| Date | 7 August 2015 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0082 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
Traditions lost to us
THIS week I was reminded of my late fellow historian and friend Judith Hunter and of some of the memories she had uncovered during her research into Eton Wick.
These included memories of local traditions which have now disappeared, some of which were recorded in the 19th century.
One such memory of Eton Wick was that of a young girl in the 1890s observing her mother making straw binders used to tie up sheaves of corn. The ends of the straw were attached to an iron hook and the straw was then plaited to make a binder long enough to tie up the corn sheaf.
As the day went on, long lines of farm workers worked their way across the field being harvested.
Men would reap up the corn scythes and they were followed by women tying up the corn ready for it to be made into stocks.
These are scenes which are no longer seen today as in the early 20th century scythes were replaced by the horse-drawn reaper.
The fields were covered with long lines of pyramidal stocks stretching across the fields and would be a very familiar sight until the advent of the combine harvester.
The stocks were left out to dry for one or two weeks before being carted away – some would be threshed immediately while most was stored until the winter months. Once the fields were cleaned, gleaning began, which, although tiring and back-breaking, was rewarding work taken on by mothers and boys of the families living in the village.
Stray ears of corn were also gathered to feed the chickens kept in village gardens.
Another vivid memory of the old ways of farming was the turning out of horses onto the common for the first time after winter – this happened on the first day of May at 6 pm in the evening.
The horses would gallop up and down, and round and round, much to the delight of the local children, but parents were worried their children would be hurt as there was no fence separating the common from the road. All delightful memories which really flesh out the history of Eton Wick.
AT WORK: A typical scene of work at harvest time during the 1890s
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