Firewood. Before winter, getting stocked up with firewood was an essential for every householder on the Station. The Station had a circular saw which fitted on the back of a tractor driven by the PTO. It was a terrifying machine, and not helped by many people who had a few skills in using it. You … Read more
Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on. By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg An extract from the book – Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) By Clive Dalton & Donald Clegg. If you would like a copy, contact donaldclegg@btopenworld.com One of the first … Read more
Northumberland, farming, husbandry, history, humour, dialect, Daft Laddies, 1950s By Dr Clive Dalton One of the big disadvantages of being a Daft Laddie on an inbye farm up the Tyne or Rede valley in the 1950s was that inevitably your antics and sartainly your predicaments would be on public view from the road and especially … Read more
By Donald Clegg Sheep sheltersAll over the moors and fells of the North of England and southern Scotland, there are strange dry-stone structures, now abandoned , moss-covered and ruinous in the most part, which have intrigued visitors to this Border region for decades as they explore its magic landscape. Some of these structures are simply … Read more
Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on. By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg An extract from the book – Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg. If you would like a copy, contact donaldclegg@btopenworld.com It was hard for … Read more
My final shots Why didn’t MAF check?Ask today’s sheep farmers My last call By Dr Clive Dalton My final shots It was not the threat of the exotic breed importation that drove the changes in New Zealand sheep from the 1970s and beyond. This is a standard old chestnut by those who lauded and still do, the exotic … Read more
Importation of exotic sheep breeds Second MAF importation Quarantine station at Hopuhopu Veterinary inspection MAFQual veterinarian Peter Hoyle Dr Clive DaltonHopuhopu quarantine station Hamilton MAFQual veterinarian Peter Hoyle’s memories I was new boy on the block and had some experience in quarantine while working in the UK as a state veterinarian. So I got … Read more
Scrapie suspected at Mana Island quarantine station Confirmation by international expert Dr J.T. Stamp Burning of carcases at Mana By Dr Clive Dalton Shock-horror at Mana Island. Scrapie A report in Surveillance Vol 5:4 1978 by MAF veterinarian Dave Collins reported that a clinical case of Scrapie was confirmed in an East Friesian ewe on … Read more
Finding sheep in UK and IrelandPurebred ewes on Somes By Dr Clive Dalton Finding sheep in UK and Ireland Without going back to the official MAF Research files (if anyone would know where to look), this is what Dr Neil Clarke, previously in Ruakura genetics remembers about the flocks he located that had sheep for … Read more
First MAF importation Selecting sheep for importation Organising the sheep before transport to New Zealand Summary of events By Dr Clive Dalton Summary of events Selecting sheep for importation Selecting individual sheep as a representative of a breed is never an easy task, as differences within breeds are always greater than differences between breeds. Sadly this is a much-ignored … Read more
East Friesian sheep importation from Sweden, 1992Transport problems from Sweden to New ZealandQuarantine on Somes IslandEast Friesian importation 1992 Information obtained from paper presented by Dr Jock Allison to NZ Institute of Primary Industry Management, December 2006 By Dr Clive Dalton From trials undertaken by MAF’s Research Division after the first importation of exotic sheep … Read more
Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on.By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg An extract from the book – Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg. If you would like a copy, contact donaldclegg@btopenworld.com Recipes from Northumberland Federation of … Read more
Northumberland, history, memories, Bill Charlton, immigration, travel By Bill Charlton Australia boundWith our emigration application approved, and after the medicals etc, we were given six weeks to prepare to go. It was a very big decision time for us. Do we or don’t we go, was the question. We decided to go, and after two … Read more
Northumberland, history, WWII, crashed planes By Bill CharltonCrashed Mustang on HareshawDuring the war years we kids used to go out to view the crashed planes and collect souvenirs if we could. We’d push bike out to Hareshaw Head late in the afternoon then walk over the moors to get a glimpse of a plane which … Read more
Northumberland, Bellingham, history, dialect, humour, childhood memories By Bill Charlton I was born in July 1927 and my father, Robert Lowther Charlton ( known as Bob) and mother Lilian ( known as Lily) named me Anthony William Charlton (to be known as Bill). I had a brother Cliff and a sister Joan. The family lived … Read more
Daft Laddies, humour, military service, history, 1950s By Donald Clegg Caad wintors in KoreaKorean winters can be severe, and even in September, the ground round our camp was frozen hard as iron. Our Field Telephone Exchange (FTE) was housed in a sandbagged bunker with a canvas roof. There was a set of steps cut in … Read more
Northumberland, farming, humour, dialect, Daft Laddies, history, 1950s By Donald Clegg Don’s watch by H Samuel’s of Newcastle upon Tyne. It’s now in gentle retirement with a new boot lace to keep it safe Do you remember the H Samuel Ever-Right pocket watch? It cost all of 30/- (£1.50) in the 1950’s and was a must for … Read more
Donald Clegg(Image at left from The Northumbrian Magazine)Don organising his squirrel feeder Donald Clegg was born at Rochester in Redesdale. After Grammar school he worked as a postman delivering mail on foot to farms around the area. He worked on farms in Redesdale and after being called up for his military service and ‘doing time’ helping … Read more
Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on. By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg An extract from the book – Daft Laddies. Farming Tales of North Tyne and Rede 50 years on (2003) By Clive Dalton and Donald Clegg. If you would like a copy, contact donaldclegg@btopenworld.com Whereas the contribution of … Read more
Northumberland, Redesdale, agriculture, farming, history, moor burning, moorland management, dialect, humour Moor burning: A Redesdale Daft Laddie’s burning desire By Donald Clegg The smell of reekFor hundreds of years man has used fire as a means to clear scrub and invasive plants off land so that he could farm it in one way or another. … Read more