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Interview
936, LO/291/242
Leicester Oral History Archive Collection

Speaker: Bevin, Harry, 1908 - , Interviewee, Male, Farmer;
Speaker: Kirrane, S, Interviewer, Female

Summary of interview item: Describes grandfather's farm at Ashby Magna, Leicestershire. Mentions sending milk to London by train, cow shed, farmhouse, animals and using 'swaft turner' at haymaking. Mentions shop attached to farm, run by family until 1980. Briefly mentions schooling and mother's widow's pension. Recalls Belgian refugees and female tram conductors during First World War in Clarendon Park, Leicester. Describes office job he took at age 14 as farm wages low. Describes uncle's carrier route into Leicester and railway causing its demise. Brief details of grandmother's shop at Ashby Magna. Describes going to Australia in 1925, working on dairy farm, return to England via New Zealand due to depression. Describes coming to Hillfort farm in Peckleton in 1933, herd kept and small milking plant he bought. Mentions making silage in the Second World War, Prisoners of War (POWs) used as labour and Women's Land Army girls. Reflects on changes in farming including tractors and testing herds for Tuberculosis (TB). Describes ownership of Hillfort farm. Describes average day farming in 1940s. Describes collection of 'Rural Relics', including farming implements. Details differences between farming in Australia and England. Sketches how his parents met and how he met his wife. Describes milk round he had and taking holidays without pay. Comments on his lack of faith in old men predicting weather. Reads poem about home remedies.
Place of birth: Glaston, Rutland
Education: Avenue Road school, Leicester; Wyggeston Boys school;
Marital Status: Married, Children:
Father's Occupation: Gardener's boy; Soldier
Mother's Occupation:
Location: County: Leicestershire
Location: Town/Place: Ashby Magna, Leicester
Periods Covered: 1910s 1920s, 1930s, 1940s
Language: English

Recording Date: 2/7/1986
Playing time: 1 hr
Access Restrictions: Full Clearance Item Copyright: EMOHA
Summary: Yes
Transcription: No
Copies: Yes
Cross Reference:


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Last updated: 08/05/02
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