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Interview
942, LO/297/248
Leicester Oral History Archive Collection

Speaker: Reynolds, James, 1919 - , Interviewee, Male, Farmer
Speaker: Kirrane, S, Interviewer, Female

Summary of interview item: Recalls life on Lodge Farm, Willoughby Waterleys, Leicestershire throughout his life. Gives details of father buying the farm in 1913. Describes the farm and helping out when he was a child. Recalls catching double pneumonia as a child. Describes the gradual arrival of electricity and water on the farm. Comments on poverty in 1920s/1930s and entertainment and cricket in the village. Details his family. Talks about live stock, father being a butcher and curing meat. Recalls using horses, lack of labour during the Second World War and controlling weeds. Describes keeping ewes and lambs, and lamb adoption. Describes arable land, only 4 acres until war, and harvest. Recalls contractor's tractors during the war and comments horses were cheaper than using a tractor for many jobs. Reflects on community spirit during harvest, how herbs in the pastures helped with health of livestock and illness animals used to get. Gives home remedies. Comments fox hunting not cruel. Describes in detail Leicester Cattle Market. Mentions Agricultural Workers union and drop in number of farm workers. Mentions the reaction to ploughing up unploughed land from older farmers during the war. Gives weather prediction tips. Reflects on choice of farming and mentions involvement with Farmers' Union, Chairman 1955-57.
Place of birth: Willoughby Waterleys, Leicestershire
Education: Countersthorpe school;
Marital Status: , Children:
Father's Occupation: Butcher; Farmer;
Mother's Occupation:
Location: County: Leicestershire
Location: Town/Place: Willoughby Waterleys,
Periods Covered: 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s
Language: English

Recording Date: 24/7/1986
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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