Reading My Way Around the World

Friday 9 April 2021

Farm - Childhood Memories

 


I'm sure I've shared this photo before with you but when I was looking around for Farm photos for Astrid's Photo Scavenger Hunt, it kept coming up and making me smile.   I'm sure that guy in front is called Joey - "What you looking at!?"

There are animals in the fields all around us here, but the big farms are further out the roads I've no big farm photos for you but my mum lives opposite a farm and as a child I grew up in a farming community.   

We saved hay in the Summer and like every family near us we had a small piece of bog where we cut and saved turf each year - enough for the winter.   The turf was then transported up the back lane (the unapproved road crossing the border between Donegal and Fermanagh) on a donkey and cart and as children the greatest treat for us was to getting sitting on top of the turf for the whole journey up.  (Our bog was two fields behind our house, but in the South of Ireland in Co. Donegal and our hayfield was a few hundred yards up the road towards town in the North of Ireland in Co, Fermanagh - plenty of fodder for pirate and treasure hunt games when we were children lol)  
I found this photograph taken of my Uncle Gerry in 1937 when he was still a young man, driving the cart in front of what is still our house.  It's a terrible photograph and was actually on a postcard but that cart was still at our house when we were growing up.   The lane was blown up during the Troubles so cars couldn't drive up and down it but the donkey could navigate the crater well.  Most of the houses along the road are still there and the one on the right is the home of a good friend who still checks in on my mum every day.   Gerry emigrated to America and shortly after arriving there was sent to Korea with the US Army - he survived and had a long life as part of the traditional Irish music scene in New York.   



In the same batch of photos I found this lovely one of my brother up against a cock of hay - again as children we felt really grown up to be allowed to be on top of the haystack when the hay was being forked up - that usually ended in tears cos we didn't have the know-how to lay it properly so that it wouldn't topple over buy we kept trying.   

I wish I had more photos from those days - the sweetest tea was the tea taken from a can with freshly baked scones dripping in butter in the hay field.   My job was to bring the can of tea from the house only a couple of hundred yards away - on the handlebars of my bike - very carefully. 

I'm not quite sure who the people in this photograph are - friends of Dad's I think, but you can see the field was well finished and the hay was fully stacked.  


I wrote a song about these childhood days and just got it finished in time for the filming of The Emigrant Woman - it's called Stories from the Woods and it was such a pleasure to wander back and remember those times.     I'll be releasing these songs soon.

I'm joining in today with Astrid for the weekly Scavenger Photo Hunt.  You can go directly to the link to check out the other photos HERE.  

I hope you're all keeping well - we've been enjoying a week's rest and taking advantage of the return to winter by doing very little :)   Next week it'll be time to get the head down again but for now I'm heading out to do my own small bit of farming and transplant some seedlings that are doing very nicely.  

And as a postscript, my sincere condolences to all my friends in England in particular, on the death of Prince Philip earlier today.   I really feel for the Queen - such a long life together - it will be an incredibly sad time for her and the rest of her family as for any other family at such a time and even more so now during Covid.  We never got to do the Duke of Edinburgh Awards where we lived but he did so much for young people and his many charities.   An extraordinary man - I've often thought he had such a strange role in life, giving up all his own ambitions to walk behind and support his wife.  It has been very interesting this afternoon hearing about his life.  He will be sadly missed.  Rest in Peace Philip.  

15 comments:

  1. What lovely stories about your childhood. The good old days! Plenty of nostalgia without the discomfort of hay making. Your comments about Prince Philip are perfect.

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    1. Yes, hay making was fun for a child but I can't imagine it was anything but hard work for the adults.

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  2. Lovely to hear you reminiscing about childhood memories and seeing the old photos. I agree with M above on your comments about Prince Philip & was saddened when I heard about it this morning as they are our Royals too. Take care and hugs from down under.

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    1. Thanks Susan - I'm glad I found these old photos.

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  3. Hi Fil - what a delight to see your photos and the reminiscences of your early life and family back then ... so much change isn't there: interesting to see your farm crossed the north/south boundary.
    Prince Philip was an extraordinary man ... and I enjoyed writing about him in a fair amount of detail and ABCs for his 95th birthday (June 2012). I've ordered a book with his essays in ... which I imagine will be very informative and thought provoking. Stay safe and with thoughts to Ireland at these once again challenging times. Hilary

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    1. That will be really interesting Hilary - you wouldn't think of him as a writer.

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  4. There are some lovely old photos here which I’m sure brought back lots of memories. I’ve been digging through my old pictures today looking for some I took on the day I met The Duke (through the D of E award scheme). They are a bit rubbish but I think I will share them next week anyway πŸ˜ƒ

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  5. What lovely memories and to have the photos as well - they are precious :) thank you for sharing Fil xx

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    1. Thanks Kate - I have a lot more that I must get my mum to identify - mind you a lot are before her time with my Dad

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  6. Loved your stories of growing up and with the lovely old photographs too. Your dedication to Prince Philip was well said. I was reading your blog to B as he is always interested in those sort of stories. I was telling him what you did and about your music so I followed a link to your other blog and we spent a good hour listening to your beautiful voice and music. It was gorgeous. Thank you for that. xx 🎼🎡🎢

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    1. Thank you so much :). you made my day x

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  7. Lovely stories of your childhood and growing up in the Irish countryside, and I like the bunch of curious cows :)

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    1. They were so funny, those cows - Tom was mowing the lawn and they kept following him up and down to get the fresh grass :)

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  8. Oh wow, lucky to have those wonderful old photos! The one with your uncle and your house is great. Thanks for sharing.
    Prince Phillip will certainly be missed, quite a character from what I've read.

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