Small abattoirs with leather curing and leather craft work. Knitting, weaving and embroidery. Wood working and wood processing of small scale woodland projects. Used to breathe life back into rural communities. Farm shops and farm markets. Interesting video seeing how nature is reclaiming old buildings.
The field barns ,also used by farm labour's to stay in when working on the farm land , and in the cold winter,
en france on disait : " la paille au cul " straw at ass .. et " napoléon " : " la paille au nez " straw in the nose ...
Interesting, sometimes I wonder why local government didnt ask the farmer with non working shearing shed or old town hall if they could be preserved n turn into rest stops along roads, mini museums just like huts in the high country allowing bush walkers camp over night. Nearly 30 years ago i used to see last of swagman walking up down in inland Australia, there very few car stops let lone water holes to keep cool. Today's generation could learn thing or two what it was like in 1800 to post WW2.
Interesting video congratulations on getting over 10k subs here in Ni most of the old barns like ours are built of stones gathered off the fields after ploughing PS like the Massey 👍
I was at college in Leicester in the mid-80s and spent my free time cycling around east of the city and into Rutland.
Two things struck me was the quality of the brick-built farm buildings with their intricate ventilation holes and corbelling,but also the large number of derelict isolated cottages at the roadside in the middle of nowhere...I thought at the time it would be good to buy one and do it up...what has happened in the intervening 40 years?
Have they been demolished,left to rot or have they been done up as living accomodation or second homes?
well after ending my 1st semester og college i planted upland rice in our front yard
The unique character that the countryside has is all going to be lost when Labour build identical, modern looking houses all over our picturesque fields. I think what makes villages and towns in rural areas so magical is the fact no two buildings look alike, they aren't meticulously maintained, there are sometimes weeds growing in the stones, ivy growing up the walls, trees and bushes dotted around which haven't been impeccably tended. All of this vanishes with new houses: pale, ugly red bricks, identical doors, and uniform window frames. They have no personality.
can you please explain why some farmhouses are built to be very big and some arent please?
Often the difference is whether or not the farm was owned by an estate - if 18th century farmers were building their own house they tended to build huge ones, whereas if the landlord was building the house they tend to be a lot more modest
@ hmm that seems quite the opposite from what ive seen and thought🤨. Some estates like where my family used to farm in elford, staffordshire, the farm houses were huge but part of an estate. there were a few farmhouses 8-9 bedrooms there.
When i asked my dad why they were big his response was the estate owner was building farmhouses bigger as a display of wealth and/or to house workers.
Most farm houses had three generations living in them, & often several household servants as well. My childhood house was a farm house, & you could still get into the attics which had been home to servants. Many of the workers at harvest time were travelling men, & they also slept in the attics for the harvest period.
If you don't think land can be held and used by all, take a look at Sweden. It's a much larger nation with a much smaller population, yes, but that's what democracy's there for. Besides, we have to change land use and over fishing etc or literally humans might go extinct
Your English countryside is certainly more beautiful than our American rural areas but it looks like it can be like living in a museum?? Just an observation