Marsh Farm |
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Robert Jenkinson, my grandfather, was born at Scronkey, Pillling. He was one of eight children and the family lived in a thatched cottage. He joined the police force in Ince, Wigan , and then became a Sergeant at Thornton Police Station. He had three sons – James (my father), Burnell and William.
Tom Waring of Marsh Farm, Thornton, became prosperous producing farm food during the 1914-18 war. He was a local Councillor and employed my father, to work on the farm.
Tom Waring bought an ‘International’ tractor for general farm use. My father drove it and won awards at ploughing matches in the area. Tom Waring also bought the first Model T Ford car in the area and my father drove it for him.
Robert Jenkinson, due to retire from the Police, negotiated to take over the Marsh Farm tenancy to provide employment for his three sons, Jim, Burnell and William. Family finances were very limited at the farm. My father received £1 per week plus food and board.
Back row right to left - Burnell, James and William
Marsh Farm extended from Thornton to Cleveleys between Anchorsholme in the south and Victoria Road in the north. It was a mixed farm. The farm had the only tractor in the area. It was used for ploughing and grinding wheat and oats and chopping turnips, operating appropriate machinery by pulley wheel and belt. Some ploughing, and all the transporting of goods, was done by horse and cart or milk float (a two wheel light cart).
Marsh House Farm
The farmhouse had two functions – the working side on the west end and the relaxing side at the east end. The west side downstairs consisted of back ‘kitch’ with a ‘slopstone’ – a stone rectangle about 3’ x 18’’ with raised edges and a single cold water tap – there was no piped hot water. The pantry led off from this kitchen and had a cupboard with fine mesh cupboard doors to exclude flies. The kitchen was north facing, so reasonably cool. Leading off was the bottom kitchen with fine mesh windows to admit air and this had stone shelves on which hams and ‘flitches’ of bacon were laid to be cured by rubbing in salt.
The main kitchen where meals were eaten had an open fire with an oven on one side and a water tank on the other. A three bar metal frame hinged at one side would be dropped over the fire to support and heat pans. The floor of this main kitchen was stone flagged and was mopped each day. The men sat at a long table at one side of the kitchen – the women and children sat at a table on the other side. Cured hams and flitches of bacon hung from the wooden ceiling beams.
From the kitchen a staircase led to the first floor back bedrooms. The largest bedroom was occupied by the farm labourers – four of them in two double beds! They slept in the shirts they had worn during the day. I never saw any evidence of them bathing, although they occasionally has a ‘good wash down’ in the outside washhouse where the laundry was done. I was told that they sometimes went into Blackpool and paid for a hot bath at 'Cocker St.' public baths.
We three children, my sisters and I, had a bath once a week in the outside washhouse in one of the washing tubs (a wooden barrel cut in half) after the laundry was done. The water had to be heated in pans and kettles over the kitchen fire and all three of us used the same water. We were wrapped in towels and taken to dry beside the kitchen fire.
One of the other ‘back’ bedrooms was occupied by Aunt Maggie, an old lady who helped out with some of the lighter domestic duties. She was a relative of my paternal grandmother. Through her bedroom there was access to the staircase leading to the ‘back attic’. One half of this attic, which had a boarded floor, was used to store apples from the orchards. The other was a ‘play room’ where I had a Hornby train set laid out.
At first, my sisters and I shared a bedroom and each night knelt at the bedside to say a prayer “Gentle Jesus meek and mild, look upon a little child. Pity my simplicity suffer me to come to thee” I thought it was about mice in a place called ‘Plicity’! We used to tell of each other, e.g. “He’s peeping”. “She’s not got her hands together”. All bedrooms had a chamber pot under the bed. It was referred to as a ‘ Po ’ and the contents of all were emptied in a ‘slop bucket’ each day.
In my pre-school days there was always something of interest going on. A local butcher came to kill our pigs. They were brought out of their sties struggling and squealing and pushed onto a low bench and secured with a piece of rope, with their heads hanging over one end of the bench. The butcher then cut their throat with a sharp knife and caught their blood in a bucket. The blood was subsequently used in making black puddings. I watched the whole process until the pig was hung by its hind legs and all its entrails removed. The pig’s bladder was blown up with a bicycle pump and used as a football. The pig’s carcass was split down the middle and either cut up for home consumption or wrapped in a clean sheet and taken by horse or milk float to a butcher in Poulton.
Wash day was on Mondays. Soap was plain household in bars – rectangles about 3” square at the end and 8” long. They were cut into 2 pieces both for personal and any domestic use and were either plain yellow or red carbolic. The washhouse was a ‘lean-to’ at the west end of the farm house. It had an open boiler in one corner with a small coal fire underneath it. Clothes, sheets, etc. were washed in wooden tubs. They were rubbed with soap on a rubbing board and then ‘possed’ or stirred with a ‘posser’ which looked like a three-legged stool with a 3 ft pole protruding from the centre with a crosspiece forming a T-shaped handle at the top. The clothes were dried on a wash line between the farmhouse and the barn or on a three bar wooden rack hung on pulleys from the wooden kitchen ceiling.
Food was plain but plentiful. My father roused the farmhands at 5.30am and after a quick rub with a cold wet flannel and a drink of cold water they would go out to the shippens to start milking the 40 or so cows by hand. The milk was passed through a cooler into large kits in which it was transported to a milk retailer in Fleetwood. These kits were loaded into the horse-drawn milk float to be taken to Thornton railway station to catch the early morning train. It was often a last minute dash to catch the train involving a touch of the whip to the horse. So the horse stood nervously waiting for the word ‘go’. On one occasion it ‘jumped the gun’ before the driver got on board and raced out of the open farm gate on the main Victoria Road, across the Four Lane Ends road junction and eventually stopped at the usual unloading place at the station – a total distance of about 1 ½ miles. The railway porters put the milk on the train and the would-be milk float driver eventually arrived on a bicycle.
The first meal of the day after the milk had gone was between 7-7.30am and consisted of cups of tea and slices of bread and butter and jam. The next meal was around 9.30am and was taken out to wherever the men were working. It was called ‘baggin’ and would consist of a thick fried egg or bacon sandwich and cocoa poured from a milk can into tin mugs. The next meal was dinner at 12 noon taken in the farm house. It was usually a large joint of beef or lamb with home-grown cabbage or cauliflower and potatoes cooked in dripping in a roasting tin in the oven and consequently rather soggy. An alternative would be hotpot. The main course would usually be followed by rice or sago pudding and eaten from the same plate as the main course. After the meal, the family men would smoke a pipe of strong smelling thick black twist tobacco. The farm hands found somewhere to sit for ½ hr in one of the outbuildings.
The next meal would be afternoon ‘baggin’ taken in a basket to wherever the men were working. This usually consisted of a vat of tea with pieces of homemade cake or apple pie. This would be taken around 3-3.30pm . The last meal of the day was when normal work had finished about 6-6.30pm . A typical meal would be cold meats, e.g. ham, pork, black pudding, brawn, or cheese and tomatoes all with lots of bread and butter. This would be followed with stewed apples, bottled pears, homemade jam or lemon cheeses, cake, or apple or damson pie.
There were no lavatories inside the house. There were two situated at the west end of the house beyond the washhouse, so it was advisable to take a coat or umbrella at times. All indoor lighting was by oil lamp or candle. Outside ‘Hurrricane’ oil lamps were carried whenever needed and kept lit in all weather. So at night it was necessary to take to the lavatory a candle, a box of matches and an old newspaper. Toilet rolls were not provided. There were two lavatories side by side under one roof with a dividing wall between them. Each had a board attached at seating height to the side and rear walls. There was in each board a small hole for children to sit over and a larger hole for adults. The ‘droppings fell into a pot common to both lavatories. The pit was emptied from time to time into a horse drawn ‘dray’ (a large open metal box on wheels) and this was emptied on to the farm fields well away from the house. It was customary to bang on the wooden seat to scare away rats that looked for food among the ‘droppings’.
Some of my clothes were ‘hand downs’ my sisters and I wore the same type of undergarment – a ‘combination’ or ‘combs’ – a one piece short sleeve top with a short legged bottom half. The whole thing buttoned at the front and there was a slit at the bottom for toilet convenience. It was generally regarded as female attire, so I was greatly embarrassed when we had to undress for the School Doctor’s periodical visits.
The women at the farm wore ‘rough brats’ in the morning for doing dirty jobs and changed to pinafores (pinnies) in the afternoon. The rough brats were made of sacking materials as used in potato or cattle fodder bags. Outdoors the women wore sun bonnets covering the head and back of the neck and tied under the chin. On the farm, women wore long dark dresses but in the early to mid 1920s short ‘ Charleston ’ skirts were appearing. I recall trotting down Victoria Road, Thornton with Uncle Will and a farm hand in the milk float. We were about to overtake 2 or 3 young ladies. The horse was slowed to a walk for observation and Will, who always had an eye for the ladies, said ‘What next - they hardly cover their bottoms”.
The farm hands wore thick ‘union’ collarless shirts and either ‘fustion’ (corduroy) trousers or ‘knee britches’ laced a short way below the knee often with stiff leather ‘leggings’ fastened over the top of the boot at the ankle and at the top just covering the bottom of the breeches. Farm boots were most important having to be waterproof, manure-proof, protective in contact with farm machinery and tools and comfortable to walk in all day. They were cleaned of mud, manure, etc. with a stiff bristle farm yard brush dipped in water. Occasionally they were dried out and brushed with an old paint brush dipped in used engine oil aimed at keeping the thick leather supple.
My father, Jim, was the ‘cowman’ and also dealt with motorised transport and machinery, calling on a local mechanic who promptly attended when necessary on a well kept and much admired ‘Brough Superior’ motorcycle. His name was Joe Watson from Poulton.
Burnell was the ‘horseman’. Foals were bred at the farm and when old enough to start work, Burnell ‘broke them in’. This involved putting a ‘halter’ (a bridle without a bit in the mouth) A long leading rein was attached to the halter. Burnell would hold the end of the rein and using a whip and would shout instructions eg ‘whoa’ for ‘stop’ or clicking his teeth and calling ‘gee up’ to go. The horse was encouraged to run around him in a wide circle. Eventually a bridle with a metal ‘bit’ in the horse’s mouth would control directional movements and assist stopping. The next stage would be getting a collar over the horses head, attaching long ‘traces’ (leather or rope) to each side of the collar. The other ends of the traces were fastened to a heavy sledge to which could be added different weights to get the horse used to pulling different carts, or ploughs.
Eventually when the horse was considered sufficiently docile and ‘biddable’ Burnell would climb on its back to finalise the process. Burnell also did any horse drawn ploughing in fields where they heavy tractor and its heavy ploughs would get bogged down.
William, the youngest son, looked after the poultry, pigs and the house lawns and gardens. This included incubating eggs to produce chickens and eventually their eggs and poultry meat.
William was a member of the Thornton Parish church choir and took part in various church activities. My grandfather, Robert, was a church ‘sidesman’ and we had a ‘Jenkinson side pew’ which was reserved for the family. We also had access to Uncle Tom Waring’s private pew. I assume there was a cost involved. There were three rows of pews across the width of the church. The centre row was for allcomers. The private pew had small labels affixed showing the family name.
William’s garden job was important particularly in front of the house where VIP guests made their entrance – others went round to the back door. Church garden parties were held on the spacious front garden. There were various money- making events, e.g. a ham shank was suspended from an overhanging branch of a chestnut tree. You paid your money and were blindfolded, given a pair of large scissors, turned round three times and the aim was to cut the string holding the ham. If you did it was yours – not many, if any, ever did. I met my future wife and her mother at one of these garden parties.
Mowing the lawn with a hand pushed mower was a long arduous job. A salesman once called to demonstrate a motor mower. He cut a strip of lawn and waited for a sale. Grandad Robert said ‘How do I know it would stand up to cutting the whole lawn?’ – which was extensive. So the salesman completed the job but he could not reduce his price sufficiently so the sale was off and the old ‘push’ mower continued in use.
The employee farm hands were a mixed bunch of 4 or 5. There were ‘hiring fairs’ where prospective farm labourers and employers could meet usually on Michaelmas Day. Also in the late 1920s there was considerable unemployment and men would come to the farm seeking work. Consequently some were taken on for their size and strength alone, others, who still had to be fit but were rather more intelligent and amenable.
Two of the farm ‘hands’ had motor cycles. Will Tattersall had an ancient ‘ Douglas ’ with rectangular petrol tank, hand gear change at the side of the tank, acetelyne lighting and was belt - not chain -driven. The other was a more modern ‘Matchless’ with foot-gear change, chain driven and electric light. Whenever the owners went to use them I tried to be there. Both bikes could be stood upright on their fitted stands. So I soon knew the starting routine and that on their stands the gears could be engaged and the wheels would turn without the bike moving.
So when I knew the owners were well away from their bikes, I would start the bikes on their stands – switching the petrol, flooding the carburettor, retarding the ignition lever and kick starting the engine. I also took careful note of how my father started and drove the tractor. The make was ‘International’ and I think it had been imported from America . It had a 2 part fuel tank – a small part which contained petrol to get the engine started and warmed up. It was then switched over to the other part of the tank which contained paraffin (kerosene). There was a starting handle at the front but it had 4 large cylinders and needed considerable effort. To help start, particularly on a cold day, the first step was to retard the ignition by moving the ‘spark’ level below the steering wheel; then to prime the intake manifold. There were two brass small cuplike screws which when turned out, clockwise would let any contents of the mall cups pass into the inlet manifold. These tiny cups were filled with petrol, slackened off then retightened after the petrol passed into the manifold. In effect this served as the choke of a modern car but very basic. If that failed the 4 large spark plugs were removed, heated in the kitchen oven, replaced while still warm for another try. If that failed ‘send for Joe Watson’ the mechanic to look at the magneto.
Sometimes after I knew my father would be finished ploughing with the tractor I would go to meet him. I would be about 9 or 10 years old and he would sit me on the metal seat of the tractor, put it into the lowest ‘crawl’ gear, set the hand accelerator level in a low notch and leaning forward to the reach the metal steering wheel, and with my legs dangling from the seat I would drive the tractor back to the farm yard with father walking close behind. If the ploughing in a particular field had been done with horses a similar arrangement would involve me being lifted onto the back of one of the heavy horses and ride it back to the stable stopping for it to drink at the long watering trough in the farm yard. The watering trough was made of concrete, about 3’ wide and 2’ deep x 20’ long and contained a shoal of fish caught in the farm ponds. The fish were mainly roach and perch with the odd bream.
Leisure activities varied. Each section of the family had its private sitting room. The main room – the ‘drawing room’ was large and airy overlooking the small back garden. It contained a piano, mainly played by Uncle Will and my father. The room was well furnished and mainly used for special visitors. This is where I first proposed marriage to my future wife during a Christmas party.
My father and mother and our family had a room overlooking the front garden. It had a large circular table with ‘drop down leaves’ at each side. It was used for playing family card games, doing homework or for entertaining special guests with tea and cake. Uncle Burnell had a room overlooking the farm yard. Grandad Robert and Grandma Hannah had the morning room which also looked over the front garden. In our room we had a gramophone with a ‘horn’ to amplify the sound. We had various records including ‘The laughing policeman’.
We never had a holiday involving staying away overnight but we had 2 full days out as a family each year subject to the weather and demands of farm work. One day out was by train either to Liverpool or Southport. We took sandwiches.
The other day out as a family was to visit relatives in the Pilling area. It started the day before the event by borrowing Uncle Tom Waring’s 2-wheel horse drawn ‘Governor’s cart’. He had retired from Marsh Farm and taken a small holding in Thornton . The next step was to polish the harness only used for special occasions. ‘Fanny’ the light legged horse which pulled the milk float was groomed and we set off, again, usually in inclement weather in order not to disrupt farm work. We set off after breakfast with a waterproof cover over our knees on padded seats, three on one side – two, including the driver, my father, on the other . We paid the toll at Shard Bridge crossing the River Wyre and smelt the first scent of burning peat – a pleasant smell. Peat had a variety of uses. It was cut and stacked in a way that allowed the air to dry it and was mainly used instead of coal, on open kitchen fires or for heating other rooms in the house. Peat was also used to line deep wells. It thus filtered the water seeping in to the well, making it usable for domestic use, although we ‘outsiders’ did not enjoy the taste.
Our first brief stop was at Scronkey – an outer part of Pilling, to see my great grandmother, mother of my Grandfather, Robert. She lived in a small whitewashed, thatched roof cottage. There were two downstairs rooms – the living room and the ‘buttery’ – a general kitchen where she cooked, stored food and made butter using a small hand churn. We were given a snack (baggin) of homemade oat cake, butter and buttermilk to drink. We children particularly disliked the sour buttermilk – a by-product of butter-making but were told by my mother to get it drunk to please the old lady. As we trotted on the next part of Pilling – ‘Stakepool’ where we were to have dinner with Aunt Alice – Grandad’s sister – we saw virtually no motorised traffic and whenever we saw anyone the usual greeting we received was “Nathen theerre” (hello there). Aunt Alice lived in a house across from the smithy at Stakepool. It was near the Elletson Arms public house and near the Auction Mart where the cattle were traded. ‘Fanny’ our horse was fed watered and housed in the smithy stable.
We children were fascinated watching the blacksmith beat out red-hot strips of iron into horseshoes and then fit them to horses’ hooves. The noises of the hammer clanging on metal on the anvil and the heat and red glow of the forge pumped into life by a large hand bellow and the smell of hot iron on the horses hooves were exciting.
Part 2